Pachamanca

Meat, typically lamb, pork, beef, chicken, or guinea pig, and root vegetables (potato, sweet potato, oca, ulluco) cooked together underground in a pit lined with hot stones, layered with herbs (huacatay or Andean black mint, chincho, muña: Andean mountain mint), corn, broad beans, and humitas (corn-and-cheese tamales). The pit is sealed and the food cooks in the earth's residual heat for hours. The Andean ceremonial dish, with pre-Columbian origins predating Spanish arrival; the name means "earth pot" in Quechua. The signature is the smoky, herb-infused, earth-cooked depth that no other cooking method produces, layered over substantial mountain meat and starchy roots, with huacatay's distinctive minty-anise character running through everything.