Rice seasoned with turmeric and cumin, packed round chicken, egg and olive in bijao leaves, tied and boiled.
What makes it juane
Rice cooked with turmeric, cumin and chicken stock, and bound with egg.
Chicken, hard-boiled egg and olive in the middle.
Wrapped in bijao leaves, tied and boiled.
Where it comes from
The Amazon's great dish, and above all the food of the Fiesta de San Juan on 24 June, when towns such as Iquitos eat it by the hundred. The name is said to honour John the Baptist, and the round bundle to recall his head — a story told with a smile.
Bijao leaves, broad and waxy, give the rice a green, faintly herbal perfume. There are versions with river fish instead of chicken, and one made with yuca in place of rice.
How it varies
Juane de yuca
Grated cassava in place of the rice, often with fish.