Virgilio Martinez leads the culinary revolution in Peru

The chef Virgil Martinez 37 years old is the face of a culinary revolution which in recent years has given Peruvian cuisine unprecedented international significance.

The world began to pay attention to it Virgilio Martinez when the Catalan chef Ferran Adria announced in 2011 that the country has the key to the future of gastronomy: Peru’s gastronomic boom is “unique in the world” sociocultural phenomenon, he said. The star chef Alain Ducasse joined the praise noting that “Peru has become one of the major players in the global culinary scene”, while the Culinary Institute of America named 2014 as the year of Peruvian cuisine.

Martinez, whose restaurant in London has been awarded Michelin stars and interesting comments, is one of the young stars of a generation of prestigious Peruvian chefs, among which highlights the veteran Acurio (with a portfolio of restaurants including the famous Astrid y Gaston in Lima), Pedro Miguel Schiaffino and Rafael Osterling Javier Wong. Acurio is seen as responsible for the globalization of Peruvian cuisine, a parent of a Peruvian revolution that began in the ’90s cuandoPerúse freed from decades of economic and political tribulations, focusing on its rich culinary culture to express a renewed sense of national growth, identity and pride.

The boom of Peruvian cuisine is the result of its rich geographical diversity (Acurio has said “we have more than 2,000 kinds of potatoes and 200 types of ajíchile”) and complex cultural heritage, with a culinary culture that reflects the waves of immigrants They have arrived in the country since the Spanish conquest. The influence comes from African, Indian and Spanish (the merger is known as Creole) to French and Italian, as well as Chinese and Japanese (the latter two cultures have generated rich culinary traditions and Nikkei Chifa).

This culinary melting pot originated as diverse as the ceviche, the national dish of Peru (raw fish marinated in citrus juice, usually served with citrus marinade known as tiger’s milk), anticuchos (skewered heart of marinated beef) and lomo saltado dishes ( strips of beef tenderloin Chinese style and tomatoes seasoned with soy sauce).

Martinez and colleagues have established a connection with this rich cultural heritage, through the generosity of the Andes (trout, alpaca, guinea pig, Andean grains such as amaranth and corn), Amazon (fish of fresh water as the giant paiche) and abundant seafood from the coast of Lima – sea bass and flounder, black oyster and fish cheetah, a gift from the icy Humboldt current.