COOKING THE ECOSYSTEM: FROM PERU TO EGYPT
For the opening dinner of Cairo Food Week 2024, Virgilio Martinez of Peru's Central & MIL took over the Grand Egyptian Museum to guide diners on a multi-sensory journey through the biodiversity of Peru's ecosystems. In June 2023, Virgilio's restaurant Central was crowned the World's Best Restaurant (World's 50 Best Restaurants Award) for its vehement dedication to research and championing of local ingredients and culinary heritage, presented through a meticulously executed tasting menu that travels across Peru, shedding light on the intricate details found in the nature of each altitude. Now at the tail end of his world tour as the world's leading restaurant, Virgilio and his team brought their culinary philosophy of "Cooking the Ecosystem" to Cairo.
Written by Reem Khamis
Hosted by Legacy at the Grand Egyptian Museum in spaces eloquently curated by Alchemy Experience and a kitchen powered by the Fairmont Nile City, they presented audiences first with an exhibition titled “Threads” followed by a dinner reflective of Cental’s menu and culinary philosophies. In combination, both events presented a wholesome insight into Peru’s eco-diversity.
Mater, led by Virgilio’s sister Malena, focuses its efforts on the research of Peru’s ecosystems - the ingredients that thrive at each altitude, the delicate balance required to protect them, the communities who dedicate their lives to their nurture and preservation and the skills they employ to live sustainably within their environments.
On the opposite side of the same coin, at Central, Virgilio transforms this research into a menu that pays homage to each individual ecosystem, creating a transportive culinary experience across the country. Each course shedding light on a specific altitude, carrying its spirit through every minute detail from the flavors and the ingredients, to the presentation and even the tableware.
When experienced in tandem, as was the fortunate case of Cairo Food Week, you begin to grasp the multitudes of Peru. You realize the power of food as an artistic and expressive tool, and the influence it has in driving powerful conversations around the preservation of culinary, cultural and agricultural heritage.
One significant example is the exhibition piece titled “ANATOMY OF THEOBROMAS” - a study of Cacao, scientifically known as Theobroma cacao, which thrives in the fertile soils of the Peruvian Amazon alongside lesser known but equally fascinating members of the Theobroma genus: Copoazú and Macambo. Mater’s particular focus with respect to this fruit has been to make visible the specialty and expressive complexity of native varieties of cacao. This focus, beautifully transitioned into Central’s kitchen, transforms into the evening’s dessert course “Amazonian Cacao”. A culinary study of Theobromas featuring Cacao, Macambo and Copoazú. An exploration of the fruit’s diversity beyond the typical use of the seeds to utilize every fraction of the fruit: pod, skin, shells and even the leaves, highlighting the importance of recognizing and maximizing the potential of native resources and their creative applications.
Among the dinner’s other highlights was the integration of Egyptian ingredients within the menu. With the support of a committee of local culinarians and historians, Virgilio focused on the biodiversity of the Sinai Peninsula, creating two courses prominently featuring local ingredients. For example, the third course ‘Extreme Altitude’ highlighted the peninsula’s ecosystem from coast to desert. The dish featured locally sourced goat, which the chef cured and smoked to represent the indigenous mountain goats of Sinai’s coast who feed on the local vegetation, paired with dates native to the Sinai desert and Peruvian Choclo, also known as Cuzco corn.
Finally, Central and Mater’s participation in Cairo Food Week presented an incredible opportunity for an equally valuable conversation to receive space, bridging the connections between two celebrated and ancient civilizations—Peru and Egypt, with the parallel opening of “Does a River Shape a Table?”, an exhibition curated by Marwa Benhalim to shed light on Egypt’s agricultural heritage.
While “Thread”s provides insight into Mater’s interconnected approach of engaging with Peru’s rich diversity, embracing its natural and cultural aspects, and narrating the layers of interconnections that shape our understanding of life; “Does a River Shape a Table?” examines contemporary Egyptian food systems and how agricultural ecologies have adapted to industrialization.
The Egyptian exhibition, curated by Egyptian artist Marwa Benhalim, bridges the realms of science, botany, gastronomy, and culture - juxtaposing artists’ intimate practices with biological specimens and food installations to study the interplay between Egypt’s agricultural history and contemporary lifestyles.
In an excerpt from the exhibition catalogue, Marwa describes the curatorial flow: “Does a River Shape a Table? begins with a botanical illustration by Magdy ElGohary of “Cyperus Rotundus,” better known as Tigernut (H’abb el’ Aziz), which is a staple consumed to this day with evidence of its existence since prehistoric times, dating back 18,000 years. Yasmine El Meleegy’s “Future Farms (Organic),” an exceptionally large tomato, speaks to the violent cycle of industrial expansion where farmers are pressured to grow foreign, high-yielding grain and seed varieties that are engineered to maximize yields, uniformity, and profitability, much of which was subsequently processed or exported. Nawaya’s display of “Grains, Legumes and Breads'' highlights local rural agricultural and food heritage that thrives from polyculture practices and crop cycles that plant grain and legumes in a specific order to naturally replenish soil nutrition that has fallen endangered to these monocrops and is engineered to rely on accompanying agrochemicals.
Overall, the exhibition aims to open conversations around what it means to observe and engage with our food through the lens of an agri(cultural) cycle and how artistic and scientific modes of research enrich each other to challenge institutional and industrial pedagogies in a centralizing food system. Moreover, it addresses what these research methodologies can teach us about the agricultural ecosystems that shape how we eat.”
“The important thing is to give rise to multicultural exchanges between countries that seem so far away but that tell us stories of similar flavors and imposing empires.”
- Paola Miglio, Journalist, Peru.
In an age where the race towards modernity and innovation has reached break-neck speeds, it’s become vital to slow down and redirect focus back to the roots: our food, our heritage, our culture, our natural surroundings. The elements that shape our unique characteristics in a sea of conformity. The same elements that have sustained our societies and ensured our survival to this modern day and age. In our urge to keep up with the future, we cannot neglect our past, rather - as this year’s bevy of dinners and conversations have repeatedly reminded us - the best use of future technology and developments is in the support and preservation of the past. Every great success is built on the shoulders of history, by adapting and fortifying traditions for the future, not by replacing them. The dual exhibition and opening dinner were a testament to gastronomy as a universal language, to bridge gaps between far off lands and varied cultures, but also a powerful narrative device in advocating for the preservation of the world’s most fragile ecosystems.
About the Curators:
MATER (directed by Malena Martinez, Peru) is an expansive, interdisciplinary network deeply rooted in a profound understanding of ingredients, nature, cultures, and their intricate interplay. At the core of our work is the creation of identity-infused culinary concepts, always aligned with the fundamental values that guide our commitment to society and the environment. We embody a space for continuous learning, experimentation, and meaningful intercultural encounters. Our mission is to kindle creativity and evoke emotions through curated, artful expressions and staging. We aim to transcend boundaries by forming teams and concepts that not only generate a positive impact but also actively contribute to preserving the rich multicultural diversity inherent within the communities we engage with.
Marwa Benhalim is a Cairo-based Egyptian/Libyan artist and curator whose multifaceted practice delves into the nuanced intersections of power dynamics, both on a micro and macro scale. Through her work, she endeavors to forge unconventional approaches to confronting and engaging with pressing societal issues.
Her curatorial projects include “Scaffolding a Familiar Epoch”, by artist Yasmine El Meleegy, and “TOKEN”, by artist Aya Tarek in 2021. As well as “In Lieu of a Prism” group exhibition in Alexandria funded by Onassis Foundation, in Athens, Mucem Museum, in Marseille and Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto in Biella, Italy, in 2023, and most recently Roznama 9th exhibition in 2023. In 2022, Benhalim initiated the “Switchboard Project,” an artist-driven initiative fostering care, camaraderie, and collaboration through regular gatherings.
Additionally, she is the co-founder and co-director of the annual “Cairo Art Book Fair,” now in its third installment, which celebrates the rich diversity of publishing practices and communities.
