Pollada in Breña

In Peru when people want to raise money regardless of the need, they often throw what is called an anticuchada (where the dish anticuchos are served) or a pollada (where chicken is served).  These events usually offer a plate the mentioned food at a set price in an environment that offers music and the opportunity to socialize and dance.  Beer and soda are also commonly sold, as these events are also seen as an opportunity to get together with friends and family to party. 

Yesterday Zdenka held her pollada in the local (a place that is offered to those who want to throw a party or event) a few houses down from hers.  I managed to arrive about 2pm which was just in time to assist her father with the preparation and frying of the chickens.  Thankfully most of the prep work had already been taken care of in advance so all that was really left to do was fry the chickens.  For the event Zdenka had purchased around 75 whole chickens, each of which cost S/. 14 and which she sold during her event at S/. 8 per quarter piece of chicken with sliced potatoes and hot sauce (rocoto)!  If you can manage to wrangle up a large enough group of attendees then you can make a good amount of money. 

Probably the most tiring process throughout the entire event was the job held by Zdenka's father, who was in charge of frying all the chickens!  Since one fry pan wasn't enough to take on the large task, several pots and pans, including one huge pot were enlisted.  On six separate burners, four from the stove and two from the portable stove were used in order to fry about 15 quarter pieces of chicken at a time.  Her father must have used about 20 bottles of canola oil to fry the 300 quarter pieces of chicken, a process which left the chicken completely covered in oil and grease. 

The pollada went well although it was not as successful as the anticuchada which was held about a month and a half ago.  People began purchasing beer around 5pm and the party went on until 1:30am when the event began to die down. 

For my experience with these types of fundraising events I have come to learn that one can make a good amount of money but to do so requires a lot of pre-planning and labor to make it payoff.