- List of 10 popular dishes from the Peruvian Sierra
- 1- Potatoes a la Huancaína
- 2- Pachamanca
- 3- Stuffed Rocoto
- 4- Court
- 5- Cuy Chactado
- 6- Olluquito with Charqui
- 7- Legs
- 8- Lawa
- 9- Chuños
- 10- Humitas
- References
The typical food of the Peruvian highlands is based on native crops such as potatoes and quinoa, as well as local animals such as guinea pigs and llamas.
Since the Inca civilization, the people living in the Andes have based their diet on potatoes, corn, and meat. Soups and stews make up the most popular dishes.
Pachamanca
Stews can be made from many things; any protein, different types of potatoes, corn, carrots, local spices, and hot peppers are included. They are generally cooked for hours due to the low oxygen at such high altitudes.
Pachamanca is a cooking method that has been used in the Peruvian highlands for centuries and is still very popular in the Andes.
It basically consists of slowly cooking seasoned meat, herbs and vegetables on a bed of stones that is placed under the ground. Since it takes so long, it is generally reserved for special occasions.
List of 10 popular dishes from the Peruvian Sierra
1- Potatoes a la Huancaína
This iconic Peruvian appetizer is made up of potatoes cut into thick slices, which are then drenched in a velvety sauce.
This traditional recipe offers a balance of cheesy, spicy and salty starchy flavors. Although the original recipe called rocoto paprika, it was replaced by yellow pepper.
It is a traditional food from Huancayo. It consists of potatoes boiled in a creamy yellow sauce called Huancaína.
This sauce is made from sweet red bell peppers and hot orange bell peppers, cheese, milk and the famous yellow hot pepper from Peru. It is usually decorated with lettuce, olives, corn, and a boiled egg.
Huancaína sauce can be served as an excellent companion to many other dishes, such as pasta, fried yucca, corn, quail eggs, Causa Lima, or chifle (fried plantains).
Although the original version is made with yellow potatoes, it can also be made from white potatoes.
2- Pachamanca
It is tradition to consume this food in important celebrations. First a hole is made in the ground and hot stones are placed in it.
The food that is cooked there is a mixture of meats (lamb, pork, chicken and guinea pig), herbs and vegetables (potatoes, corn, beans, etc) that are put on a thin cloth and allowed to cook slowly on their own. juice.
3- Stuffed Rocoto
It is a plate of red hot peppers stuffed. Although it can be served throughout the country, this food is typically associated with Arequipa, the largest city in Peru.
Rocoto is a paprika that looks like a normal red paprika, but it is actually a hot chili, at least ten times hotter than a jalapeño when raw.
This dish consists of a hot pepper stuffed with ground beef or pork marinated with different spices, chopped onions and a hard-boiled egg.
When it is filled, white cheese is placed on top so that it melts when it is baked. At the end it is served complete.
4- Court
It is a very popular appetizer or snack. It is made by cooking large grains of corn, known as chulpe corn or cancha chulpe corn, in vegetable oil and salt.
It is traditionally served with ceviche or as a snack while drinking a spirit drink.
5- Cuy Chactado
The cuy or guinea pig is traditionally consumed throughout the Peruvian highlands. It was consumed before, during and after the Inca period. It is a very delicious low-fat, nutritious meat with a flavor similar to rabbit.
The guinea pig is the dish that results from frying a complete guinea pig; it is one of the most popular ways to consume this rodent. It can be eaten with your hands, as if it were a chicken thigh.
The guinea pig is the most popular food in the mountains of Peru. If cooked on the grill, it is usually accompanied by rice, potatoes, corn, and a hot sauce on the side.
6- Olluquito with Charqui
This dish is traditional of Andean cuisine. Olluco is a yellow tuber similar to a small potato that becomes crunchy when cooked.
On the other hand, charqui is similar to jerky (dehydrated meat), traditionally made from llama or alpaca meat. But today jerky is commonly made from sheep meat.
7- Legs
The pataca is a corn kernel soup. The exact origins of the pataca soup have been lost, but it is known for sure that this food existed before the Spanish arrived in Peru.
It is typically enjoyed in the highlands and its recipe has remained more or less the same throughout the years.
Preparing this dish takes a while, so it is very consumed during the winter. It is considered a 'super soup' due to its high nutritional content, a product of its clear broth, lean meats and corn mote.
This soup is usually cooked with tripe and beef feet, although it can be replaced with extra-lean beef. In addition to the meat and the nickname, the pataca also has potatoes, fresh mint and parsley.
8- Lawa
It is a soup that is made from fresh corn, beans, dried yellow peppers and the huacatay herb (typical of Peru). It is very common to find this food in the city of Cuzco.
Its preparation includes very ripe corn, potatoes, cheese, parsley and eggs, making it a fairly heavy dish and perfect for cold weather.
9- Chuños
Chuño means frozen and dried potato. This food is made with potatoes that are dried in the heights of the Andes; then it can be used in different soups and stews. In the markets it is possible to find black and white chuño.
Chuño negro is made with bitter potatoes that are left freezing overnight in the open.
In the morning they are thawed in the sun and crushed until their liquid is extracted; then they are allowed to freeze again. This process is repeated until the potato is completely dehydrated.
To make the chuño blanco, the potatoes are soaked in the frozen water of the rivers for several days and then dried in the sun. To consume them, the potatoes must be rehydrated by immersing them in water.
This food can last for several years and has been part of the Andean diet for centuries. It can be added to stews (chuño soup) or it can be cooked directly and accompanied by corn and cheese.
10- Humitas
They are soft corn cakes with cheese, chili and onion. The dough for the preparation is wrapped in corn husks and steamed.
References
- Court. Recovered from peruvianfood.com
- Typical Peruvian food. Recovered from southamerica.cl
- Andean Christine. Recovered from peru.travel
- Chuño (2014). Recovered from perudelights.com
- Recipe: corn lawa. Recovered from libroderecetas.com
- Peruvian humitas. Recovered from cookpad.com
- Peru: potato a la huacaina. Recovered from 196flavors.com
- Pataca soup (2013). Recovered from vivaperu.co.uk
- Best Peruvian food: nine dishes you'll want to try on your trip (2017). Recovered from edition.cnn.com
- Classic papa a la huancaina revisited (2013). Recovered from perudelights.com
- Peru food: Andes. Recovered from discover-peru.org
- Top 10: things to eat in Peru. Recovered from nationalgeographic.com
- Traditional andean cuisine: guinea pig (2017). Recovered from thespruce.com