History

Anticuchos descend from the African enslaved communities of colonial Lima (1530s-1850s), who received the rejected beef-heart cuts and turned them into the city's signature street grill. Doña Grimanesa Vargas opened her Miraflores anticucho cart in 1974; the dish carries Lima's evening grill culture.

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 20 minTotal 8 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 800g beef heart, cleaned and cut in 3cm cubes
  • 4 tbsp aji panca paste
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • Sea salt and black pepper
  • 60ml vegetable oil
  • Bamboo skewers, soaked
  • 1 large corn cob (choclo), boiled and cut in rounds
  • Boiled yellow potatoes to serve

Method

  1. Whisk aji panca, garlic, vinegar, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper with the oil into a marinade.
  2. Toss the heart cubes in the marinade and refrigerate overnight (minimum 6 hours).
  3. Thread 4 cubes onto each skewer.
  4. Grill over very hot coals 90 seconds per side, 4 sides total. The exterior should char; the centre should stay pink.
  5. Brush with reserved marinade between turns.
  6. Plate two skewers per person with a piece of choclo and a boiled potato.

Tip from the editors. Beef heart is firmer than steak; aim for medium-rare. Overcooked anticucho turns leathery.

Where to eat anticuchos

Anticuchos in Lima

Grimanesa Vargas Anticuchos ★ 4.6

Street food$mirafloresMon-Sat 15:30-22:00

Grimanesa Vargas at Calle Ignacio Merino 466 in Miraflores Lima serves beef-heart anticucho sticks from S/22, on TasteAtlas's best-anticucho list worldwide.

Try: Three sticks beef-heart anticuchos with corn and potato

Order: Three sticks anticuchos with choclo y papa and a chicha morada (around S/25).

Tip: Queue starts at 18:00; cash and card both accepted at the Miraflores fixed shop on Ignacio Merino.

Calle Ignacio Merino 466, Miraflores, Lima 15074

Ayahuasca ★ 4.4

Cocktail bar$$$barrancoTue-Sun 18:00-02:00Until Tue-Sun 02:00

Ayahuasca at Av San Martin 130 in Barranco Lima runs till 02:00 every night, the restored 1875 republican casona for late pisco macerados and small plates.

Try: Piqueos and pisco-base cocktails

Order: A pisco macerado flight with a tabla of cured Andean meats.

Tip: Closed Mondays; the courtyard seating is the seat to ask for in advance.

Av San Martin 130, Barranco, Lima 15063

Isolina ★ 4.6

Peruvian$$barrancoMon-Wed 12:00-22:00, Thu-Fri 12:00-23:00, Sat 09:00-23:00, Sun 09:00-19:00

Isolina at Av San Martin 101 in Barranco is Jose del Castillo's 2015 criolla taberna, a tribute to his mother Isolina Vargas and her Lima home cooking.

Signature: Cau cau, Tacu tacu con lomo, Ceviche carretillero

Order: The tacu tacu with steak and a portion of the carretillero ceviche.

Tip: Weekend brunch service runs 09:00-11:00 before the regular lunch carta.

Av San Martin 101, Barranco, Lima 15063 Book →

El Bolivariano ★ 4.3

Peruvian$$pueblo-libreMon-Thu 07:30-23:00, Fri-Sat 07:30-01:00, Sun 07:30-17:00

El Bolivariano on Pasaje Santa Rosa in Pueblo Libre Lima is a criolla institution in a republican casona, far quieter than the Miraflores tourist axis.

Why locals love it: A republican casona in mid-city Pueblo Libre, off the Miraflores-Barranco tourist axis, with criolla tradition dating to the 1780s.

Tip: Open from 07:30 for breakfast tamales; Sunday lunch is the family-table service.

Pasaje Santa Rosa 291, Pueblo Libre, Lima 15084

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