Serving up Modern Peruvian at Nazka
By Andy Fenner
Van Ostadestraat 354, 1073 TZ Amsterdam
BOOK NOWIt seems we’re always obsessing about a new food trend, or style. Mexican. Moroccan. Thai. This comes with great danger, as we often pigeon-hole an entire culture’s food offering into a few dishes. This is especially true for Peruvian food, which has been getting a lot of air time and media columns lately. Boosted by the recent announcement that Central, located in Lima, has been named the world’s best restaurant – according to San Pellegrino and their annual list – there is no stopping the focus on Peruvian food.
This makes Nazka an important restaurant in Amsterdam, as they are now tasked with not only providing flavour, but also doing it with context. Societal, cultural and historical context. In other words, their food needs to tell a story of Peru.
They do an exquisite job. The menu itself is built around a four, or six, course tasting menu that showcases both Peruvian ingredients and technique. Ceviche, for example, is an expected feature but so is tiradito, where fish (in this case immaculate fresh bonito) is not cubed and cured in acidity but, instead, sliced like sashimi and sauced just before being brought to the table. This Japanese treatment of Peruvian ingredients is called Nikkei cuisine and it props up the rest of the Nazka experience. Along with the Japanese influence running throughout the menu, so too do occasional daring Indian nuances, a nod to chef Koosh Kothari’s Indian roots.
Standouts include octopus cooked over fire and paired with corn and olive and a tuber millefeuille (conceptually plated to mimic the Vinicunca mountain), draped with a creamy, smoky rocoto pepper sauce and finished with furikake for texture. A highlight is the aforementioned tiradito, paired unusually with beetroot; the sweetness working beautifully.
Even a chocolate mousse is not really a chocolate mousse, instead acting as a platform to show off chunco – one of the world’s leading cacao varieties.
To eat at Nazka is to learn from Nazka. They do not miss a beat to share the obvious passion for Peru. Whether it’s a lofty bavette steak, or a simple pisco sours. Everything is well considered and everything is done with good intention.
Nazka
The Space: Modern Peruvian.
The Base: €80-100 pp
The Face: People who take food seriously, not themselves.
The Ace: Don’t be put off by the liberal use of chilli peppers. This is not just “heat’. It is a skillful tool for flavour and the chef uses them with a great deal of restraint.
The Veg: The entire tasting menu is available as vegetarian.
Opening Hours: Tues – Sat 18:00-00:00, Sun-Mon Closed
Images from nazka.nu, Nazka
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