Menu del Dia

After lounging in the hot baths near Cajarmarca we were a bit peckish and headed off for some lunch. We found a not too grotty restaurant, with a table of eight happily munching, a good sign. We browsed the menu to find most regular items available.Pollo (chicken) this and pollo that. A bit of res(meat) with salad and beans. No guinea pig. Not that I could bear to watch Joe eat one again. Why the serve them with their heads on and the teeth peering up at you I cant understand! Caldo de Gallina, a broth with bits of veg and pollo into. Mystery bits that is. A red meat version is also available but bits of meat are more mysterious so we usually stick with the chicken(pollo). Most restaurants have a menu of the day. Its the cheapest and you can usually decipher what your eating. It also comes with a fruit cordial to really test your stomach. We decided to splash out a bit and instead of going from the Menu del Dia , Joe had some trout and & I had a well beaten piece of beef. It went down nicely and we settled it with a cold beer. We soon became aware of a constant thumping out side the window. Like someone chopping wood with a blunt axe. It would stop occasionally only to start up again , thump, thump, thump.

We finished our lunch, paid the billl and as we left the restaurant the curious noise was explained. A young lady was outside the restaurant, preparing the meat for the menu del Dia. On the table in front of her was half the head of a llama. In one hand she held the remaining half, the other hand careful scraping out the meat with a sharp knife, before dropping the bits in a bucket. Another head sat on the table, a hatchet firmly stuck in it. Tired of chopping she was having a bit of a break..........

Glad we didnt order the menu del dia