The history of Peruvian grilled chicken
The history of
Peruvian grilled chicken
Cultural heritage and gastronomic identity
Grilled chicken is a cultural icon of Peruvian gastronomy, which originated in the 1950s in the Chaclacayo district of Lima. The original version of the dish consisted of chicken cooked in the wood embers of the carob tree, marinated only with salt, served with fries and tasted with hands. Grilled chicken is the most consumed dish in Peru and has been internationalized since the mid-20th century by the opening of "pollerías" in different cities of the world, by Peruvians residing abroad.
Origins and History
The origins are in the
particular cooking of the grilled chicken and the preparation made by a cook
under the shade of the pepper trees of an orchard in the farm of Santa Clara in
Chaclacayo gave rise to the Chicken a la Brasa. The one who really has to be
credited with the origin of the recipe for the dish is to the cook who worked
at Roger Schuler's house. The cook set the chickens aside on a metal bar one
meter long, then manually turned them over the wood-burner. The recipe of
grilled chicken was prepared by the cook of Santa Clara, using ingredients
produced from the area: rosemary, huacatay, chili panca and pepper in different
proportions. Roger Schuler, a Swiss citizen who observed the cook's
preparation, became interested in the taste obtained from chicken and decided
to investigate more about how to achieve a unique taste and production process
that could give him profitable business boost. Thus on February 5 of the same
year she decided progressively with her and her partner Franz Ulrich, to technify
the production and create an improvised restaurant "La Granja Azul"
which his specialty would be the launch of the dish "Chicken
grilled". A sign in the middle of the central road of the 50's said:
"Eat all the grilled chicken you want for 5 soles", mark the start of
the grilled chicken business in Lima. Roger Schuler dedicated himself to
the restaurant business and Franz Ulrich to the manufacture
of ovens for the cooking of the chicken in a special oven; called
"rotombo" that spins the chicken on its own axis, receiving uniformly
the heat of the embers. Frank a mechanical metal expert built an oven with
special features capable of turning an iron bar that would carry the weight of
8 chickens babies of one kilo each, this invention was called the "rotombo"
oven. The oven can be used based on charcoal or wood, the most traditional
being wood. The oven where the chickens were prepared has evolved from the
adaptation made by Ulrich, currently there are ovens that run on coal and gas,
the largest manufacturer is Heriberto Ruiz who worked with Franz Ulrich, and in
1965 he created his own furnace company.
The Blue Farm: Eat as much grilled chicken as you want for 5 suns
La Granja Azul became the
only restaurant on the outskirts of Lima where the Lime aristocracy of the time
could eat with their hands, and unleash their appetites, competing for who
could eat more grilled chickens in a single lunch. My father recounts that he
was attending with friends from the medical school of the Universidad Mayor de
San Marcos of the time and says that it was free for those who broke the record,in
addition to perennizing his name and photo in a preferential place in the hall,
of La Granja Azul. The consumption of grilled chicken initially focused on the elites of Peruvian society, the
aristocracy of Limean and Creole of the 1950s. Schuler emphasized the sign next
to the central wagon looking for greater diners: "Eat all the grilled
chicken you want for 5 soles"; a look at other social sectors of Peruvian
society of the time, getting grilled chicken to take on a new dimension in
Peruvian gastronomy.
The secrets of the recipe
The recipe of grilled
chicken consists of the dressing or marinade of the meat that includes
different ingredients, such as black beer, rosemary, huacatay, salt, pepper,
sillao, cumin and chili panca, in different proportions. The preparation varies
from local to local, region or village and so there are locals that add, even
pisco. This dish is accompanied by fries and lettuce salad. In the cities of
the Peruvian Jungle, it is accompanied by cassava or fried banana. In addition, it is accompanied by a variety of
sauces and creams that each diner serves according to their taste and
highlights the chili sauce usually prepared from local ingredients, so each
pastries has an added value according to their recipe.
The pollerías
Grilled chicken increased in
popularity. In 1957 the pollería was
opened, "El Rancho," located in the 26 block of Avenida Benavides in
the District of Miraflores. In 1966 the "La Caravana" pollería was
created in the district of Pueblo Libre, in the same decade the grilled chicken
had become popular. Popularity increased from the years, 1970 and began pollería activities in the center of Lima and other
districts of Lima. The famous restaurant pollería in the center of Lima
"El Kikiriki"located on Abancay Avenue. The farm "El Basement"
on Grau Avenue, making the grilled chicken dish the most consuming dish in
Peru.
Currently the pollerías
exist in all the cities of Peru and is a food consumed by all the socioeconomic
strata of Peruvian society. A recent study (2007) determined
that in Peru more than 373 million units of chicken were sold in the coals per
year, due to its importance this dish is included in the consumption of the
family basket.
Cultural Heritage of a Nation
In October 2004, the
National Institute of Cultural declares El Pollo embers "Cultural Heritage
of the Nation". June 23, 2010, the "Grilled Chicken Day" was
established to pay homage to a cultural icon of Peruvian gastronomy, on the
third Sunday of July of each year. Peruvian grilled chicken has become part of
the national cultural heritage.
A meeting point in 32 U.S. cities
Grilled chicken is an
important dish of Peruvian gastronomy and has been globalized and its presence
is present in Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia,
Mexico, the United States, Spain, Japan and recently in China, and represents
the gastronomic identity of the Peruvian diaspora abroad.
The new migration flows from
Peru to the United States are characterized by the configuration of social
networks, and one of its activities is linked to the gastronomy and art of
cooking. One aspect to highlight is the symbology of Peruvian gastronomy that
brings families, friends to share a collective nostalgia as part of that
collective identity, where gastronomy combines these symbolic affections and
memories of the country of origin, family memories, friends of the
neighborhood, serenades and grilled chicken of the favorite péryst with their
secrets and urban stories. Nostalgia brings all these memories together.
Grilled chicken is not just a traditional Peruvian dish that is the
representation of Peruvianity in the diaspora because it transcends the
collective memory of Peruvians residing abroad.
Cooking is the cultural
aspect of immigrants in collective symbology. Peruvian grilled chicken, it is a
natural meeting point for Peruvian immigrants in 32 U.S. cities: Arizona,
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana,
Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
Oregon, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia,
Washington DC, Washington and Wisconsin, and 441 Peruvian food restaurants
where grilled chicken prevails as a special dish for its flavor , accompanied
by the ají huacatay sauce prepared with Peruvian ingredients.
Restaurants do not require
areas in particular to be recognized as Peruvian pollerías. The valuation of
food is transformed into a social space that transcends geographical space. In
the geographical area a series of relationships and practices are maintained
that give rise to transnational social spaces at the same time that these
practices transcend the limits of the new territories that are always formed in
the places of arrival, being the grilled Chicken a point of family meeting to
share in Pio Pio a Peruvian pastries that has managed to maintain the special
flavor equally Pardos Chicken have become the pollerías of preference of thousands
of Peruvians residing in the New York area, this still deserves the diversity
of Peruvian pollerías and each has a special touch of Peruanity and flavor.
Jorge Yeshayahu Gonzales-Lara
New York, December 26, 2010.
References
·
1. Andean. Grilled
chicken, the most democratic dish of Peruvian gastronomy. October 12, 2008.
·
2. Trade. "Thegrilled chicken will have its ownday":
the fourth Sunday of June.
·
3. Lion, Rafo.
Bizarra Lima. Antigua of the Center of the Capital, lima-Peru Aguilar ISBN-9789972848179. (2007).
·
4. Galvez,
Miracles. From the farm to the table. Get to know the Chicken
Route. September 21, 2008.
·
5. Gonzales-Lara,
Jorge Yeshayahu. Peruvian restaurants in the United States and the formation of
a gastronomic social space. New York Peruvian Diaspora, August 04, 2010. Scribd
publication. New York 2010.
·
8. National
Institute of Culture. RD No. 1006/INC. They recognize as Peruvian cuisine the
"grilled chicken," Official Daily El Peruano, October 27, 2004.
·
9. Wikipedia.org.
"The story of grilled
chicken."
·
10. Wikipedia.org. "The
grilled chicken."
