The restaurant is located in a suburb of Ghent in a small townhouse nestled among rows of houses with no other businesses in sight. Don’t be deterred, however, even if you find only one other couple inside. The place is small and cosy, its walls covered in photos of mountain-top panoramas and colourful hand-woven tapestries.
Owner Rossina Carnero left her home in Lima in 1989 to start a life with her Flemish husband, Gino. Cooking the diverse range of specialties from her homeland is her passion, so in 1996 the couple opened this bona-fide Peruvian restaurant. Rossina greets us at our table with a with a warm and friendly “Goedenavond”, her Dutch softened by a slight but undeniable Spanish accent. She suggests we try Peru’s national drink: pisco sour.
I’ve never enjoyed a cocktail so much in my life. Pisco, a strong grape-distilled brandy, is mixed with sugar, lime juice and egg whites, then whipped up into a frothy drink. The egg-white top is so creamy, I ignorantly ask whether she made it with milk or cream.
I’d come back again for the pisco sour alone, but I don’t have to. We get carried away and order two appetisers: poppers con guacamole and wan tan frito. The poppers are battered and fried spicy jalapeno peppers with sharp cheddar cheese oozing out of them. These come with a bowl of chunky homemade guacamole to offset the heat.
My dining companion also has a dish of greasy goodness in his wan tan frito, thin and crispy sheets of fried dough with a dab of meaty filling at one end. He hungrily dips these into the accompanying bowl of zesty salsa. There’s salad on the side to balance out such sinfully saturated starters.
Finally, the mains: For me, that’s cau cau, or chicken stew made with diced potatoes, peas and corn in a saffron broth. It’s as simple as it sounds, but no less tasty for it. The flavours are subtle, thanks to the pleasantly bitter, honey-like saffron. The dish is very hearty, not to mention healthy.
The aromatic platter across the table is lomo saltado, succulent strips of marinated sirloin in a spicy mixture of tomatoes, onions and lightly fried potatoes. It reminds us of an Asian wok dish, and for good reason. Peruvian cuisine is one of the most varied in the world due to the large number of explorers and immigrants landing there throughout history, including the Chinese and Japanese. Both of our dishes come served with a pot of fragrant white rice.
We wash it all down with a half-litre of house red, about which I pose yet another naïve question: Is it from Peru? “No,” Rossina assures me. “My country produces very little wine. This one is Spanish.” Not only did I have a delicious meal, in the end I also gained a few worldly lessons.
Morekstraat 457, Wondelgem (Ghent)
09.253.58.61
Wed-Sat 18.00-22.00, Sun 12.00-14.00 & 18.00-22.00
Mains: €10-€15
Authentic and diverse dishes from mystical Peru, plus great personal service
Contact Bite at flandersbite@gmail.com
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