Lima-born chef and restaurateur Ricardo Zarate is known the world over for his deconstruction of popular South American dishes. The Latin Kitchen calls him "the godfather of Peruvian cuisine" for his innovative yet simplistic style of preparing popular Peruvian dishes. Here we present some of chef Zarate's top entrees.

Ceviche with Black Truffles

No Peruvian banquet is complete without the sight and taste of Ceviche, a raw seafood dish popular in the coastal regions of South America. Zarate's own twist on the traditional Peruvian meal includes thin slices of fish topped with a decent serving of black truffles, a special kind of tuber native to Southern Europe.

The Wall Street Journal theorized that Ceviche could soon become a global food. Numerous well-respected chefs, including Alain Ducasse and José André have integrated the dish to their newly opened restaurants in Europe and the United States. Peruvian chefs have also strongly advocated for the popularization of Ceviche.

Kampachi Tiradito in Squid Ink

This dish is indicative of Zarate's culinary inclusiveness. Kampachi is a sashimi-grade fish popular in Japan, while Tiradito is a native Peruvian dish featuring raw fish cutlets usually dipped in spicy sauce. This particular Tiradito uses the Kampachi meat flavored with rocoto oil, yuzu garlic dressing, Himalayan black salt and of course, the ever-edible squid ink.

Zarate told Examiner that his LA Peruvian restaurants Picca, Mo Chica, and Paiche all serve variations of Tiradito.

The Floating Island

The Floating Island is composed of a slice of Lucuma on top of a generous trickle of custard sauce sprinkled with chocolate shavings. To those wondering what a Lucuma is, Zarate told LA Times, via Peru This Week, that it is a native Peruvian fruit resembling an avocado with bright yellow innards.

Solterito

Solterito is a specialty dish from Arequipa, Peru. It is a vegetable salad usually consisting of choclo corn, giant lima beans and a healthy dab of fresco cheese. Zarate's version of the Solterito features fingerling potatoes, burrata cheese made from mozzarella and cream, English peas, fava beans, avocado mousse, tomatoes, quinoa grain and a splash of rocoto vinaigrette.

"It was actually much, much better than I'd anticipated," kevinEats said about the Solterito. "A bevy of light, bright flavors and disparate tastes and textures, augmented in weight by the queso fresco, and beautifully tied together by the rocoto vinaigrette."

Surf and Turf

This stuffed shell fish is oozing with the right Peruvian flavors. The dish can most likely be ordered at Picca, one of Zarate's restaurants, which flaunt fresh seafood entrees featuring only the best Amazonian ingredients, per Grub Street.