Alice Eats: A Little Peruvian

Burlington Winter Farmers Market, every other Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Memorial Auditorium. Info, 310-5172.

There are lots of favorite foods I grew up eating in the New York City suburbs of Connecticut that I long for living in the Green Mountains — Korean barbecue, great Indian buffets, Greek.

But thanks to another Connecticut kid, there’s one itch that I’m now finally getting scratched: Peruvian. Since debuting at last summer’s Burlington and Capital City Farmers Markets, Hugo Lara has refined his fare into a thoroughly comforting fusion of Vermont ingredients and Peruvian flavors.

At last Saturday’s Burlington Winter Farmers Market, I ate my way through Lara’s whole menu and found the concise offerings thoroughly satisfying.

I was most excited to try the chicharrón sandwich. I was initially disappointed that the pork from North Hollow Farm wasn’t crispier — after all, chicharrones in their most basic form are essentially pork rinds. However, the slider-sized, crusty bun from Stewart’s Bakery added its own crunch to the flavorful pork. So did red onions. Meanwhile, sliced yams lent an earthy sweetness.

And I got to have my first taste of aji in Vermont. The mint-green, mayo-based sauce rests in squeeze bottles on every table at the Peruvian restaurants I frequented back home. I found A Little Peruvian’s version a bit light on the jalapeños (some of my favorite restaurants refer to the spicy sauce simply as “picante”), but the tangy, cilantro-flecked sauce still hit the spot.