I’m finally feeling ready to recap the latest pop up! Partially because the soreness has worn off and mostly because the first batch photos are ready!!!
Even though it’s impossible to capture all the goodness from behind the screen, I love replaying it digitally with you!! Plus scrapbooking these moments in my journey feels important. And making you hungry also feels important for my future ticket sales.
I’m getting more strategic by the minute.
Beyond sharing back the pictures, I thought it’d be fun to recap some of the lessons learned along the way. It’s all still a work in progress, but isn’t that just life? Meta, DPo.
Back to food.
Since you’re here, it’s a good time to plug in a little love for this newsletter. If you’re into cooking, pop ups, contextually relevant memes, and learning new things in the weirdest ways humanly possible, you may enjoy this content enough to subscribe:
Context first!!!
Last Monday, ITK hosted a 5 course dinner at Beit Rima in San Francisco. We served 30 people! The night left me craving more (ayyy first food pun). I had the opportunity to connect with lots of new folks who mutually shared a love for Peruvian food, all while doing the craft that brings me so much joy.
Sharing a piece of my home with others is like chicken soup for the soul. Does anyone else remember that? No clue what the plot was though, so this reference could be completely off base. My b. Focus on the title.
I also got to cook with my mom!!! The only piece that was missing was my grandma. But she was there in spirit. I think I actually saw her face in the Seco dish.
Needless to say, I’m feeling honored, grateful and energized to keep on truckin’ on this journey.
Pictures second!!!
We have even more pics to share, but these are the first of the batch! The best way to view them is to come to the next pop-up, but until then you can click to enlarge… or check out my IG (@chefdpo).
Looking through these pics helps me relive the night and all the little memories of putting each dish together. The collage is missing some role players including the canchita, rice, red onion salad and the aji amarillo hot sauce.
A big thank you to our photographer and videographer, Michelle (@xpmichelle on IG) who is helping ITK produce even more content. We’re gearing up for a little video action too, dropping on the @chefdpo IG.
Lessons Third!!!
I’ve been learning so much on this journey and putting some words around it helps me anchor myself along the way. It’s an act of service for my future self. Here are breadcrumbs of knowledge I’ve gathered along the way (ayyy second food pun) plus some other chicken nuggets of the creation process (third??)
Lesson 1: Sous-vide in the wins
I’ve only recently become a positive affirmations type of person. Affirmations haven’t always come naturally to me - maybe it’s a culture thing? Generational? Being-a-high-achiever-and-never-taking-a-moment-to-say-oh-damn-you-did-it thing? Who knows.
Weaving them into my daily life has taken some practice but I’m finally getting the swing of it. For me, it’s a bit less about the “you can do this bb girl” but more of a reminder of my values around this whole journey. I’m practicing both though.
For example, on our bedroom mirror, we drew these adorable Ted-Lasso-esq face outlines. If you put your face in it just right, you can’t help but channel your inner goofball.
Having fun is rule number 1 of ITK.
The week after the pop-up gave me a window to stretch my affirmational skills beyond a post-it note and face in mirror. For the first time, I truly let myself really take pride in the accomplishment and just sous-vide in it for a while. JVN would be proud. Except if they saw my hair, then they’d just be offended.
It was surprisingly glorious. There were plenty of moments of critique and ah-i-need-plan-whats-next-or-i-will-render-irrelevant, but I chose to stay put and stay proud. Highly recommend.
Especially if you’re a creator/solo business, these moments to relish in the wins (fourth????) really hits different and can be a great way to refuel.
How do you sous-vide after a win?
Lesson 2: Iteration ≠ repetition
The tech culture engrains the “move fast and break things” or “some other catchphrase about being amazing at pivoting/starting over.” This was a lot of the narrative for the past 6 years of my career. So when it came to developing the menu for this pop up, my instinct was to do just that.
Scrap it all, peeps. We’re starting anew!! -Me
The “scrap it all mentality” was loaded with inspiration. OhHHhH never thought to garnish an egg with olive???? How about if we take this Peruvian base and remix it with something else: shrimp anticuchos?? Also, I’m craving hot dogs. We should do an arroz chaufa with hotdogs. This is a traditional dish btw and it is very delicious.
There were some actually good ideas in that thought process, but these ones were more fun. Also, this pic is from a French garnishing book my mom owns. Why? Idk.
I really loved my first menu, don’t get me wrong. But at the time, I thought growth would come from an entirely new line-up. Several deep dives later and a new menu was born. My plan was to start transitioning to weeks of recipe testing. Then I got sick. The couch time and endless episodes of The Great gave me plenty of space for reflecting.
I kept replaying all the things I wanted to change from the first menu, not the new one. Plus I felt pretty terrible so recipe testing was out of the question. Additional conversations with folks from the previous pop-up, my mentor Samir, and Peyton, a fellow cook, solidified this gut feeling.
Let’s iterate! Huzzah!
Throws glass cup on the floor in celebration.
In choosing to focus on improving the first menu, I not only unshackled myself from the tech indoctrination/my own framework, but also allowed myself to redefine where inspiration can come from. It was right under my nose, peeps!
Now that it’s over I can confidently say none of it felt like it repetition - simply an opportunity to focus and improve. This review really validated that:
I’m still figuring out the balance of iteration vs entirely new menu design. I’m sure the quest for some answer is completely subjective…. I’ll figure it out when the time comes. This leads me to lesson 3….
Lesson 3: Trust Thy Gut
After my tech shedding moment and accepting my decision to elevate and refine my first menu, the line of questioning shifted immediately.
It wasn’t, should I turn eggs into mice? It was more like, how can I make the first dish even better? And so on.
The obsessive perfectionist in me was re-awakened.
Hello old friend, we meet again.
It was not devout of inspiration. It created just enough constraints to help me get creative within them. A classic creative paradox.
I channeled this energy into every single dish. It was fun to run tons micro-experiments, practice technique and focus on presentation. These were all elements I didn’t really have time for in the first pop-up.
Most notably, the first course went through ~394829 iterations. At the first pop up it was a farmers market veggie crudite with herby labneh. Delicious. But afterwards, I was left wanting more layers of flavor and texture. Ambitious.
But keep the labneh.
I trialed 4 different chili oils, made my own, sampled 3 different breads, and 5 different labneh recipes. Or something like that.
It was enough to make my mom say, “pleaseeee daniellita, no more labbbbbnehhh” in her amazing Peruvian accent.
We finally landed on the new dish: a grilled baguette with herby labneh, topped with honey, chili oil and fried shallots. When I took the bite of “the one,” my smile was bigger than spongebob after hearing that squidward liked the krabby patty. Glorious.
The yuca frita with huancaina went through its own mini marathon where we tested how to prep the yuca, frying time, and temperature. All of these variables made a huge impact on the end product. It was definitely a Kenji Lopez Alt moment in our kitchen.
Building that perfectionist muscle comes with lots of practice and trust. And both got to shine this time around.
Lesson 4: Equipment matters
Between pop-ups I focused a lot on the equipment side of things - knives, pots, pans, etc. The new tools made for a much smoother cooking process and helped me get even better flavors.
As a generality, we talk a lot about recipe development in the food world, but not enough about technique and equipment. I think the combo of those can really level up your cooking. LMK if you’d like me to do an edition on this??
Anyways, the seco itself was browned using a combination of weights and 5-ply stainless steel saucier (pics below). A 5-ply stainless steel pan will help conduct and retain heat a lot more than a traditional non-stick, for example. Not suggesting that you fry on a non-stick, ok??? But it does make for a better, faster and even browning on the meat - we want all of that. The Made-In Saucier was my pot of choice for many elements of the pop-up. This form factor is incredibly versatile and offers loads of capacity.
One last note about stainless steel if you are going to use it. It’s important to preheat your oil before adding in meat or fish for example. If you don’t, you run the risk of literally bonding the the skin to the surface of the pan. We want them close, but not that close. Plus we want it real hot to get that nice browning.
Here’s a midway-through-plating-pic of the seco:
Not equipment related, but I also had a bit more time to add in a new element - beans! This is how seco is traditionally served. My mom and I developed an amazing (dare I say) recipe for beans made with aji panca. It’s here to stay.
**Note to self - be better at documenting the testing process
Lesson 5: Believe in your squad.
Pre-pop ups, the ITK journey has been a pretty solo venture. This was by choice, really. I’ve never really thought to ask for help or even know what to ask for.
Pop-ups have shown me the power of community - both because you all buy tickets and also because it’s impossible to run them without a lot of help. It’s been a big lesson for me to both learn how to ask for help and accept it when it comes by.
Just recently a reader reached out and asked to make ITK stickers. I said wow, people still like stickers???? She said, erm, yes, DPo, people love them. The logo was sent and out came these cutie pies. I am now very much into stickers again.
Thank you Mary for teaching me that stickers are still in and for making all of them!
If you want a sticker, reply back to this email!
When it came to this pop-up, I most definitely needed even more hands on deck. The menu ended up being complex and we added 6 more seats. Thankfully, we had an epic team that helped take the menu off the page and into lots of bellies.
Starting with my mom- she helped me hone my peruvian pallet, kept me grounded during chaos, and told me 100 times over that it would turn out amazing. Next up, we had Vysh, who performed her panna cotta spells yet again. She brought her laser beam focus day of and executed so many elements behind the scenes. Without her, nothing would have gotten plated. Mary made sure everyone’s plates, drinks and hearts were full throughout the night. I mean just look at that face!!! (it’s the pic below). Samir sprinted to Whole Foods to buy spoons when we ran out right before plating dessert. Carlito bused faster than Mrs. Frizzle. Michelle carried around a 10lb camera and captured every last bite.
Unfortunately we forgot to take a group pic!! Next time though!! Instead, here’s a gif of how I felt throughout the night and writing about it too:
Lastly, none of this is possible without all of you. I see you out there tagging @chefdpo on IG promoting the event, or sharing it with a friend who equally loves peruvian food. You all are the BEST. Thank you!
I’ve said it once, but it bears repeating: it takes a village.
Now I finally understand what that means.
What I’m cooking
Have I not cooked enough, peeps????
I made Umeshu (Japanese plum wine)!!! Well, it will be wine in a year.
Plum wine is a year+ long process of adding japanese plums + shochu+ rock sugar and letting them ferment all together.
Japanese plums (ume) are only in season in early May, but I’m still seeing them in Japanese grocery stores! So it’s not too late. Most Japanese grocery stores will carry all the goodies you need. It’s very reminiscent of passover sections in grocery stores.
I got the plums from Penny at Nicholas Farms and followed this recipe. This time next year we’re having a plum wine party. Everyone is invited!!!
Penny can ship you plums! Text her at 559-393-3009 to get the green goodness. Thank you Penny for fueling this year long project.
Alright folks, that’s all for Edition 17!!! Thank you for tuning in and for new folks, welcome to ITK!!!!!
With lots of love,
DPo
PS- I’m planning to write about miso soup next - the Japanese rabbit hole is just beginning. Anything you neeeeed to know?
Come for the labneh, stay for the Japanese rabbit hole