To set the scene.. In the hills around Cusco, a walking distance of 10 minutes from Sacsayhuaman, there is a small village of no more than 50 houses. From the main square in Cusco it is around 20 minutes by car.
In this beautiful location the owner of famous restaurants and hotels like the hotel Rupa Wasi and the restaurant Tree House in Aguas Calientes has started his own cooking school. In Aguas Calientes in the restaurant Tree House he already worked with a cooking school, but now you also can enjoy the intricacies of Peruvian cuisine in this peaceful and beautiful location in the middle of nature just outside the city of Cusco.
At 10am we were picked up from the Plaza de Armas in the center of Cusco by a little bus. After a ride of 20 minutes with spectacular views over Cusco and Sacsayhuaman we arrived at the cooking school.
We encountered a spacious kitchen with a big table in the middle where groups of up to 10 people can gather. Outside on the terrace is a dining table with a separate building for the bathroom facilities. We were welcomed with two delicious pisco sours; pisco with hierba buena and pisco with sauco. With the pisco warming our body we started to cook. The menu this day was trout ceviché in maracuya sauce and a quinoa risotto. This promised to be a good morning!
The juice of the maracuya needs to boil for 45 minutes, this already been prepared to save a little time. After boiling the Maracuya, sugar is added for the taste and mayonnaise to make the sauce a little thicker. It is our honor to cut the trout and to put it in a bed of lemon, salt and pepper. Over the trout again add the lime, salt and pepper, topped off with delicious maracuya sauce. Those who like a little heat can cut a rocoto pepper and put it on top.
For the risotto we fried sliced bacon, onion and yellow aji. Added the cooked quinoa and let it simmer in cream. An ideal combination was the fried chicken strips placed on top!
We enjoyed our self-cooked entrée and main course outside in the sun on the terrace.
We were honoured guests who had tried out the kitchen for the first time at the new location just a little bit outside of Cusco. It was a well organized, smoothly run morning without any setbacks, the result of a professional team with years of experience in the field. Definitely recommended!
Thank you to Erika our Head of Reservas and Suzanne van Ommeren Sales and Travel Consultant for their time and energy! For more information or to book a class see this address: http://www.rupawasi.net/ingles/cookingclasses.html
