Suspiro de limeña or Suspiro a la limeña is a dessert

Dessert

In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...

 of Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

vian gastronomy

Gastronomy

Gastronomy is the art or science of food eating. Also, it can be defined as the study of food and culture, with a particular focus on gourmet cuisine...

. A literal translation of the dessert's name is "Limean (from Lima) Woman's Sigh".

Origin

The origins of the dessert are in the middle of the nineteenth century in Lima

Lima

Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...

, Peru. The first piece of information regarding its development is in the New Dictionary of American Cuisine, published in 1818, where it was named "Manjar Real del Peru" (Royal Delight of Peru).

Its history starts with the wife of poet Jose Galvez, Amparo Ayarez, who invented the recipe. Galvez gave it its name because it is sweet and light "like a woman's sigh".

The dessert is based around manjar blanco

Manjar Blanco

Manjar blanco is a term used to refer to a variety of delicacies in the Spanish-speaking world. In Spain the term refers to blancmange, a European delicacy found in various parts of the continent as well as the United Kingdom. In the Americas it refers to a sweet, white spread or pastry filling...

, the Peruvian name for what is known as dulce de leche

Dulce de leche

Dulce de leche is a thick,creamy, caramel-like milk-based sauce or spread.Literally translated, dulce de leche means "sweet from milk". It is prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from caramelised sugar. It is a popular sweet in Latin America, where...

 elsewhere in South America, itself coming from blancmange

Blancmange

Blancmange is a sweet dessert commonly made with milk or cream and sugar thickened with gelatin, cornstarch or Irish moss, and often flavored with almonds. It is usually set in a mould and served cold. Although traditionally white, blancmanges are frequently given a pink color as well...

, a dish from the Middle Ages. Blancmange came to Peru from Spain. It consisted of a thick cream made of milk, sugar, almond, flour and some Iberian ingredients. An even older recipe had it made of chicken breast boiled in milk, almonds and thickened with flour and was meant as a bland food for the sick and weak.

The other element of the Suspiro de Limeña is meringue

Meringue

Meringue is a type of dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar, occasionally some recipes may call for adding an acid such as cream of tartar or a small amount of vinegar and a binding agent such as cornstarch found in icing sugar which may be added in addition to the corn starch which...

, also brought to Peru by the Spaniards.

The dessert is consumed mainly in Lima and in other Peruvian cities.

Preparation

The manjar blanco layer of the dessert is made with whole milk and sugar boiled until thick and caramel colored to which are added egg yolk and vanilla essence .

The meringue top layer is made from egg whites and Oporto

Port wine

Port wine is a Portuguese fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. It is typically a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine, and comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties...

 and is sprinkled with cinnamon

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods...

.