In Pursuit of Salchipapas-Peru
This salty greasy artery plugging careening adventure begins in Lima Peru, the country that is the home of these carbohydrate packed grenades, the potato. Before diving deeper into this calorie laden apparently anti-culinary feast, let’s define our terms. In Spanish, papa is a potato, not your dad, though at times one may be confused with the other Papa, The Pope. No idea about this double meaning. And salchi is short for salchichas, the word for hot dog. Salchipapas are simply French fries with diced hot dogs, a Peruvian comfort food and affordable repast for many university students. Keep in mind that Peru has a thousand varieties of potato, but really only the standard papa is used for the French fries. The second part, the hot dog, may bring tremors of fear for most international travelers in Latin America. And one of my earliest experiences with these death torpedoes did not start well…
It was back in 1983 in the national park of Popocatepetl, outside of Mexico City, while waiting for the weather to clear and an attempt to climb the volcanic summit. The 5,426-meter high summit just alluded me no this trip, having made it to the crater rim and peering into to see the sulfurous gases, I faltered with altitude sickness. My dad went on to claim the summit around the other side of the crater. To this day I wish I could have completed that last leg, more so because this volcano is active today, and has been for nearly the last decade. Its occasional spits out refrigerator sized blocks down its steep flanks, and commonly belches large plumes of gray ash. And speak of gray; let us return to the Mexico hot dog part of the tale. The little cafe in the visitor center had on their menu hot dogs. We could see them turning on the rack, these long brilliant red meat torpedoes, at least we assumed they had meat in them. The color was truly fluorescent, probably made of carcinogenic red number 345, something completely off the color scale. We risked it. Upon taking the first bite, and holding up the stub of the dog for inspection, that instead consisted of a pallid gray greenish meaty substance. I have never claimed the Mexican death torpedo contributed to my falling just short of the summit, but I do not see how it could have helped!
Now fast forward 15 years, and find myself as a geologist with a master’s degree working in Peru, and taking some leisure time in the city of Huancayo, actually out on perhaps my third date with my wife to be, hanging out with her between the university classes she was taking, having time to take lunch at a nearby basement establishment servicing the students with cheap food, and here I was introduced to Salchipapas. The first hurdle was quickly over, no suspect off colors on the sliced up hot dogs scattered across the plate full of French fries. And the topping grace of this Peruvian traditional fast food are the accompanying sauces- a bit of ketchup, mustard, chili sauce, and something new to me salsa de ocopa, plus a light purplish cream made of olives. Pick and dip, fries or dog discs. Cheap, and tasty.
Now fast forward another 20 years. Did I mention this is a long tale? Relocated to Lima, embracing the life here, we set out to test the waters of how Salchipapas are fairing in Peru today….
Our starting frame of reference is the way they make Salchipapas in Huancayo. Lima is removed from the potato fields on top of the Andes. But plenty of potatoes are trucked to this massive coastal city. I associate this meal item with highland towns, small venues, it is not something that is typically on the menu in Lima. But that is changing too.
Right along the west side of the Parque 6 de Junio in the center of the Miraflores, the upscale district in Lima, is a quick restaurant called Hamburguesas y Salchipapas República that features salchipapas (picture below). They served them in a paper bowl wrapped with paper, instead of being spread across a plate. The fries were crisp, and the doggy discs were fine. They use thick cut yellow potato with the skin on them, giving the fries a hearty appearance. The salchichas had three types, but mostly hot dog. The entire fair was stop with a fried egg. The number of dipping salsas made Lima look poor compared to the highlands of Peru; they served the sauces in little tiny paper cups and only came out with mustard and ketchup. The sidewalk dining and it being across from the park gives this establishment one of best rankings for location. I can recall at least three previous restaurants operating from this same building space, and must admit the previous venue was better with more upscale dining and a great lomo saltado, but the Republica employees were friendly and the service was quick. For S/. 17.50 Nuevo Soles, it was plenty of food and overall scores good marks.
Next, along Avenida Villaran, this not so upscale neighborhood has a venue called Sachipaperia. It’s right in their name.
Then we have the House of Salchipapas, Don Salchipapa, La Casita de Salchipapas, Casimiro Salchipapas, Perros y Papas, Salchipapas Norma, D’KiKin Sanguches y Salchipapas, Tacos y Salchipapas Farol, El Corner Wings y Salchipapas, and Salchipapas y Hamburguesas Doña Elsa. For health purposes we will not be reviewing all of these. And this is just Lima. Many more cities and towns in Peru are serving… that’s right, Salchipapas.
Finally, not to let Lima upstage the town were this all started, we returned to Huancayo to experience Salchipapas in the twenty-first century….
Salchipapas nearly a subculture phenomenon, and it is likely to spread. You kinda find this dish in other South American countries, and even Mexico and the USA. We are uncertain if Salchipapas started in Peru or not, but it certainly seems like it. Finally, Salchipapas can be prepared in the home, we do so every now and then. We like to add to the selection of dipping flavors some barbecue sauce.
The more sauces the better!
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