Who made the salad?

Vegetables are fresh, inexpensive, and readily available in Peru. The varieties are plentiful and varied. Daily you can go out and get any type of seasonal vegetable you want: potatoes (yellow, white, or sweet), onions, corn (yellow or purple) garlic, lettuce (organic and iceberg), carrots, tomatoes, casaba by the slice, herbs, cilantro, peppers, a cornucopia of vegetables.

The other day I wanted to make a salad. After eating too much bread I decided salad was a better alternative. I went 2 blocks from my home to Calle Jose Gonzalez between Orcharan and Colon. There, six days a week, Monday through Saturday, you can find Carlos Alberto Lopez Zamora.

Carlos began selling vegetables with his father 45 years ago. His father, now 83, began selling vegetables when he was 24. At 52, Carlos is a fixture in Miraflores for his customers that depend on him daily and weekly: buying the fresh items as needed. He has operated his own stand for 26 years.

Carlos is married, over 30 years, with four children: two boys and two girls ages 28 to 15. He lives in Surco. Working his push cart six days a week, through rain, cold, or illness, he has provided for the family and cared for his customers.

While I was talking with him today at least 10 customers came by for tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes, or beans. He weighs the produce and bags it: most being sold by the kilo or per piece. I was amazed how many came and said "hola Carlos" before asking about what was available.One man picked his items and went back to his vehicle to leave. Carlos and I had been talking. As not to interrupt, the customer just looked up and said, "Sol ochenta" (S/.1.80), the amount of his purchase and drove off. Carlos said he would pay tomorrow.

Carlos' business is quite simple: a push cart, a scale, pad of paper to write the amounts down, a city license, and a broom to keep the street clean. He parks the cart only six blocks away from where he is seen everyday. His work however is not simple. Once, about 20 years ago, he was robbed of everything: money, cart, and inventory.

He only sleeps two to three hours a day. He buys his wares daily. For onions and potatoes he must go buy them at 10:00 PM. The rest of the vegetables he buys at 3:30 in the morning. He takes a cab to get the goods. Each day around 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning he is back at the push cart and open until 3:00. Sunday's are for the family.

The cart has provided for his family all these years with small sales each day. When I went to get my ingredients for my salad that day I only spent S/.3.80, or about $1.36. I got wonderful organic lettuce, cilantro, a tomato, some limes, carrot, and choclo: a white large kernel sweet corn you blanch for a few seconds and add to the salad. Carlos cut the corn off the ear for me there while I waited.

When you see him he may be clean shaved or scruffy faced, but he always is upbeat and happy to see you. I remember one day asking him what lettuce was best to make a salad. He quickly quipped with a grin, "Americana" (iceberg). I wasn't sure if he was teasing me re not, as he has a sense of humor.

When you come to Peru you can get great vegetables almost everywhere. The supermarkets, the mercados, even the bodegas (markets and small grocery stores) have them. Some are fresher than others depending on the day. The supermarkets tend to be more expensive, but have a wider variety. If you want not only produce, but an experience, come to Jose Gonzalez between Ocharan and Colon. There you will see Carlos and his offerings: fresh vegetables with a sense of peace. A joyful experience.

Manna from heaven- Our daily bread

It is almost impossible to walk 10 or more blocks in Lima without passing a panaderia: bakery. Daily fresh bread is a staple in the community. Loafs of bread are available in the panaderias but the bulk of the offering is a variety of individual breads slightly larger than rolls. One has their choice of dozens of styles of breads to choose from daily.

This morning I was faced with deciding between:

• Yema
• brioche
• flauta y salvado
• salvado
• ciabatta (3 varieties)
• frances

Some are sweet. Some have herbs or sesame. Some are savory. All are fresh, baked daily: twice a day in many cases, morning and afternoon. 

The four major grocery chains, Metro, Vivanda, Totus, and Plaza Vea, all have bread made on the premises. Each with the bread ovens in plain sight. The aroma when the bread is baking is enticing. In these chains, customers select their breads from bins using tongs. As baking trays are wheeled to the bins the bread is then slid directly into the bins. Those with the tongs in hand, and a paper bag in the other, have the upper edge: getting the fresh warm bread as it arrives. Once collected the customer takes their bagged bread to the counter to be weighed for pricing: usually about S/. 5 a kilo (about 81 cents US a pound). 

In the panaderias the breads are behind glass display cases. Here you call out your orders as an employee bags up the bread. My experience has been that the panaderias sell the bread per piece averaging 15 to 30 centimos (7 to 11 cents US) per bread. Some have a caja (cashier) where you pay in advance. Others have you pay after you select the bread.

The bread street merchants, dressed in white bakers clothes, invade the residential parts of town. On the street in the morning and afternoon you will find bread carts: white covered boxes measuring 2 meters by 1 meter by 1 1/2 meters on wheels, attached to the front of a bicycle or pushed manually like an old New York push cart. The cost for the bread from the carts is similar to the panaderias. 

What you get in convenience from the bread carts, having the bread on your corner, you give up in quality. I think it is the humidity the bread is exposed to outdoors. While it doesn't make the bread taste stale, it loses its freshness. I prefer to walk an extra block to the panderia for fresher bread.

The smell of bread is throughout the city. I remember 2 Sundays ago being on a combi. I had my eyes closed and the windows on the combi were slightly open. As we drove I was aware of the fresh smell of bread along the way twice: each time opening my eyes to see a panaderia.  

The smell of bread seams to provide some therapy for me as well. Whenever I smell the warm, yeasty scent of fresh bread I feel a sense of home, calm, and security. Bread is an aroma that allows you to close your eyes and instantly taste it in your mouth. 

My preference has been  (shown to the left) ciabattas of various varieties, plain, herbs, sesame, or whole wheat, and yema. The ciabattas have a hard crust with a soft center and the yema is soft thoughout with sesame seeds and a slight sweetness. Slicing them in half with a spread of butter it is such comfort food. I am not sure if I am eating for taste, which is wonderful, or for the calm comfort it brings.

I have been eating too much bread lately. I tend to buy more than I should eat in a day. It looks so good when I select it that my eyes want more than my body should have. Then I end up eating it all because day old bread doesn't provide the comfort that same day bread does. 

One delightful feature about the bread here is that if you buy too much you can make budin: a sweet bread pudding with cinnamon, clove, sugar, and sometimes raisins, nuts, or both. The panaderias all sell budin. This delectable dessert ensures that there is plenty of fresh bread for sale daily. If the panaderia's sales for the day leave left over bread it can made in the budin: eliminating waste and loss for the panaderia. However, adding to my waistline because I love the budin.

When you come to Peru be prepared to smell and eat bread. Fresh, warm, personal breads that you can choose daily. It is part of the experience of Peru: an experience I am going to leave you for now. The bread I bought to make the pictures in the blog is calling me and it would be a sin to have it turn into day old bread. Mmmmm  could you pass the butter, this is manna from heaven.