These traditional, only-in-Arequipa restaurants are usually located in suburban areas and inspire fanatical local followings.

BBC: Peru��s gastronomic renaissance

The son of a diplomat and a housewife, De Soto was born in Arequipa, Peru.

FORBES: A New Kind of Entitlement

Allot about five days for this large area, starting in the romantic colonial city of Arequipa.

BBC: Choose your own adventure in Peru

Then head back to Arequipa to catch the bus to Puno, gateway to Lake Titicaca.

BBC: Choose your own adventure in Peru

The board has also suspended the official in charge of the election in Arequipa, Peru's second city.

ECONOMIST: Peru

If you can tear yourself away before the sun sets, it is a straight three-to-four hour drive back to Arequipa.

BBC: Exploring Peru��s epic Colca Canyon

In Arequipa, Novoandianan restaurants still devote a large proportion of their menus to the common garden spud, but prepare it in a multitude of novel ways.

BBC: Peru��s gastronomic renaissance

The national spice-of-choice, aji, is best enjoyed in the signature Arequipa dish, rocoto relleno: spicy red peppers stuffed with ground meat and potatoes, and topped with cream and cheese.

BBC: Peru��s gastronomic renaissance

Heading back to Arequipa, it is worth visiting some of the isolated settlements on the north side of the Colca River, reachable by a rough single-track road.

BBC: Exploring Peru��s epic Colca Canyon

Her village has joined forces with others to sell in bulk to the three wool processing firms in the southern city of Arequipa, in an effort to expand their bargaining power.

ECONOMIST: Misguided mercantilism, or self-help

That bodes ill for Peru, and for Arequipa.

ECONOMIST: The politics of privatisation

Now Arequipa has called his bluff.

ECONOMIST: The politics of privatisation