June 28th is a national holiday; ceviche is loved in Peru, where it is generally considered to be part of the national heritage.
"Peru is the only country in the whole world where food is the most important thing. You go to Brazil, it's soccer. If you go to Colombia, it's music. But in Peru, the most important source of pride is food." - Gaston Acurio, Peru’s most famous chef.
And that is why today we celebrate our ceviche! As the mother country of ceviche, we are very proud that you can find ceviches all over the world, under various names with different ingredients. In Peru we have many types of ceviche, using fish, seafood, veggies, fruit or meat. Some examples: ceviche clásico or simple, ceviche caretillero with fried squid heads, ceviche mixto with fish and seafood, ceviche de pulpo and ceviche de concha negras (black shells) in coastal Peru, ceviche de camarones (shrimps) in in the Arequipa area, ceviche de champignones y ceviche de tarwi beans in the Ancash region in the Andes, ceviche nikkei, ceviche amazónico with fish, chillies and palm heart in Iquitos in the Amazon, chinguirito with cured or dried guitarfish in the Piura region, and ceviche de criadilla with frozen testicles of bulls in Cajamarca.
Here three recipes we love to eat in Peru, so that you all can celebrate with us in style! Ceviche clásico, ceviche carretillero and mangoviche.