Cookout

A few days ago we met up with our friend Jenny's friend Manuel who lives in Cusco. I thought we were just going to have some coffee and chat, but Manuel was saying something about his friend and a party and cooking potatoes in the ground. We said, "Sounds good!" and we were off hiking accross the city to Oswaldo's house.

There were only a few people there when we arrived at what appeared to be a house still under construction with a beautiful vista across the city. We made ourselves comfortable in a narrow fenced-in yard space where there was a small oven-shaped earth construction with a roaring fire in it.

We talked happily for awhile as more people arrived and the earthen stones in the oven turned black. Eventually, Oswaldo collapsed the top of the oven with a stick, and started throwing in potatoes, plantanes, and chicken with fresh rosemary wrapped in foil.

Oswaldo shoveled more earth on top to seal in the heat as much as possible, while others started making fresh guacamole and salsas.

After about 15 or 20 minutes, we unearthed our dinner, and everyone dug in! There were several varieites of potato (including a somewhat sweet one I'm unfamiliar with), and everything was delicious!