Ceviche, fish marinated in lime juice with chilli, has taken the world by storm, propelling Peruvian cuisine to the top table in the last ten years. Over the last two decades Peru, which sits above Chile on the Pacific, has only really had two stories to make the global media: one bad, one good. The bad was the political strife during Alberto Fujimori’s presidency and the good thankfully continues: ceviche.
Of Course neither story was dreamed up by Peruvian marketers but the cuisine did have a local champion, in the late chef Dario Matsufuji, who in a moment of genius cut the fish marinating time down to a jiffy. The government hasn’t missed a trick, jumping on the PR bandwagon and now have a gastronomic website in English called Peru, mucho gusto. Despite the fact that ceviche is not cooked by heat and Peru’s prominent Japanese population, it is not sushi, for the fish is technically not raw but rather pickled by the citrus, making it the perfect gateway drug to sushi.
Yet the cuisine has largely passed us by.
Sushi is ubiquitous here yet ceviche is not common on South African menus. A handful of places do the slightly different Genovese version: fish carpaccio (thinner slices of fish with lemon sans chilli). 95 Keerom is probably best known for this. The other dishes from the diverse Peruvian table are also scarce in our restaurants, such as anticuchos (marinated beef heart, grilled) and maize done a million ways.
Then they do have the raw ingredients: a couple of thousand species of fish, and the same goes for disappearing heirloom varieties of potatoes and sweet potatoes. Indeed to Latin America many of the staples you will eat tonight owe their provenance. Potatoes (Peru hosts the International Potato Centre, not Ireland), mealies, tomatoes and the forgettable quinoa. Peru also boasts many cultures: Spanish, native Indian and Asian. But then so do we. Where is our local cuisine, with the necessary tweak to take it to the global stage?
When we go out we are a nation of copycat diners, mostly forsaking our home cooking.
Walking into Camil’s off a baking Main Road pavement the ceviche, a traditional breakfast cure for sleepwalking and hangovers, is an obvious antidote to the lethargy-inducing heat.
According to the waitron there is no kob today so its kingklip (he advises that this mild white fish is more authentic than the salmon version). The slices are light and suitably revitalising as you would expect from a fish that is so fresh it has yet to lose its elegance. He approves of the request for extra chopped chilli (the preparation is conservative here).
The apple and sweet corn sitting under the fish are superfluous and the mayonnaisy liquid that coats them would fight the delicate fish (luckily I ate the fish first). This is not to say the chef has broken with a Peruvian tradition: there are as many ways to prepare ceviche as there are cocktail recipes in that country (the only essential ingredients being citrus and raw fish).
Other options include salmon (with chicory and pomegranate) and tempting scallops with deep fried leeks.
Then it’s crispy shredded duck with chilli with Asian salad greens and an Oriental dressing (R59). I order a portion of French fries on the side, an unusual accompaniment I admit, but a man needs starch when only eating two protein-rich starters. The duck is crunchy as promised. Most diners are obsessive about duck being crisp but the best bird I ever ate – roasted with juniper berries by an Englishwoman in France – had a soggy skin. Skin discarded it was lip lickingly juicy. The secret must have been that it was super fresh.
Camil’s duck is satisfying enough with good greens but only the stiffest upper lip would find it “too Oriental”. The portion is generous so no complaint that the chips don’t arrive.
On a too hot to leave the office airconditioning day it’s quiet this Monday lunchtime. Or are Atlantic Seaboard residents still reeling from the disclosure that their Range Rover Sport 4.2 V8 SCs are among the fastest depreciating vehicles on the road, potentially more so if they’re in de rigueur dashboard-cracking black (see Roy Cokayne’s story in Business Report).
Lunch at Camil’s leaves a strong impression that the kitchen allows ingredients to shine. The menu challenges a bit but preparation thereof appears a little cautious. Décor similarly calming with toned down blue and brown stripes.
And there is plenty more to explore: seared scallops with black pudding and dry Martini braised leeks. For pud three pancakes, one with an apple and Calvados filling, another daringly with nougat and the last simply with lemon curd.
The seafood soup could also tempt, after all Camil and Ingrid Haas, who also own the Bouillabaisse restaurant in Franschhoek, were responsible for popularizing this delicious French style soup in South Africa (the couple are now no longer involved in Camil’s and have closed Bouillabaisse).
Menu influences here include Peru, Asia, France and Italy. But if you are missing mama’s home cooking there is always roast baby chicken or rack of lamb with rosemary. Prices one notch below fine dining, so above average.
For now it’s possible to eat off the restaurant menu in the accompanying café, where a simpler menu is also available. Several wines by the glass in the café.
With little to do the servers are overly enthusiastic of the ‘everything to your satisfaction while your mouth is full’ variety. Located in the Cape Royale Hotel though you can access it from the street.
Note: ceviche is also spelled cebiche
Tom Robbins
February 22, 2010
Camil’s
+27 (0)21 433 1227
Email: eat@camils.co.za
www.camils.co.za
Cape Royale Hotel
47 Main Rd
Green Point
Cape Town
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