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The dizzy heights of the Mil Project
Virgilio Martínez, Pía León and Malena Martínez, the three people behind Lima's Central, present a restaurant that goes beyond mere culinary sense.
To understand Mil, you have to observe. Outside and inside. Again. Because everything at this restaurant in Cuzco, located at an altitude of some 3,800 metres in the middle of Peru's Andes mountains, makes sense. Because everything around the restaurant conceived five years ago by Virgilio Martínez, Pía León and Malena Martínez, the three people behind Lima's Central, is connected. The indigenous communities have perceived an opportunity for the future in Mil because they are needed for everything. “We have learned to create links and trust. This horizontal task is different, because we appraise each person as an individual”, they explained during the talk at Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España.
The three explained the characteristics of a quasi-infinite gastronomy format that travels from the top of the Andes to the Amazon. They demonstrated their work with botanists and ink plants, with quinoa, the "papa lisa" or "ullucus" root vegetable; and also with Amazon fish species such as the "pacú". Mil has set out to reproduce the moment at which this fish comes up to the surface to feed. The "pacú" is accompanied by Amazon plants, cream of coconut with fruit and turmeric meringue with a syrup. “The idea is to surround the fish with its own ecosystem", said Virgilio.
One of their latest obsessions, which they have been working on for five years, is the cocoa fruit. “We cooked the husk for twelve hours. Now it's really soft and crunchy", Pía explained. “Then we have the endocarp, just between the musilage and the exocarp. After that we steamed the veins for eight hours, and this produces a lot of crunchiness", she added as the various creations appeared on stage. The threesome's curiosity has been made part of Mater, their research centre delving into Peruvian gastronomy. With outlets in Lima and Cuzco, a subsidiary will shortly be set up in the Amazon to continue to reveal more secrets.
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