Adria’s “Notes on Creativity” is the first major exhibition dedicated to the visualization and drawing practices of this culinary master. The exhibition presents drawings, notes, notebooks, diagrams, pictograms and prototypes by Adrià and his collaborators. We caught up with Adrià at the exhibit, which is currently running at the Drawing Center in New York City.
One day I met with chef Ezequiel Valencia to find out the secret, but when he told me where he was from in Peru, I got caught up in the path that brought him to Panca and momentarily forgot my mission. He was born at the foot of the Huascaran, Peru's tallest mountain, in the town of Yungay, where terrible tragedy struck in 1970. An earthquake caused a debris avalanche, full of snow, mud and rocks, which buried Yungay and killed all but around 100 of its 20,000 residents. At the time, Ezequiel's family lived outside of the town and were unharmed. The town was rebuilt as Yungay Nuevo and his family moved there. When he was born in 1974, his father ran off with another woman. He grew up working on the family's chacra, a small farm, and helping his mother in the kitchen.
One Sunday afternoon in the north most tip of the Miraflores district in Lima, Peru, I was hungry and looking for a place to eat. It was Sunday so it had to be ceviche, for Sunday is the day of the Christians and fish is the dish of Jesus and it is a personal rule of mine to eat ceviche for lunch on Sundays whenever possible.
As a vegetarian, non-drinking gringo with poor Spanish language skills and two left feet, I tend to fall out of just about every ritual of warmth and welcome my Peruvian wife’s clan plans for my benefit, which tend to involve drink, dance, meat-centered feasting and fast chatter. Finally, here is a place where we can all share.
There are countless superfoods from all over the world, but the diverse micro-climates of Peru are home to some unique and powerful specimens. These superfoods have been used by natives of the Andes and Amazonian regions for thousands of years. We picked five Peruvian powerhouses in particular to explore how we can incorporate them into our diet today.
Latin America has a long tradition of written non-fiction narrative, known as crónica—think Gabriel Garcia, Elena Poniatowska or, more recently, Gatopardo and Etiqueta Negra magazines—but that tradition has never made the leap to radio. Until now.
November 2009 was a good time to come to Miami. That fall, the country was in love with hope. Obama had won the presidency. The economic free fall had halted just shy of collapse. Hurricane season had come and gone, without the usual havoc. It was time to look up again.
In New York, the summer is filled with music; and many concerts of the season, which feature outstanding artists, happen to be free. Musicians perform all types of music, from reggae to hip hop, with, this year, the Roots and Talib Kweli. Jazz is also part of the program with the likes of vocalist DeeDee Bridgewater. Every concert is usually a celebration: a celebration of the summer, of the history of a musical event, like for instance with the Saturday, August 17 Black Woodstock concert at Marcus Garvey Park; or it is the celebration of a specific musical genre, such as traditional Mexican music. Artists come from everywhere: the Caribbean, Europe, Africa…and Mexico. This year, Mexican American vocalist Lila Downs graced the Central Park SummerStage with the Flor de Capuali mariachi dance company as well as the mariachi band Angeles de New York. She also invited traditional costumed dancers which go by the name of Los Chinelos de Morelos.
Growing up in Valencia, Francisco Javier Parreño, current head chef of La Nacional Restaurant in New York, didn’t know he would grow to love cooking, travel the world and come back home every time with a new cooking book or magazine to add to his library collection. With 25 years of experience as of today, he started his profession as young as 15 and later on opened a restaurant in the center of Valencia that offers cuisines of the world. Currently, Francisco puts his experience, knowledge, and love of cooking in each paella, patatas bravas, and other traditional Spanish dishes, that he crafts for La Nacional Restaurant’s clients.
“Hasn’t aged a day in all these years!” Bart Potenza exclaims, indicating the small Buddha statue that presides over the entrance of Candle 79, the upscale Upper East Side restaurant that he and his partner, Joy Pierson, opened in 2003. Tongue in cheek, he adds, “Must be the food.”
In the air above the beach at Ipanema, there was a mist. The sun—low and setting—illuminated it. People glided past one another. Into slow starring reverie I sank, a stream that warmed and carried me along. For the first time, I felt part of Rio. At last I understood. Months after arriving from New York, I had arrived in the inward city inhabited by the native carioca.
As plausible as this scenario seemed, I could not ignore the fact that cebiches are not “cooked” with anything of local origin, but with citrus juice from Old World trees brought by the Spaniards. This seems to indicate that the Spanish colonists either embraced an existing Peruvian technique, transforming it with familiar ingredients, or stumbled upon the method on their own.
“No, actually I’m a cook. Do you know who lives in this building? The last Inka princess lives in Apart. 1. I’m her cook. Do you know something about the Inka culture?”, y ella me dijo “a little bit”, pero no parecía convencida. Entonces abrí mis bolsas que contenían wakatay, quinua, ají amarillo, papitas moradas diminutas -Peruvian purple potatoes- y hasta un cuy gigante que lo venden congelado, en una tienda ecuatoriana. Luego resumí: “I’m the Inka Princess’s cook, and I have to prepare the dinner for her”. Así, ella quedó no sólo convencida sino conmovida de mi insólita confidencia.
We continued chatting over tacu tacu topped with a seafood stir-fry, a slow-roasted goat shank, Mirasol risotto and shellfish in an herbed butter sauce. The sun started to sink into the ocean, as we ended our meal with Andres’ mother’s home-made ice cream. I walked to my car and headed home, my stomach, content, and my heart, full.
“Aren’t those the loveliest eggs you’ve ever seen? Plucked right out of a fairytale! If Humpty Dumpty had offspring, this is what they’d look like!” I exclaimed to my husband. After a year of living in his homeland I still gush over the novel discoveries I make, and he still chuckles at my enthusiasm.
Although going out and experiencing new restaurants in Lima has been extraordinary, there is something to be said about a good old fashion homemade meal. We’ve been blessed with the option if we ever we are in need of food we are always welcome to take a 15-minute walk over to Bae’s aunts’ house, and we will be met with food abundant. One such day we walked over to have a family lunch, and I was introduced to one of Peru’s classic meals, Ají de Gallina.
Chef Fernanda has been making empanadas and other Argentine treats for over 20 years – and after decades of experience, she has been running her own restaurant, Raíces, in Buenos Aires.
Her partner, Carmen, is a true entrepreneur - she runs her own non-profit organization, Curatorial Program for Research, where they “create a socially-conscious network of emerging curators from around the world.”
Alpha’a’s story began in Rio de Janeiro, at the end of 2014, the company launched the first version of the platform via a partnership with a group of major Brazilian galleries and artists. The partnership took place via a t-shirt initiative that funded 25 scholarships for up and coming artists.
Renata Thome and Manuela Seve
I think there are a lot of stories that magazines tell with photo essays that could have a different impact if they were told through drawings. I created an illustrated essay for Time magazine years ago, titled “A Vision of Cuba," a detailed accounting of stories I came across while driving around Cuba in the 1990s.
Durante 30 años, el grupo Integro, dirigido por Oscar Naters, ha extendido los límites de disciplinas como el teatro, la danza y la performance. Y en esta búsqueda ha ganado reconocimiento en el Perú y en el extranjero. En setiembre, Naters estuvo en Manhattan invitado por la Universidad de Nueva York (NYU) para ofrecer una conferencia acerca de Ino Moxo, montaje que nació de experiencias espirituales mediadas por el ayahuasca, la planta de los chamanes de la Amazonia.
Raquel Rivera Collective. Photo - Sara Ontaneda Loor
The Trade Commission of Peru in New York organized a 'friends of Peru' lunch to honor one of Peru's best friends, Nobu Matsuhisa. Nobu has over 30 restaurants worldwide under the same name, that honor Japanese and Peruvian fusion cuisine. Some even say he invented the tiradito back in the day...
How does one pay a cinematographic tribute to an icon such as Mexican singer Chavela Vargas, who embodies utter simplicity and utmost complexity at the same time? This is what filmmakers Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi achieved with their documentary Chavela, a moving and thought-provoking portrait of the enigmatic singer who helped change the way we see ranchera music and who redefined what it means to be a female singer in the macho world of Mexico. As one of Chavela’s friends explains in the film, in order to survive, Chavela had to be more macha than the most machos. Photo © Excelsior / Imagen Digital
The great Johnny Schuler from Pisco Portón chatted with LatinLover Magazine about his most recent trip to NYC. Thanks, Johnny!
"Regarded as the foremost pisco authority, Johnny Schuler has dedicated his life to excellence in the pisco industry. As a pisco ambassador, he has travelled the world to educate spirit industry professionals and the public alike about the culture, heritage, and craftsmanship of pisco. In 2011, Pisco Portón founders Bill and Brent Kallop approached Johnny to develop the finest handcrafted pisco. From here, Pisco Portón was born. "
Pairing #2: Sashimi style tiradito + Thai chili cucumber chilcano
Meet Jared Sasso from Pisco Portón and Miguel Aguilar from Surfish Bistro today Tuesday 17 at a very special pairing tasting celebrating Chilcano Week @ Surfish Bistro
“The first thing I need to talk about is the chivito, because it’s the best sandwich I’ve tasted in my life, including the venerated & thousand times described pastrami sandwich of New York and the mortadella and cheese sandwich from the market of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Really, the chivito is too good to be true…”—Anthony Bourdain
Jared Sasso from Pisco Portón told us a little bit about his adventures during his first trip to the oldest working distillery in the Americas: Hacienda La Caravedo, which is nestled in the Ica Valley of Peru. He promised to go back to Peru soon and encouraged us to get to know more about this amazing culture and to try pisco, the spirit of Peru. Salud Jared!
Adria’s “Notes on Creativity” is the first major exhibition dedicated to the visualization and drawing practices of this culinary master. The exhibition presents drawings, notes, notebooks, diagrams, pictograms and prototypes by Adrià and his collaborators. We caught up with Adrià at the exhibit, which is currently running at the Drawing Center in New York City.