SUMAQ Peruvian Food Festival returns to Garden City
The SUMAQ Peruvian Food Festival. Credit: Vicky Diaz
SUMAQ, a word from the indigenous Quechua language that in Spanish means 'delicious,' is also the name of the annual Peruvian Food Festival that returns to Garden City this Saturday and Sunday. The gastro-fair, being held at the Cradle of Aviation Museum, celebrates the breadth and diversity of Peruvian food, with this year marking its 11th anniversary.
Over SUMAQ's two days, attendees will get to know the flavors and ingredients of Peru's culinary canon. With such geographic diversity across the country — adjacent to the Pacific, at the base of the Andes Mountains — the wealth of choices in Peruvian cuisine is vast. There are rich stews, roasted meats and light ceviches, with indigenous varieties of potatoes and peppers utilized in all.
Ticketed visitors will enjoy live cooking demonstrations of classic Peruvian dishes including lechón (roasted pork) cooked in a caja China; chancho al palo (marinated open-fired pork), smoked meats cooked in a typical Peruvian cylinders; and kankacho or Andean lamb cooked with spicy peppers and potatoes. There will also be stuffed rocoto peppers and seco Norteño, a slow-cooked beef stew in a piquant cilantro sauce. Tamales, anticuchos (traditional beef heart skewers), picarones (squash and sweet potato doughnuts), alfajores (dulce de leche sandwich cookies), and more traditional handheld snacks will also be available.
Bringing together chefs from Peru, as well as from New York restaurants including Miguel Aguilar (Surfish Bistro, Brooklyn), Rodrigo Fernandini (Artesano, NYC), and Diego Cerdán Linares (Diego a la Carta, NYC), the festival will highlight Linares as Chef of the Year.
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Aug. 26 and Aug. 27
WHERE: The Cradle of Aviation Museum, Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Garden City
ADMISSION: Tickets are available in advance for $25 ($30 at the door) for adults. Kids ages 2-12 are $15. Parking is free.
MORE INFO: 516-422 2718, sumaqpff.com
A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.
