Virgilio Martínez, the Peruvian chef who skateboarding (and not awarding him) makes his feet off the ground

Virgilio Martínez

(Lima, 1977) tells stories, not stories. Realities that you have experienced and that have made you have your feet on the ground. The history of the product that he has discovered (or rediscovered) in his

, from the Andes to the Amazon jungle ... The ecosystem in which it is born. That of the

that explains how to cook it. That of the teams that help him turn it into a plate. That of the kitchen of your country. And now also the history of a large part of his continent -from Rio Grande to Cape Horn- through the recipes he has compiled in the book

(Ed. Phaidon).

An editorial project in which the chef and owner of Central (number 4 in the world, according to The World's 50 Best Restaurants) and his people have invested

and that covers

emblematic

-although a thousand have been compiled- that show the

of Latin America.

It is not that Virgilio has been left in Peru without stories to tell.

"Impossible. It is giant. There is not a single Peru, there are thousands. But during the research processes of

[project with which it travels and explores the Peruvian territory with the aim of preserving its diversity and publicizing the

in the kitchen of those products that he finds] we realized that it was pointless to

only to the border. So we expanded, "explains Martínez during his visit to Spain to present this book that

in December.

The chef on one of his trips to Peru.GUSTAVO VIVANCO

And, as in everything this man from Lima undertakes (present in the lists of the best chefs in the world) with a lean body and an agile and lilting verb, there is

: work, exploration, investigation, search, passion ... and trips to that twenty countries to know

how

the 600 dishes

, to deal with their people, "with anthropologists, historians, communities ... It may be thought that it is a

but, when there are good research and work groups, it is achieved ", explains the chef, who consulted with more than

.

Mater Initiative - founded by Virgilio; Pía León, his wife, and

and Central, a restaurant where the recipes have been cooked. Elaborations

, tested, contrasted and even

. In the dining room we have a very Latin American group, with boys of

El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Chile ... Each one of them gave very good

regarding to the dishes of his country ", he details.

Recipes that, according to the chef,

For example (Bolivian empanadillas, Guatemalan tamales,

Peruvian spicy

, Mexican red pozole ...) and, "even if some product is missing,

for another, always in season," Martinez added.

Virgilio Martínez, in his Central restaurant (Lima) .JIMENA AGOIS

Because if Virgilio knows something about something, between

, it is ingredients. For years Peru has been kicking around searching - and sometimes finding without searching - a seed, a root, an alga ... "I keep traveling, but less and less. It works more for me to have equipment. However, I like to go out. There it is. where I begin to perfect my cooking process: I

, the people and my producers, "says the chef, who has organized

that supplies Central and other restaurants. "In some way, we are responsible for these foods being in other kitchens and who knows if, over time,

... It is work that is worthwhile, it generates benefits of all kinds, not only financial, it also helps to strengthen communities. "

Virgilio and his feet on the ground

.

"I try to always have them there, on earth. When I move around my country I have

. I feel that I must transmit them and

that are consistent with my reality, with my culture."

A reality, his, in which there are also

that, however, do not make him lift his feet off the ground.

"They are not incompatible, it depends on how one takes it inside."

Alpaca in spicy sauce, Peruvian recipe.JA

-Ambassador of Latin American cuisine;

best chef in the world in 2017, chosen by his own colleagues;

His restaurant -Central- has been number 1 in Latin America on several occasions and is now No. 4 on the list of

The World's 50 Best Restaurants.

If you've even starred in a

... Does the crown weigh you down?

- Seen like this it weighs a lot.

But that is not my purpose.

I have not proposed to be recognized as the fourth in the world or other things, but to be a cook.

I like to compete with my kitchen, but

.

I always say to myself: "Don't compete with the one on the side, compete with the one you were yesterday."

-What does this fight consist of?

-In surpassing myself.

Learning and improving are the things that motivate me, that move me.

As long as my body and age allow it, I will be happy doing it.

It makes me happy and also stresses, but

and I have achieved a kind of harmony.

Guatemalan tamales, recipe included in Phaidon's book.

To endure the long hours of kitchen work and travel, Virgilio does

- "I live in Barranco, a wonderful place in front of the sea where I go for a run early" -,

... And, from time to time, "I go back to get on the skateboard, "he says in a small voice. "My son is teaching with a

who was fifth in the Olympics, and I was encouraged ... If I tell you how I blew my teeth the other day ...

."

The scooter

in his life, but the thread and thread from which Virgilio's universe has been woven.

"The first thing I wanted to be in life was a

. It was my dream, I started traveling and competing. Until I broke my bones and, suddenly, it was over."

With his body and his sleep broken, he took to traveling, "to know new places, different people, different cultures. And I discovered how easy it was to get to

and get money to continue traveling."

Without realizing it, the stove

to become the second thing he wanted to be in his life.

"The first time I entered a very professional kitchen I realized that there I could express

,

, innovate, meet people ... And I said to myself: 'I want this to be my job,'" says Virgilio, showing a smile, half the chef he is today;

half the shy teenager he was.

Sapote, one of the dishes of Central.JA

He studied Haute Cuisine at

(in Ottawa, Canada, and in London), worked in the Ritz and Four Seasons hotels and in restaurants around the world (Singapore, Thailand, New York ...). And, after years of classical training, he returned to Peru knowing a lot about European gastronomy and

"Gastón Acurio and Rafael Osterling taught me that cooking and being in Peru was important."

He worked for years with Acurio, at

, and between 2007 and 2009 he was in Madrid at the head of the Madrid headquarters of this Peruvian restaurant installed in the Salamanca district "At that time, my life was focused on being a cook,

. I lived at the Astrid y Gastón and I loved working there. " But he received "the call" and returned to Peru to follow a new path.

in 2009 and launched its revolutionary

(which is changed every two months and whose dishes travel the diversity of Peru

, from the sea, the coast and the mountains, and not the seasons).

"You have to recognize

, I am very grateful to him and I learned a lot from him. What he does is brutal: getting to the house of the Peruvian lady or gentleman. However, I opted for another project in which I could Express myself".

And well that is expressed: the Central restaurants,

Kjolle

and the cocktail bar and

space

Mayo in Lima;

, laboratory, interpretation center and Andean dining room located in the circular terraces of Moray, at 3,600 meters high, which will reopen shortly;

a

space

, which will open in December, and, of course, Mater.

'Salada' with green mango, a Brazilian dish included in 'América Latina Gastronomía'.

In this

you are not alone. His family accompanies him: his sister Malena, in Mater; his mother, an architect and artist, designed the first premises in Central, and his wife, Pía León, who has been Central's head chef and is the soul of Kjolle. "When I comment it, it sounds like a lie, but they

is easy, that I am bearable. The key is that they are very good at what they do, I trust them and

Although to avoid -or soften conflicts- basic rules are imposed: do not bother and "do not carry the problem more than a day. And believe me that, in the kitchen, due to the immediacy with which we work,

You show yourself very cold and you have to realize that you work with your wife, "he acknowledges.

-Well, let's go with her, with her wife.

Pía León, brand new best female chef in the world.

How do you handle it?

And her?

-With a lot of envy, ha ha ha.

I am delighted.

We have already

some awards and she knows that afterwards

, that they give it to you for what you did before, not for what you are going to do in the future.

Regarding me, not only do I get along well, I'm proud and I feel like I

In addition, for the last seven or eight years she has been the head of Central: I was the one who appeared and she was in the kitchen, but we have always

.

- Have the roles been changed?

-You are right.

I hope it's not so much, ha ha ha [the laugh couldn't be louder].

The other day, on a television program, everything was Pía León here and there.

Nobody recognized me and, as I carried things to them, they treated me as their assistant.

, it makes me laugh.

'América Latina Gastronomy' goes on sale in December.

Virgilio is a shy, smiling person who, although today he is in other moments of his life, bears

from the kitchen, some real ones like the one on his left ear on which an object that a chef threw at him hit. "These are tough stages. You meet a chef

. I always told myself that it would never be like that. They have trained you as they have trained you, there are no excuses for treating people badly."

He does not recall being a super-temperamental or explosive chef.

"Maybe it was a bit when I opened Central, I was looking for perfection and, if I didn't find it,

. Now, I have my little things, but

. Before I did a drama when things didn't go the way I wanted, today I grumble a little, but I'm calmer. "

And he continues: "I am 44 years old and I am no longer that young cook who perhaps was allowed

. I know that behind everything I say there is a young man who is listening to me and I must be consistent with the messages I give."

Virgilio, down to earth and skateboarding, just to fly.

Latin America Gastronomy

(Ed. Phaidon), by Virgilio Martínez and Nicholas Gill, goes on sale next December (45 euros).

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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