Archives for posts with tag: cuisine

Local farmers come to visit

August 24, 12 //
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By Stephan Post, Launch General Manager, Palacio Nazarenas

Last Monday, three representatives from Peru’s Agrarian Investigation Institute came to visit us at the hotel. They then joined our chef, Virgilio Martinez, on a tour of the Sacred Valley, meeting some of the farmers and their communities in what are often remote and inaccessible areas.

Chef Virgilio Martinez toured the Sacred Valley to meet farmers and source new ingredients for his kitchen.

Chef Virgilio Martinez toured the Sacred Valley to meet farmers and source new ingredients for his kitchen.

The trip resulted in a real harvest of ideas. So much so that we’ve invited the farmers to visit us here at Palacio Nazarenas, to demonstrate their products and skills. Starting next week we’ll be welcoming around 12 growers of native plants known for aromatic oils. Four more gatherings based around other crops are planned for the following weeks.

Any guests who are interested in unusual local produce are welcome to drop by. We’re all expecting to make exciting new discoveries that will find their way onto our Senzo restaurant menu and into treatments at Hypnoze spa.

Researching new recipes and ingredients

February 22, 12 //
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By Virgilio Martinez, Chef Director of Palacio Nazarenas

I’ve spent a lot of the last three years travelling around Peru to track down its best ingredients and the experts who can help me to use them in new and exciting ways. For instance, one expert specialises in infusions based on herbs from the Sacred Valley. Others know everything there is to know about Andean potatoes and river fish.

All our produce featured at Palacio Nazarenas will be organic: the only “chemistry” is the scientific work that we do in the kitchen to push the boundaries of what can be achieved with nature at its best. I’ve a huge library of books and do a lot of research into recipes and new cooking styles. One of my team is working full time, meeting farmers and communities around Cuzco to discover new ingredients and ways of cooking them.

I’m not interested in repeating classic Peruvian dishes. For Senzo, our signature restaurant, I want to unearth unusual ingredients around Cuzco and to take them to new levels, to release their full potential.