Year: 2025

Peru, Chile, and Easter Island—Part 6

La Cocina de Peru—Causa at Mama Yacchi’s

As we wound down into the Colca Canyon, the scenery became increasingly wet, fertile, and agricultural.

But, the locals also became increasingly possessive…

Tourists must pay to enter the valley!

Our lunchtime destination—el Pueblo de Coporaque.

La Casa de Mama Yacchi—hotel and restaurant
We sat down to lunch not quite sure what to expect.

We sat down to a Peruvian lunch unlike anything we had experienced anywhere else in the world—Causa hecho a mano, mano nuestro—made by hand, our hand.

We were given these steel cylinder forms and shown how to assemble Peru’s signature potato dish—a stacked casserole of alternating layers of mashed potato, fish or meat, vegetables, greens, and seasonings.
One of the neater stacks. Well done!
Perhaps not as neat but just as delicious!

Each one of us made our own creation out of the variety of ingredients provided. Every one was a little different but all were beautiful—and tasty.

As it turned out, causa was only the appretizer; the main course included bean soup, vegetables, rice, and grilled chicken.
Of course, no Peruvian meal is complete without a little beer or wine.
The wood-fired oven—another a Peruvian staple.
La parilla—the grill.

Warmed, full, and satisfied, we reboarded the motorcoach and made our way toward the bottom of the canyon.

Past old Inca, and probably pre-Inca, agricultural fields and terraces.

To our next stop—the Colca Lodge, spa, and hot springs.

NEXT: Colca Lodge