Anticucho: Heart Skewers and Marinade

Ingredients

• 1 kg beef heart, exterior fat and white connective tissue fully trimmed, sliced 2.5 cm thick
• For the marinade
• 3 tbsp ají panca paste, smoky, dark Peruvian dried chilli; not ají amarillo
• 80 ml red wine vinegar
• 4 cloves garlic, finely crushed
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp fine salt
• ½ tsp black pepper, freshly ground
• To serve
• 600 g waxy potatoes, boiled whole, kept warm
• 1 rocoto sauce, Peruvian hot pepper sauce, to accompany

Method

1. 1
   Trim the beef heart of all exterior fat and every trace of white connective tissue and cartilage from the chamber walls. The cleaned muscle should present a uniformly dark, fine-grained surface throughout. Slice into pieces approximately 2.5 cm thick — thin enough to cook through quickly at maximum heat, thick enough to retain interior moisture.
2. 2
   Combine the ají panca paste, red wine vinegar, crushed garlic, cumin, salt, and black pepper in a bowl. Mix until the paste is fully dissolved into the vinegar. Add the sliced heart, turning each piece so the marinade coats all surfaces. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours; overnight produces maximum flavour penetration. The vinegar denatures the surface proteins, beginning the tenderising process before heat is applied.
3. 3
   This is where the dish lives or dies. Build a charcoal fire and allow it to reach maximum heat — the grate must be at the point where holding a hand 10 cm above it is impossible for more than two seconds. Thread the marinated heart pieces onto skewers. Grill 2–3 minutes per side, no more. The extreme heat produces a hard char on the exterior before the very lean interior can overcook and tighten. The pieces are done when the surfaces show deep, dark char marks and the flesh yields with firm resistance — not softly — when pressed.
4. 4
   Remove from the grill immediately and serve at once alongside boiled potatoes and rocoto sauce. Anticucho does not hold — resting causes the dense muscle to firm and the char to steam off.