Peruvian Cuisine Comes to London – And Your Own Home

Now it will be possible to bring that Latin American flavour in to your own home as Lima are launching a catering arm

The past few months have seen a glut of Latin American restaurants coming to London – Coya, Cerviche and Lima being some of the better known examples. Now, though, it will be possible to bring that Latin American flavour in to your own home as Lima are launching a catering arm.

Promising to bring the same high quality experience to your own table, it looks like an interesting prospect. A few weeks ago I sat down with Gabriel Gonzalez of Lima to find out a little bit more.

Lima arrived six months ago after nearly five years of conceptualisation, planning and research. One of the first Peruvian offerings to hit the capital it has caused a flurry of interest in this previously little explored cuisine; gastronomy seems to be following the South American trend started by the global economy a few years ago.

Working closely with their partner and executive chef Virgilio Martinez, the Gonzalez brothers aim to bring seasonal Peruvian food to London. Now, much like you, I questioned the logic of seasonal Peruvian ingredients in London, however, Gabriel tells me that nearly all of the ingredients required can be sourced locally in London and they only fly over around 15 or 20 very specific items.

Apparently, Virgilio is currently somewhere in the Amazon looking for new herbs, so unheard of that they don’t even have names, to incorporate into their dishes. Now that is dedication to representing regional Peruvian cuisine.

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The idea behind launching a catering arm is to bring Peruvian cuisine and ingredients to a wider audience. Although most Londoners are by nature inquisitive about new cuisine they might not necessarily know how to prepare it at home. This is where the ‘catering’ tag is a little misleading.

While Lima will be able to cater for large parties – they have already catered for GQ among others – they will be focusing on providing tailored offerings to clients. Working from a entry level package representing three regions of Peruvian cuisine – Andes, Amazon and Coastal – potential clients will be able to come in and talk over their options with the chefs to discover more about the cuisine and identify what they want.

Lima’s chefs will then come to your home and prepare canapés or meals according to your specifications and even demonstrate how to prepare the dishes – very much like your own private master-class.

There is no escaping the fact that we’re in the midst of a recession with more dips than a supermarket selection pack, so for many dining in is the new going out. Not everyone wants to cook and some people don’t even know that lamb comes from a sheep, so for those folk and indeed for those just looking for something a little special, interactive and tailored perfectly to their needs this is ideal. Ready to go any moment now, LIMA catering is worth investigating.

LIMA’S TUNA CEVICHE
Serves four

Ingredients
240 g tuna
100 ml lime juice
100 ml leche de tigre (see below)
Yellow ají emulsion (see below)
Tomato tree emulsion (see below)
Sweet potato crisps
Coriander cress

For the leche de tigre (makes 1 litre)
2 white onions, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
4 green celery sticks
100 g fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
600 ml concentrated fish stock
Half bunch coriander (stalks only)

Blend all the ingredients, adding the fish stock gradually to form a paste. Leave for a couple of hours for the flavour to intensify. Pass through a fine sieve and put to one side.

For the ají emulsion
Cut 4 medium-sized ajís in half, blanch until the skin comes off, cool and blend with olive oil.

For the tree tomato emulsion
Blanch 1 tomato, remove skin, cool and blend with olive oil and a little water.

For the ceviche
Dice the tuna and place in a bowl. Season with salt. Mix the leche de tigre with the lime juice, yellow ají and tomato tree emulsions. Pour over the tuna and marinate for 1 minute. Scoop the tuna out on to a plate and pour the rest of the marinade over it. Garnish with coriander cress and sweet potato crisps.

Read more recipes from Food Friday

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