Living in Peru : your everyday companion

By Martin Huancas, El Comercio
Adapted from Spanish by Diana Schwalb

An unexpected purchase, a mysterious dream, but above all an immense faith and a good sazón were the first ingredients that Gloria Maria Zaga used 30 years ago to establish Las Flores, the best traditional restaurant of Ayacucho.

However, the road to get where she is now was not carpeted with rose petals. Men in ski masks and envious restaurant owners wanted to break this family business, but all they accomplished was to strengthen it, so much that the owner is now considering taking a leap and going to conquer the capital with her famous cuy, the guinea pigs and typical meat of Peru's Andean cuisine.

Here come the Guinea Pigs
The story of this business began with the purchase of 135 cuys, during a mysterious meeting preceded by a dream. Doña Gloria, a pious woman, says that divine help had to do with this unexpected acquisition, since she did not even know how to raise the Andean rodent. Three of her four children work in the business today, while the fourth one, a girl, helps with prayer, but from a convent in Nicaragua.

Related in LivinginPeru.com Read more travel stories about Ayacucho. Where to eat cuy in Lima. Cuy Humor. (It's a whole comedic genre.)

Gloria’s assistant is her daughter, who bears her same name. She manages the family business and has made it into a three-story restaurant that overlooks a beautiful valley. The gastronomic sector is so profitable that in the last five years, other thirteen restaurants offering the same product have opened in the area. “The competition has emerged in recent years,” says Gloria the daughter. “This has prompted us to grow and improve our service. The clients who come here are able to appreciate this.” 

To improve customer service, Las Flores receives payments by credit and debit cards and the premises now have capacity to serve 200 people. They have even begun to operate a delivery service.

In the Kitchen
The menu in Las Flores is not varied, but the diners do not care. They all go for the wood-grilled guinea pig, prepared under strict sanitary measures and following a defined cooking process. In the kitchen, the combination of ingredients used to prepare the guinea pig is kept a secret.

“Few are those who come here and do not eat cuy; for them, we have trout, roasted pork and pig. But most cannot resist the temptation to try the cuy,” smiles Gloria’s daughter.

The process that ends in the plate of hungry diners does not start in the kitchen but in the family guinea pig farm and in nearby rural communities, which provide for this restaurant exclusively.

It's three in the afternoon on a Friday and people do not stop arriving at Las Flores. Just like the guinea pigs do not stop emerging from Gloria’s kitchen to satisfy even the most intense hunger.

tags : Peru travel Ayacucho Andes food

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