After the meeting, the community had prepared a typical Pachamanca with alpaca meat for us. A Pachamanca is traditionally prepared to celebrate the potatoe harvest, but on special occasions they also prepare it. The word Pachamanca means "Pot in the Earth", because they make it either in the ground or under a whole lot of earth.
Let me explain how to prepare Pachamanca:
1. An oven is being built. Just by hand, with some stones that are lying around, they build an oven of up to one meter high, with the shape of a bee's house.
2. A fire is made within the oven, and on the outside, at the side where the wind comes from. This allows them to heaten up the stones.
3. As soon as the stones are really hot, the fire and the ashes are taken out, and they will let the oven collapse.
4. A part of the stones is then laid on the bottom of a deep hole, and on top of those stones come the ingredients. A layer of potatoes, and then stones again. And a layer of meat, one of beans, corn, etc.
5. When all the ingredients and stones are in, they will put plants on top, plants that also give flavour and taste to the ingredients. These plants sometimes cover each and every layer.
6. On top of these plants, these days, they put a plastic cover and then they cover it with earth. In other places they still do it with grass, and then earth. Important is that the Pachamanca is totally closed, no smoke may come out. Now we have our prehistoric high-pressure pan!
7. After more or less 50 minutes the Pachamanca can be opened, the smell is great!!! And the taste as well, of course. Meat, potatoes, vegetables, everything is perfectly cooked. Enjoy! |
