Ceviche - Who makes the best?

Summer always makes me want to eat more seafood. Maybe it’s the fact I was born in Southern Italy and fish was plentiful in the summer and somehow it brings memories of unspoiled (they were when I was a kid many decades ago) beaches dotted with colourful umbrellas and the sweet smell of sun tan lotion. In Italy we ate fish plain grilled with some olive oil a squirt of lemon a bit of salt and pepper and voila dinner. Here is Canada we are blessed to have all kinds of seafood available all year long. But the only problem is it’s not the same as that fresh catch you get in the Med or the Caribbean. So in order to make the most of whatever seafood I might have around I love to prepare Ceviche. I chop up shrimp, scallops, and salmon and bathethe mixture in lime and lemon and lots of garlic. Then I refrigerated for a few hours and before you know it I have delicious ceviche my way. I love to serve it in martini glasses with a little parsley (never cilantro I HATE cilantro)

In the last few years ceviche has made its way on the menus of many restaurants and like myself every Chef or Cook creates their own version of this Peruvian dish. If you travel through South and Central America you will find hundreds of different versions of ceviche with each country claiming to make the best. In Panama they use mostly White Sea bass (corvina) and prepare it with lemon juice, chopped onions, celery, habanero peppers and sea salt. In Ecuador its shrimp ceviche made with tomato paste, lime juice and salt. In Chile it’s often made with halibut or Patagonian toothfish which is marinated in lime and grapefruit juices garlic and red chile peppers and my much hated cilantro is added. In Cuba they use mahi-mahi, lime juice, salt, onion, green pepper, habanero peppers and a bit of all spice. The mother country for Ceviche is Peru and here is one of the best Peruvian recipes provided by Chef and food writer Stephanie Ortenzi:

Ceviche Peruano (Serves 6)
An appetizer or late-night snack eaten with Pisco, the Peruvian brandy
600 gr halibut
3 large Scallops
1 small red onion, thinly julienned
juice of 12 limes, or enough to cover the fish
1 aji amarillo pepper finely diced
salt to taste
2 cobs of corn, boiled and cut in thirds
2 large sweet potatoes, boiled and into thirds

Cut the halibut and scallops equally into one-inch pieces.
Season with salt, cover with lime juice, and set the red onions on top.
Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until the fish has firmed up and becomes opaque.
When ready, drain and serve in cold bowls with corn and sweet potato to garnish.

Try it and as the Peruvians would say ‘Bon Provecho!)