In Spain, the Philippines, Panama, Colombia, Guatemala, everywhere I've ever heard the word, chicharron means "deep-fried pork skin", but the comments below and wikipedia will make me pay more attention in the future to chicharron. Especially in Bolivia, where chicharron is ribs. whaaat.
In at least Lima, chicharron means "breaded deep-fried fish strips".
I was dumbfounded yesterday when i found out.
I'm found dumb fairly often. I cannot confirm whether this is a Lima-only idiosyncrasy or if there were fish strips in Cusco that I never got to try because i was avoiding "chicharron".
I like peruvian chicharron, I'm not a huge fan of pork cracklings.
Pork belly, or just pork skin if you buy it in packages at shops, usually. Unless it's an ethnic market, food truck, or shop, then it's either/or/both, depending on the vendor. The best is pork belly, sold at little stores or markets with a little restaurant or hot deli, where they make their own, and own tortillas, salsas, and everything else. Those are usually bagged in brown paper, but some shops use plastic bags and bread ties. Or did. A lot of those places are closed, now, sadly.
That is sad. Every time i visit the US, there are fewer independent shops and markets.
This is one aisle in one community market with probably 20 indie delis/restaurants/sundry shops/pharmacies, and this place has at least 10 aisles.
Every time I find a new local market somewhere, it's a comfort.
Thanks for the US southern chicharrón info, another interesting puzzle piece.
In my area, there were surprisingly many. But most of the proprietors left, voluntarily or otherwise. The few who stayed are on edge.
We still have a few locally owned other shops, but they are struggling, in general. A few are doing alright.
It's nice to hear a few shops are surviving. And all the best to those who left.