MARSIA TAHA, HEAD CHEF AT GUSTU, IN LA PAZ, IS ONE OF THE FEW BOLIVIAN WOMEN AT THE HELM OF A TOP RESTAURANT. HER MISSION: TO BRING TRADITIONAL COOKING BACK FROM THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION, SUPPORTING LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN THE PROCESS. WORDS: JESSICA VINCENT


Until relatively recently, you’d never have found the words ‘Bolivia’ and ‘haute cuisine’ in the same sentence. But in 2013, when Claus Meyer (of two-Michelin-starred Noma) and his Melting Pot foundation opened Gustu, the country finally had a taste of gourmet success. A year after opening, the La Paz restaurant — serving 100% native Bolivian produce and designed to help local chefs progress in the industry — became the first Bolivian restaurant to feature on the Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list, appearing alongside major players such as Lima’s Central and Mexico City’s Pujol. Gustu cemented its reputation as a star on


the culinary scene when, in 2017, Marsia Taha was named head chef — a notable achievement in a male-dominated industry. Not only was she one of the few Bolivian women to be in charge of a top professional kitchen, she was also the first to head up an internationally acclaimed one. “The Bolivian woman has always been the


feeder,” Marsia says. “She’s in command of our markets, our soup kitchens and our street food stalls, which are the pillars of Bolivian cuisine. But look towards the larger professional kitchens, and the men suddenly become much more in charge than the women.” Challenging gender stereotypes wasn’t


Marsia’s only undertaking. Since becoming head chef, she’s partnered with the Wildlife


Conservation Society — an NGO dedicated to protecting Bolivia’s unique ecosystems and species — in an effort to revive endangered ingredients and culinary traditions. In a first- of-its-kind project, named Sabores Silvestres (‘wild flavours’), Marsia and her kitchen team travelled to remote eco-regions, including the Amazon, the Andes and the Altiplano, to learn about their unique flavours. “For decades, we’ve been ignoring


Bolivian produce and turning to imported products,” Marsia says. “But Bolivia is a country of infinite wealth. All we need as Bolivians is to start looking inwards with respect and pride, towards our deep and productive homeland.” And look inwards she has. Her latest menu,


now exclusively made up of native produce, features hard-to-find ingredients such as tuyu tuyu (beetle larvae), cangrejito de Tarija (small freshwater crab from Tarija, a city in southern Bolivia), and lagarto curado (raw alligator), all of which have been responsibly sourced from rural communities across the country. “We [Bolivians] have swapped our


traditional eating habits for the fast, processed and less healthy ingredients of the West,” Marsia says. “The sad thing is that this phenomenon is affecting our hard-working agricultural communities, and thousands of native Bolivian products are at risk [of disappearing].”


NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.CO.UK/FOOD-TRAVEL 29


IMAGES: PC GUSTU


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