Page 80 - Taste_and_Travel_International

TASTE;5TRAVEL LIBRARY

BOOK REVIEW BY JANET BOILEAU

( #( ŗ

3ŗ ,.#(ŗ ), & -ŗŗ
(QUADRILLE, 2017)
Ũ
it these ancient people could be. Their and make them palatable to diners in one
BOOK REVIEW
culture was rich, their agricultural science of the world’s most sophisticated
highly sophisticated, and their cuisine well restaurant cities. And since the recipes
developed. are rooted in domestic cookery, they
Flying in to Cusco, descending through translate well for the home cook.
a narrow cleft in the Andes into a high To be honest, I won’t be roasting a
mountain valley, is a spectacular guinea pig, simmering a lamb’s head, or
experience. With cobblestone streets and digging a pit to cook * $ ) * ƫover
a handsome Spanish cathedral, Cusco is a hot stones, but if you are inclined,
picturesque colonial capital. But it is also a Morales tells you how to do it. I’m glad
modern city with cutting-edge restaurants these recipes are included because they
riding the 1!2+ƫ 0%*+ culinary wave that provide insight into traditional Andean
started in Lima with chefs like Gastón cuisine, at the same time underscoring
Acurio and has since swept around the the authenticity of Morales’ approach.
world. But travel a few miles into the At the other end of the scale are
countryside beyond Cusco and you will recipes that may be unfamiliar but are
find farmers tending fields of corn and well suited to weeknight cooking. All the
quinoa, their dwellings simple adobe recipes I tested, I’ll be making again.
houses with earthen floors, an open hearth !/-1!ƫ !ƫ 1%*1 , a savoury quinoa
pudding laced with cheese, is comfort
for cooking and guinea pigs scurrying food at its best and an interesting way to
OR ME, THE ANDES
“ fascinating regions in the Cuisine is rustic, peasant fare, based on cook the quintessential Peruvian grain
under foot, waiting their turn in the pot.
region is one of the most
indigenous ingredients, many of which are
(risotto style). +(0!.%0+, a salad of broad
world. It’s a world in its
Fown right,” says Martin unique to the region, and a nose-to-tail beans, tomato, feta cheese, olives and
philosophy that sees nothing go to waste.
purple potatoes is as tasty as it is
Morales, restauranteur, chef and author How, I wondered, when I picked up colourful and substantial enough to stand
of * %* čƫ $!ƫ$! .0ƫ+"ƫ !.12% *ƫ"++ čƫ Morales’ book, can a cuisine so deeply on its own for lunch or a light supper.ƫ
.! %,!/ƫ * ƫ/0+.%!/ƫ".+)ƫ0$!ƫ * !/. rooted in place be translated for an , $%ƫ !ƫ !0 /, a soup/stew of
There are some parts of the world that international audience? mushrooms with a kick of chile, is earthy,
have a profound effect on us, because Unlike other recent cookbooks that complex, and delicious. % *0!ƫ !ƫ
they are so extraordinarily different from celebrate modernist Peruvian cooking, 1!2+/ƫ(Fiery Eggs), which Morales says
all we have previously known. For me, Morales focuses on the traditional home is a favourite brunch dish at his
Peru, and particularly the remote, cooking of Andean women — (the * %* restaurant, is a knockout.
rugged region of the high Andes, was of the title). And he is quick to point out, There are a few key ingredients you’ll
such a place. This spare, lofty land, there are eleven regions in the Peruvian need to seek out in order to capture the
enfolded by jagged mountains at an Andes, each with its own climate, unique flavours of Peruvian food. I found
altitude that leaves you gasping, seems topography and gastronomic identity. panca chile paste and aji amarillo paste in
indeed like a world apart — a secret, Morales doesn’t attempt a comprehensive a Caribbean grocery store but if there is
soulful place on the roof of the world. survey of Andean cuisine but presents a none in your neighbourhood, Morales
Macchu Picchu is the main reason that representative selection of recipes either gives instructions for how to make them
tourists come to this part of Peru, where from, or inspired by, each region. from scratch. For harder to obtain
until the Spanish came in search of gold, It’s this pragmatism that makes * %* ingredients he suggests substitutions
the Inca civilization flourished in a successful cookbook. With four popular (such as coriander, tarragon and mint for
spectacular isolation. Their ruined city Peruvian restaurants in London, Morales the fresh herb $1 0 5). The only hiccup
clings to the slopes of an impossibly has had ample opportunity to test his I encountered was with using feta in
vertiginous peak, as close to the gods as recipes, tailor them to available ingredients place of -1!/+ƫ".!/ +. Feta is quite a bit

78 TASTE;5TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL5 JANUARY–MARCH 2018