Picarones

Peru Delights’ picarones combine sweet potatoes and pumpkin in a yeast-raised dough that is shaped into rings and fried. Their almost crisp exterior surrounds a doughy centre, and the finished rings are drenched in a fruity, spiced chancaca syrup.

The sweet potatoes and pumpkin are peeled, cut and boiled with aniseed in enough water to cover them. The vegetables are drained and mashed or processed into a soft purée, while their cooking water is reserved.

One cup of the lukewarm cooking water is mixed with sugar and active dry yeast, then covered and rested to form a sponge. The purée, activated yeast and flour are mixed with another half-cup of the same cooking water; a kitchen towel covers the dough while it rises to double or triple its volume.

For the syrup, chopped chancaca cooks with cinnamon sticks, cloves, a fig leaf, star anise, pineapple peels and a whole orange in water until thick. The syrup is strained, its solids discarded and the liquid cooled to room temperature.

Cold water is kept nearby to wet the shaping hand. Portions of dough are formed into rings directly into hot oil, turned with a wooden stick or fork and served straight away, very hot, drenched with the chancaca syrup.