InvestigationDriven by the fashion for ceviche, cubes of marinated raw fish, Peruvian cuisine has conquered French palates, from “cevicherias” to more sophisticated tables.
Yka, Manko, Tzantza, Inka, Villa Mikuna, Pez… For five years, new brands have been popping up in France, whose names have enough to make food lovers salivate. and exotic sounds. Establishments defending ceviches (cubes of raw fish marinated in lemon) have taken root in Marseille (El Santo Cachon) or Strasbourg (Santa Elena). Lyon is even home to a Franco-Peruvian starred restaurant, the Miraflores, the only one in France, run by Carlos Camino.
“Peru hosts 70% of the world’s microclimates, which gives access to a very wide variety of products”, Lourdes Pluvinage, of El Picaflor.
The Peruvian fever has especially gripped the capital: between cevicherias (establishments specializing in ceviches) and more sophisticated restaurants, the city already concentrates around forty addresses transforming certain streets of Pigalle into alleys of Barranco, the bohemian district of Lima. Symbol of this development, the restaurant with South American influences Tigermilk (in reference to “leche de tigre”, a sauce made from fish juice and lime used in Peruvian marinades), opened in the 2e arrondissement, has become in two years a small prosperous chain. It is now expanding to Brussels and Lille by offering ceviches at low prices but very (very) far from the original recipes … by adding mango and coconut milk to the fish, enough to make purists cry.
” Ceviche “. Not long ago, the word caused palpitations to many foodies. “When I opened my restaurant in Paris, in 1994, a lot of customers and cooks were shocked that I could offer raw fish”, remembers Lourdes Pluvinage, the elegant patroness of the El Picaflor hostel, a small establishment near the Jardin des Plantes, crumbling under colorful paintings. The one that her South American clientele (many of whom are chefs) affectionately calls “mama” is a pioneer… and a resistance fighter.
“After my first three months of operation, I almost closed the restaurant, squeaks this native of Arequipa, the second largest city in the country. The French public knew almost nothing about our cuisine, just the potatoes and corn, which the Europeans imported from Peru. To sell my avocados, I had to make guacamole, a Mexican specialty! Today, I always stop at the tables to recall that Peru hosts 70% of the world’s microclimates, which gives access to a very wide variety of products. I praise quinoa, our hundreds of peppers, from aji amarillo, very sweet, to rocoto, powerful. “
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