Hispanic History Month and Foodways Series: October in Lima, Peru

Turrón de Doña Pepa, recipe below

The Spanish started importing enslaved Africans from the Congo, Angola, Ghana, Mozambique, and others to Peru between 1520- 1530. Enslaved Africans worked in the highland mining industry and on lowland sugar plantations. In Lima, the capital city, enslaved Africans did all types of work including cooking. Every October Lima is the site of one of the biggest Catholic processions and feast in the world. Hundreds of people walk the streets of Lima carrying image of a miracle working Black Christ (Señor de los Milagros) that a divinely inspired and gifted enslaved Angolan convert to Catholicism painted on a wall where people regularly gathered for prayer in 1651. Similarly, an enslaved Afro Peruvian women named Doña Josefa Marmanill made an indelible mark on the country’s food and religious life with the creation of a anise based cookie coated with fruit syrup and highly decorated called the Turrón de Doña Pepa. According to Peruvian folklore, Doña Pepa, originally known as Doña Josefa Marmanill, received the recipe as a gift from God in a dream for the feast of the Señor de los Milagros. Here is a recipe for Turrón de Doña Pepa:

Turrón de Doña Pepa recipe: http://yanuq.com/english/recipe.asp?idreceta=423