Anticuchos Street Grills

Anticuchos are cubes of beef heart marinated in ají panca, vinegar, cumin and garlic, threaded on skewers and grilled hard over charcoal, served with a boiled potato and a piece of choclo and eaten with the fingers. The dish's history is specific: heart and other offal were the parts given to enslaved Africans on the coastal estates, who seasoned and grilled them, and what came out of that has become one of the best-loved things in the country - sold from carts and corner grills that appear in the evening, with queues at the good ones. Beef heart is lean, dense and faintly mineral, and when it is grilled properly the outside chars and the inside stays pink. Rocoto sauce is offered alongside. There are chicken and other versions, but the heart is the original and the standard by which grills are judged.

What to look for

• The skewers - beef heart in ají panca marinade over hard charcoal heat.
• The evening grills - carts and corner stands appearing after dark.
• The origin - offal given to enslaved cooks on the coastal estates.
• The accompaniment - boiled potato, choclo and rocoto sauce.

When to go

Year-round, in the evening - most grills do not set up before six. A quick standing meal. Queues at the well-known stands are a good sign.

What to expect

It is heart, and the texture surprises people expecting steak. Street grills vary in hygiene - pick busy ones with high turnover. Rocoto sauce is hot. Smoke and crowding around popular stands.

Nearby

Barranco and Surquillo in Lima have well-known grills; every city has its own.