Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Interview | May 1, 2011 [ 18:42 ]

Gastón Acurio: “Peru is on the path of becoming a world food power”

By Gonzalo Pajares for Perú21
Translated and edited by Jorge Riveros-Cayo

“To be among the 50 best restaurants of the world is a starting point because it implies to deepen the experience of Peruvian cuisine, making it more beautiful and intense, more seductive and magical. We have to continue incorporating the history behind its ingredients, continue to have our biodiversity as a flagship and highlight the cultural diversity we have as our wealth. We need to continue exploring a new vanguard “a la peruana,” where the language of our dishes can be found not only in the flavors of our food but also in the stories behind it. All of this makes us unique in the world,” says Gastón Acurio.  

Last year, when you still had not visited El Bulli, you said to me you had not been there yet because you did not want to “contaminate,” or become “influenced,” by it; that you still needed to reaffirm your roots in Peruvian cuisine…

Exactly. El Bulli is a marvelous source of inspiration. I will incorporate those ideas as long as they enable me to tell Peruvian stories. As a matter of fact, we are implementing them already: If I buy from Julio Ancco – a potato producer – all his harvest at three times as much the price, and I ask him to harvest them two weeks before so the potatoes are moist, and from these I choose four or five varieties, the best to be baked, and if additionally I buy some soil where these potatoes were grown and I bring that soil to my restaurant to bake those potatoes in it so they keep that countryside flavor, and if I turn that soil into a perfume with a distillery – this is Adrià’s technique – in order to spray my table where I serve those potatoes, and if the person that brings those potatoes to the table is Julio Ancco himself, who I have hired, so he can tell the people what are they eating, this is a Peruvian experience, a refinement that starts from simply baking potatoes. What I mean is that, from Adrià’s influence, I use everything around me to make it Peruvian. That is just the beginning of a path that is quite clear.

Is your condition as a media celebrity a problem for local cooks?

No, actually it is the other way around. A proof of that is that “Aventura Culinaria,” (Acurio’s television program) has helped to build the image of a lot of my colleagues.

Do you think Astrid & Gastón is the best restaurant of Lima?

Of course not. There are four or five Peruvian restaurants that could be on that list. Pedro Miguel Schiaffino’s Malabar, for instance, deserves to be among the best 50.

Do you live thinking about the food you make or in those $100 million your restaurants make a year?

Gastón Acurio says: “Why am I still opening restaurants? My daughters asked me this same question. There is no way back, it is a mission, and we cannot stop: There are 50 thousand Peruvians studying a career related to cooking, a whole country is expectant of our success.” "I am concerned about the output of the elections, but I would be more worried if I were scared and stop working. It would be a sign of cowardice if those of us that have the opportunity to foster processes of change in the country, stopped because we are scared that our investments could be jeopardized." "Peru is self sustainable food-wise even with three times as much population of what we currently have. The problem is the distribution." "Peru is on the path of becoming a world food power. We do not export just any product, we export top-end, appetizing products, with a high value in the market. Our organic farming grows three times as much as our traditional farming and, additionally, its value is four or five times as much."

I do not think about money. If that were the case I would be thinking about politics, I would think “oh I am so scared, what is going to happen to my investments,” but my mind is in the kitchen, idyllic and perfect, creating, making things all the time. The numbers in La Macha (Acurio’s company) are dealt with by my business partner. But as the rest of Peruvians in the country, I am concerned about the output of the elections, but I would be more worried if I were scared and stop working. It would be a sign of cowardice if those of us that have the opportunity to foster processes of change in the country, stopped because we are scared that our investments could be jeopardized.

Does Peruvian gastronomy need democracy?

Democracy, freedom, principles, tolerance, respect to differences between us and, above all, we need a leadership that shares with us the dream of offering the younger generations a prosperous Peru that can become a protagonist in the world. This is something that we are doing already from the kitchen. Peruvian cuisine represents us all, that is why we cannot take sides for any political party. But we also are certain that if anybody wants to destroy the democratic system, all of us in the gastronomic world will be the first to go out into the streets and protest to the bitter end.

You are against the import of genetically modified (GM) foods – also called transgenic – into Peru…

I am emphatically against it. Peru is a grand nation, among other things, for its culture and biodiversity. Today, thanks to globalization, our products can be sold in niche markets in order to bring our farmers – who have been historically forgotten – out of poverty and turn them into exporters.

My parents are agronomists and they have told me that transgenic foods are not bad, but that we do not need them here because of our biodiversity, and because they require large extensions of land that Peru does not have, and in which we should take advantage of planting our rich biodiversity instead…

Exactly. I have not said that transgenic foods are bad. If I am from the country “with nothing,” please give me your transgenic seeds, but if I am from the country “with everything,” why would I want transgenic soybean and corn seeds?

They say that if we do not plant transgenic seeds, which are more productive, we will not have anything to eat in 30 years…

That is false. Peru is self sustainable food-wise even with three times as much population of what we currently have. The problem is the distribution…

Our farmers are accused of having a “low performance”…

“Low performance” does not mean low quality. In Peru it means high quality and this is precisely what the world wants now. We are on the path of becoming a world food power. Nowadays we do not export just any product, we export top-end, appetizing products, with a high value in the market. You have to look for opportunities even when you have a small plot of land. The best French vineyards only have a half hectare. Our organic farming grows three times as much as our traditional farming and, additionally, its value is four or five times as much.

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11 Comments

# Billy Squiggles says :
May 1, 2011 [ 20:25 ]

If Gaston Acurio is so dedicated to recreating peruvian culture in his restaurants, he should remove the toilet seats and toilet paper from the bathroom. Then it would be purely peruvian ;)

# Cesar says :
May 2, 2011 [ 14:25 ]

Hey Billy why don't you show your post to Humala when he becomes a president? let's see what will happens with your foreign ass.

# Claire says :
May 2, 2011 [ 16:11 ]

I'm with Gaston!

Billy: you must be from a country where the population has no manners because there is NO way that you're Peruvian - here in Peru, people are *very* well mannered and wouldn't even consider dissing another country as you have done.  Shame on you.  Apologise.

# Chris says :
May 2, 2011 [ 17:48 ]

Hey Cesar, That just shows what kind of goverment it would be with comments like yours. Humala is an assasin that belongs in jail with his brother.

# Gisele says :
May 3, 2011 [ 12:53 ]

@Billy, it is not what you say that I find offensive. What I find really offensive is human stupidity. You're comment is the epitome of stupidity and ignorance. Einstein was right when he said: “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.”

# Michael says :
May 4, 2011 [ 21:48 ]

Wow Gaston, you are really doing it. What a fantastic contribution to the country. Your position on Frankenstein foods is extremely commendable. Don't change! There is a real fight ahead of us on this issue. There is billions of dollars and a multitude of organisations and foundations hell bent on spreading their GM filth around the entire planet and ending organic farming forever. Let everyone know that the studies are conclusive - genetically modified foods cause organ failure, cancer and infertility in lab animals time and time again. It is obvious that the makers (monsanto and crew) have a cause: depopulation. Let it never come to this land. Organic should be labelled "conventional" because that's what it is. Conversely, non-organic, chemically farmed food, that destroys the land, and ruins our nutrition, that we need for health and a good spirit, is the break from the norm, not the other way around. Chemical farming food is NOT sustainable, it cannot continue one way or another. Either we will have a food crisis in the world or we will wake up and start to do it properly. Also be aware, rising food prices are because of WALL STREET speculations, this is partly what is driving up food prices, because paper stocks on commodities like corn and wheat allow massive price manipulation and the regulators are doing nothing to save those who STARVE literally as a result of this casino gambling empire that has NOTHING to do with free market capitalism and EVERYTHING to do with crony capitalism, scamming 99.9% of the human race to feed the unending greed and insanity of a very small minority of criminals, who care nothing for freedom, who care nothing for the law, and who hate capitalism, because it means real honest competition, and they're such losers they could never survive in such an environment as that!

Be aware Gaston, you are going against some very ugly, dangerous, and evil people by speaking out against GM foods. I'm sure it will be fine, but as a public figure, just be aware to protect your character and your integrity, because those losers will attack anyone they see as getting into what Monsanto claimed in it's opening meeting was it's entire purpose: to control and own the entire planets eco system, including the human genome - and all food production will pay a license to them for their modified filth. You then have to buy their drugs to stop the food from killing you, which only lasts so long as pharmaceutical drugs normally end up killing you anyway. So make no mistake, choosing organic is literally a fight for the integrity of the human genome, our history, our future, our heritage, our right to be free from genetic vandalism, and all the other living things on the planet who belong here. It is a fight not only for our way of life, but for the human race itself. You are what you eat. Genetically modified food genetically modifies you. Protect the human genome from vandalism by the Monsanto Nazi's. All I'm saying is be aware that the issue is far bigger than it seems and there are some extremely nasty pathetic players behind it. I mean for the love of God why would anyone want to do what they are doing? It's simply deceitful, devious, evil, wrong, stupid, and wreckless. It is a trampling of the rights of all life on Earth for an arbitrary dishonest corporate rhetoric and argument that does not stand up to ANY scrutiny or debate and never will. Notice that despite the concerns and will of the people, the so called "leaders" rarely if ever actually take any strong, defiant action against these scum bags. Now more than ever it's up to people power to defend this country. New Zealand in the 1980's threw out the United States and stopped their military carrier from entering their harbour because it was nuclear powered. They said no to nuclear power and marched in the streets and made sure it never came to their shores. And they were laughed at by some as paranoid, the nuclear industry said they did not understand the facts and were alarmist. But they were smarter than that, and they stood up for their rights. And now look at Japan. Every nuke reactor is like 10,000 Osama bin ladens threatening the planet with a silent terror. Are they spending as much money on that as the wars? I don't think so. I think more people die from bee stings and lightening strikes, better spend a trillion dollars and erect a global police state grid against bees and lightening...

Another point is that GM foods are contaminating the genetic integrity of the planet - if you look at naturalnews dot com there are recent articles on there detailing how this genetic vandalism of the planet is actually by many experts regarded as a worse environmental catastrophe than the gulf oil spill or the fukushima radiation disaster put together. Genetically modified foods are self replicating environmental disaster that does not know or care about borders or boundaries. I think it would be a good idea for Peru and allied nations to seriously get together and put aside differences to sue the United States, Monsanto, and any other producer of genetically modified foods for terrorism and crimes against humanity, commercial damages and whatever else you can at the world court. Sounds extreme, but what they have done is the extreme thing. They need to be forced to stop what they are doing otherwise they will continue and continue until they get what they want: total global hegemony and domination of the food supply. Control the food, and you control everything. Hitler would have loved it. Now we can see why it makes sense that the founding scientists of Monsanto were ex Nazi scientists who were brought out of America under the now declassified Operation Paperclip (search that at Washington University website as well as Operation Northwoods to read these declassified government papers)

Now if we can just get the government to stop putting fluorosilicic acid into the salt that causes a 20 point reduction (at least) in IQ in children by the time they are adults, and which a leading expert toxicologist Dr. Paul Connet and retired neurosurgeon and toxicology and fluoride expert Dr. Russell Blaylock both agree is a "barbaric and hideous crime to put fluoride into the water / [salt]" - then we'd really be getting somewhere. Their interviews can be found on youtube and are a must see. Alarming but you will be glad you woke up to this sad fact. Fluoridating the salt (sodium fluoride is not a natural mineral it is a hazardous waste product of the phosphate mining industry, and therefore a drug when administered to achieve a certain biological affect) is forced medication of the population, it denies medical consent, it does not care about those who may be more sensitive, there is no control of dosage, there is no monitoring of side effects or ill effects (of which there are a myriad of documented ones) it does nothing to help teeth (that is by the American Dental Associations own recent study as well as many others) and the Centre for Disease Control recently was forced by the growing awareness of this crime to lower the recommended rates in the USA for water fluoridation to about half what they were previously. In the US and other countries there is a warning on the toothpaste that says swallowing a pea sized amount of toothpaste is so toxic you should call poison control. It causes bone cancer, fluoridosis of the teeth, but most of all brain damage. Especially in babies. It collects in the organs. It causes early onset puberty, robbing children of their valuable childhood. One can argue that it is politically expedient to have a population that is chemically labotomised and ready to enter the workforce earlier. Indeed, in his 1970's work "Ecoscience" current white house czar Eric Holdren states that drugging the water / food supply is a perfectly acceptable way to control a population. You can read ecoscience online and the relevant passages by googling this up. Holdren has as recently as a couple of years ago while working at the White House still refused to catagorically retract his statements to the UN including recommending forced abortions, and forced sterilisation programs to control population in line with an unelected council of global governance seers who would determine the population rates. This is the kind of person who advocates water / food fluoridation. Most pesticides and chemical fertilizers contain inordinate amounts of fluorosilicic acid. Again, naturalnews dot com has excellent information regarding the facts on fluoride. It is extremely dangerous and experts say it should never EVER be given to anyone in ANY quantity. It has NO beneficial effect. One of the first to forcibly fluoridate a population was Adolf Hitler who gave it to prisoners of the prison camps because it dulled the senses but still allowed them to work, it also worked on a part of the brain that made them not want to escape or fight back. Stalin also used it in Russia. Their scientific papers by their Nazi scientists were tabled at the Nuremberg trials where it was revealed in their own documents they hailed the use of sodium fluoride as a fantastic way to control the prison population - and it is in fact a psychotropic weapon by their own estimation. Unlike modern governments the Nazis had no problem doing extensive human studies of their chemicals and weapons, and so we can regrettably argue that they had a good idea of what they were talking about in respect of humans as tragic as that is.

And Gaston, don't support UNICEF.... the vaccine agenda is also tied to depopulation. Vaccines don't work, except to cause brain damage, cancer, and infertility. I recommend the site naturalnews dot com for the full background on this issue. Sunlight is the free and natural way to get abundant vitamin D into your body and Vitamin D is the principle activator and catalyst for a whole array of healthy functions in the body but most of all the most amazing miracle of self defence ever known - the immune system that science still does not fully understand in the slightest. You don't need a pharmaceutical product to protect you from viruses and bacteria, and they don't work anyway. It is a myth propagated by the corporate media and the pharmaceutical cartel.

To all reading this, you may call these comments conspiracy theories if you want to, but before you do so, have the dignity to not be a puppet mouthpiece who knee-jerk reacts to what they read without actually knowing first hand. Research the facts, and I'm not talking about talking head government propaganda websites, or corporate media repeaters who simply repeat what they have been told, I'm talking about going to the experts who have studied these topics for decades, who hold prestigious academic positions and actually know for a fact what they are talking about. If you just believe what you are told without questioning it and learning first hand then you don't actually know what you're talking about. Then please dispute on the facts not propaganda created by people who are paid to do what they're told and specifically not think for themselves.

God Bless you Gaston, and your restaurants are great!

# Charlie says :
May 5, 2011 [ 12:11 ]

I love Gaston's reastuarants and I have been in all of them. However it irritates me his comments on transgenic and organic food since he evidently knows v. little about food production. It is kind of selfish to think that in 2050 with 40 million mouths to feed we will not need to increase productivity. Organics with yields of 30% below conventional crops will never be the solution. They are a solution for his restaurant and elite clientele but not for the populus. Anyway, I have not notice any change is taste when I have eaten his tamalitos, tofu or diverse frituras most likely made with transgenic corn and soy since we import them from 'transgenic' countries sucn as Brasil, Bolivia, Argentina and USA.  

# Apostolos Panagiotopulos says :
May 5, 2011 [ 15:33 ]

@ Michael— Pick your battles, that's too much stuff. 

 

The worst part is that Monsanto is already in Peru. Last May President Alan Garcia had a successful meeting with them. They have an office in Ica and made a big appearance at Vendimia 2011 so a little late for that one too.

# Jeanette Crosby says :
May 6, 2011 [ 7:21 ]

Very funny Gaston. If Peru is a country with everything why can't you find things like whole wheat flour, real lemons, turnips, kale, chestnuts, burdock, horseradish, lotus root, parsnips, rutabaga, sunchokes, arrowroot, jicama, fresh bamboo shoots, fresh water chestnuts, taro, cardoon, rhubarb, white (not yellow) onions, galangal, okra, anaheim chiles, poblano peppers, tamatillos, green bell peppers, green tomatoes, fresh cranberries, currants, sour cherries, black cherries, black raspberries, gooseberries, nectarines, hazlenuts, macadamian nuts, dried dates, fresh dates, mangosteen, honeydew melon, galia melon, piel de sapo melon, rye, edible peeled barley, black walnuts, real (aged) cheese, real ice cream (not flavored vegetable oils) and scores of other types of food ingredients that are commonplace all around the world. You can't even find pure grape juice over here for crying out loud. Gaston lives in a bubble.

# Gerry Sarmiento says :
May 6, 2011 [ 14:57 ]

Jeanette, it sounds like you walk around with a chip on your shoulder. I hope you are not a resident of Peru because it would be a terrible thing for you and for us. And, of course, you are not Peruvian - maybe that's part of the problem. I wish you the best.

# Mich says :
May 9, 2011 [ 15:22 ]

@Jeanette.....It's called a supermarket, maybe you should try it some time.

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