Peruvian cuisine has got the culinary world in something of a lather of late. Emma McAlpine talks to former Astrid Y Gastón chef Virgilio Martinez.
Peruvian cuisine has experienced a massive gastronomic boom in recent years, so much so that its national food festival Mistura, set up only four years ago, is now one of the most important in the world, attracting over 400,000 visitors from top chefs to producers, restaurateurs and tourists. At this year's September festival, culinary pioneer Ferran Adrià announced that: "At present no other country is experiencing something like this".
Many talented Peruvian chefs like Gastón Acurio, of Astrid Y Gastón (this year named one of the World's 50 Best Restaurants) are drawing inspiration from the country's immigrant-influenced cuisine – mixing Chinese, Japanese, Italian and African cooking methods with traditional Andean ingredients – to create inventive, cutting edge dishes.
Next week, the Cookbook Cafe launches a seven day Flavours of Peru festival menu, devised and created by former Astrid Y Gastón executive chef, Virgilio Martinez. I spoke to the 31-year-old – who now heads the critically-acclaimed Central restaurant in Lima – about his take on Peru’s gastronomic development, why he quit law and what we can expect from his new London restaurant opening next year...
Why do you think Peruvian cuisine is thriving at the moment?
Peruvian people really live around cooking, eating, and searching for new recipe ingredients. Every gastronomic topic is a starting point for a good conversation. The world – and cosmopolitan people – now wants to enjoy something unique and authentic; nothing artificial, no new concepts. Our gastronomy is very authentic: just fresh ingredients, natural fusions, deep flavours, contrast and legacy.
Peruvian cooking has so many influences from all over the world. How would you define it?
There are a lot of countries with citizens of different origin. But what made Peruvians special was the way we shared our knowledge. For example, we didn't take slave gastronomy like anticucho for granted. We made a family rule to eat Chinese every Sunday, we invited Italian friends to our house to cook for them and they said thanks with a tiramisu. The Japanese saw our ceviches and they said you need to change the way you cut the fish – and we did! There are lots of examples of natural fusion with Andes and Amazonian ingredients in the last 1000 years.
You studied law – what made you want to be change your careers to be a chef?
At one point, Lima was chaotic and I had to quit cooking because there was no chance of success in the kitchen. High end dining was French; we had no chance to express our own style. Then things changed and I quit law school (I was just about to get kicked out anyway as my cookery books were more important to me than my law books!). I decided to travel, get to know the world's gastronomy and then come back to mix everything I had learned – all the techniques and recipes – with my own cuisine and Peruvian local ingredients.
What would you say the biggest influence in your cooking has been over the years?
Travelling. Not only around the world but in Peru as well, to the highlands and the Andes. To discover there are around three thousand types of potatoes, to get the chance to see at least 20 of them and know that there is a lot more on the list! Going to the Amazon, to see how wild, natural and organic it is, without any influence from the food industry, seeing things done manually - wow. Then I go back to Lima and experiment in my kitchen laboratory. I'm always adding more to my list of things to learn and keep motivated.
You used to work at Astrid y Gastón - now named as one of the world's best 50 restaurants. Do awards like this matter to you?
It's great to see Gastón going around the world showcasing Peruvian cuisine. He is the best ambassador I know. As all cooks know, awards are the consequence of working hard at something you want to achieve, but they don't influence my philosophy about cooking at all.
You are in the process of opening a restaurant in London, can you tell us a bit more about it?
We are going to be serving Peruvian cuisine, with a bit of tradition, a bit of innovation. So people can taste the latest flavours of Lima and experience a bit of what I do here at Central.
What is the most important rule you insist on in your kitchen?
I don't like to push people; it's a waste of time. We, the team at Central, let people go if they don't feel the same way we do about cooking. I look for people who really want to cook, somebody who is happy when a nice tomato arrives in the kitchen. Young people with passion. The cooks at Central are great friends and will work hard, long hours with me because we enjoy it. We have to feel like a family, be polite and have respect.
Do you have a favourite restaurant in London?
I had an amazing experience at Viajante, since I saw Nuno Mendes at Madrid Fusion. I love the feeling he expresses.
What would your last meal consist of?
Tubers from the Andes in different textures. A catch of the day like a Cabrilla fish, with aromas from Amazon herbs...the ones you don't know...that simplicity makes us feel unique!
The Flavours of Peru festival menu will be available at the Cookbook Cafe, at InterContinental London Park Lane, from 17th-23rd October. Reservations can be made on 020 7318 8563 or hello@cookbookcafe.co.uk
Visit www.cookbookcafe.co.uk for more details
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