Three spaniards delights
Versión en Castellano

Peruvian cuisine has the power to raise the enthusiasm of personalities, literati and food cognoscenti from around the world, including such diverse people as Ernest Hemingway and Jacqueline Kennedy and of course a large number of gastronomes. We present below the opinions of three Spanish culinary experts.

Nestor Luján, a renowned Spanish gastronome, recorded in Carnet de Ruta his tour of planetary cuisine his joyful discovery of other countries' culinary traditions among which he includes his encounter with Peruvian cuisine which he intimately links to marinated fish cebiche.

(Cebiche is) famous in Peruvian cuisine, one of the most varied and diverse in South America. In Peruvian typical cooking, hot chili peppers known as ají are hero and they accompany camote -a peculiar type of sweet potato from the Southern Pacific coast-, potatoes, bean casseroles and stews. But cebiche remains the most typical of all dishes. A very original concoction indeed, worthy of being included in the world's menu of special dishes."
Another Spanish writer, Julio Camba -a native from Galicia- wrote profusely about Chinese food in La Casa de Lúculo, his classic treatise on the art of eating. Chinese cooking, he wrote, is the wisest, most exquisite and civilized of all cooking traditions. Chinese cooking, he remarks, has spread around the globe and thrives just as well in London as in Paris, and in chinatowns in capitals all around the globe, including Lima's mysterious Chinese quarter.

Recently deceased, Javier Domingo was another world-class gastronome who during a visit to Peru tasted local cuisine fixed in his memory and palate were dishes like cebiche and kid stew, and a famous 15-course meal in Cusco including "stone roasted guinea" -pig, perfumed with a bouquet of Andean aromatic herbs and ever-present ají hot chili, all accompanied by a glass of Andean strawberry beer or chicha. Back in Lima, the capital of Peru, Domingo never imagined one of his best meals ever would be at Javier Wong's down to basics restaurant which features four bare tables, a gas range, and almost primitive cooking tools: a large paella skillet, a knife and a huge spoon. He recalls:

"He fixes five or six fish and vegetable dishes (with huge fresh soles and various local and Chinese vegetables). He improvises delicious dishes that he serves as they come out of the kitchen. I wish I had his wisdom, philosophy and cooking poetry that make every one of his creations, a masterpiece of simplicity, ease of preparation, and intuitive knowledge of aromas and flavors.

By Mariano Valderrama