Anticuchos: the story of the origin of one of October’s favorite cravings

Peruvian anticuchos are eaten throughout the year. And they are one of the most important dishes in Peruvian gastronomy. Regarding its origin, there are some theories that indicate that it was born in colonial times and that it was one of the contributions of African immigrants to Peruvian cuisine.

How were anticuchos born?

In the book “Cuisine and identity, Peruvian cuisine as intangible cultural heritage”, he indicates that “It was the Afro-Peruvians who incorporated as inputs the use of animal parts that were discarded by the lords, such as the heart, intestines, belly, liver, etc.”

According to the authors, they “They seasoned abundantly to reduce the strong flavors of these parts that were mostly cooked on the grill.”. These processes of adapting the offal as an input were used for the preparation of Spanish recipes, but it was thanks to these techniques that dishes such as anticuchos, rachi or choncholí emerged.

However, there are theories that indicate that even anticuchos are much older, and that before the arrival of the Spanish they were prepared with llama meat. And it was thanks to the adaptation that Afro-Peruvian slaves made using spices and wine or chicha (which later became vinegar) in entrails that the version that we all currently enjoy was created.

They used the heart of the beef because it was the closest thing to meat, and it was fried after being marinated. At the same time, they began to sell them and for that they embedded them in cane sticks, so it was easier to eat and distribute them.

One of the greatest Peruvian writers, Ricardo Palma wrote that they were “pieces of cow liver (sic), crossed by a straw that, after being roasted and seasoned with chili, have been eaten, for three centuries, by boys and farm laborers on the coast of Peru”.

How did the name “anticucho” come about?

The author of the gastronomic book “Vocabulario de la Cocina Limeña”, Aída Tam Fox, explains that the name anticucho means “Cut of the Andes”, because the Quechua word “Anti” which is the same as Andes, and “Cuchu” means to cut , and that together would result in “Court of the Andes”.

But that is not the only interpretation, in the article El criollísimo anticucho, published in the official newspaper El Peruano, it indicates that the word anticucho originated because “uchu” means chili and “anti” Andes.