A long, Peruvian way from KFC

Greer Wylder

She began her career as a restaurateur by scrubbing oil vats at a

Kentucky Fried Chicken as a single mom and recent immigrant. Fifteen

years later, Ana Montoya-Ives owns a chain of Peruvian restaurants

called Inka Grill. It was Ana’s dream to open a restaurant for

everyone to try the wonderful, out-of-the-ordinary dishes from her

country.

Her first Inka Grill opened in Lake Forest in 1996; other

locations have opened in Costa Mesa, Lake Forest and Long Beach.

She’s most proud of the largest Inka Grill that seats 300 on Main

Street in Huntington Beach. It has a full bar, patio, serves

breakfast Saturday and Sunday and offers Sunday brunch.

Born in a small fishing port called Chimbote, Peru, Ana pined for

her country’s delicious foods and her family’s cooking. She missed

the flavorful and hot Guajillo chili sauce, homemade saltados,

sauteed meats, tomatoes and red onions, parihuela (fishermen’s stew)

and encebollados -- tender strips of meats or fish sauteed with

caramelized, sweet red onions.

“Peruvian cuisine in the most popular food in South America,” Ana

said. “It’s influenced by so many cuisines: Spanish, Chinese, Italian

and Japanese.”

Ana says its fusion aspect makes it appealing to everyone. There’s

Asian-inspired fried rice and lo mein, soup that’s similar to

Chinese, Italian-influenced empenadas and Milanese basil and spinach

spaghetti.

While the exotic tastes of Peru haven’t achieved ubiquity in

Orange County, they’re being discovered. The county has nearly a

dozen Peruvian restaurants (not including Inka Grill’s locations).

The time-consuming complexity of each dish could attribute to a lag

in its mainstream popularity. Each dish requires its own sauce, never

using pre-packaged foods to cut corners.

“The Italians have ready-made noodles, canned sauces,” she said.

“We have to make everything from scratch.”

For her lamb stew recipe that’s slowly cooked in Inca wine, the

kitchen even prepares and ferments the wine. All day long, vegetables

are chopped, and nothing is frozen. Ana says Inka Grill naturally

serves Atkins meals. “Our food is healthy, with a lot of flavor.” It

also caters to vegetarians, limits oil use while cooking, and Ana

claims the rocato chili “is the cure for obesity; it speeds

metabolism.” Inka Grill also offers Peruvian specialty items to go.

They sell papa seca (spicy organic potatoes), six-packs of Inca cola

and select chilis.

Peru’s culinary history comes from a conglomeration of its people

and the foods they brought with them. Among the many ancient Peruvian

foods of the pre-Incas and Incas were maize, beans, seafood and their

important potato and “aji,” a variety of chili peppers. Earliest

potato cultivation can be traced back to ancient Peru 8,000 years

ago. Potato tubers grew in cold mountains and plateaus, where wheat

and corn could not survive. The potato was so important to the people

of the Andean highlands for a source of nutrients that they even

incorporated it in their art (along with “aji”) and believed potatoes

had medicinal values. The Incas used sliced potatoes to heal broken

bones, carried them to resist rheumatism and related their cooking

time to measure units of time.

When the Spaniards conquered the Incas in the 16th century, they

introduced ingredients and recipes that included beef, rabbit,

olives, grapes, wheat for breads and sugar cane for desserts (They

also were responsible for introducing the potato to the world). Also

from Europe came cilantro, limes, onions, eggplants, figs, peaches

and cherries. Then during the mid-19th century, more than 100,000

Chinese immigrated to Peru. Now, Peru has more Chinese restaurants

than any other country in Latin America. Other culinary influences

come from Japan and Africa. Peru’s proud of its multitude of foods;

the Peruvian Embassy claims that in the Guinness Book of World

Records, Peru was listed as having “the widest range of dishes in the

world ... 468.”

At Inka Grill, Ana serves her favorite family recipes from the

coastal region, north of Lima. There’s empenadas, her “pride and joy”

-- three handmade, half-moon pastries filled with a choice of

chicken, beef or ricotta cheese and spinach. The flavors come from

onions, garlic, paprika, spices, raisins and boiled eggs. It’ served

with spicy lime juice ($7.95). Handmade tamales come filled with

chicken, boiled egg and black olives, served with salsa criolla

(thinly sliced onion marinated in lime juice) for $5.95. Ceviche, an

authentic Peruvian dish, comes with halibut, calamari and shrimp

marinated in lime, crushed garlic, cilantro and onion ($12.95).

Saltados, another signature dish, is a combination of sauteed

meats, seafood or vegetables with red onion, French fries, tomatoes,

cilantro, scallions and its special soy sauce, served with steamed

rice ($7.95 to $13.95). French fries can be replaced for vegetables.

Lamb stew is a generous portion bone-in leg of lamb, slowly cooked in

Inca wine, onions and garlic. It comes with steamed rice, white or

black beans and lime-marinated onion ($14.95). The No. 1 seller is

Paella with arroz con mariscos. It’s a combination of shrimp,

calamari, cod filet, and New Zealand green mussels cooked in cilantro

rice. It’s served with marinated onions in lime juice ($13.95).

Dessert choices include traditional Peruvian flan, baked in

caramel ($3.95); Kahlua bread pudding served with Kahlua creme sauce

($5.95); and Juanitas crepes, Ana’s grandmother’s recipe of homemade,

French-style crepes filled with thick caramel creme and topped with

peanuts ($5.95).

Inka Grill offers catering and large trays of foods to go.

* BEST BITES runs every Friday. Greer Wylder can be reached at

greerwylder@yahoo.com; at 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; or by

fax at (949) 646-4170.