Flavours of the Andes

I would love to travel to places around the world where I can try foods that aren't available in Canada but my bank account won't let me.  So I love it when there are events in Toronto that showcase regional flavours and culture from around the world.

On Friday May 22nd Air Canada Rouge presented Andean Flavours at 2nd Floor Events on King Street West.

It was an interesting mix of an event in a loft style space that is a bar and event space there was all kinds of things going on in the space.   When I arrived there was a backdrop of Peru outside that was then moved inside for some great photo taking.  This is what it might look like if I was able to travel to Peru.

They handed out drink tickets but they also had mango drinks and another juice that looked like grape juice that they were passing around.  As you can see from the photo I tried the signature PISCO SOUR with my drink ticket.  Tasty and refreshing.

There were tables with different vendors showcasing different products from different regions in the Andes.  You could purchase some of the products but I didn't have any cash on hand so I didn't.
There was juices, chocolate, nuts, spicy sauces, plantain and cassava chips, olive oil and a few other products.

There was a DJ pumping music and there was also a small band and some dancers came out for one dance.

On the one side of the room where the bar was there were cocktails you could purchase as well as different food vendors that were sampling all kinds of great things.

One of my favourite things that I had was the fresh CEVICHE.  I mean fresh when I say the chef just mixed it up and served it to me.  I was there early so I was one of the first people to get some before the lines got pretty long.

One of the other dishes I loved was the Chicharron with pisco cured fish on top.  One of the most interesting things was the Pisco spheres, a jello type of thing with the liquid inside. I guess there version of a jelly shot.  Another chef made a salad using Quinoa pops and a raisin type of berry, I'm not sure of the name of them but they were mixed into a spinach salad with palm hearts.  He also made a corn puree with grilled shrimp.

There was a cocktail lady making up some crazy science experiment looking pineapple carbonated cocktails and she used dry ice to make it activate.

The event was well organized but it would have been nice if a couple of the food lines weren't so long but that's the price you pay for fresh food.

You also had a chance to win a trip to Lima, Peru.. Unfortunately I didn't win so I won't be able to do a blog post about the real place for now.  I have a couple of friends that did go to Peru and loved it there so it's on my list if I ever win a lottery.