{"id":8410,"date":"2026-10-19T23:31:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T14:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8410"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:50:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:50:17","slug":"picarones","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/picarones\/","title":{"rendered":"Picarones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Using wet fingers, the cook pokes a hole in a piece of soft dough and drops the ring straight into the oil to fry. Picarones are a sweet made by working squash and similar ingredients into wheat flour, and they are eaten with chancaca syrup. In Peru, sweet potato is also used, and picarones are popular on the street corners and at the festivals of Lima. Chilean picarones also contain squash, but the dough is leavened differently and the syrup is soaked in differently.<\/p>\n

The Bu\u00f1uelo Technique and the Pairing of Sweet Potato and Squash<\/h2>\n

Picarones are thought to have come from a meeting between the frying techniques of the Spanish bu\u00f1uelo family of sweets and the local camote and zapallo. Sweet potato and squash were already part of Indigenous diets, and wheat flour and sugar, which spread during the colonial period, were added to them. The result was a method particular to the region: a soft flour dough with vegetables worked into it is fermented, fried, and topped with sugarcane syrup.<\/p>\n

The name bu\u00f1uelo is a broad term for fried-dough sweets that differ from region to region. A Lima poem from the 1790s also describes picarones as bu\u00f1uelos. The two are therefore thought to be closely related sweets whose names and formulas changed over time, rather than unrelated ones. There is also a story that picarones began as a cheap substitute, but it was Afro-descendant women who made them, sold them on the streets, and spread them as a local sweet.<\/p>\n

A Fermented Dough Made with Vegetable Pur\u00e9e and Cooking Liquid<\/h2>\n

The Peruvian fermented dough uses the sweet potato called camote and the squash called zapallo. They are cooked until soft, mashed, and combined with wheat flour, yeast, anise, and other ingredients. Because the vegetables are worked into the dough itself rather than wrapped inside as diced pieces, a pale yellow-orange color shows even on the cut surface.<\/p>\n

The cooking liquid is also used as moisture to bring the dough together. Since the moisture in the pur\u00e9e and the amount of water the flour absorbs vary, the dough is adjusted to a soft consistency that can be picked up by hand and formed into rings. Working the vegetables into the flour adds moisture and flavor to the dough.<\/p>\n

Once the yeast is added, the dough is rested in a warm place so that it fills with air bubbles. In some methods, the yeast is activated in the cooking liquid before the pur\u00e9e and flour are added; in others, the flour and vegetables are mixed first and the dough is then fermented for a long time. Just before frying, the bubbly dough is shaped into rings by hand.<\/p>\n

Not Cut with a Cutter but Shaped into Rings One at a Time Beside the Oil<\/h2>\n

The typical way to shape them is to take up the soft dough with wet hands, open a hole in the center with the fingers, and drop it into the oil. Some cooks moisten their fingers with salted water to keep the dough from sticking. Unlike doughnuts, which are made by rolling out a firm dough and cutting it with a cutter, picarones are formed into rings one at a time beside the oil.<\/p>\n

The rings are fried until the surface is browned and fragrant, then lifted out with a stick or similar tool and drained of oil. Because each one is shaped by hand, the outline has small irregularities, with both thin and thick parts. The outside is crisp to the bite, and the inside is a soft dough that holds the vegetables and the bubbles formed during fermentation.<\/p>\n

Anise in the Dough and Chancaca Syrup with Spices and Fruit<\/h2>\n

The \u201choney\u201d poured over the top is not actually honey but chancaca, a non-centrifugal cane sugar, melted down by simmering. It is dissolved in water, strained, and flavored with a combination of aromatics such as cinnamon, cloves, anise, orange, and fig leaves. Some formulas also add fruit juice, or quince, apple, or pineapple.<\/p>\n

Anise is mixed into the dough, while spices are simmered separately in the syrup. When the syrup is poured over the fried dough, both aromas can be enjoyed together. In cook Cecilia Tupac\u2019s formula, the syrup combines orange juice, fig leaves, cinnamon, cloves, and anise. The sweet is completed by pairing the fried rings with the syrup.<\/p>\n

Cooks who introduce picarones in Japan have also carried on this way of handling a soft dough. Takahiro Arai of the restaurant Arai Shoten in Tokyo cooks the vegetables in liquid in which spices have been simmered, and adds some of it to the dough as well. The dough is brought together to a sticky consistency, and the surface is not fried too hard, leaving a fluffy exterior and a chewy interior. For the syrup he uses kokuto (Japanese brown sugar), orange juice, and fig leaves, which add aroma and acidity separately from the dough.<\/p>\n

Vendors Recorded in Paintings, and a Sweet of Lima\u2019s Processions and Street Stalls<\/h2>\n

Women who make and sell picarones are called picaroneras. Their sweet-making appears in the work of the 19th-century painter Pancho Fierro, and later the voices of women selling the sweet were preserved in songs and poems. Picarones are also known as a sweet passed down by Afro-Peruvian cooks, and they have been served at events such as Lima\u2019s religious procession of the Se\u00f1or de los Milagros.<\/p>\n

On street corners, they are also popular as a sweet to eat after anticuchos, a dish of grilled skewers. The area around Parque Kennedy in Miraflores is one of the places where picarones are sold alongside other Lima sweets. At street stalls, you can get them freshly made, fried and drizzled with syrup right in front of you.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
Frying picarones at the Argentine event \u201cBuenos Aires celebra Per\u00fa\u201d (July 29, 2012). A stall scene in which the dough is fried beside the pot and served to visitors. Photo: Suedehead \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>. Downscaled version obtained from Commons. No alterations to the content and no cropping.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Picarones of Lima and Santiago in 18th- and 19th-Century Records<\/h2>\n

Lima por dentro y fuera (Lima Inside and Out), written by Esteban Terralla y Landa under the pen name Sim\u00f3n Ayanque, was published in 1797. In a digitized copy of the 1798 edition, the section \u201cRest 15, Romance 16\u201d contains wordplay that explains picarones as the fried sweets called bu\u00f1uelos and teases that there are men even more roguish than they are. By the end of the 18th century, this name for the sweet was in use in Lima.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Zapiola\u2019s recollections also feature people selling picarones in the Plaza de Armas of Santiago, along with mote and huesillos. These are recollections of the city from 1810 to 1840, which he began writing in 1872. They do not go as far as describing the amounts of sweet potato or squash, but both Lima and Santiago are depicted as places where people received fried sweets and where vendors stood.<\/p>\n

The Naming and the Move to Chile in the Story of Rosal\u00eda<\/h2>\n

In Justo Abel Rosales\u2019s La Negra Rosal\u00eda o el Club de los Picarones (Rosal\u00eda the Black Woman, or the Picarones Club; 1896), Rosal\u00eda, who sells the sweets beside a bridge in Lima, tells a soldier that they are called picarones because while hot they are rascals that burn your mouth, and once lukewarm they become sweet and gentle. It is an origin story told within a conversation, linking the Spanish word p\u00edcaro<\/em>, \u201crascal,\u201d to the hot rings.<\/p>\n

In the same book, she is born in the Aconcagua valley, comes from Chile to Lima at the age of 3 or 4, and refines her skills by helping another Black woman with her work. The story goes on to say that she married Pedro Olivos and, after planning in 1823 to return to Chile with the army, lived on Calle San Pablo in Santiago, and in 1827 or 1828 moved her shop to the corner of the old post office.<\/p>\n

Rosales also included conversations with soldiers and with the independence leader San Mart\u00edn, portraying a vendor who moved between the two lands. Apart from this story, which was retold at the end of the 19th century, Zapiola also recalled vendors in Santiago from an earlier period. It is not clear who first brought the sweet to Chile, but her story tells of the way of making it traveling with the army and the people.<\/p>\n

Pasados: Thoroughly Soaked in Syrup in Chile<\/h2>\n

Some Chilean methods combine squash pur\u00e9e, wheat flour, and milk. Leavening is not limited to yeast; some methods use baking powder, and lemon or orange zest is added for aroma. Besides forming the rings with moistened hands, there is also a method that uses a dedicated mold called a picaronera.<\/p>\n

For the chancaca sauce, some cooks add citrus peel and cloves and thicken it with a small amount of starch. In addition to serving them with hot syrup poured over and eaten right away, they are also made \u201cpasados,\u201d with the fried rings placed in the sauce and left for a while to soak it up thoroughly. The Peruvian rings containing sweet potato and the Chilean rings based mainly on squash each have their own characteristics in their ingredients and in how the syrup is soaked in.<\/p>\n

\n\"Picarones\n
Picarones at a restaurant in Ayacucho, Peru (January 9, 2026). An example of serving with the fried dough stacked on a plate. Photo: Yhhue91 \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Downscaled version obtained from Commons. No alterations to the content and no cropping.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

A Method Passed from Mother to Daughter, and on to Grandchildren and Schoolchildren<\/h2>\n

Even today, picarones are a sweet whose handwork is learned from other people. Eufemia Antiall\u00f3n Quispe, who makes them in San Luis in Ca\u00f1ete Province, says she began helping her mother, Evarista, at the age of 15 and was able to make them on her own by around the age of 20. A 2026 report by a public agency recorded her boiling sweet potato and squash, adding anise, and kneading the dough while paying close attention to its condition.<\/p>\n

While she sells freshly fried picarones in the plaza in the afternoon, with syrup scented with fig leaves, she also teaches the method to her granddaughter and to children at local schools. The technique of poking a hole in the dough with a finger to form a ring, and the skill of judging the condition of the dough, are not only preserved in records of past vendors but are still taught from person to person today.<\/p>\n

\n\"Picarones\n
Picarones at the restaurant \u201cFiesta\u201d in Chiclayo, Peru (January 10, 2015). A single-plate presentation served with syrup. Photo: Luis Tamayo from Dallas, Texas, USA, USA \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>. Downscaled version obtained from Commons. No alterations to the content and no cropping.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Bu\u00f1uelo<\/strong>: A broad term for sweets made by frying flour dough in oil. Ingredients and shapes vary by region.<\/p>

Picaronera<\/strong>: A woman who makes and sells picarones. In Chile, the word is also used as the name of a dedicated mold for forming the rings.<\/p>

Esteban Terralla y Landa \/ Sim\u00f3n Ayanque<\/strong>: An author who satirized late-18th-century Lima, and his pen name.<\/p>

Jos\u00e9 Zapiola<\/strong>: A 19th-century Chilean musician and memoirist who wrote about life in the city of Santiago.<\/p>

Justo Abel Rosales<\/strong>: A late-19th-century Chilean author who portrayed Rosal\u00eda\u2019s sweet-selling business and travels as a historical narrative.<\/p>

Rosal\u00eda \/ Pedro Olivos<\/strong>: The sweet vendor at the center of Rosales\u2019s story, and her husband. The story tells of her birth, marriage, and move to Chile.<\/p>

Jos\u00e9 de San Mart\u00edn<\/strong>: The leader of the South American independence movement. He also appears in Rosales\u2019s story about the sweet.<\/p>

Eufemia \/ Evarista Quispe<\/strong>: A maker of picarones in San Luis, Ca\u00f1ete Province, and her mother. A 2026 report described how the skill was passed down from mother to daughter.<\/p>

Chancaca<\/strong>: A non-centrifugal sugar made by boiling down sugarcane juice. It is used as the base for syrups and sauces.<\/p>

Camote<\/strong>: Spanish for sweet potato.<\/p>

Zapallo<\/strong>: A term used in South America for squashes and pumpkins.<\/p>

Cecilia Tupac<\/strong>: A cook who shares methods for making Peruvian dishes and sweets.<\/p>

Pancho Fierro<\/strong>: A 19th-century Peruvian painter who depicted the people and customs of the city in watercolor.<\/p>

Se\u00f1or de los Milagros<\/strong>: Meaning \u201cLord of Miracles,\u201d an image of Christ in Lima and the devotion and processions surrounding it.<\/p>

Anticucho<\/strong>: A Peruvian dish of meat or other ingredients skewered and grilled.<\/p>

Baking powder<\/strong>: A leavening agent that produces gas inside the dough to make it rise.<\/p>

Pasados<\/strong>: A term for preparations in which sweets or other foods are passed through syrup or soaked in it.<\/p>

Takahiro Arai<\/strong>: A cook who trained in Peru and has introduced its cuisine at the restaurant Arai Shoten in Tokyo.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. Cecilia Tupac: Picarones Peruanos<\/a> \u2014 Ingredients; the combination of pur\u00e9e with flour, yeast, and cooking liquid; spices in the syrup.<\/li>
  2. Per\u00fa Travel: Picarones, historia y preparaci\u00f3n<\/a> \u2014 Current ingredients, fermentation, and shaping with wet fingers; the syrup; an introduction to the women on the streets, processions, and art.<\/li>
  3. Universidad Ricardo Palma: Gu\u00eda tur\u00edstica Lima<\/a> \u2014 Printed pages 49\u201350. Street stalls and the sweet eaten after anticuchos; an actual recipe.<\/li>
  4. Per\u00fa Travel: Conoce las costumbres de Lima<\/a> \u2014 The sweets culture of Parque Kennedy.<\/li>
  5. Academia Gastron\u00f3mica de Chile \/ INACAP: Picarones<\/a> \u2014 Squash, flour, milk, leavening agent and lemon; the mold; syrup thickened with starch.<\/li>
  6. Nestl\u00e9 Chile: Picarones con chancaca<\/a> \u2014 A version combining yeast and a leavening agent; the step of soaking the fried rings in syrup.<\/li>

  7. \u30fbEsteban Terralla y Landa, \u201cLima por dentro y fuera,\u201d digital edition<\/a> \u2014 The explanation of picarones and bu\u00f1uelos, and wordplay aimed at people.<\/p><\/li>

  8. \u30fbCASLIT, \u201cLima por dentro y fuera,\u201d bibliographic record<\/a> \u2014 The bibliographic date of 1797 and the relationship between the pen name and the author. The digital edition actually consulted is the 1798 edition; the two editions are distinguished.<\/p><\/li>

  9. \u30fbMemoria Chilena, \u201cLa Plaza de Armas,\u201d excerpt from Jos\u00e9 Zapiola<\/a> \u2014 The sale of picarones in the plaza in Santiago.<\/p><\/li>

  10. \u30fbNational Library of Chile, \u201ccronista y escritor\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The start of writing in 1872 and the nature of the recollections covering 1810\u20131840.<\/p><\/li>

  11. \u30fbJ. Abel Rosales, La Negra Rosal\u00eda o el Club de los Picarones (1896)<\/a> \u2014 Rosal\u00eda\u2019s origin story and the narrative of her birth and travels; the 1823 plan is distinguished from the 1827\u201328 shop relocation.<\/p><\/li>

  12. \n

    MINCETUR, \u201cPicarones,\u201d Tourism Resource Inventory 14281<\/a> \u2014 The combination of the bu\u00f1uelo technique and local ingredients; current methods and street culture.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  13. \n

    MIDIS \/ Pensi\u00f3n 65, \u201cHistorias que nos unen: la picard\u00eda de Eufemia\u201d (2026)<\/a> \u2014 A direct interview covering Eufemia\u2019s own learning from her mother, her sales in the plaza, and her teaching of her granddaughter and schools.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  14. \n

    Ryori Tsushin, Takahiro Arai, \u201cPicarones,\u201d October 10, 2024 (from the September 2019 issue of the magazine)<\/a> \u2014 The cook\u2019s testimony, ingredients, and 6 steps, read directly. The spiced cooking liquid, the moisture of root vegetables, and the preparation at a restaurant in Japan. Not used as evidence for general history.<\/p>\n<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Picarones are ring-shaped fried sweets loved in Peru. Squash and sweet potato are added to a wheat-flour dough, which is fermented, fried, and topped with brown chancaca syrup. The rings, not perfectly uniform in shape, are crisp and fragrant outside and soft inside. Warm syrup coats the dough, which carries the color and aroma of the vegetables.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7402,"menu_order":181,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Picarones","subtitle":"Squash and sweet potato dough with dark syrup","topics":"A fermented dough with vegetables worked in\uff0fRings and syrup finished separately\uff0fA sweet eaten on Lima\u2019s street corners","country":"Peru","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["spice"],"texture":[],"occasion":[],"method":["fried","fermented"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[169],"class_list":["post-8410","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t