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50 free Peruvian Food trivia questions with answers — food & drink quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Peruvian food is having a very long moment. Coast, Andes and Amazon each bring their own pantry, the Spanish added rice and wheat, Africans gave tacu-tacu, the Chinese invented lomo saltado, and chefs like Gastón Acurio turned it all into the cuisine critics now call the world's great fusion. Peru grows more kinds of potato than anywhere on earth, and it has a national day for ceviche. These 50 questions cover the coast first: ceviche and its tiger's milk, the Moche and their tumbo marinade, anticuchos, causa, ají de gallina, pollo a la brasa's Swiss-patented rotisserie. Then the highlands: pachamanca, cuy, charqui and the word jerky, olluco, rocoto relleno, tocosh. The Amazon's paiche, camu camu and juane. The sweets: alfajores, picarones, mazamorra morada, suspiro a la limeña and lúcuma ice cream. And the drinks: pisco sour, chicha de jora, chicha morada, Cusqueña and the lemon-verbena soda that outsells Coca-Cola. Every answer is cited to a page we checked and comes with a short explanation, so you learn something even when you miss. Play it solo or print it for a food-and-drink quiz round.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is considered the most important ingredient in Peruvian cuisine?
Potato
Peru has the widest variety of them in the world; over 99% of cultivated ones descend from one Andean subspecies.
Q 02Which chef is best known for raising awareness of native Peruvian ingredients?
Gastón Acurio
The revival of quinoa, kiwicha and Andean tubers owes much to his profile.
Q 03On which date is Peru's National Ceviche Day?
June 28
The government declared it in 2008; the dish can also be spelt cebiche.
Q 04What is lomo saltado?
A beef stir-fry with fries
Chinese immigrants created it; tomato, onion and French fries go in with the beef.
Q 05Tacu-tacu, introduced by enslaved Africans, is a fried mix of what?
Rice and beans
It is typically topped with a steak or a fried egg and salsa criolla.
Q 06Which pre-Columbian culture marinated seafood in fermented banana passionfruit juice?
The Moche
Citrus only arrived with the Spanish; the fruit they used was called tumbo.
Q 07What is the Peruvian name for the marinade left over from ceviche?
Leche de tigre
It is often drunk on its own and credited as a hangover cure.
Q 08Unlike Mexican or Ecuadorian versions, Peruvian ceviche is never made with what?
Tomatoes
It is usually served with sweet potato and large-kernel choclo corn.
Q 09Chupe de camarones is a thick soup made from what?
Freshwater shrimp
Crayfish stock, potatoes, milk and chilli go into the Arequipa-style favourite.
Q 10What is the Peruvian term for Chinese-Peruvian fusion food?
Chifa
It comes from the Mandarin chī fàn, meaning "to eat rice".
Q 11What is arroz chaufa?
Peruvian fried rice
Soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil and cumin go into the chifa staple.
Q 12Anticuchos are grilled skewers traditionally made from what?
Beef heart
Street vendors sell them with boiled potato or corn on the side.
Q 13Papa a la huancaína takes its name from which city?
Huancayo
Sliced boiled potatoes come under a slightly spicy cheese sauce with olives.
Q 14Pollo a la brasa's rotisserie was patented in 1950 by two residents of what nationality?
Q 21Pachamanca is cooked how?
Underground on heated stones
The tedious preparation means it is usually reserved for Andean festivals.
Q 22What animal is cuy?
Guinea pig
It is often served whole, and fried cuy chactado is popular in the highlands.
Q 23The English word "jerky" derives from which Andean word for cured meat?
Charqui
Meat is salted then dehydrated; alpaca was traditional, sheep is common now.
Q 24Olluquito, the Andean stew with cured meat, is built on which crunchy tuber?
Swiss
Roger Shuler and Franz Ulrich devised the planetary-rotation grill in Lima.
Q 15Causa is a cold dish built on what base?
Mashed yellow potato
Lime, chilli and oil are mixed in, with layers of avocado, chicken or tuna.
Q 16Which dish is a stew of pork, chicken, dried potatoes, peanuts and red chillies?
Carapulcra
The Afro-Peruvian Ica version uses fresh potatoes instead of dried.
Q 17Ají de gallina is chicken in a creamy sauce coloured by which chilli?
Ají amarillo
Cheese, milk and bread thicken the sauce; walnuts appear only at upscale tables.
Q 18Cau cau is a stew based on what?
Tripe
The creole version is finished with mint; the Italian-Peruvian one uses porcini and tomato.
Q 19Seco de cabrito is a northern stew of which meat?
Goat
It is marinated in chicha de jora corn beer and is most popular in Cajamarca and Lambayeque.
Q 20Cebiche de conchas negras from Piura and Tumbes uses which shellfish?
Black clams
It is served with toasted corn and is also popular across the border in Ecuador.
Olluco
Pre-Inca populations domesticated it; it keeps a crunch when cooked.
Q 25Rocoto relleno is a stuffed-chilli speciality of which city?
Arequipa
Rocotos are among Peru's hottest chillies; the stuffing is spiced meat, olives and egg white.
Q 26Tocosh is a traditional Quechua food made from what?
Fermented potato pulp
It is an acquired taste, prized for its medicinal reputation.
Q 27Paiche, a staple of Amazonian cooking, is what?
One of the largest freshwater fish
Piranha also turns up in Amazonian soups and grills.
Q 28Camu camu contains roughly how many times more vitamin C than kiwifruit?
40
The jungle fruit also flavours ice creams and refrescos.
Q 29Which herb gives the sauce in ocopa its vivid green colour?
Huacatay
Ground peanuts and fresh cheese round out the sauce over sliced yellow potatoes.
Q 30Which NASA-endorsed Andean grain has been used in astronaut meals since 1985?
Quinoa
Kiwicha and maca have also gone to space; Oprah helped brand them superfoods.