Cancha is Economically Savvy

Cancha is economically savvy, but for whom? Not for the customer- it’s the restaurant that profits from this tasty corn snack. To make cancha, Peruvians toss dried corn kernels  (from Peruvian corn called maiz which has a larger kernel than the corn found in the U.S.) in oil and toast them until puffed, crunchy, and golden brown. The corn is then sprinkled with salt.

In my opinion, many Peruvian restaurants serve these highly addictive munchies instead of bread to make people thirsty and want to order more drinks. If you eat enough of these you will start to feel full, but I find myself feeling more full after eating multiple pieces of bread. So restaurants are being very economical when serving cancha: they are cheap, not too filling (so people will still order a lot of food), and cause people to order more drinks.

At first, I felt pretty witty to have figured out restaurants’ master plan. I thought I would not fall into the temptation of eating these salty treats. But you know what, they taste really good, so ordering an additional beverage is worth it if I can eat some cancha.