Even after its two-week menu was highlighted at Terrace restaurant in the Hyatt Hotel ended on Sunday, Peruvian cuisine and culture will get one last hurrah Monday with a special demonstration of the ins and outs of the South American nation’s signature cocktail.

For the first time, locals here will be able to indulge in Peru’s national liquor, pisco. Peru International Trade will sign an agreement this week with local retailers, including E-mart and Lotte, to start selling pisco.

Maria Rosa Vasquez, a Shanghai-based Peruvian chef, will give a special presentation on the dos and don’ts of the pisco sour cocktail at Cafe Louis in southern Seoul on Monday night. Vasquez flew to Seoul on behalf of the Peruvian Embassy for the Peruvian Food Festival, showcasing a wide selection of authentic Peruvian dishes, including summertime favorites like ceviche, as well as chicharron, a savory seared pork dish, aji de gallina and quinoa salad.

Vasquez has in particular developed an unrivaled ability to incorporate local East Asian ingredients when Peruvian ones are not available, while maintaining the cuisine’s authentic South American flavors.

Following its great success in 2013, the Embassy of Peru in Seoul, in collaboration with the Grand Hyatt Hotel, hosted the second Peruvian Food Festival from July 29 to Aug. 10.

On Monday, Vasquez is to demonstrate why the pisco sour is such a beloved summertime quaff throughout Latin America. The cocktail is so celebrated by Peruvians that the government created an official holiday in 2003 for the drink: Dia Nacional del Pisco Sour (National Pisco Sour Day) on the first Saturday of February.

The liquor base, pisco, has an alcohol content of 38 to 48 percent, making it deceptively strong. By comparison, soju is 20 percent alcohol by volume.

It takes just a few minutes to prepare the classic pisco sour, which combines a rich, biting flavor with cool froth and sweet and sour aftertastes. The drink refreshes the mid palate, leaving room for tapas or other hors d’oeuvres. The ingredients include three parts pisco (3 ounces), one part simple syrup, one part lime juice and an egg white.

To crate the cocktail, combine the pisco, simple syrup, egg white and lime juice into a cocktail shaker. Shake. Add ice to the top and repeat until the frost envelops the mixer. Strain the cocktail into an old-fashioned glass and sprinkle a dash of Angostura bitters on top. Salud! Serve Peru’s national quaff immediately.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2014@heraldcorp.com)