Saturday, 12th December, Chorillos: Sonia and ceviche
It takes a while to find the real gems in Lima, they aren’t immediately obvious and the city gets a fair amount of stick from tourists for being one to avoid.
But there are gems, and we found one of them in the form of a reknowned cevicheria in the area of the city called Chorillos, which is south of the “posh” district of Miraflores, and on the sea. It has a beautiful boulevard (malecon) along the top of the cliff overlooking the seafront, which is lined with benches facing back along the shore to the main part of the city.
Tucked back from the main road, one road in, is arguably Lima’s most famous cevicherica, called “Sonia”. There are now hundreds of cevicherias in the area, but Sonia can boast to being the very first. She put the permit in to the mayor 29 years ago (when the site was still overlooking the sea) who granted her permission to establish Sonia’s – but behind a closed door. And this is the way that it remains today, unobtrusive on a small side street, just off Chorillo’s main drag. Everyone knows of the place, when we stopped to ask people on the street for directions (our usual way of getting around), everyone pointed her out with ease.
Sonia and Frederico (“Freddy”) have been married for 49 years. When they met, she was 15 and he was 20. He was a fisherman, who had come from inland to make a living from the sea; she made ceviche with her mother. Somehow Freddy wooed her, managed to convince the mother that it was ok, and Sonia was 15 when she married him, and 16 when her first son, Freddy, arrived on the scene. She then had a daughter called Sonia (how confusing it must have been in their house with two Freddys and two Sonias!) then three more children followed. Freddy, the father, fished every day, Sonia would prepare the ceviche. After a while, she decided she wanted to set up her own place (Freddy was against it – which is another reason that it has a closed door – puerta cerrada). And it is now the place. The walls are lined with fishing nets hand made by Freddy, there is a gallery of photos proudly proving that all of Peru’s last 5 presidents have eaten there, as well as world famous chef Anthony Bourdain who travelled round the world sniffing out the best of the best, and Sonia ranked as one of them.
When we got to Peru, we knew that we wanted to include ceviche. It’s basically Peru’s national dish – certainly the plate that they are most famous for. Fresh fish is cut into cubes, then marinaded in lime juice, red onions with a bit of chili. The lime juice has the effect of “cooking” the fish with its acid. It’s very simple and absolutely delicious.
Sonia didn’t want any of her children to follow their father into the fishing trade. Freddy shows us his calloused hands and talks about how hard the job was. Now 3 of their children, headed by the first son Freddy (who we talked to to get the interview and who was utterly charming), work for the restaurant. And the two others run another cevicheria down the road. Competition?! I ask. Freddy says no, they cater to a different crowd: they are more stars and celebs, we are more politicians and businessmen. Sorted, then.
While we eat, a collection of old men start to gather around the piano. It turns out that the piano player himself is the brother of Compay Segundo, from The Bueno Vista Social Club. A man with a neat comb over and suit is playing the guitar, and one of Sonia’s sons is on the cajon (a box which they sit on and beat to create a drum effect). It’s totally captivating. Mike cries, in fact. Music fills the place, small children dance. It’s Peruvian and it’s wonderful.
