On a corner in La Paz, late afternoon, the smell hits you first: charcoal smoke, garlic, vinegar, and the deeply browned exterior of cubed beef heart finishing on a tin-roofed grill. A small woman in a bowler hat hands you a bamboo skewer threaded with three pieces of meat and a small boiled potato. She drizzles peanut sauce across the top, asks if you want llajwa (chilli) — yes — and you eat it standing, hot, while she stokes the coals for the next round. This is the anticucho: Bolivia's greatest piece of street food, and a complete rebuttal to anyone who claims they don't like organ meat.
In Bolivia, anticuchos are sold from carts on the street, from charcoal grills outside markets, and from the lap of the andean tradition that has cooked them this way for four hundred years. In Dubai, anticuchos exist on the edges — through the diaspora, at community festivals, and in the kitchens of a handful of dedicated home cooks. Here is everything you need to know.
What Makes a Bolivian Anticucho
The anticucho is older than most modern South American dishes — its roots are in pre-Columbian Andean grilling traditions, with significant Spanish (vinegar, garlic, cumin) and African (the use of organ meat, the peanut sauce) influences layered on through colonial centuries. The Bolivian version is distinct from its Peruvian cousin in four important ways:
The Marinade
Bolivian anticucho marinade is heavy on garlic (8–12 cloves per kilo of meat), white vinegar, ground cumin, dried oregano, salt and dried ají panca paste. The meat marinates for 8–24 hours before grilling. It is not a delicate flavour — it is robust, garlicky and unmistakably Andean.
The Peanut Sauce
Salsa de maní — the peanut sauce drizzled over Bolivian anticuchos — is the single most important distinguishing feature. Ground roasted peanuts, a little broth, garlic, ají amarillo and salt, blended to a thick pourable consistency. Peruvian anticuchos do not have this sauce.
The Potato
A small whole boiled potato is threaded onto the same skewer as the beef heart pieces, soaking up the marinade and the peanut sauce. This is the carbohydrate base of the dish — not a side. Without the potato, it isn't really an anticucho.
The Llajwa
Llajwa is Bolivia's national chilli sauce — fresh tomato, locoto pepper (similar to rocoto), quirquiña (a Bolivian herb related to coriander) and salt, pounded together. It is served alongside anticuchos for additional fire. Without it, the dish is incomplete.
Why Beef Heart Specifically?
Beef heart (corazón de res) is the traditional anticucho meat for both economic and culinary reasons. Historically, organ meats were what the cooks of Andean Bolivia had access to — the prime cuts went elsewhere. But culinarily, beef heart turns out to be ideal for this preparation: it is exceptionally lean, has minimal connective tissue when properly trimmed, and develops an intense beef flavour during marinade and grilling that ordinary muscle meat lacks. The texture is firmer than steak but not tough — closer to good tenderloin than to chewy organ meat.
In Dubai, halal-certified beef heart is widely available at the meat counters of Carrefour Mall of the Emirates, Lulu Hypermarket Karama, and specialist butchers in Deira and Al Quoz. A whole heart (around 1.5–2kg) costs AED 30–45 and yields enough cleaned, cubed meat for 30–40 skewers. For anyone willing to try making anticuchos at home, this is the cheapest entry point into authentic Bolivian cooking in Dubai.
Where to Find Anticuchos in Dubai
Bolivian Community Festivals
Multiple venues · Annual cycleThe single best place to eat authentic Bolivian anticuchos in Dubai is at the Independence Day festival on 6 August each year, where multiple home cooks set up charcoal grills and produce anticuchos for hours on end. The food is real, the prices are fair (AED 22–30 per skewer), and the atmosphere is what anticuchos are designed for — standing, smoky, communal. Watch Bolivian community Facebook groups for venue announcements in July.
Home-Cook Pop-Ups
Various villas · Weekend ordersA small number of Bolivian home chefs in Dubai take orders for anticuchos on weekends, typically delivered raw-marinated for you to grill, or delivered fully cooked for collection. Pricing is AED 25–35 per skewer including peanut sauce and llajwa. Minimum orders usually start at 10 skewers. Word-of-mouth is how to find them — the diaspora is small and connected.
Peruvian Anticuchos (Closest Restaurant Option)
JLT / Al Karama · PeruvianPeruvian-style anticuchos are on the menu at a handful of Latin American restaurants in Dubai — in particular the small Peruvian-Andean spots in JLT and Al Karama. These are not Bolivian anticuchos: there is no peanut sauce, the marinade is lighter, and the potato is usually a side rather than threaded onto the skewer. But the meat (beef heart, sometimes substituted with sirloin) is properly marinated and properly grilled, at AED 38–55 per portion. The closest restaurant approximation.
Making Anticuchos at Home in Dubai
Anticuchos are surprisingly achievable for a Dubai home cook. The ingredients are mostly local: beef heart from your nearest halal butcher (AED 30–45 per whole heart), garlic, white vinegar, cumin, oregano, potato. The only specialist ingredients are ají panca paste (substitute with ancho or pasilla chilli paste from Mexican stores in Karama) and llajwa herbs (substitute with fresh coriander and a serrano chilli). Peanut butter from any supermarket can stand in for ground roasted peanuts for the salsa de maní.
The technique matters more than the ingredient list. Trim the heart aggressively (remove all surface fat and connective tissue), cube it small (around 2cm), marinate for at least 12 hours, thread tightly onto soaked bamboo skewers, and grill over very hot direct heat for 2–3 minutes per side — you want char, not well-done. Rest for 60 seconds, drizzle peanut sauce, serve with llajwa. The first time you do this you will understand why Bolivians take anticuchos seriously.
Bolivian vs Peruvian Anticuchos: Side by Side
Explore Bolivian & Latin Food in Dubai
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get anticuchos delivered in Dubai?
Not through standard food delivery apps (no Bolivian restaurants listed). Home-cook orders can be arranged for collection or sometimes delivered via private courier on weekends. The pre-marinated raw skewers are a common format for orders — you grill them at home for the best experience.
What does beef heart actually taste like?
Clean, intensely beefy, slightly mineral — closer to a high-quality steak than to liver or kidney. The texture is firm and slightly chewy when cooked correctly (medium-rare to medium), and entirely unlike the soft texture of most organ meats. Once marinated and grilled, the flavour is dominated by the marinade and char rather than the organ character.
Can chicken or beef sirloin be used instead?
Yes, and many Bolivian cooks make a chicken version (anticuchos de pollo) or sirloin version for those who don't want organ meat. The technique is identical — the same marinade, grill and peanut sauce. The flavour is excellent but it isn't quite the same dish. For first-timers, sirloin anticuchos are a reasonable entry point before stepping up to the real thing.
How spicy are anticuchos?
The skewers themselves are only mildly spicy — the marinade contains dried ají but in modest quantities. The heat comes from the llajwa sauce served alongside, which can be fierce. You control your own spice level by how much llajwa you apply.
