Emmanuel Piqueras, Executive Chef | Pisco Rotisserie & Cevicheria, San Diego
Many customers are wary of seafood because it can spoil easily, concedes Pisco’s executive chef Emmanuel Piqueras. “To me, ceviche is the most honest, clean, and best way to make sure that you are eating a super-fresh product,” he says. His top-selling ceviche is the Ceviche Martini de Tigre, which he developed as a way to blend the traditional flavors of Peruvian ceviche with Southern California ingredients.
Piqueras uses a traditional leche de tigre, a citrus-based spicy marinade for curing fish. He notes that since Peru and California share the same ocean, he has access to the same species, like halibut, octopus, sea scallops and shrimp, as he would in Peru.
“By adding avocado, habanero and cilantro, it becomes a more familiar dish for San Diegans,” he says. “It’s a great ceviche for diving into our contemporary Peruvian menu.”
