Globalisation has turned shopping centres and food streets all around the world into foodie heaven. Stroll into any of these places and you will find all kinds of cuisines, from Mexican to Korean and even South African. It is unsurprising, then, that we have grown to prefer this international variety over our own local foods. But our local cuisines are an important part of our identities and are worth celebrating too, as world-renowned chef, Virgilio Martínez, has demonstrated through his constant championing of his native Peruvian food.
Martínez realised that he wanted to be a chef at a young age. “I’d known since I was 18 that I wanted to be a real cook,” he said in an interview with American Express Essentials. His passion for cooking took him to London, Germany, North America and several parts of Asia, where he learned French, Mediterranean and Asian styles of cooking. But he did not truly identify with any of these cuisines. The only cooking he felt belonged to him was, of course, Peruvian. “I spent six years as a foreigner doing cuisines that did not belong to me,” he reflected in the Netflix documentary series Chef’s Table. “I had to grow in my own country, with my own dreams.” With that in mind, he flew back to Peru. After a few years of working with other Peruvian chefs, he opened his own restaurant, Central.
Central almost immediately received positive reviews, with many comparing it to dining in food havens like New York or London. However, Martínez was still not satisfied. He wanted Central to better represent Peruvian culture. He thus decided to take a year off to travel around Peru for inspiration. His travels led him to the Andes, where he learned that the native peoples living at different heights on the mountains cooked in extremely different ways. “There are many Perus when it comes to food,” he said in an interview with website Around the World in 80 Harvests, explaining what he learned. The natives also introduced him to ingredients that he had never seen before, such as native varieties of potatoes and corn.
Fascinated and inspired, Martínez returned to his restaurant, determined to weave his newfound appreciation for Peru’s traditional cooking styles into his menu. He made all 17 courses at Central reflect cooking from a unique altitude and ecosystem — all with his own unique twist. His experience with the native peoples and their cooking also made him realise how important it was to preserve such native knowledge. With his sister, he started the research centre Mater Iniciativa, which works with Peru’s natives to record and preserve its biodiversity.
Today, Martínez is considered a culinary star and global ambassador of Peruvian cuisine. Central became the first South American eatery to top the list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants as of 2023, and his overseas branch in Tokyo was praised as a “culinary adventure that deserves to be experienced” by Time Out Magazine. Martínez sees this not just as his own success, but also that of Peruvian cuisine. “We have a lot to show to the world,” he says. “It’s time for Latin America to conquer its space in the gastronomy world.”
Strong local pride is the biggest part of Martínez’s story. Through him, we see the kind of determination that puts unique local cultures on the map for all the world to see.
Sources: Amex Essentials, Culture Trip, Eater (1), (2), Gasterea Magazine, Michelin Guide, South China Morning Post, S. Pellegrino Young Chef Academy, Time Out, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants