The Pachamanca is an ancient way of cooking that is still a practice in the Peruvian culture nowadays. Literally translated Pachamanca means ‘earth pot’, which already gives away a leading clue into what a Pachamanca actually is. Nowadays a traditional Pachamanca is prepared in a hole that is dug in the ground, which will then be layered with heated stones on which the food is cooked. (USIL, 2017) Since this way of preparing food is taking place in an outside area, whether or not a Pachamanca is a success is highly dependent on the weather. Unfortunately, when I was supposed to experience the Pachamanca myself the weather Gods were not on my good side. It had been raining which caused the ground to be too wet for a Pachamanca. Therefore, I will rely on the information I gathered during the Gastronomy Abroad Peru about the Pachamanca and on the experience of others to write an article that will give you, the reader, an inside into this ancient way of cooking.
The technique of underground cooking dates back to 7000 BC., On the heights of Junín, in a rocky shelter called Telarmachay there is evidence of stoves or ovens dug in the earth or which is known as Pachamanca. For the Inca’s this way of cooking was strongly tied to ritual. By cooking underground, they would honour the goddess Pachamama and thank the earth for all it gave them. (Museum of Peruvian Gastronomy, 2017)Nowadays the Pachamanca remains a feast for the community that is usually celebrated with a large group, which makes sense since a Pachamanca can easily feed 30 people. As this is already such an ancient ritual there is no exact recipe to follow, the way of conducting the Pachamanca varies between communities and families and is passed down to younger generations.
The ritual will start with the digging of the hole. The size of the hole depends on the amount of people you wish to feed from the Pachamanca but in general it is around 50-80 centimetres deep. While some proceed with lining the walls of the whole with bricks while others will start with putting in the flaming hot rocks, and not any rock will do. Only volcanic rocks will be able to withstand the high temperature and not burst or crack in the process (Jones, 2017).
With the heavy lifting done the real party can begin by putting in the food, which will be stacked according to cooking time. Long-cooking ingredients get put in first like the potatoes, which no Peruvian dish is complete without, followed by the softer meat and finished with smaller vegetables. All layers will be accompanied by fresh aromatic herbs, of which the larger part is the Peruvian Huacatay, a mint-like herb. While some prefer to pack all the ingredients into packages of banana leaves, others will lay all the ingredients directly onto the stones and each other, there are no exact rules for the Pachamanca.
Lastly, the hole is closed, first with a layer of banana leaves after which the dirt that was dug out of the hole is put on top. The hole now forms a big oven in which the ingredients will slowly cook and flavour each other while being infused with smoke from the volcanic stones. After which the waiting will begin, after two to four hours, depending on how much you put in the ‘oven’ the big revelation happens. The oven get cleared from its cover and the tender food is carefully scooped out of the hole. Each layer will be carefully placed onto bowls and platters and the feast can begin.
The slow cooking of the food results in a mouth watering bite of extremely tender meat that falls off the bone, silky soft potatoes together with vegetables that are intensely flavoured by the herbal smoke within the oven. A feast like no other.
By Bonne Stobbe
Ancient Peruvian Practice