13-12-2012
Virgilio Martinez, 34 years old, a Peruvian rising star. He’s the chef of 3 establishments - Central in Lima, Senzo in Cusco in Peru and Lima in London -, he will be one of the protagonists at Identità Naturali, Blue hall 2, in Milan, on February 11th 2013
From zero to 3.500 metres. From the ocean breeze of Miraflores, a residential and super-chic neighbourhood in Lima, to the high altitude vertigoes of Cusco, in the warm bowels of a XVI century ex-convent. Home base is still the Central, in the Peruvian capital – a hyper-modern establishment with a vegetable garden on the roof, a kitchen in view, a cellar with highlights from the South American production – but Virgilio Martinez a few months ago began to sign the menu at Senzo, a restaurant in Palacio Nazarenas, a new five star luxury hotel that Orient Express added to their already rich Andean-Amazon offer.
Reef octopus with beetroot
“I’m from Lima and the Andean world has a much stronger relation with the earth. There are products I had never used before, such as high altitude mushrooms. If I think that only 5 years ago I would have done anything to import white truffle, and now I would never use them...”. The creation of a dish, according to Martinez, is like the composition of a photo for the National Geographic: you observe nature, fix the moment, frame the landscape and then understand with what you can nourish yourself. It is in this way, for example, that Memory of shells and seaweeds from the South was born: a perfectly in focus snapshot, with various kinds of scallops and kiwicha (or amaranth) used to mimic coral.
Senzo, Martinez’s newly born restaurant in Palacio Nazarenas in Cusco, beyond the Andes
The influence of Japanese and Chino-Cantonese cuisine can be perceived in Martinez’s cuisine, as in all of Peru. But pay attention when speaking of fusion: “This word always tastes of plastic. The Peruvian one, however, is a real fusion, it is spontaneous, natural”. And no declarations on organic or biodynamic food are necessary: “When I hear these terms I smile – the chef continues – because over here, we’ve always cultivated like this. It’s not about fashion. I focus on farmers, on their products, on their way of life. And this already is a gastronomic experience”.
Reviews, recommendations and trends from the four corners of the planet, signed by all the authors of Identità Golose
by
Born in Rome, wine and food writer for Il Sole 24Ore, La Repubblica and L’Uomo Vogue. He's a lecturer at Iulm and Food Media for several American colleges. Twitter @fdecesareviola