THE 10 MOST POPULAR TYPICAL DISHES OF TACNA - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The typical dishes of Tacna are intertwined with the history of that Department of the Republic of Peru. For its preparation they use ingredients that are native to the country, among which are potatoes, corn, guinea pig, and chili, among others.

Currently, Tacna is recognized for its peculiar way of preparing dishes, since they use a wood fire and clay pots.

Among the most prominent typical dishes of Tacna are spicy tacneña, corn with cheese, guinea pig, pork marinade or tacneño marinade, pataca a la tacneña, among others.

The spicy tacneña is the most outstanding dish in the department of Tacna. It is a stew of potatoes, wadding, chili, jerky and beef legs, while the corn with cheese consists of a tender corn that is accompanied with fresh cheese from Tacna.

List of 10 most popular typical dishes of Tacna

1- Spicy Tacneña

Picante a la Tacneña is a kind of stew that originated in the twentieth century, a time when Tacna was part of Chilean territory and its people were suffering from economic problems. Consequently, families bought to eat beef offal and legs.

Little by little, with the search for new ways to prepare the viscera, different dishes emerged, the spicy tacneña being one of them.

Ingredients

-Dry chili

-Beef guata

-Beef legs

-Charqui

-Potatoes

-Garlics, salt, pepper.

Preparation

First, the wadding is cooked together with the beef leg in a pot with water, salt and garlic. In another pot, cook the peeled potatoes.

Meanwhile, the jerky is roasted and chopped into small pieces. A dressing is also prepared with the ground chili pepper and garlic and then fried.

When the potatoes are ready they are mashed making a kind of puree. Subsequently to the pot with the leg and the batting add the jerky, the potatoes and the dressing prepared with the ground chili pepper. Then wait for it to boil and it is ready to serve.

2- Pork Adobo

Ingredients

-Pig

-Vinegar

-Pepper, cumin, oregano, garlic and salt

Preparation

In a bowl mix the garlic, vinegar, cumin, pepper and oregano. In this mixture, place the chopped pork into small pieces or to the taste of the cook and let it marinate for one hour.

Then it is placed in an earthenware container and cooked with firewood. The pig is usually accompanied by boiled potatoes and corn.

3- Cuy chactado

This dish consists of a fried guinea pig (guinea pig) that is garnished with garlic, chili, cumin, salt and pepper and then floured.

It is usually fried in a frying pan that is placed under a flat, heavy stone. It is served with potatoes and corn.

4- Corn with cheese

Corn or corn with cheese is one of the most consumed typical dishes in Peru. It consists of serving boiled corn with pieces or slices of cheese.

5- Patasca a la Tacneña

Ingredients

-A head of a pig or pig

-Belly

-Ram leg

-Beef

-Bacon

-Ham

-Corn

-Pig butter

-Garlic, chili pepper, peppermint

-Onion

-Salt

-Oil

Preparation

In a pot, boil the head of the pig, the belly, the leg of the mutton, the beef, the bacon and the ham. Once they are cooked they are cut into small pieces.

A dressing is made with the garlic, chili, onion and oil, where all the pieces of meat, belly and leg will be fried. Then they are returned to the same broth where they were parboiled.

Finally the corn and the mint are added. Let it boil until everything is cooked.

6- Pig Chicarrón

Ingredients

-Pork with skin

-Salt

Preparation

The pork is minced into small pieces and salt is added. It is put to cook in a cauldron with the same fat as the animal and left there until it turns golden brown.

7- Charquican Tacneño

Charquican is a stew made with belly, jerky, chili, onion, potatoes, salt, pepper, and cumin.

8- Cazuela a la Tacneña

Casserole is a typical Peruvian dish and is prepared with different types of meats. However, in Tacna it is prepared with a Creole hen, and this is added squash, peas, carrots, potatoes, corn, celery, rice, garlic, oil and salt.

First the hen is parboiled and then the rest of the ingredients are added together with a dressing prepared with garlic, salt and oil.

It is left in the fire, usually it is to the firewood, until it is cooked.

9- Rice with duck

Rice with duck is a dish inspired by Spanish paella.

Ingredients

-Duck, usually only the legs are used

-Onion

-Garlic, chili pepper, coriander

-Oil

-Carrots

-Red peppers

-Rice

-Salt and pepper to taste

-Beer

-Pisco (Peruvian grape brandy)

Preparation

The duck is first seasoned with salt and pepper and fried for about seven to eight minutes or until the duck turns golden brown.

Later, in the same oil where the duck was cooked, fry the onion, garlic, chili and coriander for a few minutes. In this oil, pisco, beer, duck and the broth where the duck is parboiled are added.

Finally the duck is removed and the carrot, a chopped paprika and the rice are added.

10- Grilled lamb

Ingredients

-Mutton

-Potatoes

-Choclos

-Came

-Oil

-Pepper

-Salt

Preparation

Lamb meat is minced into small pieces and seasoned with vinegar, salt, pepper, and in some cases cumin is used. It is usually left in that mixture for a whole day.

Then that meat is put on a grill and roasted for an hour or until it is cooked. On the other hand, the potatoes and corn are parboiled, and can be placed on the grill for a few minutes.

References

1. Tacna, Peru, in a nutshell. Retrieved on October 25, 2017, from aricachile.wordpress.com
2. Peruvian Typical Food by Region- Tacna. Retrieved on October 25, 2017, from arecetas.com
3. Gastronomy of Peru. Retrieved on October 25, 2017, from cuscoperu.com
4. Peru Gastronomy. Retrieved on October 25, 2017, from southernperuexplorers.com
5. Peruvian Gastronomy. Retrieved on October 25, 2017, from viajes-peru.com
6. Top 10: Things to eat in Peru. Retrieved on October 25, 2017, from nationalgeographic.com