Flights For Your Fancy | Americas

Last week we shared with you Coppa’s signature recipes for ceviche and a twist on the pisco sour — and you asked for more. In round III of this collaborative series between My Table and Pisco Portón, we’re again highlighting the traditional food-drink pairing of Peru as a lead-up to National Ceviche Day on Friday, June 28. For more details, click here.

Americas is showcasing four different ceviches in honor of National Ceviche Day. If you’re torn between a few, why not try them all? You’ll find some unconventional ingredients on each plate from honey and hoisin to sesame and key lime.

Shown above, left to right: Crab and shrimp ceviche with sweet jumbo lump crab meat and Gulf shrimp with fresh lime, garlic, onion and shrimp broth, tossed with peeled grape tomato, avocado, jalapeño and red onion. $13

Mixto, or Peruvian-style ceviche of fresh market catch and Gulf shrimp, avocado, red onion, jalapeño and cilantro (served in a carved pineapple when ordered individually). $15

Smoked salmon is prepared with salmon belly carpaccio, smoked salmon, pineapple, jalapeño, toasted sesame, cilantro, red onion, red pepper and key lime. $12

Ahi tuna ceviche has raw tuna with crunchy jicama, fresh jalapeño, cilantro, honey-roasted peanuts, sweet onion crisps, toasted sesame seeds, citrus ponzu and hoisin sauce. $14

Want to try them all? The ceviche flight as shown above is available for $22.

Americas’ pisco-based cocktail is a little unusual. The Portón Tonic (photo at left) is crafted from tonic made in house, which includes Peruvian cinchona bark, allspice, orange, lemon, lime, lemongrass and agave nectar, giving it a botanical but not sweet profile.

A bit of historical trivia: Cinchona bark was brought to Spain and Rome from Peru by Jesuit Barnabé de Cobo in 1632. To maintain their monopoly on cinchona bark, Peru and neighboring countries began outlawing the export of cinchona seeds and saplings in the early 19th century. Why was Cinchona so desirable? Years earlier, the Jesuits had observed that the Quechua people of Bolivia and Peru used the bark in powdered form as a muscle relaxant and to successfully treat malaria. Cinchona bark was originally known as Jesuit bark and Peruvian bark, but became known as cinchona bark when, the story goes, the Spanish Countess of Chinchón became the first European to be cured of malaria, thanks to the bark.

Americas  2040 West Gray (Houston) and 21 Waterway Avenue (The Woodlands)