FlySAA Lima Gastronomic Darling of the World

8/10/2019 FlySAA Lima Gastronomic Darling of the World

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142 Sawubona October 2014

arrive in Perus capital city, Lima, speckled grey with high-rises on the one side and a washed-out blue coloured by thesea on the other, clutching an extensive list of meticulouslyresearched dishes and ingredients to try. My scribblingsinclude fruit such as the rich, creamy lacumaand cloyinglysweet cherimoya, as well as the 4 000 varieties of potatoes

(or, at least, a few of them) grown in the Andes, deep-friedcuy(guinea pig),camerones(river prawns), stubby, large-kernelledchoclo(corn), yellow aji (chilli peppers), picarones(sweet potatodoughnuts) and ceviche, of course.

My selection of restaurants, from swish, star-rated experiencesmentioned on the popular gastronomy websites to old-school dinersrecommended by friends, is equally lengthy. On this first day, Imravished by hunger. Even the supermarket next door to our hotel inMiraflores, a district thats part commercial and elegant, part gritty

and forlorn, carries tempting fruit from the Amazon, pastries andbottles of the ubiquitous soft drink Inca Kola that I buy right away.

Having clawed its way out of a depression following the terrorismof the Eighties and Nineties, Limas now considered a popularinternational business destination. Levels of poverty have plummetedfrom 53,6% in 2007 to 24,2% in 2013. The citys cleaned daily

and open spaces like the Love Park, with its iconic sculpture of loversembracing, provide a place to rest.

Whereas it used to be a swift thoroughfare onwards to MachuPicchu, visitors now linger to lap up history and culture at Plaza de

Armas, for example, the ruins of a pre-Inca temple at Huaca Pucllana,smack-bang in the business district, as well as the galleries, parks andnational archives like the Museum of Peruvian Gastronomy.

Then theres the food to sample. Rondee Scherman, a counsellorat the South African Embassy based in Lima, explains that Perus

Catapulted into the limelight by the lifes work of lauded chef Gastn Acurio, as well as thePeruvian economic boom, Limas matured into a self-made haven for the epicure


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actively marketing its cuisine to the world and gastronomy roadshowshave taken centre stage.

Chefs like Gastn Acurio of venerated restaurant Astrid y Gastn,whos regarded as the father of modern Peruvian cuisine, RafaelOsterling and Virgilio Martnez, who also own and run award-winning restaurants, are invested in promoting local gastronomy,technique and produce. While its receiving a great deal of attention,Peru isnt waiting for outside assistance here.

The increased confidence in its own cuisine has resulted inupwards of 80 000 new students enrolling in Perus culinary schoolseach year. Acurios Pachactec Cooking Schoolfor underprivilegedstudents and the internationally popular Mistura Food Festival haveaided the cause.

In the once-bohemian district of Barranco, along the cliff-edgedsouthern tip of Lima Bay, the pastel faades of colonial buildings andthe cobbled streets evoke a bygone era. Today, though, alongside the

traditional face of what served as a 19th-century hamlet of summermansions for Limas elite, you find an array of modern diners, craftbeer bars, boutiques and artisanal suppliers.

Walking in Barranco is like breathing in romanticism, Bohemia,life, says Sandra Arce, a tour guide who runs Peruvian Local Friend.

After I visit the brightly laden Surquillo Market, I start my Peruvianculinary journey in Barranco, in search of the dish for which thecountrys best known: ceviche.

Truth is, I could look anywhere in the city and probably find a decentplate of it. Every Limeo has his or her familys favourite cebichera(seafood eatery),usually of the huarique or hole-in-the-wall informalvariety, where the emphasis is on fresh food and relationships withthe owner-cook.

Were queuing in a side street outside Canta Rana, a bistro thatsbeen serving ceviche and seafood dishes for the past three decades.The wooden tables are packed together tightly; the walls andceilings are cloaked with football memorabilia. Locals and the oddforeigner are taking sips of what look like icy dark purple slushiesin tall glasses, while droplets of condensation slide down the sides.I instantly fall in love with chicha morada, a refreshing drink madefrom boiling purple corn with pineapple, sugar and spices. We get

the last lunchtime table, crammed at the back, and ponder the menu:there are 17 varieties of ceviche alone.

We order the mixed seafood, tiraditoand squid ink varieties. Thisdish, traditionally made with white fish marinated in lime juice servedwith red onions, chilli, coriander, slices of boiled sweet potato anda few tablespoons of large-kernelled (up to four times bigger thanregular) corn, has become the iconic gastronomic symbol of the city.

In Peru, ceviche is often a main meal, or shared tapas-style


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and enjoyed no later than 3 or 4pm, because the freshness of thefish cant be guaranteed by the cook any later than this hour. Fish isbought fresh every day.

The multi-ethnic fabric of Lima and Perus populace has resulted in a

vast and complicated cuisine with several unique food fusions suchas Nikkei: Japanese-Peruvian, Chifa: Chinese-Peruvian, Creole:Afro-Peruvian and Italian-Peruvian.

Tacu tacuoriginates from the indigenous Quechua wordmeaning mashed and is a dish of leftover, flavourful beans andrice, combined and pan-fried in a tamale shape, originally madeby African labourers. Today its topped with steak and an egg,considered comfort food by most Limeos.

Chinese influences are prominent too and you dont need to visita Chifa restaurant in Chinatown to enjoy a good lomo saltado.Thisdish of beef strips marinated in soy sauce, spices and vinegar andstir-fried with onions, chilli peppers, tomatoes and fried potatoes withrice on the side demonstrates the fusion thats become mainstream.

Tiradito is a type of ceviche influenced by Japanese immigrants.Its distinctive in that the fish is cut into sashimi-style strips, rather thanchunks, and no onion is used.Maido serves exquisite Nikkei cuisinein a relaxed setting and has earned both international recognition(its listed as one of Latin Americas World 50 Best Restaurants) and avery loyal clientele. Its where I ate one of my best meals in Peru.

Chef Mitsuharu Tsumura, who opened Maido in 2009 and whoseancestors arrived in Peru from Japan in about 1889, isnt keen onthe term fusion food. The process, he says, happened in stagesand was a natural evolution. Harmonious ingredient combinations,such as Peruvian chilli peppers paired with Japanese soy sauce, haveinfluenced this.

ASTRID Y GASTN:CasaHacienda Moreya, AviendaPaz Soldn, San Isidro.(www.astridygaston.com)

MAIDO:Ubicacin: calle SanMartn 399 (esq calle Coln),Miraflores. (www.maido.pe)

ENRIQUE HAURIQUE:Las Almendras St 134-136-Urb, Entel Per San Juan

de Miraflores.EL TARWI: Pasaje Ayulo 131,

Jess Maria. Order the guineapig (cuy) here.(www.eltarwi.com)

LA BODEGA:Verde Jr Sucre335-A, Barranco. Try thelucuma fruit in a milkshake.

SURQUILLO MARKET:Avenida Ricardo Palma

with Paseo de laRepblica, Surquillo.

BAR MAURY:Jr Ucayali 201,Lima Centre. Rumoured to bethe birthplace of the Pisco Sour.Bartender Eloy has been therefor more than 50 years and stillmakes the drinks himself.

HISTORICAL AND CULTURALTOUR:Peruvian Local Friend:

([email protected]); (www.peruvianlocalfriend.com)

CULINARY TOUR ANDCOOKING CLASS:LimaGourmet Company:([email protected]); (www.limagourmetcompany.com)

There was no scope to prepare Japanese food 50 years ago inPeru, so cooks prepared Peruvian food with Japanese techniques andadjustments. Japanese immigrants introduced octopus to the nationalpalate, whereas previously local fishermen would discard it. WhenJapanese companies opened in Peru 35 years ago, Japanese foodhad to be prepared for staff using local ingredient substitutes. All ofthis has gradually culminated in what we call Nikkei cuisine.

After a sojourn to Canyon Country and the Inca heartland, I returnto Lima. The list I arrived with is more or less accomplished, butthe options were greater than I imagined. I was warned that Idfind Lima dull. Its true that its modern and fitted with the charmlessconveniences of big-city life, in comparison with the countryside.However, its lively, experimental and hopeful. Also, Ive yet toestablish my favourite haurique; there are many left to discover.

I recall the words of Arce: From hidden neighbourhood eateriesand street food to world-renowned restaurants, in Lima theres a placeand a taste for everyone.

I S H A Y G O V E N D E R Y P M A

R O N D E E S C H E R M A N

G A L L O

I M A G E S / G E T T Y I M A G E S C O M
http://www.astridygaston.com/http://www.maido.pe/http://www.eltarwi.com/mailto:[email protected]://www.peruvianlocalfriend.com/http://www.peruvianlocalfriend.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.limagourmetcompany.com/http://www.limagourmetcompany.com/mailto:[email protected]://www.limagourmetcompany.com/http://www.limagourmetcompany.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.peruvianlocalfriend.com/http://www.peruvianlocalfriend.com/http://www.eltarwi.com/http://www.maido.pe/http://www.astridygaston.com/

FlySAA Lima Gastronomic Darling of the World

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