Mario Testino Quotes

Peru was the Incas; it has 3,000 to 4,000 years of history.

I don't want to go to Peru. "How do you know? You've never been there." I've never been to hell either and I'm pretty sure I don't want to go there.

I think my sense of color I have got from my upbringing in Peru.

Being Peruvian means to come from the farthest place possible to get to Europe. Peru is the land of the Incas. It was the capital of South America; it was where the Spanish founded their empire and took over the Inca Empire and made it into a colony of Spain.

I love South American food, and I haven't really been down there. I really need a vacation.

Right now I'm living my boyhood dream, which was to play for a European club. The fact that it's a huge club like Barcelona makes it a tremendous honour. I like everything about the city: the climate, the people. It's quite similar to Brazil, which helps a lot. There's even a beach!

I learned at a young age what chasing flavors meant, and I've been doing that my whole life.

I am a serious food lover and Peruvian cuisine is one of the best in the world.

When I was in high school, I was lucky enough to be an exchange student to a small town in Argentina called Goya.

This is a coca leaf. This is not cocaine. This represents the culture of indigenous people of the Andean region.

I was in Peru and visited a building near Lima built by the Incas. It was low in height, with no windows at all, but all the way in the back there was air movement. And I couldn't figure out how they'd done it; it was incredible.

La Paz, Bolivia, is the most extraordinary city.

All the foods that you regularly eat are ones that you learned to eat. Everyone starts life drinking milk. After that, it's all up for grabs. From our first year of life, human tastes are astonishingly diverse.

Although, I didn't really like sushi until I moved out to L.A.

The tyrant Bolivar and his indecent supporters ought to annex Peru, and place this rich country under the control of Columbia, but he has made a mistake. The Spaniards are the only alternative who can avert our ruin.

I chew coca leaves every morning, and look at me!

My favorite thing to do in a new city is find new fast food. I seek it out. I'll tweet and ask people what their favorite local place is, and if I get four or five with the same answer, then I'll check it out.

When we show up in a city, we ask, 'Where's the best restaurant? What's the best beer?' You start doing that, and you get exposed to a lot of great stuff.

I don't think there was ever a dish that changed my life. I certainly remember a constant series of things that I had for the first time and thought, 'Where has this been all my life?' One was brie. I mean, oh my God! One was my first soft-shell crabs.

I was David Bowie-thin up to about 28, and then I discovered food.

My mother's a Peruvian Indian from Lima who raised me and my four brothers and sisters as a single mom.

One of my favorite memories from growing up in Brazil is being in the kitchen with my family and watching everyone bake and cook.

I'm cooking 42 years, and I didn't know bananas are good for my brain.

Oscar Niemeyer really inspired me. He's from South America, where nature has meaning. And his architecture was not expensive or high tech but artistic and spiritual. I like that.

I've always been Argentinian at heart and I've always been very fond of its football.