palatable palette

A part of the planning (pig in mud (part 3)) included reservations at a couple of fine dining establishments (that book months in advance) on our last days in Lima. Coincidentally, due to various activities and late night travel, we did not get a chance to eat a full meal for 24 hours or so, which was about the time that I found out that our first reservation included 17 courses.

Central is established by Virgilio Martinez who creates masterpieces through "vertical ecological monitoring" with ingredients by inhabitants of the Andes region during the pre-Hispanic era, the Amazon, the desert and the coasts. His team travels the countryside looking for and researching items from Patchamama that would be edible with 50% of his approximate 180 ingredients not previously identified. Our dishes today included items like clay, piranhas, various flowers and sea urchins. The escalation mater menu contained ingredients and celebrated the biodiversity of the various elevations of Peru and the Andes. 

While I was game to try everything on the menu, it was with consternation when course 5 had an ingredient that had turned me off from consumption of raw protein, specifically seafood. In the late 90s during a trip to Nha Trang, I got to experience the oceanside experience of picking out the fresh catch that gets prepared for the meal. One of those items was sea urchin where it was opened and prepared right at our table. However, it was so fishy and pungent that it left a "bad taste in my mouth" figuratively and physically. Since then, I had avoided not only sea urchin but any other exotic raw seafood other than basic tuna and salmon.

Despite my trepidation, I faced my fear and the course turned out to be one of my favorites from the pre-fixed menu. Martinez and his team were phenomenal in the art of gastronomy. The only other time I experienced such fantastic blends of flavors and textures were from Yonaka in Las Vegas, which highlights the various flavors of Japan and raw seafood. In addition, the presentation of the courses, the pops of color and wine pairings created an overall elevation of the senses during a 4-hour sitting. It was easy to see why it is ranked number 5 in the world and featured in season 3 of Chef's Table.