Gastón Acurio Jaramillo is the only son of Gastón Acurio Velarde, a career politician with Acción Popular party and Senator in the 1980s, and Jesúsa Jaramillo Razuri. He has four older sisters. Acurio studied law (expecting to succeed his father in a political career) at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru. He studied cooking at the Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, where he met his future wife Astrid Gutsche, originally from Germany.

In 1994, he returned to Peru with knowledge of international cuisine and applied it in a gourmet level to Peruvian cuisine, contributing to the development of the so-called Cocina Novoandina. Acurio is currently recognized as one of the most important chefs in the world.

He has two daughters with his wife Astrid: Ivalú and Kiara.

Books by Gastón Acurio

Peru: The Cookbook

by Gastón Acurio - Cookbooks, Nonfiction

The definitive Peruvian cookbook, featuring 500 traditional home cooking recipes from the country’s most acclaimed and popular chef, Gastón Acurio. Acurio guides cooks through the full range of Peru’s vibrant cuisine from popular classics like quinoa and ceviche, and lomo saltado to lesser known dishes like amaranth and aji amarillo. For the first time, audiences will be able to bring the flavors of one of the world’s most popular culinary destinations into their own kitchen.