Major Project – Before and After Assessment

For my Major Project, my goal was to learn how to make some Peruvian dishes. I chose to do this because I am from Peru and I really wanted to know how to cook some Peruvian food now that I live far from home. I miss the food a lot and I have to admit that it was my main motivation to learn this. 

I think this project was a great experience and I had lots of fun during these five weeks. My main concern at the beginning was the time. I am good at cooking, mainly baking, but these dishes were real challenges for me. I didn’t only need to wait for some ingredients that I bought online but most of the recipes had lots of steps. I think that is why I never felt like cooking while living in Peru. It is just too much work, but I have to admit that it is so worth it! Something else that presented a challenge for me is that I had to be really organized not to forget to take pictures or make videos for every step of the process. My husband helped me with the video I made for one recipe, but besides that time I worked cooking and taking pictures at the same time by myself, and that wasn’t very easy.

I am also glad I got to manage to use many cool tools we learned about during class. I used Bubbl to make my Major Project concept map at the beginning of this project. I used Thinglink to show the ingredients for each recipe. I liked that it is an interactive way to display many items in a picture but I also liked that I could include links so readers could learn about certain Peruvian ingredients. Another cool tool I used a few times is Canva. I made an infographic and a collage to show the steps of two recipes. I think this cool tool is very easy to use and I really enjoy all its features. Haiku Deck is another cool tool I used to make a slides presentation for two recipes. Finally, I used Kizoa to make a video. This was the first time I made a video so I felt very nervous. However, this cool tool was very user-friendly and I think I did a good job with it.

Overall, I feel very proud because my cooking skills improved a lot and everything I made tasted great. I finished with everything I had planned to do on time and now I know how to make some Peruvian food. I will definitely make these dishes again and use everything I learned during these weeks. 😊

WEEK 5 - "Lomo Saltado"

For the last week of my Major Project I decided to make "Lomo Saltado". This is my favorite Peruvian dish, which is a stir fry that contains beefsteak. That is why I decided to make it last. The recipe I used is from Tastemade, where they have a video showing the steps to make this delicious dish. This is the list of ingredients I needed for this recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups french fries, baked or fried
• 1 pound sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 red onion, cut into thin wedges
• 4 plum tomatoes, cut into wedges and seeded
• 3 tablespoons aji amarillo paste
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• Cilantro to serve
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Oil for pan

Made with Thinglink

(Click here if you can't see the interactive version of my Thinglink project)

Most of the ingredients were very easy to get as I already had the aji amarillo paste from Peru that I bought for the first week of my Major Project. I cooked white rice to serve with the "Lomo Saltado" and I skipped the fresh cilantro.

It took some time to get everything ready (make fries, slice vegetables and steak, etc.), but once everything was done it was all about mixing the ingredients and season them. I made a HaikuDeck presentation to show you the steps to make "Lomo Saltado". If you can't see the slides presentation, click here.

Made with HaikuDeck

(Original recipe from Tastemade)

This dish was really delicious! I think it is the one I liked the best from all the recipes I made. I can't describe how excited I am because this is my favorite Peruvian dish and now I know I can get all the ingredients to make it here. My husband loved it and he can't wait for me to make it again. 😆

My "Lomo Saltado"

So this is the end of week 5 and I am done with all my recipes. I am really glad I had time to finish with everything that I had planned and that all my dishes turned out great. I hope other people decide to cook some Peruvian food after reading my posts! 

WEEK 4 - "Chicharrones de Pescado"

This is the fourth week of my Major Project and I am very excited because I made some seafood. Peru is one of the main producers and exporters of fish and, therefore, seafood is very important for Peruvian cuisine. This time I decided to make "Chicharrones de Pescado" or fish fritters, which are very popular in Peru. What makes this dish special is that the fish is  marinated in lemon, garlic and yellow pepper paste, typical ingredients in Peruvian cuisine. I decided to use a recipe from Goya, where you can find a lot of popular recipes from Latin-America countries, and they listed the following ingredients:

• 6 boneless, skinless tilapia filets, about 1 lb.
• 1 tbsp. Lemon Juice
• 1 tbsp. Minced Garlic
• 2 tsp. Adobo All-Purpose Seasoning with Pepper, divided
• 1 tsp. Yellow Hot Pepper Paste – Aji Amarillo
• Corn Oil, Canola Oil or Vegetable Oil, for frying
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup cornstarch
• 2 eggs
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Made with Thinglink

(Click here if you can't see the interactive version of my Thinglink Project)

I had most of the ingredients for this recipe at home, so I only had to get tilapia filets and lemon juice. Although they aren't on the list of ingredients, I also got red onions and tomatoes to garnish, because that is how it  is usually served in Peru. Something that I couldn't find  anywhere was the Adobo All-Purpose Seasoning with Pepper, so I used a recipe from Genius Kitchen to make it myself by mixing salt, paprika, ground black pepper, onion powder, oregano, cumin, garlic powder and chili powder. 

Making Adobo all-purpose seasoning

This time I made a collage in Canva to show you the steps for this recipe. To see the original collage, click here.

Made with Canva

(Original recipe from Goya)

The "Chicharrones de Pescado" were really yummy. I served them with onions, tomatoes and lime wedges. They definitely tasted different from the ones I used to eat in Peru, but it makes sense because I used frozen fish (I wish I could find fresh fish in a supermarkets near me). I  still think they tasted really good, and I think I will get some tartar sauce next time. 🐟

My "Chicharrones de Pescado"