NOV FOOD & WINE

That was quick. Returned from Lima on August 8 and now my story about Peruvian food and chef Gaston Acurio is out in the November issue of Food & Wine. In addition to the great food, I was really taken by Gaston's involvement in a cooking school we visited. The students (above) are from the poor surrounding areas. From the story:

"On my final morning in Lima, we drove an hour-and-a-half north of the city to a shantytown called Pachacutec, where wild dogs stood in the dirt road. After the corrugated metal houses faded away, we came to a few new, single-story brick buildings near the ocean. This is the world’s most unlikely cooking school, co-sponsored by Acurio; each day, kids walk miles to learn a trade that they hope will take them away from Pachacutec. In a well-lit room, serious young students whipped up elaborate puddings and fried donuts. They fed me and thanked me for visiting. It was an uplifting place and a reminder that change depends on providing an education you can’t get from cooking shows."

Peruvians compare the typically dreary sky in Lima to the underbelly of a donkey and from the picture above you can see why (that's Gaston's dapper driver Walter in the red sweater standing outside the school). I'd fallen asleep in the car on the drive from Lima and when I woke up we were on dirt roads deep in the giant shantytown. More like a shanty-city. Then no more town and just sand and, like an oasis, this cooking school at the end of the world. I was feeling and looking a little ragged that day—hungover, too much food. The students were bright-eyed and welcoming. One made a very sweet speech welcoming to the school and they all clapped. It was a humbling experience. I wish them all well.

I'll scan the story and put it up on the main site sometime but for the web version is here.