As the weather gets colder, our palates are yearning for all things hearty and spicy to warm our winter bellies. So it’s perfect timing for the launch of NYC’s first #PeruPicanteNYC restaurant week. Over 10 days starting December 8th, 8 Peruvian restaurants around the city will be serving up prix-fixe menus designed to showcase and promote an ingredient that renowned Chef Gaston Acurio has called Peru’s most important: aji amarillo.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of aji amarillo in Peruvian cooking. As my mother firmly reminded when I was home over Thanksgiving, the yellow chili pepper is essential to many of our most famous dishes – they are the underpinning of everything from ceviches (giving them the hint of heat that is said to cure hangovers) to starchy dishes like papa a la huancaina and causa, to beef and chicken dishes like lomo saltado and aji de gallina. Occasionally likened to a milder scotch bonnet pepper, aji amarillo stands out for the subtle, but full-bodied fruity undertones in its flavor.
Learn about the participating restaurants below, and check out the official website here.
• Chimu (Williamsburg-Brooklyn)
• Cocoroco (Park Slope-Brooklyn)
• Jora (Long Island City-Queens)
• Panca (West Village-Manhattan)
• Pio Pio (Midtown & Upper West Side)
• Raymi (Chelsea-Manhattan)
• Surfish (Park Slope-Brooklyn)
• Warique (Upper West-Manhattan)