PERU: LIMA: LOCAL CUISINE UNDER THREAT FROM FAST FOOD CHAINS

(29 Oct 1997) Span/Eng/Nat

Fears for the future of Peruvian cuisine are growing as an emerging fast food industry takes hold.

Peruvians rate their cooking, known as Criolla, the best in Latin America, but President Alberto Fujimori's free market rule has weaned a young generation onto burgers and french fries.

Peruvian chefs say their food should be protected as a source of national pride.

Lima is home to Peru's best known national dish - the fish, lemon and salt based Ceviche.

Its location is perfect, sprawling alongside the Pacific coast.

Restaurant owner Isabel Alvarez says it is a dish the city should be proud of.

SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"First of all everyone will think of "ceviche" even though it is eaten in many countries which have a Pacific coast, like Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia. But I think the most tasty ceviche is in Peru - maybe because of the way we prepare it, and maybe because we have a marvellous sea. Although it isn't the Caribbean, it is a green colour. It is a strong sea, the colour and the smell, which is sometimes not very pleasant, as we say - heavy. But this sea gives us an extraordinary marine life which allows us to make the variety of dishes you can eat on the Peruvian coast, in the north and south."
SUPER CAPTION: Isabel Alvarez, restaurant owner

But Alvarez is worried that Peruvian cuisine is losing an unequal battle with the country's emerging fast food industry.

Young people, she fears, fail to appreciate that their cuisine is among the richest and diverse in Latin America.

SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"That's what is so worrying about the young generation. What sort of legacy are we leaving for future generations? A child that eats chips - although potatoes are very good here - who eats steak and rice and occasionally a hamburger, and all that rubbish. I don't think they'll speak to you about a sensitivity. Cooking is a sensual, cultural thing it prepares us for life and a better situation."
SUPER CAPTION: Isabel Alvarez, restaurant owner

Peruvian food is the inspiration of diverse background.

Its ingredient origins range from pre-Hispanic Peru, mainly from the Inca empire, from Spain and from Africa through the slave trade.

But free market reforms under President Alberto Fujimori have ushered in cheap fast food at the expense of local cuisine.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"There's really the school that prefers the traditional, rather heavy Peruvian food, which can go anything from a sheep's head - what they call a kick in the stomach, but very popular Peruvian food, to a more sophisticated heath-oriented Peruvian dishes using ingredients from Peru and from the Andes above all. Now with the sea food. The sea food is probably spectacular. If you ask my own opinion, I've never eaten better food anywhere in Latin America than in Lima. I think Lima's the culinary capital of Latin America."
SUPER CAPTION: Jonathan Cavanagh, Peruvian culinary expert

Peru remains proud of its culinary heritage but faces a tough challenge to sustain it.

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