If you were to look at the Mil agricultural and gastronomic centre in Peru’s Cusco region from above, it would be an open-air space. Its one and a half hectares of agricultural land, cultivated on a plateau perched at 3,600 metres above sea level, where a variety of Andean tubers, cereals and wild medicinal plants blown by the wind grow, form a grandiose landscape of raw beauty.
In June, at the time of our visit, it is the end of the harvest. The fields, surrounded by agaves and cacti, turned from green to yellow in a few weeks, scorched by this cold, dry southern winter sun, which finally took hold. The earth has been turned over. Ichus (typical grasses of the Altiplano) grow in the plots where the tubers are stored. On the ground, blankets of, Polychromatic fabrics contrast with the surrounding ochre. It is time to celebrate: the farmers share the food, drink chicha (a fermented corn drink) and start preparing huatia, petit fours on ephemeral plots where freshly harvested produce is cooked. In the distance, the mountains of eternal snow – the Apus, guardians of the indigenous inhabitants and guardians of time immemorial – fill the horizon. The bright light so characteristic of these high-altitude areas offers a different spectacle every hour of the day.
the center, which brings together a scientific research project on biodiversity called Mater, as well as a restaurant called Mil, is a very small nest that would go almost unnoticed in the middle of this immensity. Especially since it borders the impressive archaeological site of Moray, which was, according to historians, an Inca agricultural laboratory in the 15th century.my and XVImy centuries. Formed by terraces in concentric circles at a depth of about ten metres, it allowed the Peruvians to reproduce around twenty microclimates.
A territory with multiple ecological levels
There, no sign or billboard indicates to the restaurant’s customers that they have arrived at their destination. Under a thatched roof, the Mil escapes from view. “It blends completely into the landscape. We wanted it that way explains Malena Martínez, one of the founders and sister of chef Virgilio Martínez. “How do you imagine competing with such a majestic place as the Moray site?” the architect Rafael Freyre immediately told us when he arrived at the site. Above all, we should not try to do it, but rather pay homage to it. The less visible the centre is, the better. »
To honour your reservation, you will have to drive two hours from Cusco, the regional capital, before climbing a dirt road lined with fields. The modest house then reveals itself, under a row of endemic trees, the kjolle. An endangered species prized for its noble wood and which the restorers wanted to revive for its flavour and medicinal virtues. A ramp, where endemic plants hang, leads to a large, bright courtyard. This is the central axis where each space ends: the research laboratory for conservation techniques, the distillery, the liquor production and tasting section, the shop and, on the other side, the gourmet restaurant. All on one level.
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