Malena Martínez

SCIENTIST

SACRED VALLEY

Malena Martínez is the scientist behind Mater Iniciativa, the research center that fuels the kitchens at Central, Kjolle, and MIL. She trained as a doctor in Lima before her brother Virgilio asked her to help map Peru's ingredients, and together they began documenting the country's wild biodiversity, native roots, and traditional knowledge community by community. Her guiding philosophy threads through all of it: the more you know, the less you know. Her work is why a meal at MIL tastes like nowhere else on earth.