A discreet glass door marks number 285 Avenida Javier Prado Oeste, in Lima, Peru. Located next to a snack bar and not far from a KFC unit, the famous fried chicken fast-food chain, this address also involves food, but in a completely different style: that’s where Urban Kitchen, a company specializing in participatory kitchen.
In other words, this is an address where you can learn something about cooking, put the teachings into practice and eat well – the meal that you helped prepare yourself. The person in charge of Urban Kitchen is chef Ignacio Barrios, a Peruvian with a degree in Business Administration who decided to leave his field behind, went to the Old Continent and started dedicating himself to cooking.
See too: The delights of Peruvian cuisine
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Where to stay in Lima, Peru
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In Europe, Ignacio worked in restaurants such as the Michelin-starred Wild Honey and Daylesford Organic, in addition to accumulating more than two years of experience at Astrid y Gastón, in Madrid. Five years later, Ignacio returned to Peru and decided to take participatory cooking classes to the country, which are common in Europe, but until then were new in the South American country.
We arrived at Urban Kitchen, were welcomed with a beer (or pisco, for those who preferred) and started talking. This is one of the characteristics of the experience: in addition to learning, the idea is for everyone involved to have a fun time together. And you don’t need to know how to cook to participate in the class. I myself didn’t really know what to do there, which made the experience even more interesting – you feel like you helped make an unforgettable lunch.
Urban Kitchen has two environments. The first, just on the other side of the glass door, is a modern kitchen ready to receive up to 14 students at once, in addition to the chef and his helpers. Behind the kitchen is a huge table, which will be the place for more conversation and lots of food, after the dishes made during the class are ready.
The entire experience lasts between 2h and 2h30. And it could last longer: anyone who wants can take an even more complete class and go to the market, with a shopping list, to help choose which products will be brought to the table.
With time running out, when we arrived at Urban Kitchen the shopping had already been done. After washing our hands, putting on our apron, and figuring out which Peruvian dishes we were going to make that morning, we started cooking. The idea is as described in the first paragraph: participatory cooking. Everyone has a role, which is given by the chef. We start by chopping onions, peppers and preparing the filled causea typical Peruvian dish made with pressed yellow potatoes.
Other students were responsible for cutting the fish for the ceviche and some dedicated themselves to preparing the lomo saltado, always with the supervision (and help) of the school team. No one is responsible for everything – except, of course, Ignacio Barrios. But you can’t stand still, as as soon as one job is finished, the chef passes another on to the visitor.
Two beers and about an hour and a half later, we went to the table and waited for the meal we had helped make. And look, it was incredible. I, who don’t even like ceviche that much, made the dish a few times. The problem was that I didn’t leave room for the lomo saltado, by far the best part of that lunch.
Service: cooking class at Urban Kitchen
The price of the experience varies depending on the class you choose – there are more than 40 options, with prices between 100 and 300 soles, depending on the dish that will be cooked, how many people will participate, etc. You can learn how to make ceviche, lomo saltado, paella, pasta or even dishes from Japanese, French, Spanish or Mexican cuisine, just to name a few options.
In addition to Ignacio, around 20 chefs take turns in the kitchen, from frequent partners to occasional presences, who use the school’s structure to teach courses. The average duration of each class is two and a half hours, but some exceed that. The group class, which is the one I took, needs to have between 8 and 14 people. Information, dates and reservations on the official website.
*360meridianos traveled to Peru at the invitation of Submarino Viagens and PromPerú
