The delicious dishes that are derived from chaufa are consumed throughout Peru, the airport would not be the exception. This Chinese-Peruvian fusion dish is not only identified with every citizen of the country, but it also has a humble origin. Why is it called that? Find out the details now.
Airport: Why is it called that?
Just like the iconic chaufa, Chinese stir-fried noodles or taipa, the airport is one of the flagship dishes of Chinese culture. In that line, foreign immigration in the 19th century paved the way for this fusion of dishes to begin.
The airport chifa would carry its distinguished name since the 19th century.
According to the book "Chinos en la sociedad peruana" by the anthropologist Humberto Rodríguez Pastor, the name "airport" directly refers to the "landing" of Chinese beans and noodles on the chef's pan.
If we want to delve even deeper, journalist Toño Angulo Daneri wrote for El Comercio (2001) about how the airport preparation was made: "It is called airport because everything lands there" , transcribed the author about the journalist's experience.
On the other hand, other theories about the name "airport" date back to the food stalls that popularized this fusion dish, back in 2001, near the Jorge Chávez International Airport.
Airport: What is its origin?
In the same text by Rodríguez Pastor, it refers to the popular culinary arrival of Chinese and Japanese immigrants being related to the generation of coolie immigrants and the tusáns. At that time, the chifas were booming the streets, just over 80 years after Peru's independence.
It is recorded that the coolies escaped slavery and saw a way to grow in culinary work. Their vision was fusion dishes, after getting to know Peruvian haute cuisine at that time.
Peruvian chiferos started to appear and Chinese cuisine in Lima made its own space in front of Peruvian stews. The airport was embraced as a popular dish by city dwellers.