Daily Life in Lima,  Food & Dining

Conde Nast Goes Ga-Ga Over Peru’s Gaston Acurio

Gaston Acurio is on a mission to bring Peruvian cooking to the world; photo by Karel Navarro
Chef / restauranteur Gaston Acurio is on a mission to bring Peruvian cooking to the world; photo by Karel Navarro

The latest issue of Condé Nast Portfolio features a highly readable profile of Superchef Gastón Acurio, the culinary mastermind behind La Mar, Astrid y Gaston and more than a dozen eateries in South America and now the United States.

Writer Andrew Curry notes:

 Over the last two decades, Peruvian cuisine has gone from being overlooked (even in Peru) to the hottest trend in South America, thanks in part to Acurio’s evangelism. “Peruvian cuisine is a phenomenon,” says Mayalen Elizondo, a society editor at the Mexico City daily Excelsior. “In Mexico, everyone wants to interview Gastón. He’s considered one of the most important chefs in the world.”

But Acurio admits that his biggest challenge is yet to come: making Peruvian the new Japanese in the U.S. His first beachhead: A La Mar outlet on San Francisco’s Embarcadero that opened in early October and has been packed ever since. “Thirty years ago, there were no Japanese restaurants in the U.S.,” Acurio says. “Then one day Americans started eating seaweed and raw fish. Now there’s a sushi restaurant on every corner. Why can’t we do the same with Peruvian cooking?”

(Read Curry’s full article in Conde Nast Portfolio here.)

The article features a great photo of Acurio standing in front of a vegetable stand in Surquillo’s Mercado Numero 1 (see above).

El Fotografo and I often go there to buy cheese and nuts, and to marvel at the abundance produce, which puts the scentless, genetically modified veggies in the States to shame. The lettuce, radishes, corn, tomatoes — they’re all ripe and bursting with flavor, grown in native Peruvian soil.

The market itself is less than clean, and the floors look like they could do with a powerwash. But that is going to change soon, thanks to a proposed gentrification that will turn the old market into a sparkling destination for foodies who want to experience the best of the country’s foodstuffs under one roof.

I’m curious about the details of the renovation, which will alter of Lima’s oldest and most proletariat marketplaces. Will the same vendors sell their produce there and at the same prices? Or will new, high-end sellers replace them? Will Mercado No. 1 still be a place where ordinary Peruvians purchase their daily fruits and vegetables, or will the place become a mecca for tourists only?

Acurio’s name is attached to this project, which reassures me that it will be a class act. However, I don’t know how far the project’s developers will go in sanitizing Mercado No. 1 for gourmet tastes.

This is a marketplace, after all, where the ladies who sell you cheese by the kilo will literally cut the cheese on the stools they sit on all day. (For real!)

I wonder if that slice of “the real Peru” will survive the makeover?

—Barbara Drake

I am an American writer who lived in Lima for seven years (2007-2014), where I covered Andean traditions, melting glaciers and daily life in the capital for Miami Herald, MSNBC and Huffington Post. I now live and work in northern Florida where I champion climate change advocacy and compassionate, affordable eldercare.

6 Comments

  • Gretchen Noelle

    I had not heard about the market renovation. Since I live on the other side of town, I do not frequent it, but I hope the charm of the Peruvian market experience is not lost!

  • Barb

    I hope so too, Gretchen.

    BTW: Your food blog is fab. I am salivating looking at the delicious cakes and breads you baked this past week.

  • Iñigo

    It has been several decades since I’ve been to the mercado in Surquillo, but as I remember it, to say that it is less than clean is quite generous, Barb. I agree, it would be shame if it would be gentrified and we lost the constant sound of “casera, casero” trying to draw your attention to a stall.

  • Barbara

    Yes, you don’t have the folks in Wong shouting out “household shopper” while you’re buying your produce!

    You’ve reminded me of a great sound bite, which I should record for posterity. 🙂

  • Tony Stubbings

    I went to a Tanta resturante last night for a snack, I ordered a chicken emplanada, 10 minutes later the waiter returned telling me they had not got any. So I ordered a Croissant with peach, avocado,lettuce ,tomato and mayonase. 20 minutes later it arrived and because I was hungry I ate it, completely tasteless,no peach and I think then chicken escaped. it was stuffed full of avocado and mayonase. Thank you but no thank you. If you have the facility to contact Gaston Acurio perhaps you would let him know. Thank you