Pachamanca @ La Casita de Ricardo

On Sundays, Peruvians celebrate the end of the weekend by eating. I'm not sure what the justification is the other six days, but they do a good job then, as well. I called Garry and Veronika, and they were free for Lunch, so I suggested that we go for Pachamanca at La Casita de Ricardo.
Pachamanca is a traditional Peruvian dish where various kinds of Meats, Vegetables, Potatoes and other stuff (Tamales, Humitas) are buried in a rick-lined hole in the ground, covered up, and left to cook for a few hours. Think Clam Bake, but with Meats, and there you are. Click here to read Wikipedia's explanation. It's originally from the Mountain region, but it has branched out. They don't dig holes in town, so the version today was made in an oven.

The restaurant is a little off the beaten path for anyone who is visiting as a tourist. It's not far -- in San Miguel -- and is easy to find as it is off of a main street, and there's a big sign right on the corner that even Ray Charles couldn't miss.

It's nice to walk into a place and have the Owner and his Wife both shout out, "Richard!" Just sayin'.

Anyway, Ricardo greets us with a pitcher of Chicha de Hora. The best way that I can describe it (based on what Garry said) would be that it is Apple Cider with a kick. I told Ricardo that I don't drink, and he brought me a smaller pitcher of what tasted like Apple Cider, without a kick.

So we order Pachamanca for four (Veronika's niece joined us, too). The girls try to order other stuff, to go with the Pachamanca, but we didn't let them. Ricardo brings the dishes out out right away.

There are three meats in this dish: Beef, Pork and Chicken.

You can also see a Plantain, a Sweet Potato, a Tamale, a Humita (which is like a Tamale, only sweeter), and Habas. Not pictured, but in there: regular Potato.

Habas are these Giant Beans. They use them in many dishes, but I mostly like them cooked this way.

This was one REALLY large Habas.

I ate all of mine, and Garry's Pork. We had a fun time, and left Lunch to try to go to the Circus. It was sold out.