IMAGES: TOMAS KJSERVIK; ALAMY; LUIS MORALES; GUSTAVO VIVANCO
PERU
P
Clockwise from top left: a pisco cocktail, Brumble de Pepe, at Navegante; a local square in Lima; muchos tuberculos at Kjolle, a dish featuring different kinds of tubers; Chef Diego Muñoz with his signature dish of lapas al olivo Previous pages. from left: Interior of Kjolle restaurant, Lima; a trio of cacau desserts at Kjolle
eru’s emergence as one of the world’s most talked-about gastronomic destinations is partly rooted in one of its darker periods. During the 1980s and 1990s, civil war dogged the country, with many rural Peruvians forced to flee their
homes in the Andes and the Amazon and head to Lima, drastically changing the city’s demographics in the process. These refugees brought with them new dishes and ingredients, which eventually started to make their way into the hands of some of the city’s most gifted chefs. Soon, the latter began to look at Peru not in terms of what it was lacking, but for how much it had. Many believe that Peruvian fine dining, as we
know it today, was born when chef Gastón Acurio, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, started using more and more native ingredients at his Lima restaurant, Astrid y Gastón, which opened in 1994. A few restaurants followed suit, and what began as trickle was to become fully fledged gastronomic wave, sweeping Peru to prominence as home to some of the world’s most exciting modern dining. In terms of cuisine, the country has two strong
points. The first is its vast biodiversity, with ingredients provided by two ocean currents, a coastal desert, Andean valleys and Amazonian forests. Then there’s its history — 5,000 years of civilisation and agricultural advancement have provided its modern citizens with thousands of varieties of tuber, pseudo grain and corn, plus countless fruits and vegetables. But there are other factors, not least an influx of overseas influences from Africa, Japan, China, Spain, Italy and, more recently, Venezuela that have ushered in new cooking techniques and ingredients to the country’s culinary conversation. Today, Peru’s fine-dining scene is in unchartered
territory. Lima routinely scores as many entrants on World’s 50 Best Restaurants list as Paris or Tokyo — including last year’s number one, Central. But the movement that started in the capital has since spread to other corners of the country, shining new light on long-forgotten ingredients and the communities — many of them Indigenous — that continue to produce them. Peruvian fine dining looks here to stay, with its best restaurants looking ever more distinct from their counterparts elsewhere in the world, and its most innovative chefs enjoying huge freedom to pave their own way forwards.
Lapas al Olivo NAVEGANTE, PUNTA HERMOSA You’ll find lapas, or keyhole limpets, prepared in a handful of ways along the Peruvian coast, whether breaded and fried or thinly sliced in cold salads. They’re not, however, an ingredient you tend to find on fine-dining menus. Step forward Diego Muñoz, the chef who
made his name by transforming Gastón Acurio’s flagship restaurant, Astrid y Gastón, into the temple of dining it is today. After the pandemic, Muñoz was living happily with his family in Punta Hermosa, a small town south of the capital, known for its surf culture, laid-back atmosphere and excellent seafood. Although he had been planning to launch a new
venture in Lima, his plans changed when he passed a ‘for rent’ sign outside a former restaurant on a corner lot. He snapped it up, ditched the thatched roof and resurrected the facade, implanting a minimalist wood and marble interior in the eight- table dining room. Navegante was born. He describes the restaurant’s offering as
‘gastronomia sin fronteras’ (‘food without borders’), as it comprises dishes that don’t conform to any one style. Everything is driven by the ingredients, the menu changes daily and produce mostly comes from small farms in Pachacámac, an agrarian community in the nearby Lurín Valley, which is known for its thousand-year-old pyramid complex. Crucially, Muñoz has also put together a network
of artisan fishermen that works with nets and small traps in the beaches and will bring him the things no one else wants. He finds space on the menu for ingredients such as chanque (a species of South American abalone) and sea urchin eggs, which have no market value. His lapas al olivo is modelled on pulpo al olivo, a
dish of thinly sliced octopus in a purple olive sauce created by Japanese Peruvian cook Rosita Yimura in the late 1980s. Since octopus is being overfished in Peru, Muñoz prefers the limpets that come from Pisco to the south of Punta Hermosa, or Huarmey, on the other side of Lima. “The texture and flavour are very special,” he explains. “I started using them a few years ago and really liked the unique way they marry with other flavours.” First, he cooks them in a saline solution, then
slices them and seasons them with extra virgin olive oil, lemon drop pepper and black pepper, before adding a cream made from local Botija olives, roasted chili and coriander oils, plus a garnish of avocado cubes. It’s a dish that looks as good as it tastes.
instagram.com/
navegante.peru
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER – LUXURY COLLECTION 39
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220 |
Page 221 |
Page 222 |
Page 223 |
Page 224 |
Page 225 |
Page 226 |
Page 227 |
Page 228 |
Page 229 |
Page 230 |
Page 231 |
Page 232 |
Page 233 |
Page 234 |
Page 235 |
Page 236 |
Page 237 |
Page 238 |
Page 239 |
Page 240 |
Page 241 |
Page 242 |
Page 243 |
Page 244 |
Page 245 |
Page 246 |
Page 247 |
Page 248 |
Page 249 |
Page 250 |
Page 251 |
Page 252
