Epicurean Peru
Renowned for its eco-tourism and storied culture, the Land of the Inca has now emerged as a center of global gastrotourism, boasting indigenous-inspired menus, a stylish Lima dining scene, and bustling Cuzco cocktail bars – not to mention an expanding array of chic places to stay. By Viia Beaumanis
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)%'(#&#'%) %1)%'(#&##! #'#%1"#)!% AMAZON ADVENTURE “Look!” exclaims our guide, as a band of spider monkeys darts through the jungle canopy and, moments later, a flock of scarlet macaws soars overhead. Our skiff is gliding down a tributary of the Peruvian Amazon, bright-orange passion fruit flowers and tall sprays of lushly plumed grass ornamenting the dense rain forest that edges the river. Around a bend, a dozen pink dolphins surface and then disappear among lotus-like “river lettuce,” an edible green enjoyed by local manatees. Two hours later, we pull up alongside our Amazon lodging: the newly refurbished, 16-cabin , designed by Peruvian architect Jordi Puig for Aqua Expeditions as one of the world’s most stylish adventure boats. Soon it’s lunchtime, and we settle into an upholstered banquette in a dining room wrapped in QHF SHI #HTGACGA panoramic windows. Waiters fill glasses HG SB9 QC5 F5XHG with crisp white wine as we tuck into '98QH $CAT9E avocado and hearts of palm salad, paiche )7BC5@@CGHbR RBQCFIR (a river fish baked in banana leaves), and VCSB BT5G75YG5 churos pishpirones (huge river snails). R5T79 AHCGA HTS HG 5 With menus conceived by ECF6 5G8 R9SSCGA HTS – one of the country’s CG SB9 RBCIbR RDC@@ most renowned chefs and a pioneer of Amazonian cuisine – innovative regional fare is a keynote on both the Aria and its sister craft, Aqua Amazon. Along with scouring rural Peru for novel ingredients and quizzing locals on their cooking techniques, Schiaffino has welcomed some illustrious peers on board, including the likes of Nobu Matsuhisa and Ferran Adrià, who on occasion have even surprised passengers as guest chefs. 1#"' ' 27 ' )'$$ 6 " 2 2 8 '% %# 382
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9 ' 57836375 9 #0#5p9' 578363!3 1 Advisor Tip
“Peru serves up some of the best ceviche you’ll ever have, and its endless bounty includes 4,000 varieties of potatoes alone. One of my favorite indigenous meals is causa, a layered potato dish with fish or chicken that typically includes avocados, olives, eggs, chilies, and key lime. Enjoy traditional Peruvian dishes with a pisco sour while dining in the shadow of an ancient pyramid at Huaca Pucllana [www. resthuacapucllana.com] in Lima’s historic Miraflores district.” a1)%0$ % '' 44% (CTTS@IR8'9W3IRE
“And you must go to ,” he adds. “The sushi is amazing – the best in Lima.” It’s no small compliment in a country whose signature dish is ceviche and a recommendation that speaks to the rich multiculturalism that makes Peruvian cuisine so distinctive. The country’s slave-trading Spanish conquerors brought Africans and Asians with them, and today’s chefs draw on centuries of their diverse culinary influence: African flavors and inventiveness coupled with the traditions of Chinese and Japanese cookery (known as chifa and Nikkei, respectively). Later, at the ritzy , barmen shake Peru’s national drink, the pisco sour – a frothy EH7DVCR9 @QHF SHI 9EFHG8 $CQ5@EHQ9R '5QDbR blend of egg white, sugar, fresh lime juice, Q9CF5ACG98 9EH 5Q ICR7H I9Q@97SCHG 5G8 75UC5Q and pisco (local grape brandy) – the de R9QU98 5S )7BC5@@CGHbR $5E565Q facto star of the nationwide 5 to 7 PM happy hour. Relaunched this spring as part of the hotel’s extensive redesign, 1#"' a cozy lobby bar opens onto a library ' 27 CAPITAL CUISINE ' lounge and, just beyond, , a 5 ' Back in Lima – now widely regarded as the culinary capital of South America – a few days restaurant fronted by Augusto Baertl, a 9 !
later, I’m chatting with chef Schiaffino at , his vaunted restaurant in the upscale jet-setting local who’s made a splash with B San Isidro neighborhood. Dedicated to sustainability and indigenous communities, he’s his coastal hot spot (also named Tragaluz) pleased by both local foodies’ expanding palates and the fact that their interest in new a few hours from town. With an eye on " 01 ingredients supports farming cooperatives cropping up to harvest them. Having uncovered Lima’s increasingly buzzy food scene, 33 native delicacies such as paiche (the “king of Amazon fish” in his estimation), Schiaffino Miraflores Park is betting that Baertl’s '0"'$ incorporated it into his menus and is proud to now see it stocked in city markets. “Behind first city venue – and its Mediterranean- 36385
these ingredients is a big culture,” he stresses. “Native people with a lot of knowledge who Peruvian-Asian fusion cuisine – will add ! 6 ' really understand what nature gives them. fashionable fizz to its restyled property. 4
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9 ' 57836375 9 #0#5p9' 578363!3 1 CULTURAL CUZCO An hour’s flight – but a world away – from the capital’s high-rise modernity, Cuzco’s Spanish colonial facades hide ancient Incan ramparts. Encapsulating the city’s architecture and atmosphere, , a former sixteenth- century convent, launched two years ago asanOrient-Express property (the brand recast itself as Belmond this year) following a four-year restoration that unearthed myriad relics. The hotel is exquisitely run by Floris Boyen, who polished his skills overseeing the culinary program at Rio’s Copacabana Palace, and its dining room, , boasts a menu from one of Peru’s hottest chefs, . Cuzco is home QHF SHI 9EFHG8 '5E57CH %5X5Q9G5R 8CGG9Q CR R9QU98 5S )9GXH 5G8 B5G8R HG to many excellent restaurants – Gastón 5S BH7H$TR9H Acurio’s and Coque Ossio’s among them – but Senzo’s Martínez is Advisor Tip the first, and only, Peruvian to earn a Michelin star (this year). Like Pedro Miguel Schiaffino, he’s fascinated by his country’s “In Cuzco, I would definitely undiscovered ingredients and forages the recommend dining at Cicciolina countryside for unusual edibles. Many of [www.cicciolinacuzco.com]. Home to them, say the leafy marsh samphire that a two-room tapas bar and a formal Martínez found amid the mangroves of restaurant, it’s located on the second San Pedro de Vice, appear in his dishes as floor of an old colonial house and he continuously pushes the frontiers of is just a short walk from Belmond Peruvian gastronomy. Palacio Nazarenas. Dishes feature The next day, I have a yen for something fresh vegetables and herbs from Peru’s sweet, so the hotel’s concierge directs me Sacred Valley, and everything I’ve to , a café/shop/museum tasted there has been divine. It’s such off Cuzco’s main square that also offers a happening place – you’ll definitely chocolate-making workshops. Winner of feel like part of the local scene.” a 2013 International Cocoa Award from a ")% ' !)#%"#'01#%' Paris’ Salon du Chocolat, Peru’s emerging $IUSTIH19X5S chocolate industry is transforming rain- $'0# 5 forest communities that once processed # coca leaves for drug lords into producers 67 " 1 3B 00 2 ' 85
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8 arrives to ferry me to !, of diligence to work off the trip’s cocktails,
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an hour’s drive from town. The extensive chocolate, and endless fine dining. #'
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(XdaWHhbXWcQH CQ5F CGAB5F 0 wellness program at this strikingly Until the last night. Then, sitting designed countryside resort is enhanced fireside in "#, the hotel’s rather glam caDRW PdRGHGcXdabXI 1DFQd4RFFQd DUIaHbFX UdWFQHbRWcQH6DFaHG9DUUHhsET9 '5Q5EE9E "1 by a selection of health-conscious dishes, restaurant, I cave and order a rack of 3 ! 6 including gluten-free options (rare in alpaca and a nice rich red to go with EaRWPbhXdcQHEHbcXI 4HadGdaRWPDWHRPQcGDh ' 4 cDRUXaVDGHcXdacQDccaDeHUbaXdWGcaRYIaXV Peru). Here, between massages, nature it. Giving in to yet another epicurean "#0 3 hikes, river rafting, and yoga, I cycle pleasure seems, really, the only proper way 0RVD"9P5RTUR9S HY85YTBRIUAB"979G69R # 86
VT 0@RIG4000=CH7FU8CHA8IG9STC7@FCABTS> 1 through quinoa salads on the dining to conclude my tour of Peru.
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