Falstaff Magazin International Nr. 1/2022

food / FLAVOUR

food / FLAVOUR DESTINATION PERU The famous Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in southern Peru. Inset: An indigenous Peruvian with a heart-warming smile. In Peru, culinary worlds collide with spectacular effect. The country’s landscape encompasses wild Pacific coastline, high Andean peaks and Amazonian jungle. Its varied climates and altitudes support an extravagant and unusual range of fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and tubers. To this natural abundance, add several centuries of cross-cultural influence and exchange. After the Spanish conquest of Latin America in the 16th-century came the colonial era, bringing waves of immigration from Europe (mostly Spain and Italy), Japan, China and Africa. Indigenous people still make up more than a quarter of the population – and all these influences can be seen and tasted. TO THIS NATURAL ABUNDANCE, ADD SEVERAL CENTURIES OF CROSS-CULTURAL INFLUENCE AND EXCHANGE. PERUVIAN FOOD: FUSION CUISINE? Peruvian food is often referred to as fusion cuisine, but the reality is more nuanced than that. The Spanish conquest initiated two-way traffic between the old and new world, a process called the Columbian Exchange. The European colonisers brought citrus fruits, bananas, grapes, sugar cane, rice, onions and brassicas, along with domesticated animals like cows, pigs, sheep and chickens for milk and meat; from Latin America to Europe went potatoes (which are native to Peru), maize, peanuts, tomatoes, beans, peppers, squashes and avocados. The dinner plates of both worlds were changed forever, with far-reaching consequences. In Peru, as in other South Photos: Getty Images, Adrian Dascal/unsplash, Lima London, Brian Dandridge, Richard Haughton 74 falstaff mar – jun 2022

American countries, the colonial era also brought waves of immigration from Africa, Japan and China, as agricultural labourers arrived to work on plantations and estates during the 19th century. Culinarily, their influence persists in Afro-Peruvian, nikkei and chifa cooking styles, respectively, as does the cooking of Peru’s indigenous people. The coming-together of this rich mix of cultures and cooking styles is called criollo in Peru. Adrián Sánchez, executive chef of Lima and Lima Floral, two Peruvian restaurants in London, describes criollo cooking as, “the real roots of Peruvian food, bringing in all the cultural influences from the Incas onwards”. Jake Cousins, commis chef at Lima Floral, has travelled widely and lived in Peru, his mother’s birthplace. He says, “Peru is one of the luckiest countries in terms of cuisine because we have the influence of the sea, the Andes, the Amazon – each part brings its own things. If you go to the markets, you will see things you never see elsewhere.” The combination of terrain, natural abundance and cross-cultural influence make Peruvian cooking a cuisine like no other. < Above left: Lima restaurant is a Peruvian hotspot in London. Above and below: The enticing creations of Adrián Sánchez. mar – jun 2022 falstaff 75