Glossary
of Peruvian Cuisine
Most
Common Terms, Dishes, and Ingredients.
Tacu
Tacu : One
of the most simple and delicious dishes of Peruvian
cuisine, tacu tacu is a tortilla or tamale made from
leftover beans and rice, seasoned with onions, garlic
and hot peppers, and fried in vegetable oil.
Allegedly tacu tacu was
invented by black Africans brought during the Viceroyalty
to work as slaves on the coastal plantations. The ingenious
reuse of leftover beans and rice resulted in a very
economical and nutritious dish, and complemented a diet
that was probably scarce and meagre.
The
traditional tacu tacu is thus a humble dish, usually
crowned with a fried egg and flanked with a colourful
stripe of deep fried banana.
However,
over the years tacu tacu has evolved
and sharpened up -the same can be said about Peruvian
cuisine. If originally it was made from leftover beans
and rice –and accompanied with fried eggs and
bananas–, now it’s prepared on-the-moment
with beans, chickpeas, lentils, or Lima beans (depending
on the chef’s inclinations), and accompanied with
foie gras or prawn sauce, stuffed with seafood, or served
as a side dish to the most flamboyant of meats.
Tacu
tacu recipe.
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