El Tule, Lambertville, NJ

Ever since Redneckhunter and I honeymooned in Peru, we've been disappointed with ceviche back home, until we heard rave reviews of El Tule from a friend of ours who had also been to Peru.

When you see El Tule from the street, there's no indication that it's a Peruvian restaurant.  The sign says Mexican Restaurant, with only a hand written chalkboard mentioning Peruvian cuisine.  Indeed they have 2 separate menus.

We were definitely there for Peruvian though, and quickly made them take away the Mexican menu.  We had even stopped at the liquor store to bring a six-pack of the native Cusqueña beer to the BYOB -- which the owner noticed and approved of.

There was a lot on the menu I wanted to try, but we had to make some choices.  So to get the most variety in fish, we opted for the ceviche trilogy and the tiradito trilogy.  Ceviche is marinated raw fish, so the texture gets firmer almost as if it were cooked -- the 3 varieties were Limeño (white fish marinated in lime, red onions, and cilantro), Mixto (with fish, shrimp, octopus, and calamari) - both served with those great big Peruvian corn kernels - both fresh and toasted and sweet potatoes - and Chifa (Chinese-influenced with pickled vegetables, black sesame, and peanuts).  Tiradito, instead, is not marinated -- just raw fish (like sashimi) with a sauce.  The three varieties were

yellow Peruvian pepper sauce, rocoto serrano cream, and Peruvian botija olive sauce. Everything was fresh and flavorful.  Because of our dinner companion we opted for just medium spiciness.  Even the red peppers were not too bad, not like the killer ones in Peru.

Then, so that we wouldn't overdose on fish, we also ordered a steak -- Bistec a lo Pobre, or "Poor man's steak."  We liked how the menu referred to its "beefy goodness" complemented by fried potatoes, fried plantains, fried egg, and rice.

 We were pretty full and thinking about passing on dessert when 3 words were uttered: "tres leches cake."  But since the other desserts sounded tempting too, we also got a flan and rice pudding.  Actually the tres leches was disappointing, so it's good we got the others.  The rice pudding was voted the favorite, followed by the flan, which had a nice caramelized, almost coffee flavor. 

El Tule
49 North Main Street
Lambertville, NJ 08530
(609) 773-0007

R&R Tacqueria, Elkridge, MD

I read on Howchow's blog about the R&R Tacqueria recently, and, being a fan of tacos, I decided to drop by. It's located inside a Shell gas station off route 175 in Elkridge, MD, just up the road from Jessup.
On my first trip out, I ordered 2 tacos: al pastor and carnitas. ($2 each!) Both were very tasty.

I also ordered their fish & shrimp ceviche, which was set on a freshly fried corn tortilla with avocado.
For such simple environs, they were putting out very delicious and inexpensive food.
I recently stopped again one evening, and they had a mole poblano special for $8. I had to get it. It was a quarter chicken smothered in a slightly oily mole sauce with rice, beans and cheese. Pretty impressive for takeout.


7894 Washington Blvd
Elkridge, MD
(410) 799-0001

Talara, Baltimore

So I think that eating ceviche in Peru has sadly now spoiled us for ever having it in this country again. Being at the harbor for a day-long ska concert, we left the venue to grab some dinner within walking distance. We had passed Talara, a Latin fusion ceviche place earlier, so decided to try it.

Our first sign should have been when the waiter didn't know how to pronounce Tecate, the beer. It's not that the place was bad, just way overpriced for what it was. We started off by ordering a 3 ceviche sampler for $24 - your choice of fish and preparation. We got a Curried Tropical Fruit ceviche with shrimp, a tiradito with tuna, and avocado and corn ceviche with scallops. I'd say the whole plate was half as much fish as a single $8 serving of anything we ate in Peru, and the flavors not nearly as fresh and piquant.

Then we ordered a few tapas: Mojo Criollo Pork Shank ($9), Pulled chicken tostadas ($8), and roasted corn and goat cheese croquettas ($8). Everything was pretty tasty, but small, small, small... We just about each got 1 bite of each dish, and that was it.

The one thing that was really disappointing on the menu was the tres leches cake. Not only too small, but way too dry.

Talara
615 President Street
Baltimore, MD
410-528-9883

Alfresco Cevicheria, Lima, Peru

Back in Lima on our last day before flying home, we knew we had to have ceviche again. This time we tried Alfresco, a place in Miraflores recommended by a concierge. This time, having an extra mouth to help in eating (a fellow traveler from New York), we were glad we could order a variety and maybe even finish them. We started with a platter of grilled seafood -- squid, fish, octopus, shrimp, and scallops.

We then ordered 2 of the cold ceviches -- one was the Alfresco specialty (which apparently was voted a favorite of Lima). The other was a ceviche mixto.

Finally, we finished off with a seafood rice. This was so delicious - my favorite dish. Thought we could handle all this food with an extra person, but at the end of the meal I was still absolutely stuffed!

Alfresco
Malecon Balco 790
Miraflores, Lima

Pescados Capitales, Lima, Peru

The first of several posts of our honeymoon culinary adventures in Peru. So one of the things that pushed Peru over for us as a honeymoon destination was that Lima was called The Next Great Food City by Bon Appetit magazine.

We flew in to Lima at 6:30 am, took a harrowing taxi ride across town to our hotel, checked in, took a nap and a shower, then head out for lunch. Our first stop was Pescados Capitales in the seaside Miraflores neighborhood. Our friend Debbie had given us the meal as a wedding present. The restaurant also had been mentioned in the NY Times 36 Hours in Lima. The title of the restaurant is a play on words. In Spanish, "pescados" means fish, and "pecados" means sins, so everything on the menu is based around the 7 deadly sins.

Redneckhunter started out with the ubiqitous national drink -- a Pisco Sour -- pisco grape brandy, lime juice, simple syrup, egg white and Angostura bitters. Then we ordered 3 ceviches and 1 appetizer, thinking of US-sized ceviche portions... it was WAY too much food... I think you really need to have ceviche with a big group of people so that each person gets a bite and you can try a little bit of a lot of things.

Our first dish was a "Pecaito" a minor sin -- Conchitas a la Chalaca -- scallops in the shell with chopped red onion, new peas, lime juice, and chili.

The second one (pictured on top) was my favorite. This one was actually a Virtue rather than a sin: Temperance: Tiradito of Tuna -- with asparagus and mushrooms and a sauce of honey, olive oil, and orange juice. The traditional way to serve ceviche in Peru is with sweet potato and corn, the sweetness of them complementing the sourness of the ceviche marinade.

By the time the third dish came around, I was already pretty full. Another Virtue: Generosity: Ceviche Capital 3 x 3 -- three types of fish -- sole, salmon, and tuna, mixed with three types of onion -- white, red, and green, and three types of peppers.

When we didn't finish this one, the waiters were very concerned that we didn't like it, so we tried to explain that we were just too ambitious in our ordering...

Because it was a hot dish, they actually brought our appetizer out last. Redneckhunter loves the made up pseudo-Polynesian/Asian finger food known as Crab Rangoon, so when he saw these Tequenos on the menu, he wanted them -- Fried wonton wrappers stuffed with shrimp. The photo doesn't convey just how large these things were - we're not talking bite-size - each was about 4 inches long!

Pescados Capitales
1337 Avenida La Mar
Miraflores
Lima, Peru

Girls Cooking Night: Fruit and Meat

Last week's Girls Cooking Night theme was fruit and meat - excellent theme inspired by 1000yregg love of the combo. I have to say we all thought it was one of the best meals yet.

To the left, is brownie's scallop and mango ceviche. Clockwise, above: Melissa made a salad with perfectly crisp and smoky bacon and cranberries; Debbie made tacos with chicken, mango, and roasted red peppers; Kim made a Moroccan lamb stew with apricot and lemon; and I made a Cuban pork and banana stew.

For dessert we decided eggs counted as a meat, so Marian's decadent chocolate mousse served with strawberries ended the meal.

Finally, because he was too cute to resist, we've allowed a new male member to girls cooking night... Welcome little Matthew!

Girls Cooking Night: Green

For our last girls cooking night on March 17, we went with a St. Patrick's theme and all made green food.

We started off with green-flecked scallop ceviche in a coconut milk base with avocado, chiles, and cilantro.

My contribution was a pureed asparagus and leek soup with just touch of cream.

Our main dish was a green curry with chicken, eggplant and snowpeas, with crushed basil and peanuts, over thick rice noodles, accompanied by a spinach salad with a bacon raspberry dressing.

We finished the meal with two great green-themed desserts: creme-de-menthe mint chocolate bars, and key lime pie with a delicious pecan graham crust.

Our recent new mom member made a really pretty green pea hummus. Sadly, baby kept her from being able to make it, but she participated by proxy with her shamrock-garnished dish.

Girls Cooking Night: Raw Food

The girls and I had our most ambitious cooking night yet. We decided to make raw foods, as in the "Raw Food" movement. Brownie pointed us to this Green Chefs site for recipe ideas.















We started out with Melissa's delicious fruit and tomato gazpacho, and Kim's whitefish and scallop ceviches.









I made nori rolls which used cauliflower chopped in the blender to mimic the rice.



I think perhaps only brownie and Marian truly followed all the "Raw Food" rules -- nothing over 110 degrees and vegan. Fish, of course... not vegan. Nori... roasted. Dessert... made with honey.

Brownie's lasagna was not only pretty but yummy. The "cheese" was made of pureed pine nuts. The zucchini and tomatoes were sliced so thin to serve as the lasagna sheets. Marian's beet ravioli (also really pretty) had mandolined beets, soaked in olive oil and lemon as the pasta. The "cheese" filling was pureed cashews and seasonings, and a pureed red pepper sauce.


Debbie made desserts. The no-bake cookies were really good. Like cookie batter or peanut butter balls. The carrot cake was so rich and sticky-sweet, we could only eat tiny slivers. I had also made a tofu chocolate pudding. I've made this before with melted chocolate and it's yummy, but to follow the raw rules, I used cocoa instead. It came out soupier and less thick than with melted chocolate -- when the chocolate rechills I'm sure it helps gel up the pudding. Without that, it's just the tofu giving it any body. Maybe a firmer tofu would have helped.