It’s a good time to be an eater here in Dallas-Fort Worth. Whether you’re craving local favorites like tacos and barbecue, inventive tasting menus or top-notch international cuisines, the area can provide it. That extends to Peruvian food, which is well represented across town — though perhaps still flies largely under the radar — and enjoys a world-class reputation on the global stage.
In fact, two Lima-based restaurants — Central and Maido — are currently sixth and tenth, respectively, in the annual ranking of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
The point is: Peruvian food is good. And you don’t have to travel all the way to Peru to eat it. Because throughout D-FW, you can find several good examples of traditional Peruvian dishes, from grilled meats to ceviche.
The cuisine is diverse, influenced by a mix of past colonizers and postwar immigrants, and includes notable accents from Spain, Italy, China and Japan, among others. But one dish in particular, pollo a la brasa — which translates to blackened or rotisserie chicken cooked over flames — is a staple on Peruvian menus all over town. The meat is seasoned, cooked on a rotisserie, and can be served with one or more trademark sauces. And, in an unexpected twist, this dish that’s synonymous with Peru has an origin story beginning with a Swiss chicken farmer.
In 1950, Roger Schuler began selling roasted chickens on the side of the road in Lima as a way to earn some extra money. His chickens were so popular that he and another Swiss native, Franz Ulrich, devised a multi-spit rotisserie to cook more birds more quickly. The two men soon capitalized on their idea and opened the polleria, La Granja Azul, which still stands today. They certainly weren’t the first to cook chicken over charcoal, but it’s believed they invented the multi-spit rotisserie that helped to popularize the dish. Many decades later, pollo a la brasa still holds such sway in Peru that the government declared the third Sunday of each July to be National Pollo a la Brasa Day.
Felipe Munoz is the co-owner of The Brasa in Richardson. He grew up in Lima and lived in Peru until he moved to the U.S. at age 27. Like most Peruvians, he ate the dish often. “Everyone did — there are Peruvian chicken places everywhere,” he says.
It’s that fond memory, and his noticing a gap in the market, that led Munoz and a few partners to open their restaurant early last year.
“We really prepare our dish close to how it’s done in Peru,” Munoz says. “We’ve got the real machine from Peru, we use charcoal, we brine the chicken for 18 hours and then we rub and marinate it for another four hours before cooking.” He notes that some restaurants use gas or conventional ovens to cook the chicken, but that doesn’t create the same dish.
“If you don’t do it with charcoal or wood, it’s not pollo a la brasa.”
To prep the chicken for roasting, most restaurants use a two-step brine-and-rub process that infuses the birds with flavor. The Brasa uses an 18-ingredient rub that includes cumin, garlic, rosemary and Chinese five spice powder. At Bravazo, the rotisserie chicken-focused restaurant at Plano’s Legacy Food Hall, chef director Javier Madero serves up two flavorful options: one with a lemon pepper-sea salt marinade and another that’s marinated in beer, garlic and aji amarillo. “Our Peruvian chicken is consistent with the best rotisserie chicken you can find in Lima,” he says.
Though the chicken is the star of the show, what comes on the side is nearly as important. According to Madero, french fries and ensalada criolla — a chopped vegetable salad — are the most common accompaniments, alongside yellow and red pepper sauces. “Aji amarillo and rocoto sauces are used for spice,” he adds. "Our Peruvian friends love their rocoto.”
Below are five places in D-FW to try pollo a la brasa for yourself.
The Brasa
Quarter, half and whole chickens are roasted over charcoal and served with aji amarillo sauce, plus your choice of two sides: french fries, broccoli, succotash, corn, plantains or rice. 430 N. Coit Road, Suite 400, Richardson. thebrasa.us.
Bravazo
Choose between the Bravazo (lemon pepper-sea salt marinade), which is served with warm bread salad, or the Peruvian (beer, garlic and aji amarillo), which comes with french fries. 7800 Windrose Ave. in Legacy Hall. bravazorotisserie.com.
Cuzco Cuisine
Quarter, half and whole chickens are roasted and served with French fries and a side salad, plus a selection of three sauces — green, yellow and red. Two locations: 9220 Skillman St., Suite 124, Dallas; 1910 N. Story Road, Irving. restaurantcuzco.com.
Nazca Kitchen
An aji-marinated half chicken is served with quinoa and rocoto sauce, available mild, medium or hot. 8041 Walnut Hill Lane, Dallas. nazcakitchen.com.
Tineo Peruvian Café
Quarter chickens are marinated and roasted and served with fries and a house salad. 525 W. Arapaho Road, Suite 1, Richardson. Facebook: Tineo Peruvian Cafe.