The Camp’s Chef

Announcing our New Culinary Director and his Small Plate Menu

At Galapagos Safari Camp we strive to provide an all-encompassing, exceptional experience for our guests during their safari holiday. Our new culinary consultant, who will be visiting annually, has been busy creating a Galapagos signature menu. His four-course meals are fresh and robust, aiming to satisfy and nourish body and soul.

Chef Burgos, or ‘Fofo 2.0’, hails from Spain. He is a life-long, passionate cook and traveler with an un-satiable curiosity for places unknown and the food within their borders. His experience brings a new twist to a safari holiday in the Galapagos.

During his formative years, he honed his skills in markets, kitchens, and shops in his home country and around the world. His creativity takes cooking from a chore to an art form, and makes everyday dining in the archipelago an event to put on the bucket list. His modesty, confidence and generosity are translated into his dishes, which reflect his many qualities in an explosion of flavour.

Mention the phrase ‘farm to table’ to a local in Ecuador and you get a perplexed stare. Instead of being an alternative to buying food from a grocery store, it’s the way things work here. Modern living and eating habits have infiltrated some towns, but the country at large is still walking at a human pace. Even in places like Quito it is fairly common to be driving on a highway and come across lose cattle and horses.

At the Galapagos Safari Camp, we raise cattle and grow some of our own organic produce on the property that supply the kitchen. We also work with local farmers and encourage their produce, as we understand the value of partnerships.

Fofo has enthusiastically explored the markets of Ecuador in search of inspiration since his arrival. His original menu uses a medley of local and international flavors to create refreshing, small-plate meals.

The daily routine for the chef and kitchen at the camp starts with a visit to the Santa Cruz fish, spice, and vegetable markets; and continues with a few hours in our gardens gathering herbs for the night’s meal.

Each plate is designed to compliment the other, an overture of locally grown food accompanied by tasty sauces that hit just the right notes. The dishes bring new flavors to the islands, using inviting portions of carefully chosen ingredients to satisfy the most demanding palates.

• The first course focuses on vegetables, pairing fresh produce with savory dressings and sauces that burst with flavor. Seasonal offerings include a palm heart ceviche, hearty soups, and savory noodle salads that hint at what’s to come.

• The second and third courses keep the evening going; delivering plates of tender fish, chicken, beef, and pork that are simple, yet sophisticated. The catch of the day is vacuum cooked to seal in the flavor, and slow-cooked beef is marinated for hours; turning up at the table succulent and packed with subtle spices.

• Dessert completes the meal; local fruit and sublime sauces are paired together into dishes that leave you wondering what the next meal will bring.

The difference that the maestro brings to the camp is palatable, his unpretentious style and creative presentation add a brilliant touch to the plates brought out of the kitchen each day. No nonsense, no OTT, no false pretense; Fofo’s dishes embody the soul of Galapagos Safari Camp.

Fofo’s gift and passion for cooking puts new cards on the table and inspires anyone who meets him to celebrate the rich variety of flavors found all around us every day, long after the trip is over.

The Galapagos Safari Camp prides itself on bringing back the classic, relaxed elegance of times past, using the inspiration of our surroundings to uplift and reinvigorate the senses. For more information about a safari holiday worth writing home about, contact us today.