In English and Spanish, many words translate directly.  However, in Peru there are certain phrases that mean very different things than one might expect.  For example, ¨Te invito almorzar¨ would theoretically say, ¨Would you like you eat lunch with me?¨ But today I learned that it actually means, ¨Today you are going to join us in a three-and-a-half-hour cooking process while we drink chicha until your stomach is full.  Then we will eat a plate stacked with 3-plates-worth of food.  Don’t say no or I’ll be offended.¨ It’s a beautiful (but intimidating) offer. 

HOW TO MAKE ROCOTTO RELLENO FROM SCRATCH

1.       You should probably live on a farm so that you can get all the ingredients from your own land and animals

2.       Get a mound of pea pods and take out all the peas and peel off the skin of each one.

3.       Chop carrots, onions, garlic, and meat into itsy-bitsy pieces

4.       Peel a bowl of peanuts and then use two huge rocks to rind them into super-natural peanut butter

5.       Sautee meat and veggies and mix with peanut butter

6.       Stuff the mixture into rocotto peppers (like a small slightly spicy bell pepper)      

 7.       Pour batter (of flour, water, and duck eggs) on top of pepper and fry in oil

Ok, so I probably left out a bunch of steps, but that´s the general idea.  As they say in Peru, it´s riquisimo and well worth the three and a half hours.  But as a warning, I don´t recommend eating this when you have to run to the neighboring town for Spanish class right afterwards—especially not when you eat it with two cups of chicha, a huge slab of meat, two potatoes, and cheese and onion salad.  Side effects include a strong desire to vomit on the side of the road.