Peruvian chef Virgilio Martínez has been integral to putting the food of his country on the map with Central. Or rather, the lauded Lima restaurant that he runs with his wife and fellow chef, Pia León, which seeks to spotlight Peru’s staggering array of ingredients.
Central takes diners on a seventeen-course journey that spans the biodiversity of the country, from the ocean to the Amazon to the Andes—regions that he and his sister, Malena, have explored intensively through her research project, Mater Iniciativa.
Since he was a kid skateboarding through the streets of Lima, stopping at vendors for his favorite dishes, like anticuchos (grilled beef hearts), the 40-year-old chef has been inspired by Peru’s ingredients. (Remember, this is the country that gave us tomatoes and potatoes.) A meal at Central might include oxalis tuberosa, camu camu fruit, kanihua, and many other delights.
Martínez is also inspired by his country’s physical beauty, taking frequent research and foraging trips deep into the jungle and high into the Andes—even while he’s been busy as a young father and moving Central to a new location. “I keep going to Cusco to see my sister at Mater Iniciativa, getting research results and checking up on projects that involve our objectives to keep cataloging and exploring our region. The Mater team has increased, and cool and interesting information is helping our ideas. So we’ll do more of that!”
What are your favorite native Peruvian ingredients? Ocas (oxalis tuberosa), piscoronto corn, yacon root, camu camu fruit, kanihua.
Favorite food memories from childhood. Skateboarding around the city of Lima and going to the street vendors for picarones [sweet squash donuts], then going to another woman who was grilling anticuchos [beef hearts].
What is your advice to first-time visitors to Peru? It’s difficult to do it all in one trip, as people sometimes think. Most people go to Lima and Cusco, and then Puno, Arequipa, and more Andean regions. You may have to come back if you want to enjoy the peace and the unknown Amazonia—keep the jungle for another trip, with more energy to explore and visit deep Amazonian places and meet the people there.
What do you love most about the country? The people! Happy faces, good laughs, and people’s interaction with nature and biodiversity.
