at the tableFrom Peru

With LoveThe cultivation of modernPeruvian cuisine in Sarasota.

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34 SRQ / DECEMBER 2012

at the table

avier Arana has just returned on aneight-hour flight from Peru, wherehe had spent 10 days at the largestfood festival in Latin America,

Mistura. A vicious cold gives his words athroaty air as he is dragged into his place ofbusiness, Javier’s Restaurant and Wine Bar, dur-ing off hours, leaving me with the belittling airof sheepish self-consciousness at my owninconvenience. To the credit of the sleepy-eyedJavier and Mary Arana, if they were grumpy, itwas well masked behind a frank hospitality andstarfruit from their organic garden.

“People ask me ‘What is Peruvian?,’ ” saysJavier. “It can’t be summed up. There are 300-400 traditional dishes, because we have somany influences, so much of a coast, themountains and the jungle. There are so manyblends.” The Spanish conquered the Incans,Quechuas—the people indigenous to Peru—and left a legacy of Criollos, or Spanish-blooddescendants born off the Iberian Peninsula.The conquistadors also brought with themslave labor from Africa. The Asians immigrat-ed later for labor in the mines, and with ensu-

j ing World Wars, Europeans made a leap west.The collective cultural collateral melding withthree distinct terrains and robust resources,including 3,000 forms of potatoes and 300kinds of corn, forged Peruvian into the mostdiverse cuisine in the world. Peruvian is anethnic byproduct of gastronomical logic.

“It compares with what Thai food was 20years ago,” says Mary. “Sarasota’s become muchmore adventurous, and ethnic foods havebecome much more popular.”

“Arroz Chaufa has an oriental background,”says Javier. “It’s a fancy fried rice that wemake here with shrimp and chicken. Around1849, the Orientals migrated for labor to Peru,and this is one of their dishes. The word ‘chi’means eat, ‘fan’ means rice, so originally, chi-fan literally meant ‘eat rice.’ Down the line theword’s been chopped up to ‘chaufa,’ a twist onthe original; in Peru, if you go to a Chineserestaurant, it’s called a Chifa.”

Javier’s dish is simple. “Boom,” he says with aquick one-two of his hands, “in and out.” Heuses a standard pan over a stovetop and sautésthe shrimp and chicken with butter. He puts inthe scallions and eggs with a pour over of soysauce and seasons it with salt, pepper, half atablespoon of fresh ginger and a little gingerjuice. This is served with the characteristicallypreferred inclusion of ajies, of which he utilizesaji Amarillo (“yellow chili’) and rocoto peppers.“I arrived at my version,” relates Javier, “becauseit’s just what I like. I like the oriental line,because it isn’t that well known.”

Canta RanaThe unrelenting roar of overhead ventilationcan’t drown out Diana Durand’s frequentlaugh; laughter and roaring deliver the melodyof her kitchen at Canta Rana Peruvian FusionCuisine on Fruiville Road. She calls over thevents as she leans close, smiling with dampstrands of hair clinging to the perimeter of herforehead. “Lomo Saltado is a meal you’d pre-pare on an average day, but at home, you’d pre-pare it in a pan.” With her hands she framesthe deep cast iron wok pan and its machine,spitting flames like a dragon. “The taste is dif-ferent with the wok. It brings you the taste ofthe burn, more rich in flavors, that can’t bedone at home. It’s better on a gas range, too,because you can play with the flame.”

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP CENTER: DARWIN’S ON 4TH’S SPIN ON TUNATURADITO. CHEF DARWIN SANTA MARIA. MIXTO CEVICHE AT DARWIN’S

ON 4TH. CANTA RANA'S LOMO SALTADO. CHEF DIANA DURAND.

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DECEMBER 2012 / SRQ 35

tilts, twirls and shakes the pan over the flame.Guided by rote of two-minute repetition andthe wafting of cooked beef, Durand deems thedish ready and deposits it onto the waitingplate topped with the piping fries and addi-tional parsley. Many Peruvians accompanythe dish with a rocoto pepper sauce blendedwith salt and olive oil, but in a channeling ofFrench sentiment, Durand insists no ketchupis used for the fries.

A Latin American beverage to accompanythe dish is Chicha Morada made from a brittle,rock-hard and purple maize. Durand makesthe concentrate in house by first stripping thekernels off the cob and boiling them both foran hour with pineapple skins, cinnamon and alittle sugar. It’s the cob that gives the drink itssignature purple color and provides theantioxidants. Chicha comes out with a sweet,lightly spiced flavor. Chilled, the drink has adistinct feel of comfort reminiscent of a Latin’ssweet tea; our photographer, Evan, calls its dis-covery “a revelation.”

EAT Sample Arroz Chaufa and other Peruviandelights at Javier’s Restaurant and Wine Bar, 6621Midnight Pass Rd., Siesta Key, 941-349-1792. DianaDurand mans the kitchen at Canta Rana PeruvianFusion Cuisine, 1813 Fruitville Rd., Sarasota, 941-343-2280. Seafood is a key ingredient at Darwin’son 4th, 1525 4th St., Sarasota, 941-343-2165.

Lomo Saltado isserved with Frenchfries and, aided bythe wok, Durandcan whip it up intwo minutes. Shebegins by droppingthe standard steak-cut fries into thehot oil and eyeballsa measure ofcanola oil into the

depth of the wok pan. She drops in strips ofbeef, commencing the sizzle, and adds diced redonions and tomatoes. Wielded like an eye-drop-per, she delicately drips dark beads and smallstreams of soy sauce out of a plastic squeezebottle. “I buy the soy sauce special and use littledrops. Many places use a lot to put more color inthe food, but that changes the taste for the restof the ingredients. Not this; it gives plenty ofcolor with little sauce.” She dashes in a liberalpinch of parsley. Using both hands, she tosses,

Try it

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36 SRQ / DECEMBER 2012

Darwin’s on 4thSeafood serves a key role in the Peruvian cui-sine at Darwin’s on 4th. “Ceviche is the flagshipdish, like the Japanese’ sushi and American’sfries,” says Darwin Santa Maria. “The secret isthat is has to be fresh fish, and you’ve got tohave good lime juice.” The challenge of freshquality ingredients and the flavor effect pro-duced from American soil is an ever-active bal-ance Santa Maria must achieve. For ceviche, heuses seasonal fish to ensure freshness, but theconcern of red onions from America is thatthey’re overpowering, drowning out the flavorstrived for in the fish. “You have to be very care-ful. It can limit you as a chef.” Unsatisfied withthe ensuing taste of frozen ajies, he’s now work-ing with farmers in Orlando to produce ajiAmarillo, aji Limo (“Lima pepper,”) and ajiCharapita, a potent, bulbous, Amazonian pep-per. “A lot of people think chefs are the stars.No; it’s Mother Nature who’s the star. If youhave good fish and produce, that makes youlook good; that makes a good dish tasteful.”

In Santa Maria’s kitchen, a mosaic of cate-gorized ingredients—parsley, ginger, limejuice, shrimp—sits upon a culinary altar of

stainless steel. First, making Mixto Cevichethat starts with a small bowl filled with rawCorvina, the fish in season, and pre-boiledshrimp, octopus and mussels. The bowlreceives dustings of kosher salt, aji Amarillo,aji Limo, pureed ginger and cilantro beforebeing toss-mixed. The chef then applies limejuice deliberately and slowly. “A lot of booksand recipes say to marinate ceviches for 6 to7 hours, but it’s not true. Ceviche is greatafter one minute when you toss it. The fishtastes better when it’s just a little tossed andmarinated; that’s why you have the freshfish.” Next, he adds a celery and water pureeto cut the potent liminess, then transfers theceviche, along with chopped red onions andcilantro, to the middle allotment in his sig-nature, three-apportioned, plates. Cevicheflies front and center, flanked on both sidesby maize, boiled cuzco corn skewers spearedthrough a vinegar and sugar boiled sweetpotato and cancha corn nuts respectively.The dish is finished off with the pour over ofleche de tigre (“milk of the tiger,”) a puree oflime juice, celery, garlic and bits of fish and asqueeze of passion fruit puree on the sweetpotato skewer.

at the table

Santa Maria’s version of Tuna Tiradito is aresult of a mistake he made 13 years ago whilehastily preparing watermelon gazpacho andtuna tartare. “I hit one bowl and watermelon,soy sauce…everything just went everywhere. Iwas pissed, to be honest.” He grabbed thewatermelon and the tuna while thinking whatto do, and he liked the flavor with the soy. Now,he marinates the sashimi-style tuna in soysauce, sesame oil and ginger and puts in on theplate with sliced watermelon, and he also takesone slice of ginger, dips it in the marinade tobriefly soak and places it on the plate.

What makes the dish, according to SantaMaria, is the sauce he puts on top: it’s freshmint, sweet chili, a touch of soy sauce, a littlegarlic and some peanuts. He also adds to theside additional sweet chili, chive oil and a bal-samic and sweet chili mixture. The final touch-es are put on with the cuzco skewer resting in asmall cup of leche de tigre, this time withoutthe onion pairing. “I like to concentrate on smallplates with presentation and flavor. As you cansee, it’s nothing out of this world. It’s so simple,just little flavors like soy, ginger and mint withwatermelon make a big difference.” !

LEFT: ARROZ CHAUFA AT JAVIER'S RESTAURANT AND WINE BAR. RIGHT: DARWIN'S ON 4TH.

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