Ceviche

What makes it ceviche

• The freshest firm white fish, raw.
• Lime juice, salt and ají — cured for minutes, not hours.
• Red onion, sliced thin; sweet potato and corn alongside.

Where it comes from

Coastal people ate fish with acid long before the Spanish — stories tie it to the Moche and a sour fruit juice — but limes and onions came from Europe, and the dish as it's made now took shape after them. Where the name comes from is argued over.

It used to sit for hours in the lime. The short cure, just long enough to turn the outside opaque, is often credited to Nikkei cooks, used to eating fish raw. It's a lunch dish: cevicherías traditionally close by late afternoon, when the morning's fish is no longer the morning's.

How it varies

Leche de tigre

The milky, sharp juice left in the bowl — drunk on its own, said to cure a hangover.

Tiradito

The Nikkei cousin: fish sliced thin like sashimi, no onion, under a chilli-lime sauce.

Ceviche mixto

Fish with prawns, squid and other shellfish.