Toya's Asado

It stands to reason that one's identity can be very much influenced by food.  I am a Peruvian born American.  A Peruvian-American.  Or is it American-Peruvian?  Chola in the States and gringa south of the border. As a 7-year old transplanted from the violence of Lima to the quiet suburbs of Maryland, contesting these two identities has, more often than not, played a large and confusing role in my life.

My first memories of food are with my grandmother, Toya, who would often take me on her daily errands to large, open-air markets at a time when Lima did not have grocery stores.  In the meat section we would walk through aisles of hanging animal carcasses, pools of blood dripping onto the cracked concrete floor, and into the fresh and vibrant fruit and vegetable stands.  Back at home we would sit at the dinning table and shuck what seemed like an endless pot of fresh peas for Toya's famous split-pea soup.

Toya, Oreste, Cesar and Quique (Dad)

I love food.  Eating it, cooking it, buying it and sharing it.  I love the relationships food builds, the community it creates.  And I have to thank my grandmother for first exposing me to that world. Food can bridge divides.  It has helped me to converge my two identities.  I can be Peruvian and American when I cook.  And it makes for some very interesting recipes. I don't have her split-pea soup recipe.  The only one of her recipes that has been passed down is her asado.  A source of much nostalgia for both my sister and I (and I'm sure my cousins, dad and uncle too).

Ingredients:

Eye of round roast (2 lbs)

1 lime

1 medium red onion, roughly chopped

2-3 T cumin

1 liter Coca-Cola 

5 oz soy sauce

This recipe's claim to fame is that two of its main ingredients are soy sauce and Coca-Cola, a true testament to Peru's multi-cultural heritage. There are no real measurements for this recipe.  They were not passed down. So each time I make this pot roast, I experiment with the quantities.  I always use 1 lime, which is squeezed and rubbed over the meat along with the cumin.

I sautee the onions, and then brown the meat on all sides over medium high heat . Then I add the Coke and soy sauce, top it off with water (until half the meat is covered with liquid), cover, and let simmer at low heat for 3-4 hours, adding water as the sauce reduces.

While the roast cooks, I prepare rice and an encebollado: a mixture of thinly sliced onions, diced habanero peppers (in Peru we'd use aji amarillo), lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. This will be one of the two sauces served with the meat.

I usually serve it with a side salad, some aji  (in paste form) and a cold beer.