Ever more modest and upscale vegetarian restaurants are popping up throughout Peru. This is due in part to the same growth of nutritional and ethical concerns that other countries are having and in part to small fringe religious movements that include vegetarianism among their proscriptions. We reviewed some of our favorite vegetarian options in Cusco, Peru in an earlier post.

Many of these restaurants serve vegetarian versions of well-known Peruvian dishes: causa with avocado and mango rather than fish, a mushroom ceviche, creamy yellow sauce from ají de gallina dressing fetuccini rather than shredded hen. Others serve a mixture of different cuisines, those oft-used dishes that have become associated with vegetarianism internationally: falafel, hummus, black bean tacos with guacamole, veggie pizzas…