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Lima, Peru  |  Wednesday 03 December 2008 23:45  |  | 

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Review: La Casita de Ricardo

By Melanie Bayly

There are several places where you can find the pachamanca. They are, however, far from the city. La Casita de Ricardo is located in San Miguel. It’s very easy to get there, just take Av. La Paz and between blocks 6 and 7 turn right (away from the sea) and the restaurant is half a block away. An actual little cabin, you can’t miss it. There is a map on their web page just in case. There is not much parking, so I would suggest using a taxi. This way when you are sleepy after a fulfilling meal you don’t have to worry about traffic.

When you arrive to this small wooden cabin you are greeted by the warmest smile you can find. Ricardo and Noemi, his wife, will make you feel like family from the first glance. Together with his kind smile comes a familiar smell. It’s the herbs mixed with the wood from the pachamanca. It will transport you to the sierra immediately.

Soon you’ll forget you’re in Lima at a restaurant; you’ll feel you’re in the sierra visiting family. If you look out the window you’ll be aching to see the mountain from Huancayo, its peaceful streets and beautiful people. However, leave the outside outside. You are inside now and even though the restaurant is located near a busy avenue, you won’t hear a beep. I’ve been there twice and neither time have I heard the busses passing by.

It’s a quaint place, sitting 50 people. The tables are colorfully dressed with Peruvian mantos and hung on the wall are pictures of the interviews they have done. To the right hand side you can see the oven Ricardo has designed specially for this type of cooking. In Lima you can’t dig a hole because you’ll find the sewer, so he brought the ground upward: he built a brick box, divided in two. One side he filled rocks brought specially from Huancayo (“otherwise the rock would burst like a grenade” says Ricardo) and a pot to collect the cooking juices then he places different fresh herbs and cooks on them. At the bottom he left an opening so he can put wood from the carob tree and in this way he can control the temperature of the pachamanca. The other side is for keeping warm and glazing.

Once the food is cooked he’ll transfer it to the other side and bathe it with an herb butter and the juices caught during cooking. The only dressing he uses is salt and herbs such as muña, huacatay, payco and chincho. “The payco is a type of herb that will help you digest and will eliminate bad cholesterol” explains Ricardo

When all of this is going on you won’t believe the smells that come from the oven, can you tell I’m still hung on the smell. They will help you work on a very large appetite. While the food was waiting to be served we sat down and enjoyed a nice Beso de la Ñusta (kiss of the Inca princess). A macerated drink made by them with fresh fruits, it was sweet and a bit strong, like a fruity cocktail. You could taste the Peaches and Passion fruit it is made with. It is used as an ice breaker; let me tell you it worked.

Then came the pachamanca. My eyes came out of their sockets. It was huge. Deliciously huge. It is served on a wooden base. In the middle he serves the meats, pork and beef ribs and chicken. Then he places the lima beans, yams cut in half, potatoes with cheese, corn and humitas dulces. He then tops it off with manzano bananas. You don’t know where to begin. I had some difficulty at the beginning, the plate was too small and I could not figure out how to cut a piece of meat without everything falling on the table. This is when Ricardo confessed the plates are purely decorative as well as the knives and forks. He likes when people start eating with their hands. “This is not a regular restaurant, you have to leave this preconception at the door” he says. So I started eating with my hands.

First I tried the ribs. They were soft as butter. The meat just melted off the bone, the flavor was exquisite, you could taste the herbs used in the cooking but somehow they don’t interfere with the taste of the meat. The pork rib was golden brown, when you bite into it the juices start filling your mouth and you can’t wait to take another. It has some skin and fat. I’m not used to eating these bits but I devoured them. I was so ecstatic about the crunchiness and sweetness of the skin that I had no time to feel embarrassed about the way I was eating; grabbing the pork with both hand and just ripping out a bite. Ricardo then says I should try the ají. I did, and it was divine and hot. It was made with the same herb and some garlic, cheese and of course rocoto. It is the perfect compliment for the pachamanca. It won’t take center stage in your mouth it will just enhance what you are savoring.

If you thought the pork was good, let me tell you about the chicken. It was buried at the bottom of the plate, but I got it out. It was the leg and thigh. I just grabbed both ends and ripped them apart. Ricardo had a smile on his face; he really enjoys seeing people delight with his food. I didn’t even feel the skin, it wasn’t greasy nor gelatin like. It was just part of the leg. The color was pinkish white. You could tell it was fresh. It wasn’t dry at all, but it wasn’t raw either, it had just finished cooking. After taking a bite this gentle steam came out, it only made it more pleasurable. The best part is being able to taste the meat, the herbs and even the carob wood.

Now come the garnishes. Although the lima beans are cooked in their pods so they won’t dry out, they usually do come out dry. Of course, these weren’t dry at all. Inside you find three small beans looking up with skin falling off, it might as well say eat me. The corn is golden yellow and is bathed with this herb butter. You can see the little green dots of these wonderful herbs. One bite is never enough, if you’re going to chare I suggest breaking it in two first, because once you start biting into it you’ll forget about sharing completely. The potatoes have a small wedge cut out so the cheese can melt inside. It is a salty Andean type of cheese so it won’t stay liquid, it will harden a bit but it becomes airy and with the butter it becomes food fit for gods. The yams are made special; they are glazed with chancaca syrup, which brings out the sweetness and orange color of the yam. This you do have to eat with a fork because it’s baked into a puree, a sweet orange mouthwatering puree. The manzano bananas were the last thing I tried, a bit reluctant because I don’t like their mushiness; I was surprised to find a new kind of sweetness. It had kind of a nutty brown sugary taste to it, I have to say quite pleasant to the palate. Last but definitely not least are the humitas. Made with the help of some special small hands (Ricardo’s children) they are displayed wrapped in panka. They are small and sweet. Kind of like a little dessert. They are made with corn and, of course these Andean herbs. When you bite into them you can feel the skin of the kernels, which means they are made from scratch, a perfect end to a perfect lunch.

To quench my thirst, Ricardo offered some home made chicha morada, a typical Peruvian drink. This dark purple beverage was boiled to perfection with the right amount of fruits. It didn’t taste like lemons, as most of them did; it tasted like the one the Incas drank, thick with a round full body.

Without a doubt this is the meal I have most enjoyed, not only for the company but because of the way I was eating and the delightful flavor. I had such a great time when I went the following week with my family.

I haven’t told you the best part yet; they deliver. There is a minimum of four serving and you have to order about one hour ahead but it is cheap and they will charge you the cab fair. The quality you get is the same as the one offered at the restaurant. They have created a unique way of packaging this pachamanca. Once cooked they will put it in a big ceramic, pot juices and all, then sealed with a four based paste to maintain the freshness and heat. When you open it at home you will be transported immediately to then sierra.

The Family

As I said, Ricardo and Noemi make you feel like family, so I won’t reveal their last names because, since they are family, they should have yours.

Ricardo’s parents were born in Huancayo then came to Lima to start a business. They always encouraged Ricardo and his seven siblings to be creative in their own way, not just improving what they already knew. He remembers his mother made little competitions between them by making them create new juices; this is how the love for creating grew in Ricardo.

He then studied philosophy in the Franciscan order, and then is Costa Rica Theology. He then moved to Europe, mainly France and worked for the Accor franchise. As the years passed by Ricardo became enamored with the idea of returning to Peru and doing something. After considering it for a while, he realized Peru’s popularity was declining a bit and the only food people associated with us was the Ceviche and the Pisco Sour. This was the turning point, so after many adventures and meeting many friends, which he is still in touch with. He returned to Peru with the idea of making Peruvian food more popular.

When he returned he felt a bit lost. He didn’t know what people liked here, so he started making different dishes and did a small market study. Then he decided to make regional foods including their specialty the pachamanca. He built this small restaurant designed and built the oven and has been open for almost two years.

Ricardo and Noemi love their work so much their two small children absorb this love. There is a story he told me: His son wrote a paper on the restaurant and describes it with so much love and enthusiasm that his teacher called the next day to order about 20 pachamancas. They even help with the humitas, as I mentioned above, and help improve the restaurant by bringing up new ideas. This is the kind of love you feel when you eat there.

Their whole idea of a restaurant is a place where you come and eat pleasantly. Where there are no surprises. The food is prepared with fresh ingredients bought that same morning, prepared with love and care then sold at a more then fair price.

The Facts

La Casita de Ricardo


Address: Jr Comandante Espinar 240, Jesús María, Lima

Phone number: 566-3875

Hours: Monday through Sunday during lunch, reservation needed

Website: www.lacasitadericardo.com

Parking: On street

Menu in English: No, but owner speaks English and some French as well.

Reservation recommended: For special groups or parties and if ordering pachamanca

Cards accepted: ALL major cards

Business friendly: Yes

Good for large groups: Yes

Child friendly: Yes

Handicap accessible: Help available

Catering for special dietary needs: Yes (call ahead)

Outdoor seating/terrace: No


Add a comment :
2 comments

Rolo says :
6-02-08,02:47:51

Melanie Bayly:  it was torture reading your description of the Pachamanca at "La Casita de Ricardo"......my mouth was watering while I read your article.  Frustrating.....since I live in California. Lucky you!

We once attended a Pachamanca near San Francisco.  The organizers were just digging the hole in the ground when we arrived.  I thought: "what's wrong with this picture?".  We waited and waited for the food to come out......finally it was announced that the Consul of Peru and other "VIPS" would eat first. Well....surprise! the chicken was still pink and the "dignitaries" had to finish cooking their raw chicken on the "barbie"...ha,ha. The self-sacrificing cooks ate last, but their pachamanca was cooked to perfection because it was sitting on the hottest rocks, at the bottom of the pit.  Some of us were having a good laugh about it when we heard the chairman of the event announce: "Ladies and gentlemen, this was our first and, no doubt......our last pachamanca". (Some Limenhos didn't get the message that they were supposed to dig the pit the day before. I'm sure Ricardo and Noemi would have had a good laugh on them).

I will definitely recommend "La Casita de Ricardo" to my family and friends in Lima. I intend to try it myself, when I visit Peru next year.

Hope to read more restaurant reviews like these

Ricardo Gutierrez says :
12-02-08,04:00:28

Melannie...Felicitaciones por el reportaje..!
te suplico comunicarte  con nosotros.

Ricardo y Noemi



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