Did you know that at the beginning of April, the Peruvian - Japanese friendship is celebrated, in memory of the first immigrant ship that came from Japan and arrived on the coast of Peru on April 4, 1899 ?
In 1897 the Japanese and Peruvian governments agreed to open the coastal region of Peru to the installation of Japanese farmers, and the first immigrants therefore landed in 1899. This first wave was made up mainly of rural workers, responsible for cultivating sugar or the cotton. The community was initially discreet, and then thousands of Japanese settled in Peru and little by little developed a large community. Thus the former president Alberto Fujimori is a son of descendants of Japanese immigration from the 1930s.
The Nikkei community, resulting from the interbreeding between the two peoples, organizes on the occasion of this friendship, an official meeting at the Congress, as well as all kinds of traditional festivities, such as the tea ceremony and tastings of typical dishes.
Nikkei gastronomy has also won its letters of nobility, it skilfully mixes Japanese and Peruvian traditions and ingredients. The famous ceviche, a mixture of raw marinated fish and peppers is one of the best examples. A new culinary style is born, traditional recipes are revisited, and the greatest Peruvian chefs like Gaston Acurio have succeeded in hoisting the Nikkei tradition on the first steps of the world gastronomic scene.
So, if you travel to Peru during this period, do not hesitate to take advantage of the many events on offer and especially to taste this famous Nikkei cuisine !
