Anticuchos are skewers of beef heart marinated in aji panca, garlic, cumin and red wine vinegar, grilled over coals and served with corn and boiled potato.

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.

Where to eat Anticuchos in Lima

4 editor picks for Anticuchos in Lima, ranked by editorial score. All Lima signature dishes · Anticuchos across every city.

  • Grimanesa Vargas Anticuchos

    Order Three sticks of beef-heart anticuchos with choclo and papa, plus a chicha morada.

    Grimanesa Vargas at Calle Ignacio Merino 466 in Miraflores Lima is dona Grimanesa Vargas's 50-year anticucho stand, now a fixed shop after starting as a cart.

    DetailsDirections

  • Isolina

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

    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.

    DetailsBookDirections

  • Ayahuasca

    Order A pisco sour and a flight of the house herbal pisco macerados.

    Ayahuasca at Av San Martin 130 in Barranco Lima is the cocktail bar housed in a restored 1875 republican casona, a reference point for pisco macerados.

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  • El Bolivariano

    Order The aji de gallina and the lomo saltado; finish with a suspiro limena.

    El Bolivariano in Pueblo Libre Lima is the criolla institution housed in a republican casona, tracing tradition to the 1780s with the canonical carta.

    DetailsReserveDirections

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Make it at home

Serves Serves 48 hrIntermediate

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.

Editor tip. Beef heart is firmer than steak; aim for medium-rare. Overcooked anticucho turns leathery.