The people of Cusco make up a lot of food when they cook. They cook both for lunch and dinner. Throughout the week they make different dishes, such as chicken stew (estofado de pollo), Turkish rice, noodles with chicken (tallarín con pollo), lentils and rice, as well as many more. The women in the house are the ones who are in charge of having the family meal ready.
After enjoying lunch and dinner people reheat the left overs for breakfast. People love to have this rewarmed food from the day before to start the new day. This way they begin the day with a lot of energy and vigor.
Some people think that reheating food from the day before takes away its flavor. They do not think that it will have that special touch from the day before and as a result are afraid to reheat their food. Instead they give the leftovers to their animals.
The majority of people here, however, know that when you reheat your leftovers they take on a delicious flavor, sometimes better than it had the day before. We are told you should only think of reheating it for three days, however. Of course all of this depends on what you prepared. For example a lentil with rice can be reheated over three or four days.
People tend to reheat their food in a medium fry pan or pot. Some people heat the whole meal together, while other people keep the different elements separated. Some people, for example if we are talking about lentils with rice, will reheat the lentils in one pot and the rice in the other while others will mix them.
There are people on the edges of the city who still cook with fogones, the traditional fire driven stoves. People say that using them to cook makes the food take on an incomparable flavor. Perhaps because of the wood fire, people say that food reheated on a fogón is much better than food warmed up on the stove.
