Street food · Peru, beef heart

Anticuchos

Anticuchos are Peruvian skewers of beef heart marinated overnight in ají panca chile, vinegar, cumin and garlic, then grilled over very hot charcoal. Heart is lean and has little connective tissue, so two to three minutes a side keeps it tender; any longer and it turns rubbery.

Last reviewed 22 Oct 20262 sources

Beef heart on a cane skewer

An anticucho is a cane skewer threaded with three or four cubes of beef heart that have been marinated overnight in a paste of dried red ají panca chile, vinegar, garlic, cumin and oregano. The skewers are grilled over hot charcoal for only a few minutes, basted with the marinade, until charred at the edges and still juicy inside.

Heart is a working muscle, lean and dense, with a firm, even texture and a deep beefy flavour; it has little connective tissue, so it is tender when cooked briefly and rubbery when overcooked. In Lima, anticuchos are sold at night from street carts and in anticucherías, with boiled potato, a piece of corn on the cob and spicy sauce.

The Andes and colonial Lima

Skewered and grilled meat existed in the Andes before the Spanish conquest, and some writers derive the name from Quechua (anti, the eastern Andes, and kuchu, "cut"); the etymology is commonly repeated but not established. Llama and other meats are usually named as the pre-Hispanic form.

The dish as it is known today took shape in colonial Lima. The usual account attributes it to enslaved Africans and their descendants, who were given the offal that the households they served did not use, and who seasoned beef heart with chile and vinegar and grilled it. The story is part of Afro-Peruvian identity and is widely cited, although the documentary record is thin. By the 19th and 20th centuries the anticuchera, usually a woman grilling at a street stall, was a familiar figure in Lima, and anticuchos are traditionally sold during the October processions of the Señor de los Milagros.

Ingredients

Method

1. Trim the heart: cut away the fat cap, the valves, the hard vessels and the thin membrane on the inner surfaces. Cut it into pieces about 4 × 3 cm and 1.5 cm thick / 1½ × 1¼ × ½ in.
2. Mix the ají panca, vinegar, garlic, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Coat the heart and refrigerate for 4 to 12 hours.
3. Thread three or four pieces on each skewer, flat, so they lie evenly on the grill. Mix the leftover marinade with the oil for basting.
4. Light the charcoal and wait for a very hot, even bed of coals; the hand at grill height should bear only 2–3 seconds. See grilling over fire.
5. Grill the skewers 2–3 minutes per side, basting them with the oil mixture once or twice, until the outside is lightly charred and the inside is just pink to medium, about 60–63 °C / 140–145 °F. Longer cooking makes heart tough and dry.
6. Brown the boiled potatoes on the grill and serve at once, with the corn and sauce.

Tripe in Lima, mixed skewers in Chile

In Peru, pancita (tripe) and rachi (honeycomb tripe) are grilled the same way and sold alongside; chicken, fish and octopus anticuchos are modern restaurant versions. In Bolivia, anticuchos de corazón are a night street food in La Paz, Cochabamba and other cities, served with potato and a peanut and chile sauce (salsa de maní). In Chile, anticucho means any mixed meat skewer — beef, sausage, onion and pepper — and is a staple of the grills of the Fiestas Patrias in September.

Potato, choclo and ají

Anticuchos are served on their skewers, with boiled and grilled potato, choclo and a fresh chile sauce: ají de huacatay (with black mint) or rocoto sauce. A Peruvian salsa criolla of onion and lime is a common side. They are a starter in Peruvian restaurants and a full meal at street stalls, often followed by picarones, sweet-potato and squash fritters. Common mistakes: leaving membranes on the heart, cutting it too thin or too thick, a fire that is not hot enough, and overcooking.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

2

1. McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, rev. ed. New York: Scribner, 2004.
2. Acurio, Gastón. Peru: The Cookbook. London: Phaidon, 2015.

Related