Food business taking off in Peru [Featured]
September 27, 2009
The BBC’s Dan Collyns talks food – how much it matters to Peruvians and what benefits it could bring to the country.
Rich or poor, Peruvians pride themselves on eating well. Fast food is frowned upon and a poorly-prepared platter is seldom tolerated.
Strange in a country where a quarter of children still suffer from malnutrition but Peru’s sharp inequality is one of its many paradoxes. It is one of the 10 countries in the world classed as ‘mega-diverse’ in terms of its biodiversity, which means in nutritional terms it is rich beyond measure.
The Andes holds dozens of unique grains, roots and vegetables. It is the birthplace of the potato, with around 3,000 varieties.
The Peruvian Amazon is sparsely populated but a whole new world of flora and fauna. You can find caiman (a type of crocodile) on the menu here and an enormous freshwater fish, the paiche. Plaintains, peccaries (a type of wild pig) and dozens of unusual fruits make up the cuisine.
Peru’s coast has probably the richest fishing grounds in the world thanks to the cold water Humboldt Current which sweeps up the western side of South America from Antarctica.
While chronic overfishing has left much of the rest of the world’s oceans with dwindling fish stocks, Peru’s sea is still bountiful. It has 80% of the world’s biomass of anchovies near the bottom of a thriving food chain of marine fauna.
Fishmeal exports are one of the principal pillars of the economy. But now it is the food business which could be propping up Peru’s strong economic growth as the financial crisis hits commodity prices and the country’s extractive industries.
One study by a Peruvian company, Arellano Marketing, predicts that the food business will make up about 11% of Peru’s predicted GDP in 2009.
‘Story of conquest’
And it’s just the beginning, says Gaston Acurio, a celebrity chef and household name in Peru. He is the man with the Midas touch in all things culinary and he aims to make Peruvian cuisine as international as Chinese, Thai and Mexican.
He already has restaurants outside Latin America with La Mar, a seafood restaurant in San Francisco, and he plans to break into New York to really move into the gastronomic fast lane.
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Great article from BBC!! It is true
However, what is NOT TRUE is the statement that “a quarter of children suffer from malnutrition.” I really don’t know how they have come up with this fact. Have they surveyed all the millions of children who live in Peru? I really doubt it !!
Malnutrition is very very low in Peru !
Gato, after a quick search I found various figures that put the average rate of poverty at about 70% and the rate of malnutrition at about 30%.
Stuart,
That’s non sense, the poverty level in the country is below 50%. Are you looking at current figures ?? And I really don’t think malnutrition is about 30% It’s very likely below that.
Malnutrition still affects 1/3rd of Peruvian children according to these articles 1, 2
Poverty levels nationwide are in the range of 40-45%, with regular falsification from the Garcia govt to bring it down to around 39%. Excluding cities, poverty levels rise drastically to 70%+ with some regions in the 90% or higher range. In these regions most people are classed as malnourished by the United Nations and its World Food Program.
These articles that you mention are not reliable, and Peru, South America and the rest of the world can not trust the media from countries like the UK and the US 100% since they are also corrupted as well
Right, Gato. Better to stick with media like ‘El Trome’, ‘Ojo’, ‘Aja,’, Aldo Mariategui and la Dra. Laura.
“Time” magazine this week has an article on Peru’s gastronomic boom and international outreach, citing Gaston Acurio’s restaurants abroad and the explosion of cooking academies, including Le Cordon Bleu, in Lima. The gist of it is that Peruvian cuisine is making inroads, and is poised to take on a permanent presence in the US market: “Cebiche is the new sushi.”
Are those newspapers the ones you read Juancho? Well, then that says a lot about you
Most people in the world, including people in the US and the UK realize their media is corrupted and can’t be trusted
Nah, I haven’t read Ojo since they dropped the centerfold.
[...] 2006, Peruvians have learned to take great pride in their cuisine. As the BBC’s Dan Collyns explains, “Rich or poor, Peruvians pride themselves on eating well. Fast food is frowned upon and a [...]
[...] the growing economic benefits Peru is enjoying thanks to its cuisine, as demonstrated by a second very successful gastronomic fair hosted in the capital of Lima not [...]