Kate Lewin hunts down Berlin’s finest Peruvian food…
‘Peru, Peru. My heart’s lighthouse’
Morrisey wrote the above line after a rapturous reception in the Peruvian capital, Lima. He wasn’t specifically referring to Peruvian food, but he may as well have been since the country’s cuisine has certainly prompted many an accolade over the last couple of years.
It all began with the backing of world-renowned chef Ferran Adria, who visited the country in 2012 and described the gastronomic boom as the most exciting he’d ever seen. There followed an explosion of new openings in London and New York, many winning rave reviews, Michelin Stars and ‘Cookbook of the Year’ accolades. Underlining all the hype, Peru has been declared the world’s leading culinary destination by the World Travel Awards four years in a row.
Interestingly, it was a German influence that helped focus the world’s attention on this long-overlooked food haven. The awakening happened at a small restaurant in Lima called Astrid & Gastón. Astrid, a German and Gastón, a Peruvian had studied cooking together in Paris and they served stylish Parisian cuisine until one day they decided to serve Gaston’s native dishes with the same exacting standards and dedication.
This decision and its resulting success inspired an entire generation of young chefs, and eventually helped transform Peruvian food’s journey from a local concern to an international trend. In Lima, Astrid & Gastón is now as much a cultural centre as it is a restaurant and the Astrid & Gastón empire spans about fifty restaurants all over the globe.
But what is it about Peruvian gastronomy that has inspired so many? Well, the breadth of options in the Peruvian diet is difficult to comprehend. As an easy introduction let’s start with some numbers. Peru is home to 2,500 varieties of potato, around 1,500 miles of coastline and 491 national dishes according to the Guinness Book of Records.
The Peruvian larder is a hymn to its natural resources; a vast stock-pot of fire, colour and texture. Andean vegetables such as potato, cassava, plantain and chilli peppers (known nationally as aji) are harvested every year in near ritualistic form. Fruits such as lucúma, physalis and camu camu add bittersweet notes of colour. Then there’s the native super foods: avocado, quinoa, amaranth, chia, maca and mate; magical morsels packed to the brim with nutritional value.
Here in Berlin, our Peruvian restaurants present the country’s vast cuisine with pride. Most menus begin with a Causa; cool potato cakes layered with meat and vegetables and named, some say, after the Andean word kausay meaning ‘sustenance of life’. At Serrano in Charlottenburg they serve their Causa Bicolor—made from delicious red and yellow potatoes marinated in lime juice—with huge prawns mixed into a salad with avocado…