peru is a country that s historically driven men mad, mad for gold, for coca, for its magical, ancient history. but now, there s something else drawing outsiders to its hidden mountain valleys. we love this stuff. we obsess about it, gorge on it, and fetishize it. i m talking about chocolate. once a common treat, it s now becoming as nuanced as fine wine, making the pursuit of the raw, good stuff all the more difficult. i m joining that hunt in remotest peru, but not before i ve re-immersed myself in the booming lima food scene. i took a walk through this beautiful world. felt the cool rain on my shoulder. found something good in this beautiful world. i m in peru with this guy, eric ripert. the guy was looking at us. he went into the tree. that s funny. chef of the world-famous restaurant, le bernardin, in new york, to look at where chocolate comes from, particularly our chocolate. so that s why we re in peru. but before we get all indiana jones, we re spending so
eric: wow. anthony: a torrent, a deluge of traditional peruvian favorites. marissa: this is a causa with crabmeat, the yellow potato, and avocado, and we love avocado. anthony: causa de congrejo is like a tureen of crabmeat, eggs, avocado, and mashed yellow potatoes. eric: okay. marissa: this is a tiradito, ceviche from the coast. anthony: beautiful. tiradito de pejerrey, basically raw king fish filets dressed with aji amarillo and lime juice. perfect. marissa: and that s scallop ceviche. coque: a ceviche. eric: ceviche for sure. anthony: ceviche de conchas, fresh scallops with lemon juice, garlic and aji limon. [ coque speaking spanish ] anthony: drum fish braised in chichi de jora, a corn-based beer. eric: they look fantastic, huh? marissa: this is a rocoto. eric: spicy or not? marissa: it is very spicy. eric: very spicy, okay. anthony: oh, that sounds good. oh, and stuffed rocoto peppers filled with ground beef and raisins served with parilla chee
coque s mom, marissa guiulfo, is like peru s julia child marissa: welcome. anthony: james beard rolled into one. thank you for having us. a caterer, cookbook author, beloved icon of peruvian gastronomy. coque: this is the yucca. anthony: oh yeah, i m going in. to say one is fortunate to enjoy her hospitality would be an understatement. marissa: pisco sour? anthony: oh yes. yeah. definitely. eric: i d love one. anthony: warm, generous, welcoming beyond belief. marissa: it s too bad that you have to leave so soon. anthony: yeah. coque: normally we we have lunch late, uh, like 5:00, or anthony: do you nap before lunch or after? coque: both. anthony: both. [ laughter ] sounds like paradise. wow, look at this. every weekend, marissa opens the house to an ever-changing mob of friends, visitors, drop-ins, and family. coque: this is fantastic. anthony: they do not skimp on the food. delicious, delicious things pour out of the kitchen.
eric: are we lucky, or what? anthony: we are lucky. and that s just the beginning. there s so much more food, there s no way we could show it all, much less describe it. it s incredible, overwhelming, invariably fresh and delicious and thrillingly different than what i m used to. eric: yeah, it s fantastic. anthony: i could frankly get out of the chocolate business right now, put up a pup tent on marissa s porch, and pretty much dig in for the duration. this is living. eric: that s nice. anthony: yeah. eric: those little fish are amazing. they re so fresh. anthony: i want to be her next-door neighbor. eric: it s incredible. anthony: wow. eric: it s so good. anthony: so, has peruvian cuisine always been this diverse and this delicious and we re just discovering it, or has it changed over the last 15 years? coque: it s change it s changing anyway, but you know, what you re eating now, it s the traditional food. anthony: there s so many products in peru that
marissa: there is a lot of ingredients, good ingredients, all year round. eric: the rocoto is very good. anthony: what do you do when you re homesick for peruvian food, uh, in your traveling? there s really no coque: we take some always some chilies with us in the, you know, the luggage. we are the perfect, uh, smugglers. eric: i believe you. i believe you do it, man. [ laughter ] anthony: i hate to say goodbye to this, but it is what it is. things to do, places to go, wild and apparently extremely rare cacao trees to visit. incredible meal. so happy. marissa: thank you. anthony: so happy. [ women singing in spanish ] anthony: all i could say is, if people are anywhere near this nice on the rest of this trip, it s going to be okay. lima, city of kings, home to a third of peru s people.