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By Natalia Otero
Marcelina Sánchez at the stove in Peruvian Taste
Has it ever happened to you that when you travel you miss the exact flavors of your country? You try a dish and it tastes similar, but it's just not the same.
Above all, it is normal to miss your food if you come from countries like Peru, where there are 500 dishes typical of the culture. Between fusion and traditional dishes, as the Peruvians say, you could eat a new dish every day.
This is what happened to José Villafranca, the Peruvian chef and creator of Peruvian Taste in Charlestown, Massachusetts, just outside Boston.
He was born and grew up in Lima, the capital of Peruvian flavors. The city is a meeting point for three regions: the coast, where they serve fish, seafood and the famous ceviche; the food of the Andes mountains, which preserves the legacy of the indigenous Incas; and the food of the jungle, which comes from the Amazon.
In addition, Peru has been a focus of large-scale immigration. In 1800, the South American country welcomed thousands of Chinese, who formed the Chinatown, where Chifa cuisine was created, a fusion of Peruvian dishes with Cantonese Chinese food. In fact, there are more than three thousand Chinese restaurants in Lima alone.
His maternal grandfather worked in a restaurant in Chinatown. Villafranca learned the recipes from his grandfather, as a child he would help him cook. And so he developed a fine palate for detecting authentic food.
When he moved to Boston, Villafranca tried several Peruvian restaurants, missing the flavors of his homeland. However, he found that there were many traditional restaurants, but they didn't taste the way he expected, nor was there any Chifa food.
Katherine Rivera, Marcelina Sanchez, Patty Loo Chávez, Anthony Villafranca (son of owner José Villafranca) and José Villafranca (in baseball cap with letter B).
As he had been the cook for his friends after parties, and he had a dream of dedicating himself to cooking, in 2020 he opened Peruvian Taste. As its name suggests, it aims to offer the authentic Peruvian flavor.
“Our priority is for the flavors to be as similar as possible to those of Peru,” says Villafranca.
So he has dedicated himself to developing each dish very well, so that it tastes as similar as possible to the Peruvian flavor. This has been a challenge, because, being outside his country, not everything is easy to achieve.
“Our goal is always to have the most authentic. There are ingredients imported from Mexico, such as lemon and onion for ceviche. They are available and they are not the same as in Peru, because the lemon is more sour and the onion stronger, since the red onion from Peru does not make you cry as much when you peel it,” he explains.
However, he has managed to adapt. According to him, “someone from Costa Rica can try a dish and say it’s delicious, but my challenge is for people from Peru to try it and for it to taste like what they miss most.”
To do this, he imports Peruvian chili peppers, which give the food just the right amount of spice, as well as purple corn for the chicha and corn on the cob. “Obviously there are things that don't arrive as fresh, but we try to make it as similar as possible.”
Thinking About the Community
Thanks to its high quality, the restaurant is well recognized in the community. In fact, it has been nominated as one of the 25 best restaurants in Boston.
Ceviche Mixto
Despite the wide variety of dishes that Peru has to offer, Villafranca chose 70 which, if you think about it, in proportion to the 500 that the country offers, is not a lot. In any case, maintaining the authenticity of so many dishes has been a great challenge.
There are dishes that are his favorites, but he knows that what he likes is not necessarily the favorite of the diners, he says.
“Customers ask me, ‘Oh, do this, do that.’ I’m glad that people who miss the food of their country eat my dishes and feel so happy. I have some preferences, for example, the chicken wrapped with asparagus and vegetables. It wasn’t ordered much on the menu, so I had to take it off because I was losing money.”
As he explains, running a restaurant is like a game of chance. The important thing is to think about the diners, and about his workers. That is the key to being successful even in difficult times.
Support After ICE Raids
Although Peruvian Taste lost two workers during the ICE raids last January, the welcome and solidarity of the community has helped the restaurant recover.
In addition, it is fortunate that Boston, being a student city, welcomes legal migrants. “We know a lot of people who, despite being legal, showed solidarity with the situation because of Trump’s policies,” says Villafranca.
In any case, the situation was complex.
“There was a moment when I thought about closing, because no one was coming. There were days when we were lucky to fill one or two tables.”
As he reiterates, having a restaurant is a game of chance in which you have to know how to bet well: “You start with $100 and you win $300, you want to keep betting and you end up with $75, you start to lose and lose, until you have nothing left, you have to stop. Or, you can win.”
As he says, you have to keep an eye on what you sell and the people you employ. “If I have four people on a four-hour shift, I have to pay them. If there is only one order, I am in the red and there is no justification for employing these people. But if four tables come in in that hour, then I do need that number of staff.”
It’s a game where you can’t know for sure, but what you can’t be without is “the reason to have a human conviction that drives you to keep going. That your workers are well, and that your customers are happy.”
And, as his grandfather taught him, he always keeps in mind that “he who tries to do too much, does too little.”
RECIPE: Lomo Saltado
Lomo Saltado
Villafranca's menu offers seafood, desserts, breakfasts and Chinese food, including ceviche, the trio marino, chaufa rice, Chinese seafood and fried fish. One of the customers' favourite dishes is lomo saltado. Here is the recipe:
Cut tenderloin into thin pieces and season with salt, pepper, cumin, garlic paste, soy sauce and oyster sauce.
Fry in very hot oil and flambé for 30 seconds.
Then add the onion, which is fried with the meat and also flambéed.
Add a little vinegar and chopped tomatoes with coriander.
Serve with chips and white rice.
Enjoy it, with the authentic Peruvian flavor!
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