Table of Contents
As we all know, cooking and the culinary world is an art that in general requires a great passion to create the most exquisite flavors, balancing each ingredient to obtain the perfect seasoning.
Gaston Acurio is one of Peru's most renowned chefs. He studied gastronomy at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and upon his return to Lima, he opened the restaurant Astrid y Gaston with his wife Astrid Gutsche. At the beginning it was a French restaurant, but with time Gaston experimented with Peruvian ingredients, and began to give greater impetus to Peruvian cuisine.
Inaugurated the restaurant CHICHA in the cities of Cusco and Arequipa, giving a boost to local producers and revaluing the typical gastronomy of each city respectively.
He was recognized by Le Cordon Bleu and UNESCO for his contribution to the dissemination of Peruvian gastronomy worldwide.
Pía León, considered one of the 50 best female chefs of 2022, studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Lima. She worked at Astrid & Gastón restaurant and the Ritz Carlton Resort Hotel in New York.
She is currently the chef who presents Peruvian food in its most modern version, she opened different restaurants with her husband and alone, being the MIL of Moray, Cusco, one of the most important for its laboratory and bio-gardens where different native products are studied, such as thousands of varieties of potatoes and corn.
Marisa Guiulfo (1940 - 2021), was an exemplary woman, who achieved the balance between artistic expression and good food, she was in charge of setting up the best banquets as in the APEC 2008 celebration, where she delighted the Asian ambassadors with a wonderful piece of edible art, following her philosophy of "food enters through the eyes", she was always determined to serve the banquets in the midst of a great presentation.
Teresa Ocampo from Cusco, who was the first president of the Peruvian Gastronomic Association (AGAPE), an association that she founded in 1987, made her greatest contributions to gastronomy by compiling an endless number of old recipes that were being lost in time. She published several books with the rescued recipes, being these books a true treasure for the Peruvian kitchens.
Virgilio Martínez is the owner and chef in charge of CENTRAL restaurant in Lima, voted 4th Best in the World and Best in Latin America by The World's 50 Best. He studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Canada and in London. Virgilio is currently married to Pía León, with whom he runs other restaurants in different cities of Peru, being the MIL restaurant in Moray, Cusco, one of the most important.
Palmiro, the young Peruvian chef, only 36 years old, has managed to earn a place in the culinary world, establishing a new modality in the way of understanding cooking, creating the trend of "optimal cooking", that is, optimizing the use of inputs in the kitchen to the maximum.
Additionally, he is an activist involved in the "Zero Hunger Peru" initiative, with the main purpose of making use of every part of the ingredients used in the kitchen, such as leaves and husks.
The great Teresa Izquierdo, who was very well known in the gastronomic world, because her seasoning was exquisite.
From a very young age she began her first stews with her mother, and although she began studying nursing, Teresa chose the kitchen as her place, being her first dishes a success in the bullfighting fairs, cockfights, and in the Feast of the Lord of Miracles, her turrones were the best selling dish.
Unfortunately in 2011 the kitchen was in mourning because the great Teresa Izquierdo passed away after multiple health problems, although her absence has left a great void in the culinary world, Teresa has left us a great legacy in her recipes and cooking tips.
Javier "eccentric" Wong, is a self-taught chef, whose specialty is the ceviche of sole and octopus, for his creativity and imagination was recognized as the best cevichero in the world by the English newspaper "The Guardian".
The cevichero Javier Wong is well known, because his dishes are never the same, since he does not handle a menu but after a personal talk with the customer he prepares a dish intuiting the particular taste for each diner.
His restaurant "Sankuay" has no sign or anything that distinguishes it and is open only behind closed doors, with prior reservation, has only 10 tables, no waiters, no menu, no cooks, only Mr. Wong, who personally receives his customers, shares a chat with them, and prepares the ceviches according to the impression he receives from them, which makes each dish unique.
During 2014 he was winner of the "Chowzter World's Tasties Fast Feast" in London for his Ceviche de Lenguado, a dish that at the same time won "Best Dish in the World".
Professor and chef Flavio Solórzano, founder and active member and organizer of the Gastronomic Fair MISTURA, as well as founder of the Conservatory of Peruvian Cuisine (CECOMER).
He is considered worldwide as an ambassador of Peruvian gastronomy, who has innovated kitchens, creating new recipes based on native fruits often ignored in the markets, such as Mashua cakes, spinach bread, silverside muchame, quinoa breaded among others.
The acclaimed chef of Japanese descent affectionately called "Micha", since he was a child passionate about cooking and with his grandparents living in Japan, he emigrated to learn all about his lineage and of course also about Japanese cuisine, some time later he studied gastronomy in the United States, He studied gastronomy in the United States, where he was able to learn about gastronomy from different parts of the world, but his heart always preferred Peruvian food, that is why when he returned to Peru he opened his restaurant Maido where, faithful to his Japanese origins, he fuses Japanese and Peruvian cuisine in his restaurant Maido, considered one of the best in Latin America.
Its main purpose is to find the origin of each Japanese or Peruvian dish, in order to find the perfect balance in each dish.