Peruvian Flair

Carlo Huerta Echegaray and Mitsuharu Tsumura give a 101 on Peruvian cuisine and how similar it is to our own

eing one of the richest and most diverse in the world, Peruvian cuisine has captured the interest of many a curious foodie. Though it is one of the oldest—having been around for over a thousand years—Peruvian cuisine has only been in the international culinary spotlight in the last few years. Its native ingredients and traditional cooking methods are fused with foreign influences from Europe, Asia, and Africa, creating a cuisine that is exciting and flavourful yet familiar at the same time.

Chef Carlo Huerta Echegaray, a Peruvian native, started his work in the kitchen at age 16. After finishing his culinary education at Le Cordon Bleu Peru, he began travelling around South America to study Peruvian ingredients and cooking techniques. He later became executive chef at Vivaldi Restaurant and corporate executive chef at Embarcadero 41. He says, “Now that I’m living and working in the Philippines, I am bringing something exciting and interesting to local diners through Samba.”

When chef Mitsuharu Tsumura—or Micha as he is often called—had no clear indication of what it was he wanted to do, his father encouraged him to pursue his passion for cooking. Tsumura then attended Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, and travelled to Japan to train under the watchful eye of a well-known sushi restaurant owner. He later opened Maido, one of the topranked Nikkei (Japanese-Peruvian) restaurants in the world. Last October, Shangri-La at the Fort invited him as a guest chef to prepare and showcase the best of his dishes at Samba, the new poolside restaurant on level eight.

Lima, Peru is recognised as South America’s gastronomical capital. It boasts