Think You Know About PERUVIAN Cuisine? Think Again – Says This Top Chef In Singapore!

It has a wide range of flavours so it appeals to many people around the globe. Peru has seen different waves of migrants throughout its history – from Spanish, Italian and African to Chinese and Japanese – all of them have added to the already existing pre-Hispanic cultures and created a new and constantly evolving cuisine with many different and exciting flavour combinations.

Ceviche. There are many versions of ceviche in Peru and all over Latin America. My personal recipe calls for any super fresh fish or seafood, seasoned only with lime juice and chilli and garnished with red onions. It’s that simple.

Lomo saltado (pictured), a dish that comes from our Chinese heritage. This consists of cubed beef tenderloin wok-fried with red onions, tomatoes, soya sauce, aji amarillo – a South American yellow chilli pepper – vinegar and coriander. It is then served with French fries and white rice.

Another is called conchas a la parmesana, from the Italian influence in Peru. Think scallops baked with parmesan cheese, brandy and lime juice until golden brown. The simple combination ends up in perfect balance and makes for an amazing starter. Both these, along with the ceviche, are very popular in my restaurant.

The national drink of Peru is the Pisco Sour (pictured). The main ingredient is pisco – a typical Peruvian distillate made from the fermented wine of certain grapes. Ice, lime juice, sugar syrup and egg whites are added and the cocktail is usually garnished with some Angostura bitters. It is a refreshing drink for the summer great for Singapore.

There is great cuisine all across Latin America but, in Peru, we are extremely lucky as we have some of the most giving fertile lands in the world. Many ingredients in the world are indigenous to Peru. We are well-known for having over 3,000 varieties of potatoes alone, along with different types of corn and tomatoes. This has contributed to the development of a very versatile cuisine over the centuries. Lima has been awarded the food capital of Latin America several times in recent years.

You would find ingredients as diverse as Asian soya sauce and Italian parmesan cheese. We also like to squeeze lime juice on most of our food, as well as add some aji Amarillo – it makes up the DNA of our cuisine.

Gaston Acurio (pictured) is the current ambassador for the Peruvian gastronomy movement and his flagship restaurant Astrid y Gaston has several franchises across South America and has also recently expanded into Europe. Some of the other leading chefs that are getting international recognition are Pedro Schiaffino of Malabar restaurant and Virgilio Martinez from Central. Both of them have cooked at special events in Singapore in the recent years.

Absolutely. I believe the flavours that are essential to Peruvian cooking are something that the Asian population can relate to. Coriander, limes, chillies and soya sauce are flavours commonly used in both cuisines, yet presented in a very unique manner on the Peruvian dinner table.

I personally think that a cebicheria would be a great new addition in Singapore – a Peruvian restaurant that specialises in the cooking of seafood and is a place where people go to relax and unwind.

A key characteristic of this restaurant is a warm service and the many different kinds of raw seafood dishes offered, such as ceviches and tiraditos – sashimi-thin slices of raw fish dressed with a citrusy salsa.