A Lima street sandwich built on a crusty French roll (pan francés) filled with jamón del país — a deboned pork leg slow-cooked in garlic, pepper, achiote, cumin and oregano, then sliced thin. It is dressed with salsa criolla, a sharp limed red-onion relish, and a leaf of lettuce. Nothing more: the pork, the onion and the bread carry the whole sandwich. It is sold from sandwich counters and at family gatherings across the capital.
The name traces to the Catalan 'botifarra' sausage, but the Lima sandwich descends instead from the colonial habit of curing and slow-cooking pork legs into jamón del país, a practice Spanish settlers brought to the viceroyalty. Italian immigrants who ran much of Lima's early sandwich trade are widely credited with popularizing it as a counter sandwich in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It has since become one of the capital's defining criollo sánguches; in 2025 it was ranked the top sandwich in South America by the food atlas TasteAtlas.
The country ham is mild and faintly sweet from the achiote and slow cooking, its slices yielding and just moist. Against it the salsa criolla snaps — raw red onion, lime and a thread of ají heat cutting clean through the pork — while the lettuce adds a cool crunch. The crackly roll shatters at the first bite, then goes soft where it meets the meat. Simple, bright, unfussy.
Jamón del país is the technique that matters: the pork leg is cured briefly, then simmered or oven-cooked long and gently so collagen breaks down and the meat stays sliceable rather than falling apart, achiote tinting it rose. Building the sandwich is about contrast — the cold acidic onion relish offsets the rich pork, and the crust gives way to a soft crumb, a study in fat against acid and crunch against give.
Variations
Most counters serve it plain, but some add a smear of house mayonnaise or extra salsa criolla; a sibling sandwich swaps the country ham for chicharrón (pan con chicharrón). Picnic and party versions are made in miniature on small rolls.
On the Palate
Where Butifarra sits in the Peruvian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
7 steps · 1 hour 30 min
- 115 min
Rub the deboned pork leg with garlic, achiote, cumin, oregano, pepper and salt; refrigerate several hours to cure.
- 2180 min
Simmer or roast the pork low and slow until tender but still firm enough to slice, then cool fully.
Watch outCook the pork leg low and slow until tender but still firm enough to slice — pushed too far it falls apart and can't be shaved thin, which is the heart of the sandwich.
- 310 min
Slice the cold country ham as thinly as possible.
- 410 min
Make salsa criolla: toss thinly sliced red onion with lime juice, sliced aji limo, salt and chopped cilantro; let it sit briefly.
Watch outToss the onion in lime juice and let it sit just briefly — that quick acid bite is what cuts the rich pork; the relish should stay sharp and crisp, not soggy.
- 55 min
Split the French rolls and warm them so the crust crisps.
- 63 min
Lay lettuce on the base, pile on the sliced ham, then top generously with salsa criolla.
- 72 min
Close the sandwich and serve at once, while the bread is still crisp.
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