Inka Heritage, Madison, Wisconisn

On a recent trip to Madison we had lunch at this Peruvian restaurant.  I have very little experience with traditional Peruvian food--for one thing, the last time I was in Peru was in the early 1980's and I was definitely traveling on a budget, so I did not have the chance to eat high end Peruvian food, and I was only there a few days as a lay over en route back from Bolivia.  I loved the Quechua and Aymara Indian women in their traditional dress, as well as their gorgeous native weavings from alpaca--and the fact that for both of us Spanish was a second language.

But the food did not strike me as amazing--I ate a lot of rehydrated purple potatoes is what I recall.

The thing that I love about Peruvian food, besides the ceviche (which is excellent and also a large portion for the price at Inka Heritage), is the causas.  What is a causa?  Is it versatile Peruvian potato dish makes a great light meal or a fine appetizer to share with the table. A causa can be layered with any number of fillings — chicken salad and tuna salad are favorites, and both are available at Inka Heritage. Vegetarian fillings are options as well. They are served cold, which takes some getting used to because they are nothing like potato salad.  A causa rellena is often topped with extravagant garnishes and sauces for a colorful presentation.

The other thing that is quite well represented at this restaurant are rice and seafood dishes (they have chicken and meat options as well)--these are either sauce based, or as pictured

here, they are like paella, but with much different flavors to the rice.

This was not a fancy restaurant, but it was very nice, and the prices were reasonable.  The portion sizes were substantial, and we shared dishes as a table, which is a great strategy to get to try as many possible things on the menu.

I am still quite new to this cuisine, but I definitely like what I have had so far.