I served in the Peace Corps in Peru 35 years ago and began a lifelong love affair with Peruvian food, especially ceviche, "a form of citrus-marinated seafood appetizer," in the words of Wikipedia. Over the years I have eaten at Peruvian restaurants across the country, but it wasn't until I discovered Cazuela two years ago that I found a cebiche that can match or exceed the quality of the ceviche I had come to expect in Lima or Callao.
Hugh Pickens writes: Ceviche
I served in the Peace Corps in Peru 35 years ago and began a lifelong love affair with Peruvian food, especially ceviche, "a form of citrus-marinated seafood appetizer," in the words of Wikipedia. Over the years I have eaten at Peruvian restaurants across the country, but it wasn't until I discovered Cazuela two years ago that I found a ceviche that can match or exceed the quality of the ceviche I had come to expect in Lima or Callao.
There are similarities and differences between the Ecuadorian and the Peruvian versions of ceviche. Cebiche in Peru is a little spicier than the ceviche you get at Cazuela, but that is easily remedied with a little aji sauce.
The Cazuela is also the first restaurant in the United States where I have found "cancha" - a toasted corn that you eat with ceviche - although Ecuadorians call it "tostada" not "cancha." Cebiche is spicy and I think the proper way to eat ceviche is to alternate a bite of ceviche with a hand full of tostada.
Another treat is eating "mote sucio" - hominy served with a special hot sauce. The owner only makes up mote sucio on weekends - so call ahead to make sure she has it before you go.
On nights mote sucio is not available, the Chuzo is good - a shish-ka-bob with beef and sausage, but the ceviche is so good that my wife and I often go to the restaurant and just have two ceviches for dinner - one after the other - even though strictly speaking ceviche is an appetizer.
Another surprise was finding "Jugo de Maracuya" - passion fruit. I hadn't had that in over thirty years and didn't even know that Maracuya was available in the United States. The last time I drank it was in Sapallanga in the Amazon jungle. Delicious.
Ask for "tres leches" if you want a terrific desert and "cafe con leche" for an after meal coffee, Ecuadorian style.
People don't know it but, Cazuela is a gourmet restaurant - the combination of the quality of ingredients and their authenticity and the senora's cooking ability make Cazuela one of our two or three favorite restaurants in Baltimore - and one of Baltimore best kept culinary secrets.
By the way, I've seen some comments on Yelp about the slowness of service at Cazuela and these are to some extent true. What you have to understand is that this is an authentic Ecuadorian restaurant run by native Ecuadorians, and in Ecuador when you want service, you need to actively call for the waiter's attention. It's not like the US where you expect the waiter to come over every few minutes to check on you.
Five Stars - and I hope I'm not ruining things for my wife and I by letting people know that this is one terrific restaurant.
La Cazuela Restaurant
1718 Eastern Ave
Baltimore, MD 21231
(410) 522-9485
