Features
Melissa Doughty
The Peruvian Food Festival will take place September 7-9 at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad. While it will proudly showcase the culinary gems of the South American country, there is a bigger plan at play.
This plan is to help with regional food security, Ambassador David Màlaga said at a tasting for the media and festival partners Hyatt and Copa Airlines. The tasting was held on September 5 at the Hyatt, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain.
Guests were treated to some of Peru’s most popular dishes, including varieties of its ceviche and its most popular dish, lomo saltado (fried beef). Fish, roasted Peruvian corn, Peruvian chili limes, ginger, shrimp, chicken and crab were some of the ingredients of the four cold rices: ceviche clàsico perunao; Nikkei ceviche; ceviche caliente de camarones al ajì Amarillo; tiradito de salmon, leche de tigre al ajì Amarillo and causa limena, trio de causas.
The four main courses saw a medley of braised beef, vegetables, corn, seafood, mushrooms and followed by a crispy meringue with lùcuma mousse and chocolate sauce for dessert.
Like that of Trinidad and Tobago, Peruvian cuisine is a multicultural mix.
The embassy brought in Peruvian chef Maria Rosa Vasquez Chavez for the festival.
Chavez trained at the Le Cordon Bleu branch in Peru and has a master’s degree in restaurant management and innovation from the Basque Culinary Center, Basque Country, Spain.
Chavez’s menu showcased the mix of Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, African and indigenous influences in the country’s cuisine.
Guests were treated to a drink of Pisco – the Peruvian brandy made from its grapes that is sometimes colorless or amber-yellow in color – before the meal.
While this is the embassy’s first food festival in TT, it wants to ensure it won’t be the last.
Malaga said, “Peruvian cuisine is more than an answer to feeding our people. It’s a social experience. It is the sum of all our history, 10,000 years of history, cooking and coming together to enjoy our meals.”
The country has become a “success story” with its agricultural exports and believes it can help alleviate the growing problem of global food security.
The country profile on the World Food Program (WFP) website states: “Over the past decade, hunger and poverty have decreased significantly in Peru, thanks to sustained economic growth, investments in infrastructure, education and health, and an expansion of programs social. “
He added that food traditions and gastronomy play a crucial role in Peru’s national identity.
The country’s main food export is grapes, but it is also increasing its exports of peppers, avocados, blueberries and coffee.
Peru hopes to become one of the top ten food exporters in the world, Màlaga said.
This is what the country wants to offer TT in the wake of growing food security issues.
The Russia/Ukraine war and growing global supply issues have shown the need for greater trade between countries, he said.
He also said that the international airline Copa has two weekly flights to Peru and this “could be of great importance.
“Copa can provide the best and most reliable service to TT for our fresh fruit and vegetable products.
“You can have fresh fruit from Peru in seven hours.”
While there have been some discussions between countries, there will be further discussions on how countries can cooperate.
“The Embassy of Peru is trying to strengthen the bilateral dialogue with the government and we are trying to promote the mutual recognition of our cultures as the best basis of friendship between our peoples,” said Màlaga.
Màlaga said he attended the recently concluded Agri-Investment Forum and Exhibition, which ran from August 19-21, and spoke with the Minister of Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries, Kazim Hosein, about possible collaborations.
“We are providing a serious and stable supply and we are offering reasonable prices,” he added.
Peru also participated in the recently concluded Trade and Investment Convention (TIC), August 25-27.
Asked if there was a need to create a food bloc, similar to the economic blocs formed in the past, Màlaga said this was the main instruction he received when he moved here.
“We need to strengthen the political dialogue and we have done a lot.”
He said that at Peru’s Independence Day celebrations there were discussions about possible projects between TT and the country.
“We are progressing little by little. We signed an agreement on cultural cooperation on July 28 and we have two more agreements coming,” he said.
An official invitation was sent to Government representatives to attend the festival on September 7.
The event is open to Hyatt guests as well as the public.
