(insert sound of Homer Simpson drooling here)

As Adam Minter pointed out in a recent post on the Shanghaiist blog, one of the top reasons to visit the upcoming Shanghai Expo 2010 is that the event will be one long international food extravaganza. This will be foodie heaven and cloud nine may very well be the Peru pavilion.

If Peruvian Ceviches, Sashimi de pulpo and fish smothered in a spicy sauce of mixed seafood and Chorrillana, with a tomato, onion and chili sauce sound good to you, you'll want to make a point of visiting the Peru pavilion. They'll be putting their best dishes forward, so to speak.

Though mostly unknown to the mainstream, Peruvian food has already found several fans in the New York Times. Tantalizing, innovative and incredibly diverse, Peruvian cuisine, especially that found in Lima's huariques, is an amazing amalgam of Italian, Chinese, Andean, Japanese and African cuisines dancing a little Marinera Limeña with Peru's spicy Andean flavors.

If you're one of the 70 million or so visitors predicted to go Shanghai Expo 2010, then you'll be in luck, Peruvian is considered to be on par with French, Indian and Japanese, and it'll be at the Expo in abundance. There'll even be Pisco, Peru's much-vaunted traditional wine, to sweeten the deal.

Officials have already dropped hints of the Peru pavilion's expansive menu. The 120-seat restaurant will serve more than 2,000 types of soups and 250 traditional Peruvian desserts. What will probably be most eye-opening to the Chinese visiting the pavilion will be the amazing Chifa fare - essentially Chinese food with a Peruvian twist, product of the large migration of Chinese to Peru that occurred in the early 20th century.

Chifa is spicier than traditional Chinese food, relying more on seafood and sauces and less on vegetables, but packs one hell of a flavorful punch, one of many you'll find aimed straight at your kisser at the Expo—and like! Maybe that's one of the reasons the friendly folks at Lonely Planet consider Shanghai Expo 2010 one of the top ten things to do in 2010?
 

Picture from aquaexpeditions.com

More Shanghai Expo 2010 related content on ChinaTravel.net:

Shanghai Expo: Visit the expo using the Metro 
Shanghai Expo 2010 tickets: How to buy Expo tickets in Shanghai 
Czech Republic unveils Expo 2010 pavilion plans
Like American Expo pavilion, Haibao suddenly better endowed