Edition Nº 01, March 2007 Ayacucho Perú
Pacha Manca
How to prepare your own Pacha Manca.


By: Jan Kuijt

Ayacucho - Pacha manka means it´s a natural oven in the ground, which is an ancient custom from pre inca culture...

What to buy:

- 2kg potato´s,
- 1kg sweet potato´s,
- 8 corn, peal a lot of the leaves off
  but not all
- 1kg beans( aba),
- 5 kg pork/ chicken/ goat or /and
  alpaca,
- 2 rounds garlic,
- ¼ kg dried  red pepper,
- 4 spoons kummel,
- 1lt wine vinagre,
- ¼ lt oil, 
- 4 spoons salt

How to prepare:
Boil some water, clean out the peppers, put them to soak in the boiled water and clean out al the little rest parts, Then mole the peppers into a pasta and mix it with the  vinagre, oil, salt, kummel, garlic.

How to make:
First you have to have stones that are resistant against high heat
Dig a hole in the ground, make a roof with iron and lay the stones on top of them
Then build a good fire inside and leave it for 2,5 hour.
Now its time to take of the stones and iron, this is a hard and hotty job, and clean out the oven

How to use:
put the potato´s and sweet potatos on the bottom of the oven and divide some of the stones on top of them, on the second level you put the meat and here as well you put some stones on top in a way that you think every part gets enough heat. Then you put on the thirth level the beans and corn and put the leaves of the corn on top of it, then close it with more stones, use some jute to close all from the air and put then plastic over it. Bury it under sand and make a little cross to put on top of it to be sure that the earth will be one with the meat.

Wait for 1,5 hours starting from the time that al is closed open the oven and take out al the food........

Enjoy your pacha manka

 
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