Quesbo Little Chefs · Around the world · Destination 01
Let’s cook our way
to Peru.
Golden potato towers, a sizzling family supper and little caramel-filled biscuits. Three delicious ways to explore a new destination from your own kitchen.
Welcome to the first stop in Quesbo’s Cooking Adventures Around the World. Put on your apron, find a grown-up cooking companion and get ready to mash, mix, build and taste.
These are gentle family adaptations inspired by Peruvian dishes, using ingredients you can find in British supermarkets. Choose one recipe for today, or make a whole Peru-inspired menu together. There is no need to cook all three at once.
Choose your first taste
A little taste of Peru
Peru is in South America, with Pacific coastline, Andean mountains and Amazon rainforest. Its cooking reflects many landscapes and communities. Potatoes are especially important: Peru is home to thousands of native varieties, with an extraordinary range of colours, shapes and textures.
Today we will discover chilled causa, a colourful lomo saltado stir-fry, and sweet alfajores. Peru’s food story also includes the meeting of Indigenous traditions with influences from communities of Spanish, African, Chinese and Japanese heritage.
Quesbo’s imaginary passport adventure
The recipe compass twirled above a market stall piled with purple, gold and creamy-white potatoes. “Every stop has something new to teach us,” said Valeria. Together, the little chefs discovered cool potato layers, a sizzling supper and delicate biscuit sandwiches. Before taking the first bite, they offered a plate to their friends. Their passport earned its first golden word: SHARE.
First taste 01 / 03
Mini Causa Potato Stacks
Mild, causa-inspired layers of golden potato, tuna and avocado
Build a tiny tower of golden potato, creamy filling and bright green avocado. Causa is a chilled Peruvian dish made with layers of seasoned mashed potato. Traditional versions often use ají amarillo chilli; this gentle Quesbo adaptation uses a little turmeric for colour and keeps the filling mild.
Allergens: Contains fish and usually egg from the mayonnaise. Some mayonnaise also contains mustard. Check every ingredient label, including any substitutions.
Your ingredients
Potato layers
- 700 g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp salt
Filling and topping
- 1 × 145 g tin tuna, drained
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 80 g sweetcorn, drained
- 1 ripe avocado
- 6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
- Extra lime juice
Get ready together
EquipmentSaucepan, Colander, Potato masher, Mixing bowls and spoons, 8 cm food ring or cutter, or a small ramekin, Serving plates.
Little hands can- Measure and mix the ingredients
- Mash potatoes once an adult confirms they are safe to handle
- Press the cooled layers into the ring
- Count three tomato quarters for each stack
- Peel and cut the potatoes
- Boil and drain the potatoes
- Open the tuna tin and handle its sharp edges
- Halve and stone the avocado and cut the tomatoes
- Check ingredients for allergens and keep the filling chilled
Let’s make it
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Cook the potatoes
An adult puts the potato chunks in a saucepan, covers them with water and brings it to the boil. Simmer for about 15–18 minutes, until a knife slides easily into a chunk. The adult drains them carefully in a colander and lets the steam escape.
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Mash and cool
Mash the potatoes until smooth. Stir in the olive oil, 1 tbsp lime juice, turmeric and ¼ tsp salt. Spread the mash in a shallow bowl so it cools quickly, then refrigerate once it is no longer steaming. Let it cool fully before adding the filling. Children can help mash once an adult has checked that the potatoes and bowl are safe to handle. Put it in the fridge within two hours of cooking.
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Prepare the filling
Mix the drained tuna, mayonnaise and sweetcorn in a bowl. An adult halves and stones the avocado. Mash half with a little of the extra lime juice for the filling; slice the other half for the topping and sprinkle with a little lime juice. Keep the filling chilled while the potatoes cool.
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Build eight little stacks
Divide the cooled potato roughly into eight portions, then split each portion into a base and a lid. Place the food ring on a plate. Press in one potato base, add one-eighth of the tuna mixture and a little mashed avocado, then gently press on its potato lid. Keep the layers even and avoid overfilling the ring.
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Lift and chill
Lift the ring slowly and repeat with the remaining ingredients. An 8 cm ring makes shallow stacks with this quantity; use a smaller ring if you prefer taller little towers. A small ramekin can also hold the layers for serving without unmoulding. Refrigerate the stacks until cold and firm, allowing at least 10 minutes after assembling.
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Add the colourful topping
Share the reserved avocado slices between the eight stacks. Divide all 24 cherry-tomato quarters between them: three quarters on each stack. Finish with a tiny squeeze of lime and serve chilled.
First taste 02 / 03
Mild Lomo Saltado
A family adaptation of Peruvian beef stir-fry with rice and chips
A sizzling, savoury stir-fry meets fluffy rice and golden chips. Lomo saltado reflects the meeting of Chinese cooking techniques and Peruvian ingredients. Our family adaptation uses a mild sauce and red pepper, with the hot-pan cooking firmly in grown-up hands.
Allergens: Contains soya; many soy sauces also contain wheat. Check the soy sauce, chips and all other ingredient labels for allergens, including any substitutions.
Your ingredients
For the meal
- 500 g oven chips
- 250 g long-grain rice
- 400 g beef sirloin or rump, cut into thin strips
- 1 red onion, cut into thick wedges
- 2 ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp reduced-salt soy sauce
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
- 2 tbsp water
Get ready together
EquipmentBaking tray or trays, as directed on the chips packet, Saucepan with lid, Large frying pan or wok, Mixing bowls and spoon, Clean plate, Tongs or a spatula.
Little hands can- Measure and mix the sauce
- Rinse the rice before cooking
- Arrange serving bowls
- Help count equal portions of chips
- Handle and cut raw beef
- Prepare vegetables with sharp knives
- Manage the oven, hot pan and boiling rice
- Check the beef is fully cooked through and the stir-fry is piping hot
- Prevent contact between raw meat and ready-to-eat ingredients
Let’s make it
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Start the chips and rice
An adult heats the oven and cooks the chips according to their packet instructions. Rinse the rice, then ask the adult to cook it using the water quantity and timing on its packet. Start these first so they are ready when the stir-fry is cooked.
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Mix the sauce
Stir the soy sauce, red wine vinegar, honey, grated garlic and water together in a small bowl. An adult prepares the beef and vegetables and pats the beef dry with kitchen paper. Keep raw beef and its utensils away from the prepared sauce and ready-to-eat food, and wash hands and surfaces after handling it.
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Brown the beef in batches
The adult heats the frying pan or wok until hot, adds half the oil and spreads half the beef in a single layer. Stir-fry, turning the strips, until browned on every side. Transfer to a clean plate, then repeat with the remaining oil and beef. The beef will return to the pan to finish cooking in step 5.
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Cook the vegetables
Add the onion and pepper to the hot pan. The adult stir-fries them for about 3 minutes, until they soften while keeping a little crunch.
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Bring it all together
Return the beef and any juices to the pan. Add the tomatoes and pour in the sauce. Toss together for about 1–2 minutes, then continue cooking as needed until the beef is fully cooked through and the whole stir-fry is piping hot. The adult checks the thickest strips before serving; the suggested times are only a guide.
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Serve your Peru-inspired meal
Spoon the freshly cooked rice into four bowls or plates. Add the stir-fry and share the cooked chips equally alongside or on top. Let each child's portion cool to a comfortable eating temperature before tasting.
First taste 03 / 03
Dulce de Leche Alfajores
Tender sandwich biscuits with a caramel filling and coconut edges
Finish your adventure with tender little biscuit sandwiches. Alfajores are enjoyed in Peru and across much of South America, with many local variations. This version pairs delicate cornflour biscuits with dulce de leche, a sweet milk caramel, and coconut around the edges.
Allergens: Contains milk, egg and wheat. Also contains coconut. Check every ingredient label, including the dulce de leche and any substitutions.
Your ingredients
For the biscuits
- 140 g cornflour (UK cornflour, also called cornstarch)
- 100 g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 120 g unsalted butter, softened
- 70 g icing sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
To fill and finish
- 200 g dulce de leche
- 40 g desiccated coconut
- Extra icing sugar for dusting
Get ready together
EquipmentTwo baking trays, Baking paper, Mixing bowls, Wooden spoon or electric hand mixer used with adult help, Rolling pin, 5 cm round cutter, Cooling rack.
Little hands can- Measure ingredients
- Mix gently with a spoon
- Cut circles from the rolled dough
- Fill completely cooled biscuits
- Roll sticky biscuit edges in coconut
- Separate eggs and finely grate lemon zest
- Supervise any electric mixer
- Set and use the oven
- Handle hot trays and move delicate biscuits to a cooling rack
- Make sure no raw dough is eaten
Let’s make it
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Mix the dry ingredients
Put the cornflour, plain flour and baking powder in a bowl and mix gently. Here, cornflour means the fine white starch sold as cornflour in the UK, not coarse maize flour or polenta.
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Make the butter mixture
In a second bowl, beat the softened butter and icing sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg yolks, vanilla and lemon zest. An adult helps with separating the eggs, grating the lemon and using any electric mixer.
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Form and chill the dough
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix gently until a soft dough comes together. Flatten into a disc, cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Do not taste the raw dough: it contains uncooked flour and egg. Wash hands and utensils after handling it.
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Roll it evenly
Ask an adult to heat the oven to 170°C conventional or 150°C fan. Line the baking trays. Roll the chilled dough between two sheets of baking paper until it is about 6 mm thick.
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Cut and bake
Use a 5 cm cutter to make about 24 circles. Gently bring the scraps together and roll again as needed. Transfer the circles to the lined trays, leaving a little space between them. The adult bakes them for 10–12 minutes, until set but still pale; ovens vary, so check them towards the end of baking.
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Cool and sandwich
Leave the delicate biscuits on their trays briefly to firm up, then ask an adult to transfer them carefully to a cooling rack. Cool completely. Spread dulce de leche on the flat side of half the biscuits and top each with another biscuit, pressing gently.
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Add the finishing touch
Roll the sticky filling at each biscuit's edge in desiccated coconut. Dust very lightly with the extra icing sugar. Count your finished pairs and share them with your cooking companions.
Your tasty passport · Destination 01
You’ve tasted Peru.
What did you discover?
Take a notebook and make your first cooking-passport page. Draw your favourite dish, write PERU at the top and add the date and your cooking companion’s name.
- Give it a taste score. Rate each dish you tried from 1 to 5. There is no wrong answer: you are learning what you enjoy.
- Choose your next step. Would you cook it again? Write “Yes”, “Maybe” or “Not yet”.
- Remember one discovery. Was it a new ingredient, a kitchen skill or a fact about Peru?
- Earn your SHARE stamp. Offer someone a portion, help set the table or tell them what you learned.
A word for your journey: Hola means “Hello” in Spanish. At the table, Buen provecho is a friendly way to say “Enjoy your meal”.
Food and discovery notes for grown-ups
Recipes adapted from Quesbo’s Peru cooking pages. These are family interpretations, not a claim to represent every regional version. Food imagery is AI-generated for illustration, rather than photographs from a kitchen test.
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