Spice of life

Spice of life

Interviews – 24.07.23

Restaurateur Penelope Diaz has created her tribute to authentic Peruvian food with Fusion Ceviche, an unassuming restaurant in Dubai’s JLT district, where flavours and textures transport you to a huarique in Lima…

Devina Divecha
Devina Divecha
Author

Hailing from a family of fishermen who brought regular hauls of fresh seafood to their family kitchen, it’s no wonder that Penelope Diaz eventually made her way into the food industry. Recounting her childhood in Peru, she says, “I grew up with my family fishing and returning home with the day’s catch – from sea to the kitchen. My family weren’t professional chefs, they were passionate about it.”

Her family’s multi-cultural roots (she’s a mix of Chinese, Spanish and Peruvian) also lent itself to making her fall in love with food and ingredients. Penelope adds, “I became interested in cooking because of both my parents. For example, my mother’s side of the family is Chinese, so they use a lot of ginger, which I love. And then my father’s side of the family is more traditionally Peruvian, so the cuisine at home was fusion. But Peruvian cuisine is already that of fusion.”

Penelope, as most chefs do, started off cooking in her family’s kitchen for her nine siblings. She credits her father with teaching her how to cook and says she told him that she wanted to be a chef.

Her desire to enter the culinary world led her to India as a private chef and to Le Cordon Bleu in Peru. After that, she worked in her father’s restaurant where she worked with her brother and sister on the pass, creating fresh ceviches.

The clásico ceviche is a taste sensation combining citrus flavours and crunchy textures that keeps you going back for seconds and thirds | Fusion Ceviche’s interiors pay homage to Peruvian culture | Mango salmon ceviche | Penelope uses a blow torch to char an avocado for one of her star ceviches
The clásico ceviche is a taste sensation combining citrus flavours and crunchy textures that keeps you going back for seconds and thirds | Fusion Ceviche’s interiors pay homage to Peruvian culture | Mango salmon ceviche | Penelope uses a blow torch to char an avocado for one of her star ceviches
The clásico ceviche is a taste sensation combining citrus flavours and crunchy textures that keeps you going back for seconds and thirds | Fusion Ceviche’s interiors pay homage to Peruvian culture | Mango salmon ceviche | Penelope uses a blow torch to char an avocado for one of her star ceviches
The clásico ceviche is a taste sensation combining citrus flavours and crunchy textures that keeps you going back for seconds and thirds | Fusion Ceviche’s interiors pay homage to Peruvian culture | Mango salmon ceviche | Penelope uses a blow torch to char an avocado for one of her star ceviches
The clásico ceviche is a taste sensation combining citrus flavours and crunchy textures that keeps you going back for seconds and thirds | Fusion Ceviche’s interiors pay homage to Peruvian culture | Mango salmon ceviche | Penelope uses a blow torch to char an avocado for one of her star ceviches

And then in 2019, she landed in Dubai. Soon after, the world grinded to a halt and she started – as many did during that time – cooking for friends and family. This slowly expanded to people outside her circle and a modest delivery and catering business was formed. Soon this led to the opening of Fusion Ceviche in JLT on 28 July 2021 – Peruvian Independence Day.

She says, “This was my dream through all my life. In Peru, everyone has small family restaurants called huariques where you get home-style food and street food. It’s been my dream to create a place like this.”

Penelope doesn’t compromise on her ingredients and explains, “It’s very important for me to use Peruvian ingredients; the authenticity of our cuisine comes from the flavour.” While this can be a challenge sometimes – from finding the right ingredients to the complications of shipping – Penelope has persevered to deliver the most authentic dishes to her guests.

She cites ají panca (a Peruvian red pepper that’s 100 SHU on the Scoville scale) as one of her favourite ingredients, along with ají amarillo (Peruvian yellow chilli pepper) and fried onion and garlic as being central to any Peruvian hot dish.

Spicy seafood rice | Diners can sit at communal tables, at the bar, or at a table with a view of the park outside | Tuna ceviche | The scallop ceviche with aji amarillo tiger milk dressing is an explosion of flavours.
Spicy seafood rice | Diners can sit at communal tables, at the bar, or at a table with a view of the park outside | Tuna ceviche | The scallop ceviche with aji amarillo tiger milk dressing is an explosion of flavours.
Spicy seafood rice | Diners can sit at communal tables, at the bar, or at a table with a view of the park outside | Tuna ceviche | The scallop ceviche with aji amarillo tiger milk dressing is an explosion of flavours.
Spicy seafood rice | Diners can sit at communal tables, at the bar, or at a table with a view of the park outside | Tuna ceviche | The scallop ceviche with aji amarillo tiger milk dressing is an explosion of flavours.
Spicy seafood rice | Diners can sit at communal tables, at the bar, or at a table with a view of the park outside | Tuna ceviche | The scallop ceviche with aji amarillo tiger milk dressing is an explosion of flavours.

The menu at Fusion Ceviche is not complicated, and Penelope says one of the bestsellers is clásico ceviche, which features seabass, tiger milk, onion, coriander, sweet potato and crispy corn. “I make this closest to the traditional Peruvian method. We marinate our fish with coriander and ají limon (lemon drop pepper),” she says.

Tiger milk can make anyone do a double take. What is it? Penelope laughs and explains, “In Peru, tiger milk is a ‘strong dressing’ for ceviche. We make it with lime juice, coriander, celery, fish, fish stock, chilli, salt, garlic and onion. When we blend these ingredients, a white ‘milk’ is formed. And then we say ‘tiger’ because of the bold, strong flavour. So, this is called ‘tiger milk’.”

Corn and potatoes are other key ingredients in Peruvian cuisine – the latter of which was first cultivated in the country more than 7,000 years ago and now has more than 4,000 varieties in Peru alone. To highlight the diversity of the humble potato, Penelope serves a drink called chicha morada, which is made with maíz morado (a purple corn), pineapple, green apple and cinnamon.

Switching the conversation to other chefs she’s inspired by, Penelope names the likes of Pía León, Virgilio Martinez, Gastón Acurio and Le Cordon Bleu Peru’s chef Giovanna de Rivero as culinary greats she looks up to. And then she adds, “But the number one for me is my dad.”

Penelope says that she wants to now focus on enhancing the experience at Fusion Ceviche and eventually would like to explore the potential of a bigger, licensed restaurant in the UAE. She says, “I might have some opportunities now, but I would rather wait and be ready to open more later.”