Peruvian Olluquito con Charqui, this and other recipes below
In the Indigenous societies of the Andes, women planted and harvested the fields and prepared the food. Men hunted animals and raised like stock including alpaca and llama. The women would slaughter the animals and prepare it for eating. Pre-Columbian Inca women developed dishes using a cured, slated, and dehydrated meat they called charqui. The English word Jerky comes from the Andean word charqui. The women would salt cure the meat and dry it in the hot sun and freezing cold for about a month and thereby increasing its longevity. From the Jerked meat Andean women made a soup called
Olluquito con charqui
made with ollucos (a yellow Andean tuber), traditionally women used slices of jerked alpaca and llama, but today its more often made with jerked beef, and served with rice.
Jerking meat (salting and drying it in the sun) to conserve it has a long history and that extends around the globe.
Olluquito con Charqui Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tsp oil
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- ¼ kg “charqui” or jerked meat/vegan substitute
- 1 kg ollucos chopped in fine strips
- ½ cup onion
- Chopped parsley
- 2 garlic cloves
- Salt and pepper
- Ground chilly
Directions
Shred and fry pre-soaked/hydrated Charqui. After browned, remove, and in the same oil fry onions, garlic, chilly and cayenne pepper. Add ollucos (soaked for 1 hour with salt). Cover the pot and cook at low heat. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with white rice. Makes eight servings
Peruvian Foodways and Recipes:
http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Peru
Hispanic History Month Series with Recipes:
http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Hispanic+History+Month
BBC Radio Food Program on Preserving Meat:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/foodprog/foodprog_20110314-1630a.mp3
