Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Doris Valdivia. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Doris, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My name is Doris Valdivia, Thank you for the opportunity of the interview, I started in the catering business since 2018, wanting to make Peruvian food known in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, since in Pittsburgh there was no restaurant or catering company that makes known distinctly Peruvian food. There were 2 restaurants that combined Peruvian and Mexican food and I wanted customers and people who live in Pittsburgh to know the traditional Peruvian food from the coast, mountains and jungle of Peru (South America). Peru currently and for 6 years has been recognized worldwide for its varied, delicious and technically traditional gastronomy inherited from our ancestors THE INCAS. The Incas were the first settlers of Peru, Peru initially ranged from Colombia to Argentina in South America and over the centuries they lost territory due to different wars, but the initiation of Peruvian gastronomy extended to almost the entire territory of South America. My grandmother Doña Tarcila Rodriguez was born in 1919, who did not know about blenders, electric ovens or gas, she learned to cook with traditional ancestral techniques such as firewood, stone, oven in the ground, the blender for her EL BATAN known This is due to the friction of two giant stones that grind the vegetables to make the liquefied creams and dressings. She taught me how to cook distinctly Peruvian food. My mission will always be to make known the purely traditional food of Peru (without fusions). In Peru we have more than 6,000 varieties of potatoes, more than 180 varieties of corn, we have herbs that are not grown in other places, and with them we season food like the famous one in Peru called Huacatay.
I am grateful for this opportunity to this great medium that makes our Latin culture and heritage of our Peruvian Incas known. My catering company is currently called PIKEO, the word pikeo is written with QU as piqueo, which is small portions of food, called Sampler in the US.
If you want to try our delicious traditional food you can place your orders by WhatsApp 412-537-4522, by email [email protected], we are on Facebook as Pikeo Catering Company in Pittsburgh.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Initially I started my work as an Empirica Chef, loving Peruvian cuisine since I was very young since thanks to my grandmother I was able to hold the first ladle at the age of 6, helping to cook since I can remember, from there I entered university to study Administration on business and along the way I went to work at a very renowned hotel in my hometown, and I took charge of its administration, but the preparation of large quantities of food that they made in the hotel kitchen for events caught my attention. such as weddings, corporate parties, etc. So, I always had the dream of opening my own catering business. After that job and for financial comfort I had to change my field, but I always had that dream of being able to one day work in my own catering business. When I arrived in the United States, I was able to I saw that there were no purely Peruvian restaurants in Pittsburgh PA and that is why I opened my catering company with traditional Peruvian food from which I receive only applause and good comments since Peruvian food is delicious. Currently, to cook I use Peruvian seasonings that with the FTA opened the import of products from different countries among which is Peru, for some traditional herbs, I use chemistry and tasting until I find the flavor of some herb that I cannot get here. I also use fresh products, most of them organic.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective reason to make your business constant is to have love for what you do, to be constant. Many times they will tell you NO, but you put in your head “THEY ARE TELLING ME NO, BUT FOR THAT NO, I WILL RECEIVE THOUSANDS YES”, you have to be positive, work with social networks, before going to sleep put a last job of your business, address your clients as friends and something else, OFFERS, always have your offer package for a special client.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

You can’t buy loyalty, my grandmother said, and I can attest to that. Throughout my experience, I can say that I have clients who are always waiting for my news, and if I haven’t posted them yet, they are asking me what I will do for this holiday or the next. Sometimes I come across clients who gave me great ideas on how to do something. event for Peruvians in Pittsburgh PA, and I am the first Peruvian to have a party with Peruvian dances, where I sold Peruvian food not only for Peruvians that I appointed for that day, they also ate Americans and I did a raffle for Peruvian souvenirs, and many Americans won hats , glass holders, etc. from Peru and they received them with a lot of love. Many other Americans have visited Peru, precisely because the Peruvian culture has awakened in them, giving presentations about Peru when I was hired as a Private Chef.

Contact Info:

• Website: pikeofoodmenu.weebly.com
• Instagram: @pikeopg
• Facebook: Pikeo Catering Company in Pittsburgh
• Linkedin: Pikeo Catering Company in Pittsburgh

Image Credits
Pikeo Catering Company Images