Virgilio Martinez, chef proprietor of Central restaurant in Peru and executive chef of the Lima London Group, has welcomed on Sunday 7th August his friend, chef Albert Adria, for a one-off collaboration dinner.
Albert Adria, who has 23 years worked together with his brother Ferran Adria at elBulli, is now chef proprietor of many venues in Barcelona, between them highly acclaimed Tickets and Pakta which is specialised in Nikkei cuisine, so the perfect choice for a playful dialogue with Virgilio’s team. Albert Adria brought with him also the head chef of the Pakta restaurant, Jorge Muñoz, Virgilio instead involved also Robert Ortiz, the head chef of Lima.
The dinner was completely booked within a day after bookings started, but luckily Virgilio saved some places for his friends at the bar and that’s where we had a chance to taste some of the dishes. Please keep in mind that the pictures don’t show all the dishes and that they may differ a bit (they are snack versions) from those served at the restaurant in the upper floor.
It was a wonderful journey through the Peruvian flavours and the interaction between the chefs created a delightful menu which was taking us through a very wide spectrum of culinary experiences. I can still recall the wonderful flavours of the dishes, between them the best ever, incredibly subtle and intense at the same time, nigiri made by the Pakta chefs and the wonderful Cacao and Clay dessert created by Virgilio Martinez – a dessert I enjoyed already about a year ago at his Mater Iniciativa dinner in London.
Here is the entire menu of the evening:
Lima
Sweet potatoes, sea urchin tiger´s milk
Chalaca mussels and camu camu
Mote. Cassava, aji and langoustine juane
Beef pachamanca causa , aji panca
Blue potato and andean kiwicha
Mango. Sacha inchi oil, maca root. Aji
Central
Warm avocado. Red kiwicha. Loche squash
Dry tocosh and macambo
Andean mashwas. Olluco and elderberry
Arapaima fish. Amazonian fruits
Grilled lettuce. Scallops. Sweet potato leaves
Duck anticucho. Quinoas
Cacao and clay
Pakta
Palomita de yuca a la huancaina (Snack)
Scallop tiradito cured in miso with yuzukosho
Secuencia de nigiris
Squid nigiri with huacatay and lime
Small scallop nigiri with its coral
Secuencia de causas
King crab maki causa with yuzu “acevichada” mayonnaise
Eel causa with umeboshi and green shiso
Tuna belly te-maki with shichimi and puffed white quinua
Wild sea bass ceviche with masato “leche de tigre”
“seco” of veal xiao long bao
Red mullet with “ají amarillo escabeche” nikkei sauce
Cherry and homemade japanese plum
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