In December 2023, UNESCO recognized its historical importance as a heritage of traditional Peruvian cuisine by including it in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. There are various interpretations of its origins, but it is unquestionable that its preparation has marine origins. Among the accredited versions, one is certainly not very noble: the name derives from the word “cibo” in the local dialect and refers to the bait used by fishermen of African origin along the Peruvian coast. When the owner of the boat ordered lunch, he shared the raw fish left over as bait with the fishermen; since it was poor quality if not smelly, the fishermen used to add lemon, garlic and onion to make it more palatable. So instead of “cibo”, the word was changed to “cebiche”.
Guiomar Alonso Cano, Representative of UNESCO in Peru, instead ennobles the name Ceviche by inserting it into “a cultural practice that is directly linked to sustainable development and that values artisanal fishing, sustainable lemon production” but which is also “a representative expression of traditional Peruvian food, sharing, social cohesion and recognition between Peruvian men and women. Generally passed down within families, its preparation and consumption imply specific practices, knowledge and meanings in each phase, from fishing, to the cultivation of ingredients and the various forms of preparation”.
What is certain is that in recent times what was once a poor gastronomic practice of a family nature has become a flagship of international haute cuisine. It can be said that there is no great starred chef on either side of the ocean who has not included Ceviche in his menu following the global trend of fusion cuisine and the growing interest in Latin American cuisine and responding above all to a need increasingly felt by consumers to prefer fresh and quality ingredients, light and aromatic dishes prepared in simplicity and freshness, something that marinating fish with citrus juice and spices fully ensures. Not to mention the contribution to our body of a diet based on fish and natural condiments that ensure ample need for Omega three and vitamins.
A dish that combines elegance and healthiness to remember to lighten our diet in view of the abundant dinners of the end-of-year holidays is the Italian-style Ceviche proposed by the young Chef Matteo Faenza of the MoganoXRitualLab restaurant in Formello who recently conquered the podium of the Emerging Chef competition, central-southern selection, applying for the national final scheduled for next spring in Milan.
Matteo Faenza's journey began about ten years ago, after graduating from the hotel school in Caprarola, when his brother Giovanni returned from a trip to Peru with an autographed book by Gastón Acurio with the recommendation to go and discover the incredible cuisine - and at the time still under the radar in the international gastronomic panorama - of South America. Matteo was 19 years old and left without thinking too much about it. Certain that he wanted to invest his time in the best possible way, however, he asked for advice from the person who really introduced him to the sector when during the summer seasons in Sardinia, even before graduating, he was taking his first steps: chef Luigi Pomata. At that time, Matteo had a family kiosk in Carloforte in Sardinia and for a few years, in the summer, he had been frequenting the chef's kitchen at the Da Nicola restaurant. The contact he was given was not by chance, Pomata sent him to the kitchen of Malabar in Lima to chef Pedro Miguel Schiaffino with whom he was a friend and who often came to Italy for the "Girotonno" event. A particularly happy connection in this case too because Matteo in his personal history has always been linked to the world of tuna as his grandfather Italo Penco is the rais of the Carloforte tuna fishery. So in 2013 he arrived at Malabar, where he stayed for about a year. Then after a stint at the multi-starred restaurant Quique Dacosta he found a more congenial situation at Nerua in Bilbao where by a stroke of luck he was also included in a limited-access master's course (20 places) on Basque cuisine, none other than the Basque Culinary Center. This experience between cooking and master's lasted about another year, it was 2015, and Matteo had learned the technical bases of European gastronomic cuisine. He then flew to Chile to enter the kitchen of chef Rodolfo Guzman, where he stayed for five months. At Boragò he returned to immerse himself in Latin American cuisine and discovered the boundless lands of the country where he traveled with the chef to search for indigenous raw materials and above all to forage. And finally here he is at Retrobottega with Alessandro Miocchi and Giuseppe Lo Iudice, a new project in the Roman panorama, where he will return to speaking an Italian gastronomic language.
We now find all this important wealth of experience in his cuisine, which has made healthiness and the exaltation of the organoleptic qualities of the raw materials its inspiring principle.
Ceviche is an absolutely healthy dish, rich in essential nutrients, with a low calorie and fat content that make it suitable for the protagonist of a healthy diet. Rich in proteins, vitamins and minerals, with a low fat content and above all, thanks to the contribution of lemon or lime, vitamin C and antioxidants, which help strengthen the immune system, not to mention the vitamins derived from the different components that are associated with this dish such as Onion, chili pepper contains capsaicin, a compound that has anti-inflammatory properties and can stimulate metabolism, cilantro and other fresh ingredients add flavor and provide vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.
The Italian Ceviche Recipe by Chef Matteo Faenza
Ingredients:
1 medium-sized sea bass
50 gr onion
5 g garlic
100 gr lemon juice
100 gr water
5 gr ginger
3 gr chilli pepper
30g per person of sea bass sashimi
qb crunchy corn powder
qb Bougainvillea leaves
Procedure:
Start by preparing the Tiger's Milk, put the onion and garlic in coarse salt to make them lose their water and strong flavor, leave them in salt for at least an hour. At this point blend all the ingredients together - onion, garlic, lemon juice, ginger, chili pepper, water - and then pass through a sieve.
Now clean the sea bass and prepare the sashimi with its meat. Marinate the sea bass sashimi in Tiger's Milk for at least 5 minutes and then plate it in the shape of a rose. Season it with crunchy corn powder, pour in the tiger's milk and finish with Bougainvillea leaves.
