The queen of the Creole cuisine

Unique, unrepeatable, Teresa Izquierdo is the most famous stew cook in Lima. With affection, she has been able to maintain old techniques and recipes of the Peruvian home-made cuisine. Her culinary art is like she herself: without pretensions or false flavors and tastes, genuinely Creole.

One cold morning Luz Divina González woke up with a body ache. It was impossible to go to work, so she asked her daughter to fill in for her. Culinary engagements could not wait: it was necessary to cook lunch for an aristocratic family of eight from Lima. It was not simple but the girl was not daunted, and in the end the family was fully satisfied.

Many years have passed but Teresa Izquierdo Gonzalez, Luz Divina’s daughter, remembers with surprising clarity the menu she prepared that day: soup, stew with lentils and salad, and for dessert, lemon pie. The detail is that at that time she was only eight years old.

Mrs. Teresa has literally spent all her life cooking, but she doesn’t like to be called a chef. She prefers the title of stew cook. And it is because that title reflects her vocation, as well as that of her mother, and it reminds her of the modesty with which great things are done.

“Everything I have started in life has been because of need”, she says. Following her mother’s advice she started to make sweets to sell them. The list was headed by the famous “turrón de doña Pepa” (kind of nougat made with almonds and honey). She also made time to cook meals for some families upon request and on special occasions, such as the Fair of the Lord of the Miracles, cocks fight and Peruvian Paso Horse competitions. In this way her reputation grew at the same speed as rumors are spread in Lima.

“She doesn’t like to be called chef. She prefers the title of stew cook”.

 

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By the 1950’s, in the old City of Kings, some neighbors thought her chickpea with breast tip stew was indubitable; others insisted that the spaghetti with pesto sauce with breaded steak was the very best. A foreigner remained dumbfounded when he tasted her cau cau. Another said he would only eat the seco de carne with beans. With respect to the typical Lima sweets, Teresa has enchanted three generations who adore her quinoa turned cream, the suspiro limeño (Lima sigh), the rice pudding and the mythical ranfañote.

Praise was transmitted by word of mouth, from person to person, from family to family, from district to district, until the launching moment arrived. With great effort she opened her first restaurant thirty years ago. She named it “The corner that you don’t know”, as a cunning wink to the cult – typical of Lima people – for the huariques (hidden places).
The walls of her restaurant have witnessed famous diners arriving at the old venue and also the present one. There we find photos of former Peruvian presidents, mayors, members of congress, musicians, writers, sports people, judges, singers, diplomats; all of them embracing among themselves, grateful and smiling together with Mrs. Tere.

Not everything was always easy though. Teresa, her family and, of course, the whole country, went through very hard times during the years of terror. Fortunately all that ended and we all see a light at the end of the tunnel. Strange thing: Teresa, instead, saw a ladder.

“She enchanted even three generations who adore her quinoa turned cream”.

The ladder to success

The national gastronomy boom found her standing up beside the burner. As it is known, the “discovery” of the Peruvian cuisine brought along the revaluation of regional and traditional cuisine, like hers. In 2006, Teresa was declared “Master of the Culinary Art” by the Ministry of Education. She travelled to several countries, representing our well-known gastronomy. As of today she has also published two recipe books which were sold with high demand. And as If it hasn’t been enough, it is common to see her on TV programs.

 

“I feel I climbed up a ladder”, says Teresa. “It is difficult to climb, but if you want to reach the level above, you will do it”. She talks about the success of her food, which is indubitable. “Many times I have had to get up again and start from zero and get up. It’s only now, at age 75, that I am enjoying life, she points out.

The creation in seven days

She says that from every experience there’s always a lesson learned. “The scarce times have forced me to be more efficient; it was necessary to economize without sacrificing the quality of the ingredients and to present an attractive, competitive menu, and that anybody may afford it”, she states. For that she thought of preparing a different menu for each day of the week, which is in force until now.

 

Monday: Stew with goat kid, broad beans and chickpeas.
Tuesday: Stew with tip breast, chickpea with chard, rice with duck, and stewed meat in strips. They also serve tamales and cebiche.
Wednesday: It’s buffet day. There are twenty-four different dishes, among first and second courses, along with a pisco sour.
Thursday: Stew with lamb, black whisked beans, spaghetti with pesto sauce accompanied with a breaded steak.
Friday: It’s the day of the “Creole quartet”, made of ají de gallina (shredded chicken in chili), cau cau, carapulca, and seco with beans. You can also find canary beans, and duck in chili with black beer.
Saturday: Ají de gallina, green rice with chicken, Northern stew with squash.
Sunday: Day to relax, it is dedicated to the rice with duck with seco, even it is possible to serve also a Creole snax, made of sangrecita, beans, patita and cau cau.

 

Ah! And don’t forget: every day she makes picarones, purple Peruvian mazamorra, rice pudding. The ranfañote is prepared only during the holidays.

Long time ago, a French wise man said that the invention of a new dish does more for happiness of humanity than the discovery of a new star. Teresa Izquierdo, whom we have to thank for having taken us to heaven with her occurrences, can be a witness.

For example, she has invented a proverbial lamb at the jijuna way, based on hot pepper and capsicum. Besides, she has created an eggplant lasagna and the “tacu-Tere” (kind of stuffed potato but with bean paste).

For the most mischievous, it is recommended to attend the last Friday of each month, when the “bean festival” takes place. Ask for a pizza or a pasty. You will never forget them.

“She invented a proverbial lamb at the jijuna way, whose base is the hot pepper and the capsicum”.

 

Generations

The new crop of cooks, commanded by Gastón Acurio, appreciates Mrs. Teresa. Even chefs like Rafael Piqueras and Pedro Miguel Schiafino, venerators of a distinctly avant-garde cuisine, have not hesitated in honoring her. Piqueras, for instance, was inspired on an emblematic dish of the menu of “The corner that you don’t know” to create an exquisite miniature of seco with tacu tacu. The same happened with Schiaffino who reinterpreted two typical dishes of Teresa and created a delicious Creole heresy: hot pepper stuffed with sangrecita. Both invited her to their restaurants and after the first bite they waited worrisome for her verdict. “I have never felt so happy as I did on that occasion”, comments our stew cook.

Some weeks ago, in the TV program of Gastón, the chef Victoriano López presented three roast chickens stuffed with three different kinds of tacu tacu (beans, broad beans and lentils, respectively). Teresa was impressed and asked him how he came up with such a wonder. Victoriano, rendered, told her she was his inspiration. I say the same. Served and bon apetit!

 

“The new crop of cooks have not hesitated in honoring her”.

 

 

(*) the complete article could be found in Orgullo del Perú Magazine issue Nº 30.