LIMA, Aug 10 — Over the course of the summer, Relaxnews is taking you on a guided tour of the best culinary destinations around the world. A swim in the Pacific and a walk through the Museo Larco collection of pre-Columbian art should be enough to build up an appetite, and if you're seeking a celebrated chef to take you to new culinary heights in the Peruvian capital look no further than Virgilio Martinez.
What you will experience in Lima is more than just another culinary experience. In Peru, superstar chef Gaston Acurio earned his stripes by making his country's cuisine famous throughout the world. In fact, gastronomes the world over have him to thank for the delicious ceviche they enjoy. The former student of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris has become a mentor for young chefs who also want to bring their roots to the attention of the world.
Chef Virgilio Martinez is one of them, and he puts himself to the task every day at Central, his restaurant in Lima where he has made a name for himself for applying modern cooking techniques to indigenous Peruvian ingredients.
The 37-year-old's cuisine alone is worth a trip to the Peruvian capital, and if you pay a visit, he'll be leading you on a culinary journey you'll long remember.
Indigenous Peruvian ingredients in every plate
Just imagine: the chef collects rain water, filters it and purifies it for use in his cuisine. In the heart of the Miraflores neighborhood, just steps away from the Pacific Ocean, his garden supplies the elements for his creations.
The chef also regularly embarks on a journey into the Cordillera of the Andes to pick up some of the basic ingredients for Peruvian cooking. He is even known to climb some 12,000 meters in order to pick produce from the biodiversity of his country — something that has become a key part of his cooking philosophy.
The potato, for example, is one of his fetish ingredients. The chef looks to the South American origins of the tuber and uses the Tunta, a potato that the ancient Incas themselves would have used.
Virgilio Martinez also has fun with unusual products such as cushuro, a caviar-like bacteria that is abundant at altitudes above 3,600 meters and grows during the rainy season in small lagoons, springs, wetlands and clear, freshwater pools. He also serves his guests airampo, a prickly purple pear found in the Andean region.
At Central, you'll select your menu based on the altitude and ecosystem where the ingredients were found. Virgilio Martinez's cuisine is built around dishes that pay tribute to the past, beginning with the legacy of the Inca Empire.
It's a journey through time through food. Central was voted the fourth best restaurant in the world by the 50 Best list this past June. In the regional rankings, reserved for South America, chef Martinez earned the top spot. Definitely a talent to witness for yourself. — AFP-Relaxnews
