Salchicha de Huacho
Sausage of the coastal town of Huacho, north of Lima, coloured with panca chilli and annatto. The chillies used were cultivated in Peru well before the Spanish conquest.
| Lean pork shoulder | 600 g |
| Fatty pork belly | 300 g |
| Hard pork fat | 100 g |
| Fine salt | 22 g |
| Dried panca chilli, ground (ají panca) | 20 g |
| Ground mirasol chilli (ají mirasol) | 10 g |
| Ground annatto/achiote | 8 g |
| Fresh garlic, crushed | 15 g |
| Ground cumin | 4 g |
| Dried oregano | 3 g |
| Red wine vinegar | 30 ml |
| Hog casing (Ø 32–36 mm) | — |
- Preparing the chillies: Rehydrate the dried chillies in hot water for 20 minutes, if necessary. Blend to a smooth paste with a little water.
- Preparing the meats: Cut into 2 cm cubes: part will be minced, part cut with a knife to keep visible pieces. Chill.
- Partial mincing: Mince 400 g of meat through the 8 mm plate. Leave 500 g in 1 cm cubes, cut with a knife.
- Seasoning: Mix the chilli paste, the achiote, the garlic, the cumin, the oregano and the vinegar. Add to all the minced and cubed meats. Knead vigorously.
- Resting: Refrigerate for at least 48 hours. This prolonged rest is essential to the development of the flavours.
- Stuffing: Stuff firmly into sausages of 15 to 20 cm.
- Drying: Hang for 24 hours in a cool, well-ventilated place.
- Cooking: Grill over embers, pan-fry or bake. Serve with bread, potatoes and salsa criolla.
The salchicha de Huacho takes its name from Huacho, a coastal town of the department of Lima, whose markets have produced and sold this sausage since the end of the nineteenth century. If Lima concentrates the gastronomic kitchens that made Peru’s international reputation, Huacho represents another dimension: popular, old, rooted in the charcuterie traditions of the central coast.
Its aromatic identity rests on two Peruvian chillies that have no direct equivalent in European cuisines: the panca chilli (ají panca), naturally dried and smoked, which brings a chocolatey depth and a moderate heat, and the mirasol chilli (ají mirasol), fruitier and slightly sharper. Annatto (achiote) provides the characteristic red-orange colour.
The texture combines minced meat throughout the plate with knife-cut pieces, creating a visible mosaic at the cut, a technique found in the Polish kielbasa krakowska. This technique is the distinctive mark of the artisanal production of Huacho, in contrast to the industrial imitations of Lima, where the meat is minced through the plate.
The salchicha de Huacho holds no official Denominación de Origen, though a project to that end was launched by the municipality of Huaura. Its recognition thus remains bound to local tradition and to the renown acquired by the producers of the central market of Huacho.
It traditionally accompanies the festivities and Sunday family gatherings, and is served with salsa criolla (in Peru chiefly without tomato: red onion, ají amarillo chilli and lime) and boiled potatoes. It is also the central ingredient of the causa de salchicha huachana, a regional variant of the causa, a potato terrine that illustrates how a local charcuterie product folds into the great preparations of the national cuisine.
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