Rocoto relleno — the stuffed hot chilli of Arequipa (Peru's second city and culinary capital of the Andes) — uses rocoto (Capsicum pubescens, the "tree chilli" — an extremely hot, thick-walled Andean chilli with a distinctive fruity flavour) as both the vessel and the primary flavour component. The technique of reducing the rocoto's extreme heat through blanching (multiple changes of salted water) while preserving its unique flavour architecture is the central technical challenge.
- **The rocoto:** Round, red or yellow, thick-walled — with seeds that contain even more capsaicin than the flesh. [VERIFY] Acurio's rocoto specification. - **Heat reduction:** The rocoto is scored, seeded, and blanched 3–5 times in salted water — each boiling removes some of the capsaicin while preserving the structural compounds. - **The filling:** Spiced ground beef, raisins, hard-boiled eggs, olives — the sweet-savoury combination that appears throughout Arequipa cooking (influence from colonial Spanish cooking via Lima). - **The cheese:** Melted cheese on top of the stuffed rocoto before baking — in Arequipa, queso fresco or a mild local cheese. - **Baking:** Medium oven until the cheese is golden and the rocoto skin is soft.
Peru