A hugely popular street food dish in Peru is the spicy anticuchos skewer, commonly made using ox heart (or from any of many other beasts). Here I used fallow deer heart as it‘s readily available to me here in south-west of England, but please feel free to use ox heart, lamb heart or a cut of beef like rump steak for this. The spicy marinade uses an ingredient called aji panca, a Peruvian moderately spicy and smoky red pepper paste, which I luckily managed to get hold of, but if you struggle, then ancho paste or even a chipotle paste will work. Marinating overnight makes all the difference, so build in the time to do it.  

Ingredients

3 fallow venison hearts 

3 tbsp aji panca or alternative 

2 tbsp red wine vinegar 

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp cumin seeds 

4 garlic gloves 

Sea salt and black pepper 

Extra virgin olive oil, sliced red chillies and lime wedges, to serve 

RECOMMENDED HEAT

Moderate to high heat embers 

CHOOSE YOUR SKEWER 

Pre-soaked bamboo gun skewers or short wooden 

Method

1. Trim the venison hearts, removing anything sinewy, and cut them into 8-10-cm long strips. 

2. In a bowl, combine all of the other ingredients along with about 1 tsp salt and a good pinch of freshly ground pepper and stir to combine. Add the strips to the bowl and stir until fully covered. Cover the bowl and leave to marinate in the fridge for 12–24 hours. 

3. Set up the grill for moderate to high heat close proximity grilling. 

4. Thread each strip of marinated venison heart onto skewer, and place on the grill. Cook for a few minutes on each side, turning a few times until crisped up, and for an overall cooking time of 10 minutes (they will toughen up if overcooked). Use a digital probe thermometer to check they are 60-65°C internal temperature to keep them nice and juicy and slightly pink. Drizzle over some olive oil, scatter with chillies and add a squeeze of lime juice to serve.