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Chef Virgilio Martínez: New Takes On Ancient Cuisine

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New cuisine from an ancient culture. Peru’s Virgilio Martínez is with us.

Seabass and scallops with red cactus and kiwicha. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Seabass and scallops with red cactus and kiwicha. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Chef Virgilio Martínez studied around the world, then went home to his native Peru to launch one of the best restaurants in the world – where everything is Peruvian. Potatoes, that’s easy. They came from Peru. The Incas. But everything else as well. From the sea coast, the Andes, the Amazon. Dishes like Spiders on a Rock, River Scales, Extreme Stem. His restaurant Central is ranked number one in Latin America.  Number four in the world.  This hour On Point, Peru’s Virgilio Martínez. — Tom Ashbrook

Guest

Virgilio Martínez, renowned Peruvian chef. Chef-owner of Central Restaurante in Lima, Peru. Owner of London's Lima restaurant. Author of the new cookbook, "Central." Also author of "LIMA Cookbook." (@VirgilioCentral)

From Tom’s Reading List

The Wall Street Journal: Chef Virgilio Martínez Takes Peruvian Cuisine to New Heights — "It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Martínez regularly risks his life in the pursuit of improving Central, the restaurant he opened in 2009 in Lima’s affluent Miraflores district, two blocks from the Pacific. He has traveled to the Cusco region 47 times in the past three years, taking the short flight inland and upward."

Saveur: Virgilio Martínez Would Like you To Try Some Edible Clay — "At Central, the menu is organized by the altitudes, in an effort to give a holistic yet idiosyncratic portrait of Peru’s diverse ecology. The cookbook is organized the same way. This clay comes from the Altiplano, a region of the high Andes that Martínez describes as 'flat and the color of straw.' The Altiplano sits at 12,795 feet above sea level. The next chapter in the book covers the Escalera, which sits at 2,625 feet, and it gives Martínez a whole new set of ingredients to work with."

CNN: From the skate park to the kitchen: Meet Peru's best chef, Virgilio Martínez -- "Carving up Lima's 16th-century streets on a board or carving up a medium-rare piece of meat? In the end, injury made the decision for Peruvian chef Virgilio Martinez and the skateboarding world's loss was the culinary world's most fortuitous gain."

Read An Excerpt Of "Central" By Virgilio Martínez

Salad of grains and altitude algae. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Salad of grains and altitude algae. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Andean tuber and root ceviche, with beef heart. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Andean tuber and root ceviche, with beef heart. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Chef Virgilio Martinez at WBUR. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Chef Virgilio Martinez at WBUR. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Video of Chef Virgilio Martínez, Making Andean Ceviche

This program aired on October 4, 2016.

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