“I can close my eyes and transport myself [to] when I was little. A beautiful life growing up in Peru,” Claudia Berroa mused as she recalled the “big, delicious food” of her childhood in Lima. During a video call, Berroa, who is the ninth of 10 children, said that she and her siblings spent much of their adolescence in their grandmother’s kitchen, eating and learning. “I think [Peruvian food] runs in my veins,” she laughed.
Today, Berroa’s passion for the spirited cuisine of her youth is on display at her award-winning Claudy’s Kitchen in the Bronx, New York, where she serves her family’s heirloom recipes, including arroz con pollo.
The one-pot meal of succulent chicken parts and savory, fluffy rice enhanced by a colorful mix of vegetables, aromatics, and spices is one of her most loved; it’s also a darling of the Latin American kitchen at large. What makes the Peruvian version distinct? “The color [of the rice],” Berroa said. “Other countries, they do red, they do yellow. In Peru,
