Peru's Independence, Its Food, and Its Future
On July 28th, Peruvians around the world will once again celebrate the anniversary of their country’s independence from Spain. On that date, in 1821, in the small town of Huaura, close to Lima, Don Jose de San Martin issued a proclamation of independence from a balcony overlooking the town’s crowded central square. A general from Argentina, San Martin had traveled to Peru with his Ejército Libertador (liberating army) to help the new nation in its pursuit of freedom.
His words that day are ones that every Peruvian knows by heart:
“El Perú, desde este momento, es libre e independiente por la voluntad general de los pueblos y por la justicia de su causa que Dios defiende ¡Viva La Patria! ¡Viva La libertad! ¡Viva la Independencia!”
(From this moment forward, Peru is free and independent by the general will of its people, and by the justness of its cause, which God upholds. Long live Peru! Long live freedom! Long live independence!)
Almost two hundred years have passed, and we acknowledge and celebrate our country’s founding. But also, with a little sadness, we acknowledge that Peru is still far from being as independent a country as it could be. Our natural resources - from the sea, the Andes, and the Jungle - continue attracting international interest from USA, England, Spain, China, and others. Multinational ventures extract and export products such as guano, fish, gold, copper, rare metals, and oil - all of which have great demand in the global market. Of course Peru is itself a principal exporter of copper, gold, and fish; but the majority of economic benefits from mining and fisheries often fall to foreign companies, rather than to Peru. The environmental and cultural impacts of that extraction are also severe.
Even with this in mind, we honor one hundred and ninety-six years of independence, and we find in our country evidence of changes we could not have foreseen, of a resurgent pride in what is most Peruvian, and an excitement and energy in writing the country’s next chapters. In that light, I would like to share with you some of the major themes of a newspaper article that a friend and loyal guest of Andina, Dick Benner, sent to me. The article originally appeared in the New York Times under the title “A Generation with a Cause.” I hope it reveals and encourages optimism and faith in Peru’s future.
The authors describe Peruvian gastronomy as the leading edge of a cultural and social movement driven by four generations of inspired Peruvian chefs, whose innovative ideas have transformed our traditional food, and whose creativity honors the past, celebrates the present, and speaks to the future of our country. Over the course of the past four decades, Peruvian food has emerged from relative anonymity, and has gained respect and enthusiasm inside and outside of Peru. So much so that Peruvian cuisine and Peruvian chefs now compete with the best in the world - and lead that global conversation as well! Since 2015, Peru has been declared the world’s most exciting culinary destination, with three restaurants in Lima ranked among the top 50 in the world. This year, Virgilio Martinez, owner and chef of Central (ranked 3rd in the Michelin list), was named best chef in the world.
Honors of this kind could be evidence of a greater, more lasting transformation. From my own experiences and observations, and from stories such as those told in this article, Peru is articulating its own identity, one that is - and has always been - multifaceted and multicultural, as seen in the immense variety of ingredients and dishes that our national gastronomy contains. Peruvian gastronomy melds not only our indigenous ingredients and techniques with those brought by waves of European, Asian and African immigrants; but it also brings into close conversation the many regional cuisines within Peru itself. As present-day Peruvians, we are rediscovering and reevaluating our unique geography, which makes our country one of the most diverse in climates, flora, and fauna.
It may be that for the first time we are seeing a more united Peru, where the hard line that always existed between rich and poor, is loosening. Our new generations of chefs, the majority of whom came from the socio-economic elite of Peru, are now on a closer cultural footing with the farmers and fishermen whose work and harvests they need, admire and respect. And the farmers and fishermen find in the chefs not only eager customers, but receptive students as well. These chefs are also part of shifts in sectors such as transportation, government, industry and trade - all of which connect directly or indirectly to culinary innovations. There is, in short, a new appreciation of the value of people and their work, and the rest of Peruvians are witnessing and feeling the consequences of these changes. We feel and see a new and fresh national pride. We are proud of what we have always loved - our food and culture - and we are proud of our chefs.
Tourists who now visit Peru do so not only for the chance to see Machu Picchu and similar sites, but more and more, they visit for the food. Internationally, Peru is known for its gastronomy. New restaurants are sharing that gastronomy around the world. Here in Portland, Andina is one of them.
The vision and ethos of Peru's newer chefs is very well expressed in a caption that accompanies this recent article: “For the newest wave of Peruvian chefs, cooking is more than just a profession, it is a social revolution.”
Drawing from the authors’ interviews with four generations of Peruvian chefs, here are a few of the most significant figures in the story of contemporary Peruvian cuisine:
The first generation of chefs and gastronomes began working in the 1970s and 1980s. Among them were Bernardo Roca Rey, Teresa Izquierdo, Cucho la Rosa, Isabel Alvarez, Humberto Sato. They were the first to highlight and honor Peruvian gastronomy, placing it above other foreign cuisines.
In 1986, Novo Andean Cuisine emerged as a vision and set of principles, conceived by Bernardo Roca Rey, an intellectual and dreamer, and Cucho la Rosa. In the company of other upper-class students, La Rosa had returned to Peru following years in Europe, where he and others had lived during a time of political turmoil at home. Novo Andean cuisine responded to the yearning that the exiled youth felt for Peru - for their home, their food, their traditions. Those feelings motivated this first generation of chefs to rediscover and reintroduce ancient Andean crops, such as quinoa, various hot peppers, and potatoes. Beginning with indigenous ingredients, they introduced modern ideas and techniques, many of which they had learned while overseas. Lima became the inaugural stage for Novo Andean Cuisine. It was not long before the ideas and ethos of the movement arrived to other regions of Peru, and to other parts of the world.
The second generation of Peruvian chefs included Gaston Acurio, Rafael Osterling, and Pedro Miguel Schiaffino, among others. These young students trained in culinary schools and restaurants in Europe and the USA, before returning to Peru with the ideas and energy to open their own restaurants. They arrived at a perfect moment. By the early 2000s, Peru had achieved greater political and economic stability, having passed through years of extreme inflation and harrowing domestic terrorism. They were decades when Peruvians felt lost, without hope or faith in the future.
The gastronomical movement led by Gaston Acurio helped Peru recover that faith and hope. Acurio invited, encouraged, and animated Peruvian chefs and gastronomes to explore Peru; to investigate and to analyze what Peru really was; to travel and to eat what residents in each of its various regions ate; and to learn how they make their food. With this intimate and careful understanding of Peru's regional cuisines, Acurio’s project was to refine dishes while preserving their essence. And he succeeded. Thanks to his passion for Peru and our food, he inspired younger generations to become chefs, and to open restaurants at home and abroad. He helped Peruvians fall in love again with our country, proud of our history, of our cultural diversity, and the diversity of our food. For many years, his restaurant Astrid y Gaston, in Lima, has been among the best restaurants in the world.
Acurio is a gifted leader and visionary. He speaks of chefs as the new soldiers of our country: those who will ‘conquer’ the world with our food. He is working to bring chefs, farmers, fishermen, the government, and industry together to identify and and create iconic concepts and dishes within the world of Peruvian food, in order to export these ideas to an eager world: examples include cebicherias, anticucherias, pollerias, sanducherias, Chifas. Peruvians feel for the first time that the destiny of our country is more and more in our hands. More than foreign countries and corporations, we Peruvians can guide our economy, and by doing so, help make our land more productive, our rivers and lakes less polluted, our roads and bridges more durable, and our heritage more visible and resilient. A movement that honors food and its many sources - natural, cultural, intellectual - stands a chance at benefiting the whole country.
Peru’s third generation of contemporary chefs were born in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Virgilio Martinez stands out among them, but they all continue building on the growing global reputation of Peruvian gastronomy. These young chefs highlight and explore the extraordinary biodiversity of our food and they seek as yet unknown sources and techniques. They also are ready and eager to experiment with older systems and methods of cultivation and cooking. The restaurant founded by Virgilio Martinez, Central, serves a tasting menu featuring around 200 hundred ingredients, some of them only recently discovered in 18 different altitudes spanning from the Pacific Ocean, over the Andean cordillera, and to the eastern edge of Peru’s Amazon basin. Like Acurio, Martinez invites chefs and future chefs to explore Peru, to find and experiment with new ingredients, and finally to incorporate them in their dishes. Much to Peru’s pride, Virgilio Martinez was declared Best Chef in the World in 2017.
Another outstanding chef of the third generation is Micha Tsumura, of Peruvian- Japanese heritage. Tsumura’s restaurant Maido features fine Nikkei food, and joins Central in the top 10 best restaurants in the world.
Finally, the fourth and youngest generation of chefs, born in the 1980s declare themselves a “generation with a cause.” They hope to push their culinary creativity even farther than their predecessors. Among them is one of Gaston Acurio’s students, Jose Lujan. With three restaurants in Cuzco, Lujan seeks understanding and inspiration by visiting archeological sites, museums, libraries, and communities, where he learns the ancestral techniques he brings to his own kitchens. For Arlette Eulert and Palmiro Ocampo, Peruvian gastronomy can and should be a social instrument. They are more conscious socially and environmentally, with a mission of “culinary recycling, optimal cuisine and use of local ingredients.”
As we see, Peru has an abundance of talented, creative and conscientious chefs who foresee great things for our country. Here in Portland, Andina embodies the same philosophy, and the same mission: to be ambassadors of Peruvian culture through our food and our hospitality.
On the eve of the 196th year of independence, we celebrate Peru’s future and raise a glass (of Pisco) in its honor. Salud! Long live Peru! Long live its food!
Mama Doris