It is hard to pass a newspaper stand and not see Gaston Acurio’s face surrounded with a mop of curly hair on the front cover of a pocket sized recipe book hanging for sale.  The man is a legend within Peru, known for revolutionizing the way that Peruvians feel about their own cuisine as well as developing and reviving the art form.  So there was  no choice but to pay a visit to Astrid Y Gaston, Acurio’s original restaurant, which is regarded as one of the top restaurants in Lima.
The restaurant, located on a quiet street is set in an old colonial house in the Miraflores district of Lima.  The interior is comfortable, not stuffy like you can often expect from top end restaurants. The back end of the dining [Continue reading...]

In researching Peruvian music, I’ve recently become aware of a certain unspoken phenomenon. Within the last ten to fifteen years, the female presence in rock, electronic and punk music has just become overwhelming. This doesn’t seem to be one of those intentional and actively-staged rebellions but, rather, a natural progression; one which is very logical when one examines all of the things that already make Peru so spiritedly independent amongst other Latin American countries. Basically, the cosmic beard fest that tends to envelop the bulk of the louder electro, rock, garage, metal and punk music throughout the Americas has a much less fierce pull in this particular area of the world. And that’s really a good thing.
Much like in Japan, the role reversal in music has become very apparent in [Continue reading...]

Flooded with graffiti-like artwork, the small music venue “La Casa de Auxilio”, or the House of Help, was the location for our Friday night entertainment this past weekend.

The Zampoña — I had never even heard of the instrument before Peru, so if you are like I was and hadn’t heard the beautiful sound of a zampoña before, you are in for a treat.  In addition to the guitar and charango (a guitar-like instrument), the zampoña is a marked instrument of Peru and the Andes region.  It dates back to at least the Incas and possibly even further.  The only examples I can think of that anyone might know is that reoccurring flute-like melody in the beginning of the Lion King’s “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” or in the interlude of “The Circle of Life”.  Yeah, that’s right – I listen to the Lion King soundtrack.  Actually, it was mostly arranged by Elton John and musically [Continue reading...]