Perhaps you never thought that cuisine and gemstones had many things in common.
At first glance, they belong in different worlds, one edible, the other geological. But in Peru, both emerge from the same terrain. And when gemstones are transformed into puzzles, they too become something to be savored.
The country is divided into three natural regions—costa, sierra, and selva (coast, highlands, and jungle)—whose rich biodiversity is reflected not only in cultural identity, but also in its cuisine. Within short distances, altitude reshapes color, texture, and flavor, producing unique ingredients across distinct climate bands.
Take fruit, for example: Chirimoya grows in one climatic band; aguaymanto thrives in another. Maíz morado absorbs a different light. These ingredients give Peruvian cuisine its distinctive character, which is impossible to replicate elsewhere.
At Kjolle in Lima, ranked No. 9 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, the menu is built around ingredients sourced from different ecosystems across the country. Each dish explores the biological and cultural diversity of Peru, bringing together elements from distinct altitudes and climates. In dishes like Many Tubers, featuring yuca, olluco, and sachapapa, ingredients from different terrains are composed into a single sensory experience.
Just as Peru’s cuisine is shaped by ingredients born of different altitudes and climates, in the Andes exists an extraordinary diversity of stones, each with its own colour, density, and energetic character. Much like Kjolle’s plate compositions, the Gemstone Soma Cube Puzzle brings together 7 different stones, shaped by varied geological conditions, allowing multiple origins to coexist within one object.
The Materiality of the Andes: Mineral Memory and Culinary DNA
A puzzle already carries meaning. It is about connection, logic, and completion. But when a puzzle is carved from a real, semi-precious gemstone, its purpose deepens. The material itself begins to speak and, like Peruvian ingredients, it is vibrant and alive with Andean energy, giving the object a distinctive character that is impossible to replicate.
For us, materiality is not an aesthetic choice. It is the origin of the object itself.
The greens, ambers, blacks, and soft pinks found in the Andes are not artificial palettes; they are mineral memory, created over eons of geological time. When these stones are shaped into geometric puzzle forms, they retain their natural variations, veins, tonal shifts, and inclusions, just as native ingredients preserve their texture and irregularity in cuisine.
This is what gives the work its Andean DNA.
The Art of Selection: From Highland Ingredients to Hand-Carved Gemstones [era Selection as a Shared Practice]
Before anything is prepared or shaped, there is a moment of selection.
A chef does not choose the first ingredient they encounter. They look for the one at its exact point of maturity, with the right color, texture, and potential to contribute to a larger composition of flavors. The ingredient is chosen not in isolation, but in relation to everything it will become.
The Artisan works in much the same way AS THE CHEF. When creating objects from gemstones, the process begins with careful selection of raw materials. Each stone is chosen for its character, natural pattern, density, hardness and how it will be used. This requires research, intention, and a sensitivity to the material that goes beyond appearance. The stone is not simply used; it is understood, and later hand-carved in response to its unique structure.
There is much more in common between the two traditions than we often assume.
Ancestral Knowledge: The Intergenerational Craft of Andean Stonework
Peruvian cuisine carries ancestral knowledge through recipes and ingredients, just as stone craftsmanship carries knowledge through technique passed down over generations. The shaping, polishing, and assembling of gemstone pieces require an understanding of the material that has been developed over time, with intergenerational practice being commonplace. This knowledge is not only preserved, but it is also experienced through practice.
Both cuisine and puzzle play invite us to slow down and engage with the process itself, whether cutting a tomato or assembling two perfectly crafted stones. Through this tactile interaction, we connect not only with the object but with the heritage, knowledge, and human skill behind it.
Presence becomes more than a moment of calm; it becomes a way of experiencing culture through use.