There’s a rumble in the jungle and it just happens to be our stomachs. We experienced the Amazon jungle whilst in and around Iquitos and the Loreto district, Peru, but also the lower jungle in Tarapoto and the Amazonas department. We found the Peruvian jungle food here markedly different to other parts of the country – yet another thing going for this vibrant and diverse land.

• When you think of the jungle, images of beautifully ripe and succulent fruits enter the mind. This is absolutely true, although we probably still don’t know what 70% of them are! Enjoy local flavours straight from the fruit stall or in a juice/smoothie or as an icepop/ice-cream. Mangoes are simply out of this world but our best new discovery was aguaje (or dinosaur’s eggs as we were calling them until we found out the real name). They taste a bit like dates.

• What could be more exotic than a coconut? Readily available by the roadside as a refreshing drink.

• There is a huge emphasis on natural remedies and health foods in the jungle, and there are a surprising amount of western style organic cafes. There are all sorts of powders and supplements which can added to smoothies to give you an extra boost such as spirulina, maca, cocoa, algaborrina and various seeds and mysterious powders.

• Who doesn’t love a banana, and with a jungle full of monkeys they are everywhere. But hang on, there seem to be 20 different types of bananas here, our minds are going to explode! From sweet mini – bananas no longer than your little finger, to huge plantains, there are too many types of banana to contemplate. We particularly enjoyed chifles which are plantain crisps and tacacho (plantain balls) which seem to take the place of rice or potatoes as the carbohydrate in a meal, often with some snecky tocino (bacon) in them for extra grease/flavor.

• Cecina is salted dried pork or beef which is always served with tacacho balls.

• Chocolate is a growing business in the jungle. It is an alternative crop to coca so encouraged by the authorities. We visited the factory of Orquidea in Tarapoto and found it quite tasty.

• Most of the time we had no idea what fish we were eating, but it was all delicious river varieties like catfish and tilapia. Some of them were quite ugly-looking though!

• Jungle BBQs are laden with plantains, tacacho, chicken and fish. A very popular way of cooking fish is the patarashca, that is fish wrapped in a banana leaf, cooked in its own juices with freshly chopped tomatoes, onions, cilantro and lime. Delicious when served with a tacacho.

• Exotic meat. Only for the brave, it is relatively easy to find crocodile and turtle meat and big fat grubs on sticks. We did not dare!

• Ceviche is a bit different in the jungle. For starters they use the miniscule but deadly spicy jungle chillies. The other differentiations are that the fish is from the river and that coconut milk is added to the ceviche sauce rendering it creamier compared to its seaside counterpart. Interesting, but Lima can’t be beaten!

• This is a fiery spirit made from sugar cane, brewed in small local distilleries. There are all sorts of other brews of offer made with local plants and trees. Easily found in the witches’ market and local ‘distilleries’.

Every region of Peru is like a country in its own right with different ethnicities, culture, customs and of course food. There’s Michelin starred seafood and Japanese-Peruvian fusion in Lima, picanterias in Arequipa and guinea pig in the Andes. The jungle offers yet another string to Peru’s culinary bow. Our advice is to spend at least 3 months in Peru like we did, this is only just enough to scratch the surface!