Peruvians in the United States are pleased as fellow Peruvian Amparo Alam won a cook-off competition on the show Ultimate Recipe Showdown on The Food Network. In the Chicken category, the 51 year old mother, originally from Lima now living in Utah, entered her dish as “Peruvian Herb-Roasted Chicken”. Citing it as her mothers recipe, something she enjoyed as a birthday treat as a child, the chicken is roasted after being marinated with fresh Peruvian lemons, cumin, basil, garlic and the magical Peruvian chilli, huacatay. Accompanied by fried sweet potatoes, her dish soundly defeated the other eight competitors entries, winning 99 of the possible 100 points available.

The crisp spicy chicken won her $25,000 and her recipe is now on the menus of T.G.I Fridays restaurants across the United States.

“What’s great about this dish is that it just screams ‘Friday’s’,” said Scott Randolph, of T.G.I. Fridays R&D.

“We are very excited to bring America’s greatest recipes to our guests,” said Mike Archer, president of T.G.I. Friday’s USA. “These are real recipes from real people and their creations have inspired menu items that are only available at Friday’s.”

T.G.I. Friday’s have every reason to be ecstatic. Peruvian food makes waves wherever it is introduced.

Tags: food, huacatay, tgi fridays