Arni Fernandez
Montado is a favorite dish of Cusco. People eat it in the markets and in the city’s restaurants. It is a little expensive, in local terms, since it can cost up to 10/S (about three dollars).
It is made from french fried potatoes, white rice, a pan-fried, thin steak on top of them and then a fried egg on top of that. There is something beautiful about this mountain of food in layers. With the shining yellow, still runny yolk on top.
In our picanterías and in the provinces of Cusco this plate is consumed in great quantity. All the ingredients that it has together make it attractive. It is even more so when surrounded by salad and with a little hot sauce from fresh ground peppers.
In our homes we prepare this dish often on weekends. It is considered a strong and festive plate. All the family comes together and with much joy and music begin to prepare this marvelous dish that is very easy to make.
It is as easy as making a rice with egg (another of our favorites. That is just as it sounds, white rice mounded up with an egg on top. Some people might think that so many ingredients on a plate, as in the montado, must be complicated ot make. But it is not.
The other day I went to visit the Wanchaq market. There I enjoyed a delicious montado that was perfectly pulled together. I conversed for a while with the casera and she told me that the only complicated thing for making the dish was to peel the potatoes and slice them. Otherwise it is very easy.
If you have all the ingredients at hand you can easily make this delight along with your family and friends.
