Celebrating Día de Gracias at Astrid y Gastón

A typical Thanksgiving Day meal in Peru was always out of the question for us.  We don’t even like turkey, cranberries and mashed potatoes when we’re in the states — we’re more of a lasagna or chili household.  So it wasn’t out of character for us to choose a more offbeat holiday meal at a local restaurant.

Now I’m pretty familiar with the fancy restaurant scene in the United States, and have taken Jan to Chicago’s Tanta a couple of times.  Since it’s one of our favorite Peruvian restaurants in that city, it made a crazy kind of sense to also visit Gastón Acurio’s restaurant, Astrid y Gastón while in Lima. I expected differences, of course, and a closer emphasis on local ingredients and less delicacy regarding American sensibilities. 

Whoo, boy…

Appetizers

For starters, they don’t have guinea pig on the menu in Chicago whereas it is a starter here. Yes, they raise cute little animals for consumption. And when you fry cuy crispy, add hoisin sauce, and serve them on a disk of black corn, you don’t really have time to think about how cute this animal is because your taste buds are too busy trying to understand what you’re eating.

Truth? Despite how well done this dish was, I thought the meat was a little greasy and I don’t need to seek out more cuy on our trip. Once was enough.

The other starters were more mainstream. The quinoa tacos were filled with fried pieces of chicharrón, grilled pineapple and a smear of frioles on bottom.  They were messy to eat, but I didn’t really care because tacos! The mix of textures, the range of sweet to sour, and an honest-to-heaven taco was amazing. I licked my fingers.

We had more dignity and zing with the excellent tuna ceviche.  I thought it was cute that the waiter warned us about the tiny slices of red chilis on top.  If this were Thailand, I would be worried, but Peru? C’mon.  They don’t really know what hot is here.  However, the orange sauce did have some heat, was well-balanced and the perfect foil to that OMG tuna, choclo, and sweet potato.  I could eat that all day.  And I would sit there and eat a whole pepper if that’s what it would take to get more.

Entrees

We wanted to go surf-n-turf for our main dishes, but the allure of the pasta was too much to resist. That’s what I get for scanning the restaurant’s Instagram account before ordering.  The tortellini were tender and stuffed with a mix of pecans, sage, and Andean cheese.  I have no idea what components went into the sauce, but we managed to sop it up with the excellent bread we ordered along with the meal. I’m also a little unclear on what the official position on tonguing plates is in Peru, so I stopped short of doing that.

Let me drop in a word here about huacatay.  It’s an Andean herb that’s sometimes referred to as Peruvian black mint, though that’s a poor description of what it is.  This herb is in the marigold family and has a bright, citrus-y scent that does not smell like mint at all.  When you bite into it, it has a heat that builds a little like mint, sort of.  It’s very refreshing on its own and adds dimension when cooked down with cheese and sauces.  Jan had it as a raw garnish with his cocktail and we had it in components of other dishes.  I’m a big fan and will need to figure out how to cook with it before I leave Peru.

I think huacatay is what made our hanger steak a game changer, too.  I mean, the steak was huge, tender, and topped with the right amount of lightly grilled onions.  But when you add the sauce? From now on, hanger steak and I may never be right with each other without this sauce. Maybe I just need to get huacatay out of my system. It’s hard to say.

Dessert

I convinced Jan to order dessert because it was Thanksgiving, and sugar must be consumed.  He never really says no to sugar, so it wasn’t that hard to convince him to order one.  Two was too far — our stomachs are no longer in any shape to order multiple starters and entrees, much less a tasting menu.  How do people do ten course tasting menus anyway? Are they super heroes? Do they train for it? We were in a world of stuffed-tummy hurt after this meal, so I can’t imagine.

Anyway, dessert had to be part of the equation because the “Astrid” part of the restaurant’s eponymous name is pastry chef Astrid Gutsche. And she has top billing.

We’ve had a hard time loving lúcuma — it’s bread-y and not very refreshing on its own — so I was curious what a pastry chef would do with Peru’s fruit obsession.  And what happened was…

Well, the green shell mimicked the fruit’s outer rind, but was actually flash-frozen caramel that wrapped around an interior of semi-frozen creamy lúcuma pudding and fruity gelée.  Our waiter smashed the dessert open and dumped more frozen coffee and chocolate bits over the interior and let the whole thing thaw in a cloud of smoke.

I’m sure every head in the restaurant turned to look at the mad scientist experiment happening on our table. I didn’t care because it was ours, all ours, muwahahahahahaha!  No regrets. I want more.

Hacienda, etc.

Astrid y Gastón is located in Casa Moreyra, a three hundred year old hacienda and designated historical site in Lima’s San Isidro district. Since the building is protected, the interior courtyard and rooms retain their original layout.  This has forced the restaurant to spread its operations out a bit over several kitchens and dining spaces.

Astrid y Gastón is consistently listed among the world’s top Latin American restaurants for a reason, so if you can snag a reservation, make a point to go.  It’s pricey by Peruvian standards, though a Thanksgiving blow-out meal for two set us back $125 USD which included cocktails, multiple starters, two entrees, and dessert.  The Lima Love tasting menu is considerably more, though I don’t think it’s necessary if you prepare.

So spend some time roaming through the markets, eating street food, and pondering the mysteries of items in the grocery store.  Read the food sites, comb through the Instagram shots, work past the rave reviews. Eat in Americanized Peruvian restaurants before you arrive in Peru. Get familiar with Peruvian food.

And then, and only then, come here to order the top-notch version of what you’re interested in.  I think the context helps set the experience.  Otherwise you’re just spending money because it’s a rated restaurant and not because it will blow your mind with modern interpretations of Peruvian cuisine.

You want your mind blown and Astrid y Gastón wants to be the place that does it.  Boom.