Lima felt like a lite version of Lagos. Chaotic roads, tangled wires on dusty utility poles, okadas (motorbikes), street hawkers, and faded paint on buildings. Also, like Lagos, the riverine word, Lima has colonial origins. The name Lima originates from the name of a river called “Rimac.” After the Spaniards arrived, it was called “Limac,” then the “c” got lost, as many things do over history, and we now have Lima. Or so the story goes, as told by the animated tour guide that walked us through the streets on that typically grey Lima day. Unlike Lagos, though, which lost its capital status, Lima remains the capital of Peru. Although the capital, it would be a shame if all you saw of Peru was Lima.

On September 24th, 2019, I got my booking confirmation for Central restaurant. Two months and 11 days later, I would walk through Central’s gates and realize that, again, if all I got to see of Peru was Lima, it would have been a shame. Because, at Central, located in Lima, I got to see more of Peru, and it was beautiful.

Upon entry, I was greeted by a stone table referred to as the Mater table. On the table were circles of varying sizes holding in them different ingredients that would unite to create the twelve-dish tasting menu I was about to experience. A look at this table is a peek into Peru’s diverse ecosystem. Central shows you Peru through food. But not just any food. Named as the sixth-best restaurant in the world in 2019, at the royal ball that is Central, the forgotten Cinderella foods of Peru got to shine and dine with the princely guests. These (1) Cinderella foods, a term coined by Dr. Roger Leakey, are hidden, indigenous Peruvian foods. Foods that you most likely would not find at your open Sunday market or fancy supermarkets. You have to dig deep and explore to find these foods. And, it is through that expedition that you discover more of Peru.

(1) To learn more about indigenous foods, listen to Episode 03 of the “Behind the Aroma” podcast titled “The Three Sisters.” Found on any podcast playing platform

I went on a number of those expeditions myself. Peru has three central regions: the Amazonas, the Coast and the Andes, and my first stop was the Amazon rainforest. After a few hours splayed on the wooden boat, and a failed attempt to swim with pink dolphins, partly because I cannot swim and partly because there were no pink dolphins to swim with, we finally arrived at the San Jose de Panarapuru village on Rio Ucayali. We toured the small village, waved to children with curious smiles and then we went fishing using makeshift fishing rods made out of slender tree branches. Our fishing activity was more successful than our swimming with pink dolphins, and we caught several piranhas. The flailing of the unlucky piranhas on the muddy soil once caught, was a sharp contrast to the frozen heads and tails of eight piranhas presented to me at Central. In a fritter made out of the meat of the piranha and fermented yucca, I got a taste of the Amazon at Central.

After my trip to the Amazon, my next stop was the Coast. I visited Chincha, Paracas and Huacachina, all located in or close to the Ica region. On yet another boat, other tourists and I oohed and aahed at the sun-bathing and suckling sea lions on the red rocks that formed the Pacific ocean’s Ballestas Islands. That was not my last of the red rocks. I would encounter red rocks at Central. This time, it was the name of a dish containing razor clams and gooseneck barnacles. Peru’s coastal areas inspired the seafood dish, and in Central, I got a taste of the Coast.

My last stop was the Andes; the beautiful highlands and mountains that brought you closer to heaven. (2) Of the many civilizations that occupied the Andean region, the celestial “Children of the Sun,” the Inca Empire, ruled for the last 150 years since the first inhabitants emerged 14,000 years ago. (3) The 168 Spanish men expedition, led by Francisco Pizarro, conquered the Incas in 1532. It is believed that like their Aztec counterparts who complained about the hygiene of the Spanish invaders, their cleanliness and lack of immunity to the Europeans’ poorer hygiene ravaged them with diseases, one of the significant contributors to their collapse. Vestiges of the Inca Empire remain, Machu Picchu being a lasting legacy. During my visit to Machu Picchu, at Cusco, I visited a market that bustled with all varieties of tourists and potatoes. There were so many potatoes. More potatoes than tourists, and there were a lot of tourists. At Central, a chef educated me that there are over 1,000 varieties of root tubers in Peru, these root tubers were what I thought were potatoes. I ate some of these unique species, such as the Black and Yellow Mashwa and at Central, I got a taste of the Andes.

(2) Information documented from a visit to Museo Larco, a pre-Columbian museum located in Lima, Peru.  (3) Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

My time at Central was symbolic of a meeting place, a gathering point. Central represented the coming together of the Amazon, the Coast, and the Andes. My time at Central represented the coming together of my own experience in Peru; my visits to the Amazon, the Coast and the Andes solidified as I ate the foods representing each of those regions. So, I did leave Lima, but I did not have to because I would have seen all of Peru in Central.