Ceviche Tradition

Peruvian ceviche is fish cut into cubes, salted, tossed with lime juice, sliced red onion and chilli - usually ají limo or rocoto - and served within minutes, with the leche de tigre, the cloudy liquid left behind, drunk from the plate or served separately in a glass. It comes with sweet potato, choclo, the large-kernelled Andean corn, and cancha, toasted corn. The lime does not cook the fish so much as denature the surface proteins, and the current preference is for a short cure of minutes rather than the hours common decades ago, so the fish stays translucent inside. Cevicherías close in the afternoon, because the fish came in that morning and the tradition holds that ceviche is a lunch dish; anywhere selling it at ten at night is worth a question. Peru has a national ceviche day on 28 June, and the dish is inscribed on the UNESCO intangible heritage list.

What you actually see

• The short cure - minutes in lime, leaving the fish translucent inside.
• The leche de tigre - the cured liquid drunk separately or from the plate.
• The garnish - sweet potato, choclo and toasted cancha corn.
• The lunchtime rule - cevicherías that close by mid-afternoon.

When to go

Year-round; lunchtime is when it is made and eaten. National ceviche day is 28 June. A meal takes an hour.

Honest expectations

Raw fish carries a real risk if it is not fresh - eat at busy places at lunchtime and be cautious about evening ceviche. Rocoto and ají limo are genuinely hot. Anisakis and other parasites are a recognised hazard; reputable places freeze appropriately.

Nearby

Every coastal city has its own version; the north uses different fish and more lime.