For a Taste of Ancient Peruvian Cooking, Head to Vermont

Thousands of miles from its place of origin, pachamanca — a centuries-old form of underground cooking — gets a spotlight.

ANDOVER, Vt. — The scent of mint and smoke erupted from the pit in the earth. The cooks worked hastily but methodically, placing layers of potatoes, carrots, squash, fava beans, pork butt, chicken quarters, lamb shoulder, herbs and humitas — sweetened, spiced corn wrapped in husks — and separating the ingredients with hot stones that let out a gratifying sizzle whenever food kissed their surfaces. The elaborate choreography ended with the head cook, Victor Guadalupe, scooping dirt over the top, planting a cross (made of sticks and the twist tie from a bundle of cilantro) in the ground and pouring whiskey on top — a gesture for the Pachamama, or Mother Earth, he said. The guests crowded around the pit with their own shots of whiskey, cheering as if they were at the finals of the FIFA World Cup.