Martínez runs Ichu in Hong Kong’s H Queens Building in Central, and is a familiar face thanks to TV shows Chef’s Table and Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted. In the latter, the fiery Scot calls him “that handsome devil Virgilio” and gets to discover Peru’s extraordinary produce in his company. Martínez is never happier than when surprising diners with his home country’s bounty.

“From the Pacific coast to the Amazon and the Andes, this is one of the world’s most biodiverse places and my obsession is discovering new ingredients that people have never seen before,” he says. “The word organic doesn’t have a meaning here – everything is organic,” Martinez said on Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted.

The philosophy was writ large in a stunning dinner at Central where piranha, Amazonian shrimp and potatoes found at 4,000 metres above sea level were just some of the discoveries.

The restaurant is set well back from the street in the hip Barranco district. Diners first wander the gardens before entering a large, airy space where trees grow through the roof and some tables are huge slabs of marble.

The open kitchen busies itself crafting a remarkable series of dishes, 16 of which were served over the course of three hours in the 590 sol (US$151) Mater Elevations menu. This was no endurance test, however, as some tasting menus can feel, but more a visit to a culinary theme park with surprises at every turn as the menu reflects and progresses through Peru’s ecosystems and terroirs.

From 10 metres (33 feet) below sea level came the first dish, “red rocks”, where piure percebes (a type of inky razor clam) and goose barnacles, which are notoriously dangerous to harvest, were spooned onto a cracker made from algae and citrus purée. To accompany, there was an extraordinary tiny yellow dumpling made with sweet coastal agave, that sang of the sea.

From high altitude farmlands – around 3,400 metres – there was a potato-like root called mashwa from the nasturtium family. They take the yellow variety and fill it with an outrageously good brown butter, served with a cup of cured duck tartare with preserved egg yolk.

The upper jungle bought copoazú, dale dale and sachatomate – cocoa, a tuber and tree tomato, respectively. The dale dale was the base of two stunning breads, one made with ash and served with a butter using the tomato, the other with a mousse from the copoazú that had charcoal notes from black ash. This may have been just bread and butter, but it lived long in the memory.

A contender for Peru’s prettiest dish was “waters of the desert”, which translated into avocado with sea urchin, served in a pumpkin surrounded by flowers. The two hero ingredients don’t feel like they should marry well, but as is always the case with Martinez’s food, they worked in beautiful harmony.

Potatoes harvested at 3,600 metres – there are more than 4,000 varieties in Peru – had been baked in a traditional watya oven and served with a sauce of Andean mint that was so good we hit the market the next day to track some down.

The undoubted Instagram star of the show was the Amazonian lake piranha, especially when a collection of the toothy swimmers are presented to you, mouths open and eyes staring. Happily they’re not to be eaten – an admittedly common theme through dinner, where you sometimes had to ask what was edible and what was garnish – but they returned in a small crispy fishy cake, where their dry and dusty bones gave real bite.

Dinner finished with brilliantly crafted desserts celebrating the country’s mind-boggling array of unusual produce, yet another experiential discovery in the Willy Wonka-esque world of Martínez and his team.

Maido is one way to say welcome in Japanese, so everyone shouts it when you enter the space, set over three floors of a contemporary building connected by a central spiral staircase, in the swanky suburb of Miraflores.

The menu may not feature the same repertoire of unusual ingredients as Central, but it’s still a revelation and represented one of those from which you’d happily order everything. Available for lunch and in the evening, the Nikkei Experience costs 525 sol and essentially takes you on a greatest hits tour.

Ceviche is Peru’s most famous dish and cevicherias are absolutely everywhere around the country – including the Andes. The critical part of ceviche is leche de tigre, or tiger’s milk, an umami-rich mix of lime juice, red onion, chilli and spices that marinate and slowly “cook” the fish.

At Maido, they take yellowtail amberjack and tuna in their “sansei cebiche”, and their leche de tigre uses smoked yellow pepper and nitrogen to create a powder. While the dry ice effect is often a gimmick, here, it’s integral to the success, flavour and texture of the dish. It sits beautifully next to the crunchy peanuts, local corn and soft yield of avocado. As with any ceviche, it’s about getting all the textural and flavour elements in one spoon.

There were sanguchitos – bao-like snacks seen all over Peru, the steamed buns here filled with pork belly or crisp fish with tartare sauce. A delicate and delicious serving of wagyu with egg and uni then needed to be mixed and spooned onto a nori cracker.

Sushi is obviously a key part of the Maido repertoire and their seared squid with an uni emulsion was sensational. Thinly sliced Angus beef was topped with a quail egg that had been injected with ponzu.

Another hugely popular Peruvian ingredient is guinea pig, or cuy. If you can get past the cuteness factor, it’s a delicious and versatile meat that tastes like suckling pig. At Maido they deep-fry it and serve it on a potato cracker with a sauce that includes onion, garlic and rocoto chilli.

While all the dishes were memorable, a dumpling of baby goat with white beans and ramen reduction was so stellar that I considered ordering another one. Their signature dish is beef short rib cooked for 50 hours – yes, 50 – before being served under a translucent rice sheet.

Desserts were similarly playful and memorable, most notably their sweet take on a “triple”, a popular three-layered sandwich, usually with avocado, egg, chicken or more. Naturally Tsumura does things differently and crafts a decadent finish with three flavours of ice cream sandwiched between crisp macaron wafers.

Central Av. Pedro de Osma 301, Barranco, Lima, Peru, tel: +51 1 242 8515

centralrestaurante.com.pe/en

Maido 399 Calle San Martin, Miraflores, Lima, tel: +51 1 313 5100

maido.pe/en