Masterchef Live Festival of Food: Dec 10-12
Suspiros by Spiers
Royal Hall – Stand 22

Recently I was introduced to fantastic Peruvian food courtesy of Maeve O’Meara and her Gourmet Safari tours.  At that time, I was lucky enough to meet Rosanna Cordova who made our delicious desserts (above).

Rosanna was born in Peru, but has since made Australia her home where she raised a family and enjoyed a very successful corporate career in IT. She has always loved the wonderful world of creating sweets and life has now given her the opportunity to follow her passion.

She’s set up Suspiros by Spiers, specialising in artisan patisserie that tastes as beautiful as it looks. Her passion is to create sweets that will delight the senses time and time again….

At Masterchef Live Festival of Food 2010, Suspiros by Spiers will have for sale its range of “Suspiros de Limeña” and “Alfajores”. They will also have on display a small selection of traditional and contemporary “tortas” including the delicate “Bola de Oro”.

“Suspiros de Limeña” – “Sighs of a woman from Lima” (above)

Dating back to the late 1800’s, this dessert is one of the best-loved traditional Peruvian delicacies. Tradition has it that the dessert was first created by the wife of the distinguished Peruvian writer and poet, José Galvez. Upon tasting it for the first time, José was delighted and promptly named it “Suspiro de Limeña”. When asked why, he simply responded… “because it is as soft and sweet as the sigh of a woman (from Lima)”.

The silky-smooth milk caramel-like base topped with a light and creamy liqueur meringue is simply exquisite.

The traditional recipe has now evolved into a family of Suspiros. At the Masterchef Live stand, there will be traditional (cinnamon), Café, Guava and Coconut flavours.

Alfajor: the “melt-in-your mouth” experience

The Alfajor (alfa-hor) is one of hte most popular Peruvian desserts dating back to the Spanish colonial times. Delicate light pastry layers traditionally filled with ‘manjarblanco’ –  a soft and creamy milk-based delicacy – the ‘heart’ of a multitude of Peruvian desserts.

I’m glad Rosanna is doing so well, if you’re going to Masterchef live make sure you check out Suspiros by Spiers stand.

Masterchef Live Festival of Food: Dec 10-12
Suspiros by Spiers
Royal Hall – Stand 22