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If there’s one chef who’s put Peruvian cuisine on the map, it’s Gaston Acurio. (Peruvian cuisine, sometimes called “Novoandina”, marries modern cooking techniques with traditional Peruvian foods: herbs, spices, meats, vegetables, and fruits.)
Chef Acurio originally studied as a lawyer in Peru and Spain but switched to culinary studies. Anyone who recognizes that the world needs fewer lawyers and more chefs has my admiration! He’s in the same mould as Ramsey or Ducasse: he’s involved in some 26 restaurants, has his own television show, and is the author of several cookbooks. All at the age of 43. Chef Acurio is also a strong promoter of the distinctiveness of Peruvian cuisine and the pride that Peruvians should take in that distinctiveness.
The centre of Gaston Acurio’s universe is his flagship restaurant in Miraflores; it’s named “Astrid y Gaston” after Acurio and his wife (and pastry chef), Astrid Gutsche. And it’s just a short walk from our hotel.
It’s a beautiful restaurant with several dining rooms. My lucky night, our table is in the dining room that’s also the wine cellar, with racks and racks of bottles all around us. On the walls are signs with a big white S on a green background that say, “Zona Segura en Casos de Sismos” It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that’s where you stand if an earthquake hits. Just one question: how many bottles can I grab on my way to the S spot?
We arrive early again (8 pm, early by Peruvian custom) so it’s not too busy. And it’s a Monday night, so maybe it will be slow. But no, by 9:30 the place is packed and stays that way by the time we leave at 11:30. Some tourists are there, sure, but Peruvians do like good food!
We kick off with a glass of Anakena Sauvignon Blanc, from the Chilean Central Valley. Guaranteed to get the tastebuds in gear.
The menu is available in English but it’s still like being on another planet. So many choices and I have no idea what many of them are. The ingredients and cooking techniques are so specific to Peru; the menu even comes with its own dictionary to explain them all! Just dive in!
I start with Tres Cebiches, Tres Leches de Tigre. Cebiche (or ceviche) is fresh raw seafood marinated in citrus juices and seasoned with chili peppers and onion. (They don’t kid around with the chili peppers!) The presentation is 3 seafoods in 3 different dishes: octopus; a combination of smelt, squid and clams; and then sea urchin and whatever other molluscs are fresh that day. Each dish is marinated in a different mixture of citrus juices and chillies (known as leches de tigre, or tiger’s milk). Cebiche…ceviche…any way you spell it, it’s all brilliant and delicious. The seafood texture is firm yet tender, much like fresh, raw oysters, which I love as well.
Michèle opts for Conchas Power, scallops prepared 2 ways on the shell. One is cebiche-style, the other baked with citrus and tausi (fermented black beans), both accompanied with shredded seasonal vegetables.
For the main course, Michèle chose Saltado Otoñal de Lenguado y Camarones. Pacific Sole and shrimps, cooked “saltado”, which means stir-fried or sautéed over very high heat. It’s an example of the Chinese influence: literally, saltado means jumped or leaped, which is what the ingredients do in a wok. Also with scallops, mushrooms, peppers, lima beans (of course!), and two sauces: one of cream and the other that definitely has the lip-smacking Umami flavours of Chinese food.
My choice is the Mero de los Mares del Norte, Choclos y Rocoto Verde. Mero is Pacific grouper. Accompanied by a light creamy-corn sauce, sautéed corn and mushrooms, and a stuffed green chili.
For us, all the dishes are a combination of the familiar and the new. It’s all fantastic. Wonderfully fresh ingredients and perfectly prepared.
The wine? The two sommeliers (the one from the restaurant and the one at the table) discuss a few options. His advice is an oaky Chardonnay. Normally not one of my favourites but these dishes should be just rich enough to stand up to a big Chardonnay. The choice? Villard Chardonnay 2004 from Chile’s Casablanca Valley. Deep yellow-gold colour with aromas of butter and caramel right off (Malolactic fermentation and this wine has seen new oak), then pineapple, ripe peach, and nuttiness. Peach dominates on the taste, with hazelnut on the finish that yields some bitterness. Round, smooth acidity, even a bit oily. But it’s just past its prime with the fruit flavours fading on the nose and taste. Good match with the mains.
Dessert? Of course! More adventures into the unknown. I go for Cherimoya (a fruit from the Andes) with frozen orange granizado, lemon pie ice cream, and marinated oranges. Deliciously refreshing.
Michèle’s choice is Camu Camu fruit tapioca with milk chocolate mousse, frosted coconut soup, cinnamon foam, Camu Camu sorbet with orange confit. No wonder Gaston married Astrid!
TorentelTorontel grape variety and, as you can guess, has more distinctive aromas. Our sommelier tells us that there’s a technique to drinking Pisco: breathe in the Pisco aromas through the nose, take a sip, roll it around in your mouth, swallow, and then breathe out through your mouth. The alcohol level is around 40% but it’s not that noticeable…a dangerous combination. Yes, we can still stand up at the end.
The verdict? Gaston Acurio lives up to his stellar reputation. Fresh local ingredients, superbly prepared using both Peruvian and international techniques. Don’t miss it.
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For 16 hours we hopped (to Newark), skipped (to Houston), and jumped (to Lima) our way down to Peru, landing at 10:30 at night after a 4-hour layover in Houston. Luckily, in the Houston airport, we had found a reasonably good restaurant (well, good by airport standards) and whiled away the hours with tenderloin steaks and a bottle of Tempranillo.
We’ve come to Peru for a variety of reasons. Some of the most famous sites in the world are here: Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Lake Titicaca. When I went to school, we learned about “western” civilization…Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and so on through Western Europe and into North America. If we learned anything about the indigenous civilizations of the Americas, it was that they were inferior and deserving of subjugation. So here’s a chance to learn about the pre-Inca and Inca civilizations…and about life in Peru today.
And Peru is becoming famous for a cuisine that marries indigenous cuisine with Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese influences. The strength is local ingredients and chefs who know what to do with an incredible array of fresh seafood, the biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest, and the abundant produce from the microclimates along the Andean foothills and valleys.
Our hotel in Lima – actually, in Miraflores, which has become a satellite to Lima – is only a 20-minute stroll down to the Pacific Ocean and that’s where we head the next morning. Nothing like ocean air to cure the hangover of modern air travel.
For lunch, we head to La Rosa Nautica, a restaurant built on a pier on the ocean. From our table, we look out onto the Pacific, with the waves rolling into the pier below us. Very relaxing. It’s still early (12:30 is early to eat lunch in Peru) so our dining room – there are 4 of them – is almost empty when we are seated. But it gradually fills up, mostly with families and by 1:30, it’s full…and still full when we leave at 3.
It’s not hard to decide what to have at an Oceanside restaurant. Michèle picks the Seabass Papillote, steamed with a bit of white wine, inside a parchment paper box, origami style, with carrot strips, zucchini, white leek and mushrooms, garnished “a la jardinera” rice.
I’m a sucker for “signature” dishes so my choice is the Rosa Nautica Seabass, cooked in a Pernod sauce, served with sea scallops and shrimps, on a bed of yellow Peruvian potatoes and topped with puff pastry.
Fresh seafood, well-prepared, it doesn’t get any better!
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