Simple and delicious: Learn more about the history of Arroz con pollo

The simple apparent combination of a grain and poultry meat hides a history that teaches us a lot about the Peruvian gastronomy.

Among the wide diversity of representative Peruvian dishes, Arroz con pollo is one of the most popular around the country, both in a simple familiar lunch or in the best restaurants of Creole food. Let’s learn more about one of the most representative dishes of the Peruvian gastronomy.

It has been told that Arroz con pollo has its origin from a reinterpretation, a sample of the adaptation capacity that defines Peruvians. During the XIX century, Arroz con pato (Duck with rice), a signature dish of the region of Lambayeque, at the North of the country, was popularized among the people of Lima. However, it was very expensive and difficult to get in Lima their two main ingredients: chicha de jora and duck.

The creativity of cooks in Lima found the solution to replace the duck by the chicken and the chicha de jora by the black beer which was already being produced in Lima. From then, its popularity has been growing and now it makes part of all the published Peruvian food recipe books. Curiously, since it is a very delicious and simple dish, it is one of the first food that any Peruvian learns to cook when they start cooking.

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The combination of the chicken and rice in a dish is a well-disseminated tradition in all Latin America, even in Spain. However, this dish has its own peculiarities in each region. In Peru, it is typical to make the rice with carrot, peas and, depending on the recipe, even pepper and corn are included. Usually, cilantro is also added to give its green distinguishing color. However, every home and family have a different preparation process according to their tastes and traditions. Many Peruvian families replace the classical cilantro with turmeric, changing the color of the rice to yellow.

Surely, each Peruvian will say that the best Arroz con pollo is the one made by their mothers or grandmothers. The truth is that in any of its versions, the perfect side dish of the arroz con pollo is another Peruvian dish with a lot of history: Papa a la huancaína. It is common to see them together not only in restaurants of all the country but also in the menus of the thousands of restaurants of national food around the world. The Peruvian cuisine continues conquering palates all over the world.