Tierra Unica

Photos Of Peru's Ollas y Sueños (Cooking Up Dreams)!

A set of pictures and images from the Peruvian documentary "Ollas y Sueños" (Cooking Up Dreams) released in August, 2009 about the 500 years of fusion (mixture) cuisine in Peru. 

Peru is the birthplace of world fusion cuisine and the cultural mixture and miscegenation (marriage) of ancient native cuisines with that of several different types of cuisines of four continents. 

Ask.com wrote - "Thanks to pre-Inca and Inca heritage and to Spanish, Basque, African, Sino-Cantonese, Japanese and finally Italian, French and British immigration (mainly throughout the 19th century), Peruvian Cuisine combines the flavors of four continents.  With the eclectic variety of traditional dishes, the Peruvian culinary arts are in constant evolution, and impossible to list in their entirety.  Suffice it to mention that along the Peruvian coast alone there are more than two thousand different types of soups, and that there are more than 250 traditional desserts.  

The great variety in Peruvian Cuisine stems from three major influences:

• Peru's unique geography, 84 of the 104 possible life zones on Earth according to Holdridge

• Peru's openness and blending of distinct races and cultures

• The incorporation of ancient cuisine into modern Peruvian Cuisine"

Peru - A Food obsess Nation  

Peruvian Cuisine is one of the main driving forces of Peru’s rapid economic development in the last 15 years, and growing national pride.  Similar to France, Spain, Italy, and Japan, cuisine in Peru, and the people that make it, are respected at all levels of society.  It is the most revealing aspect of Peruvian society, more so than music, art, or futbol (soccer).   Guarango's De Ollas y Sueños, (Cooking Up Dreams), is a beautiful filmed released last year which opened to much domestic and international acclaim.  The film follows Peruvian Cuisine around Peru and around the world. 

Peru is considered one of the most important center for the genetic diversity of the world's crops:

• Choclo (corn), 35 varieties
• Tomatoes, 15 species
• Potatoes, Peru is the birthplace of the potato.  The Ancient Peruvians (pre-Inca civilizations) cultivated and domesticated the potato almost 10,000 years ago.  Of the roughly 4,500 varieties of potatoes on Earth, 3,000 are indigenous to Peru.
• Sweet Potatoes, 150 varieties
• Peanuts are native to Peru and were taken by Spanish and Portuguese merchants to Africa.
• Fruit, 650 native species

 

 

Cooking Up Dreams (Trailer) - Ollas y Sueños!

via www.vimeo.com

Cooking Up Dreams (Trailer) - Ollas y Sueños:  This excellent documentary about the Peruvian Cuisine movement and the hottest food trend world-wide over the last few years was released last Fall in Lima, Peru.  It will premiere for the first time in the U.S. this weekend in New York, Chicago, Texas and Toronto.  This movie is about the 500 years of cultural mixture or miscegenation (not fusion) of Peru with respect to it's rich gastronomical history, culture, migration, and it's various foods and cuisines within the country and abroad.     

San Francisco Chronicle's SF Gate quote - "NO CON-FUSION HERE: "The very first place there was fusion cuisine was Peru." -- Chef Patricio Gaston Herrera, relating how New World and Old World cuisines melded nearly 500 years ago with arrival of "invaders" -- the Spanish."

The premiere will take place on Saturday April 17, 2010 at the Havana Film Festival in Manhattan, New York, an important showcase for Latin American cinema.  I've seen this excellent film about Peru & Peruvian Cuisine. It is a must see!!!!

Details of Cooking Up Dreams (Trailer) - Ollas y Sueños:

Feature Documentary: "Cooking Up Dreams" Original title: De Ollas y Sueños

Directed by: Ernesto Cabellos

Produced by: Televisión América Latina (TAL) and Guarango Association

Format: HDV 1080i60 Release date: August 2009 (Lima, Peru)

Images of Peruvian Cuisine and the international & domestic chefs in the documentary:

"Mesa de Chefs" (The Chefs Table)

 

   

 

Picture of Teresa Izquierdo (Afro-Criollo Peruvian Cuisine), Gaston Acurio (Haute-Peruvian Cuisine), and Hector Solis (traditional Criollo Peruvian Cuisine).

Bernardo Roca Rey - restaurateur, local newspaper owner, and one of the founders of the "Novo Andino" (New Andean) cuisine movement in Peru and abroad dating back to the early-1980s.

 

Peru is the birthplace of the potato.  The Ancient Peruvians (pre-Inca civilizations) cultivated and domesticated the potato almost 10,000 years ago.  Of the roughly 4,500 varieties of potatoes on Earth, 3,000 are indigenous to Peru.  

Ernesto Cabello - Peruvian film director of Ollays y Sueños (Cooking Up Dreams)

Johnny Schuler - Pisco (Peruvian Brandy) ambassador, President of the Peruvian Pisco Association, TV personality, Pisco entrepreneur, and big investor of the U.S. Pisco market.  

In Peru, there are hundreds of variety of "Choclo" (Peruvian corn).

 

The world famous "Choclo Blanco Gigante de Cuzco" (giant Peruvian white corn of Cusco).  The delicious  "Choclo Cusco" is the biggest corn in the world, they grow abundantly around the Valley of the Incas.

 
Top celebrity chefs leading the Peruvian Cuisine world conquest movement - Peru's Toshiro Konishi (Peruvian-Japanese Mixed Cuisine called "Nikkei"), Spain's Juan Mari Arzak (haute Spanish-Basque Cuisine), and Peru's Gaston Acurio.

Peru's Gaston Acurio - The #1 celebrity chef in all Latin America, owner of La Mar Cebicheria Peruana, Astrid y Gaston, & Tanta restaurant brand, TV personality, and leader of the Peruvian Cuisine movement world-wide. 

 

Ferran Adria (haute Spanish Molecular Cuisine) - The #1 celebrity chef in the world, owner of Bulli (highest Michelin rated restaurant in the world), and now follower of Peru's Gaston Acurio and Pedro Miguel Schiaffino.  

Pedro Miguel Schiaffino - Leader of Peru's haute Amazonian Cuisine movement, chef professor, and owner of Malabar in San Isidro, Peru (Food & Wine Magazine's 4th best bar in the world).

  

Winner Of The Miss Peru Universe 2009 Pageant - Karen Schwarz Espinoza!

Here is the new Miss Peru Universe 2009 Pageant champion - 24 year old Karen Schwarz Espinoza!  This beauty is extremely exotic, she is a "Criolla Amazonica" - a Peruvian girl of Spanish, German, and indigenous Amazonian heritage!

Look at the exotically beautiful Miss Schwarz of Amazonas, Peru sporting a spectacular figure!  Definitely a very bright, well spoken, and confident girl - a champion written all over her!!!

Karen Schwarz - Miss Peru Universe 2009.

A few single shots of Karen Schwarz Espinoza:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Peru! - ¡Feliz Cumpleaños Perú!

Today is the 188th Anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Peru from Spain!  But it has over 10,000 years of scientifically verified history.  The domestication of the potato in Peru has been verified by European and American scientists to be 8,000 years before Christ!

From Alaska, USA to Tierra de Fuego, Argentina, Peru is the oldest civilization in all the Americas.  In northern Peru, Caral has been verified by European scientists to be over 2,000 years older than the oldest Mayan civilization in Guatemala and Southern Mexico.

In Latin America, Peru has no rival when it comes its archaeological, biological, historical, religious (Catholicism) and culture influence (especially in South America).  When it comes to its historical alliance to Spain, the Viceroyalty of Peru or Viceroyalty of New Castile (el Virreinato del Peru o el Virreinato de Nuevo Castilla) was the largest, richest, and most powerful viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire from the 15th, 16th, and 17th century.  Lima, Peru was capital of practically all of South America, including Brazil!                   

In world significance, Peru's ancient civilizations are as old as Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), Egypt, China, and India.

On a global scale, Peru is by far the most biologically diverse country in the world with the most animals, fishes, incests, birds, and plant species in the Peruvian Amazon (lowland & highland jungles), tropical Andes, Andean glaciers, and coastal deserts.

Here, in high-definition (HD), is the national anthem of Peru with spectacular scenery of present day Peru.  The anthem is not well known like the U.S., French, or English one; but if you hear it to its entirety you will come to the conclusion that it has to be among the most beautiful anthems.

Listen to the instrumental version in the 1st-half and then listen in the 2nd-half to the vocal version by Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez, argumentatively the best tenor in the world today and heir to Spanish great Placido Domingo.         

Happy Birthday Peru! - ¡Feliz cumpleaños Perú!

Peruvian Anthem in HD cinemascope 2.35:1 ratio - Stereo Sound.  New comprehensive English translation subtitles.   See spectacular scenery of Machu-Picchu, the Peruvian coast, Lima and other inland places.  Peru - a large Latin American republic in the mid-west of South America on the equator and south of the equator.

Map of Peru during most of the colonial era - Virreinato/Virreynato del Perú Viceroyalty of Peru - The "Peruvian Empire" so to speak.  Quote - "If Spain is the motherland of Latin America, Peru is the motherland of South American."  Originally stated by King Juan Carlos of Spain in 2007 and later used by current President of Peru, Dr. Alan Garcia in 2008.   

Present day Peru, Central and South America.
 
Juan Diego Florez and his wife, fashion model Julia Trappe.

Look At What Oil Companies Are Doing To the Ecuadorian Rainforest - Amazon Crude!

This program was aired last month on 60 Minutes that focused on the class action lawsuit against Chevron for deliberately contaminating the Ecuadorian Amazon and causing a wave of cancer and miscarriages in the region.  Here is more info about this lawsuit at a site called ChevronToxico - The Campaign For Justice In Ecuador.

Ecuador is second only to Peru as the most biologically diverse country in the world.  

But the real "Battle for Mother Earth" is in Peru itself.  Currently, as I write this blog post, in a small region of the Peruvian Amazon there is a deadly battle for man vs nature, capitalism vs socialism, The State vs The Individual, and big international business vs small communal local business.  (Ohhh, that sounds so familiar....)

Part 1

Part 2

60 Minutes on May 7, 2009 - Amazon Crude.

Image of discarded oil waste in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

PS. Yeah, this sounds so familiar because we used to do this wide spread dumping of oil waste in our rivers, lakes, and oceans here in the United State 100 years ago. Just look at those archive pictures of the oil industry in Ohio and Pennsylvania during the John D. Rockefeller and Robber Barron era, 1870 - 1930.  What environmental tragedy!  

Pre-Mother's Day - Very Rare Jaguar Born In Captivity In Lima, Peru!

A very rare baby jaguar was born in the main zoo of Lima, Peru on April 14, 2009.  It is no ordinary jaguar, but a beauty Peruvian Amazonian Black Panther (Panthera onca).

A little black jaguar, locally known as “Otorongo” that was born in captivity in the Parque de las Leyendas, the biggest zoo in Lima, was presented to the public yesterday.   

Yesterday was the presentation of the "Cria" (baby animal) to the news media and general public.  A pre-Mother's Day celebration to all animal lovers.

Here are more pictures of the "Bebe Otorongo".

Extraterrestrial Filmed In The Peruvian Amazon - El Hombre De Quives!

Extraterrestrial Filmed In The Peruvian Amazon - El Hombre De Quives!  It looks real and very spooky.  (Expand the media player below to see it full-screen.)

Here is the official write up from Hale Kaden, editor and Investigator of the Unknown, UFOs, Abductions, missing time, and the Paranormal for the State of Maine, USA.

Editor's Note: From a personal standpoint, I am posting this report reluctantly.  Quite a few of our readers have written and asked me about the video below, and the truth is, I can't say for certain, but my first impression is that it looks genuine.  If any of you video experts can provide supportive evidence, send me your findings and opinions, and I will consider them.

UFO activity in Peru seems to have reached new heights recently with reports of sightings becoming almost a daily occurrence.  Many are convinced that a secret UFO base exists somewhere in the region, possibly disguised by a lake (Lake Titicaca?).  A disproportionate number of UFO sightings do seem to involve bodies of water in this part of the world.

Now this video that might contain footage of an actual Extraterrestrial is making national headlines and causing a sensation amongst UFO and alien hunters in Peru and abroad.  The video was taken in the Santa Rosa de Quives region of the Canta province.  The area is considered to be holy to Peruvian Catholics and a place where people come to pray for miracles.

Every August 30, a pilgrimage takes place here and it is believed the video was shot at that time last year, however only made public this month.

The creature depicted in the video is being referred to as Quives Man. The story has been covered by Peru's Capital Radio and Panamericana TV station as well as Channel Peru.  Needless to say, English language media have not picked up the story (that is until now).

A group of ufologists in Peru have carried out an analysis of the video and claim it contains a real alien.  The Peruvian government and scientists are looking at the video as well.  The video can be seen below:  Does it show an actual alien?  You be the judge. 

Ocelot Kittens From Peru Introduced To The Seattle Zoo!

Ocelot kittens, Novia and Corisandra, and their Mother, Bella, from the Peruvian Amazon explore their exhibit during their introduction to the public at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo.
Moche Ocelot. 200 A.D. Larco Museum Collection Lima, Peru. The Moche people of ancient Peru worshiped animals and often depicted the Ocelot in their art. Salvatore Dali in 1965 with his Ocelot friend at St Regis.

After I Gave Her That Valentine's Day Gift, Look At What She Gave Me!

Folks,

After I gave her that Valentine's Day Gift, she tells her friends in Spanish: "Ese hombre es mio!"  English translation: That man is mines!

Look at what she gave me afterwords in the Amazon jungle in South America!!!

PS.  The hot, passionate, and steamy scenes are from the current U.S. Telemundo/Sony & Colombian worldwide telenovela hit called "Doña Barbara".  Let me see if you know - What are the names and countries of origin of these Latin actors in the video?    

Siberian Husky Mom Nurses Baby Amazonian Black Panther!

A momma panther from the Amazon, South America suffered great distress during the bombing of 1999. and since then she kills her cubs. Therefore, employees of Belgrade Zoo had to find surrogate mother. That was their husky female dog - Blacky.

Screen shot of the video below:

The little black panther was born in Belgrade Zoo, but his biological mother rejected him so they had to find another animal to be his mother, and this prize winning Husky accepted him like her own.