Making the Latin American Capital of Gastronomy: Lima’s “Aventura Culinaria”

• In Event: Patrimonialización y transformaciones urbanas y regionales

Abstract

Peruvian cuisine is currently recognized as one of the best in the world. This was a fast but not an easy process. Different alignments of actors, discourses and resources were necessary for this outcome. Currently, a broad coalition of state and private actors has as a short term objective branding and positioning Lima as the Latin American Capital of Gastronomy. Here I explore how this gastronomic movement is proposing a new type of capitalism based on admiration of Peruvian popular culture and racial mixing, a new ideology of cosmopolitan-global consumerism, and a strong discourse of social responsibility, ecological sustainability, and social inclusion. I explore this process through different angles. First, I study Aventura Culinaria, the most important Peruvian Gastronomy TV show, to explore how Peruvians dishes are being transformed for entering into the world of high-cuisine; how Limenians are educated to appreciate these transformations; and how they are seduced and invited to explore restaurants and to proudly join this national crusade. Second, I explore Mistura, the largest gastronomic festival in Lima, as a place for the display and admiration of Peruvian natural resources, dishes and culture. Third, I study Miraflores, a commercial and tourist district in Lima with the largest agglomeration and diversity of restaurants. Here, some tensions and paradoxes that come along with this process appear: the effects of the commoditification of Peruvian gastronomy both for exclusive and for sophisticated as well as for massive and low-price standardized consumption; and spatial transformation for commerce and entertainment.

Author

• Omar Pereyra, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú