Head Chef Samuel Rivas combines Australian produce with Peruvian components and cooking strategies.
The San Telmo Group opened the doorways to Pastuso on Melbourne’s AC/DC Lane again in 2014, with the venue taking part in an instrumental position in placing Peruvian delicacies on the map. Samuel Rivas labored as a sous chef on the restaurant for a number of years earlier than taking up the top chef place.
Rivas has been busy channelling his information of South American flavours into the present Pastuso providing, which is all about heroing the dishes discovered throughout Peru’s numerous lands. The chef speaks to Hospitality about conventional cooking strategies and components and his predictions on the development of Peruvian delicacies in Australia.
Samuel Rivas is taking a culinary method at Pastuso that sees the chef riff conventional cooking strategies to ship a recent eating expertise. “We are saying we aren’t a standard restaurant, however we’re impressed by Peruvian delicacies,” says Rivas. “We attempt to [use] conventional strategies and components and blend them with native [elements].”
Rivas is adamant on sourcing proteins and greens from Australian producers, relying closely on the restaurant’s huge native community. “We prefer to work with small farmers,” says the chef. “We attempt to supply merchandise which might be sustainable and in season.”
Whereas the chef imports ají chillies, he additionally works with native growers to supply different varieties. “We have now small farmers right here in Victoria who’re rising ají para pintar from the north of Peru,” says Rivas. “Utilizing issues which might be tremendous recent provides one other degree to our dishes. We’re making an attempt to get extra farmers to develop totally different chilli varieties.”
Pastuso explores the jungles, the mountains and the coast of Peru by means of the dishes on its menu. The venue has a devoted ceviche and tiraditos bar, together with choices that cowl grilled dishes and desserts. Though it might not outline itself as a standard restaurant, every dish options components or strategies that pay homage to the foundational roots of the delicacies.
An instance is cooking underground; a follow that’s unable to be replicated by most venues, however the Pastuso crew has developed an modern different to generate an identical consequence. “They’ve a way the place you place all of the components below the earth and prepare dinner it,” says Rivas. “It’s tremendous tough to do it right here, however we attempt to symbolize that through the use of a mixture of clay and low in our smoker.”
Meat-based dishes are a core staple on the restaurant, which has an anticuchos part that includes an array of grilled, smoked or slowcooked proteins. Alpaca meat is a staple within the Central Andes and has a singular flavour. “Again in Peru, it’s a standard protein that has been used for hundreds of years, particularly within the Andean area,” says Rivas. “Everyone thinks it’s going to be tremendous gamey and have a robust flavour, nevertheless it’s fairly gentle.”
A well-liked dish is costillas de alpaca or grilled alpaca ribs with panca and pisco BBQ sauce and salsa criolla. It’s one in every of 4 alpaca-based objects on the menu, which additionally consists of alpaca tartare marinated in an emulsified sauce. “We treatment the backstrap and blend it with a chilli emulsion that has a spicy, toffee flavour,” says Rivas.
Pastuso has lengthy been a hub for diners to find the various dishes which might be discovered throughout Peru. Rivas is showcasing lesser-known components and cooking strategies, introducing one thing new to the native market. “We’re fortunate as a result of Melbourne is tremendous multicultural and the trade right here is very large, so persons are open to making an attempt various things,” says the chef. “The individuals in Melbourne are at all times evolving their tastes, so it makes it simple.”
The chef has seen the expansion of Peruvian delicacies in Australia and believes it is going to proceed to achieve extra recognition on a neighborhood and world scale. “I feel Peruvian delicacies is getting stronger,” says Rivas. “I noticed a Chifa restaurant in Brisbane, so I feel we’ll see a tremendous providing within the subsequent 12 months.”