When my brother and I traveled to Peru a couple years ago, we happened to arrive right in the middle of Corpus Christi, a Catholic holiday that’s big all over Peru but especially big in Cusco.
There’s a big parade of statues of Catholic saints in the city’s Plaza de Armas during the day, and at night, everyone partakes in the traditional chiriuchu, a meal consisting of cold food from all the different regions of Peru. Our chiriuchu consisted of cuy (guinea pig), roast chicken, a sausage, a slice of traditional farmer’s cheese, a type of seaweed, fish eggs, cancha (toasted, crunchy corn kernels), and a hot pepper.
While I would have much rather preferred some parts of chiriuchu to be warm, it was certainly a special treat to be able to try such a historic dish that’s only really served once a year.
