Beef heart anticuchos

Skewers of beef heart, marinated and grilled over embers: the anticucho is sold in the evening in the streets of Lima and appears on the menus of criollo restaurants. A lot of it is eaten in October, the month of the processions of the Señor de los Milagros.

A history with several voices

Wikipedia reports several stories, without deciding between them: a name that is said to come from Quechua (“antikuchu”, cut in the Andean way, or “anti-uchu”, with chilli), a pre-Columbian preparation made with llama meat, the Spanish contribution of beef and garlic, and above all the role of the enslaved Africans, who were left the offal and turned it into this dish. The Afro-Peruvian painter Pancho Fierro drew anticucheros in the middle of the 19th century, and Ricardo Palma describes them being sold in the streets of Lima.

The marinade and the basting sauce

PROMPERÚ’s recipe is based on two separate preparations. The marinade (ají panca, garlic, cumin, oregano, vinegar, dark beer) flavours the meat for at least two hours; the vinegar tenderises the surface and the ají panca, mild and smoky, gives it its dark red colour. The basting sauce of oil and ají panca, made separately, is brushed on during cooking: it makes the skewers shine and caramelise.

Beef heart

The heart is a lean, firm muscle, without a pronounced offal taste when well trimmed. Order it from the butcher in advance: they will remove the fat, the membranes and the valves. The pieces should all be the same size so they cook at the same time.

Our version

Without embers, a very hot cast-iron frying pan colours the meat well, without the smoky taste of the barbecue. Keep the pieces an even thickness and rely on the core temperature.