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With her playful smile and sparkling eyes, Astrid Gutsche beams as she discusses her specialty: desserts. This master chef is not only famous for her marriage to Peru’s infamous Gastón Acurio, but is also renowned for her innovation, hard work and love for all things Peruvian.

A German by birth, Astrid came to Peru fifteen years ago, after meeting Gastón while they studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. She studied to be both a chef and a pastry chef, which later in her career prompted her to take over the area of desserts in her first restaurant, Astrid y Gastón.

Fifteen years ago, when Astrid y Gastón was first opened, Astrid tells LivinginPeru.com that she worked exclusively in the kitchen, alongside Gastón. But, as the locale needed someone to focus on desserts, and as Gastón did not have the experience that Astrid did as a pastry chef, Astrid decided to take over the dessert area. Thus, both master chefs had dominion over a certain area in the restaurant that they shared, also allowing them to develop and invent special dishes.

When Astrid y Gastón opened, both chefs did everything at the beginning. They swept, they ironed, they washed, and, as Astrid says with pride, “I personally attended people in my restaurants for ten years.” And it’s true. Ask any Peruvian who went to their early restaurants: Astrid was always there with her smile and her warm personality to make everyone feel at home. “Now,” she explains, “I’ve had to pull back more because of my family, but that’s fine. Gastón can have the limelight.”

“In the beginning, I wasn’t really excited about doing desserts; it’s not that I didn’t want to, but rather that I found cooking more fun. But now I really like doing desserts.” She explains that in her position (with multiple chains and various restaurants all over the world), one can experiment more with desserts. “You can play with the temperature, the ingredients, the presentation” in a way that you couldn’t in the rest of the kitchen.

One of her joys is the presentation of various desserts in each restaurant (Astrid and Gastón have opened various: La Mar, Tanta, Panchita, and of course, Astrid y Gastón).

“Each restaurant has its own character, its own personality, and I have to make desserts that go along with that personality,” she explains. Each “brand” has its dessert, and she takes pride in her decisions of which dessert will compliment the food. But, her favorite, is Astrid y Gastón. “I love Astrid y Gastón, because, there, I can experiment more with the desserts, due to the restaurant’s personality and focus on fusion.”

Interestingly enough, Astrid is also involved with the presentation of typical Peruvian desserts abroad. “Not all countries like our desserts,” she explains; many expect exotic fruits in the desserts, and “Peru doesn’t really involve many fruits in its desserts.” For example, the famous Mazamorra Morada, when sold in the United States, did not go over well. “It was too goopy for the Americans,” Astrid explains, “just like in Mexico Picarones are too greasy for them to be ordered.”

Who would have thought that designing desserts, developing recipes and serving food would be so complicated? “And,” she continues, “you have to focus on which country you are in. Each recipe in each country has to change a little bit, due to the availability of the ingredients.” But, she says, every Peruvian restaurant has to have something that contains lúcuma. “It is something so uniquely Peruvian, that is has to be included no matter where we go.”

Astrid is quick to mention the power that a cook has, especially in Peru. "Peru's chefs have the capacity to unite the whole country. As a chef, one has the power to support and promote the biodiversity of this country, as well as promote issues such as reactions to climate change, fight for improvements for education, and help improve the economic situation for many people in this country." "Just wait and see," she states, smiling, "because of its food, Peru is going to make a comeback."

Astrid has recently published a book on jungle fruits, and explains her delight in working with ingredients that many Peruvians never even knew existed. But, “these fruits don’t constantly make it to Lima, so in order to be able to sell products or foods that involve these products, first we have to open up the market for these exotic fruits to make it to Lima.”

When asked about the size of her repertoire as a dessert chef, Astrid answers, “thousands, thousands and thousands of recipes. I really can’t tell you a number, because recipes always change. Everyday that I make something, it never turns out like it did the day before.” And Astrid doesn’t pick favorites either. “I don’t have a favorite dessert. I am not even going to answer that question. Every day my favorite is something different. But I do love sweets. I am a sweets-lover.”

And, who wouldn’t be, if one could eat desserts every day like those she makes!