Make a marinade: Combine 1 whole head of garlic (about 16 cloves), peeled and crushed, with 1 tablespoon each of seeded ground fresh hot green or red pepper and ground cumin seed and salt and pepper to taste Add 1 cup red-wine vinegar and blend the mixture well.
Remove the nerves and fat from a beef heart and cut it into 1-inch cubes. Put the cubes in a china bowl and pour the marinade over them, adding more vinegar, if necessary, to cover. Refrigerate the meat, covered, for 24 hours and drain it, reserving 3/4 cup marinade.
Prepare the following sauce: Shake the seeds from 1 cup dried hot red peppers and soak the peppers in hot water to cover for 30 minutes. Drain the peppers and combine them in the container of a blender with the reserved marinade, 1 tablespoon each of oil and ground annatto seeds, and salt to taste. Blend the sauce until it is smooth and quite thick.
Thread the cubes of beef heart on 6 to 8 skewers and brush them on all sides with the sauce. Cook the brochettes on charcoal or under the broiler, turning them frequently, for about 4 minutes. Serve the anticuchos with the sauce as an hors d’ouevre.
This exclusive recipe is pulled directly from Gourmet’s archive. It has not been re-tested by our food editors since it was published in the magazine, but it’s a pretty good indication of the kinds of things we once cooked—and ate—with great pleasure.
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