Tacna's signature stew: a thick red mixture of tripe, beef foot, cured meats, and broken potatoes surrounded by chile cooked until every trace of rawness disappears. Collagen brings richness, charqui and chalona add savory depth, and oregano arrives only after the fire has done the hard work. Keep crusty bread nearby; leaving that red sauce behind would waste half the point.
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Place the beef foot in a pressure cooker with the water, celery, bay leaf, one quarter of the red onion, one quarter of the garlic, the chalona, charqui, and one quarter of the salt. Pressure-cook for 55 to 65 minutes, until the foot is very tender and a cooled drop of broth feels slightly sticky between your fingers. Allow the pressure to release safely before opening.
Remove the beef foot, charqui, and chalona. Strain the broth and reserve 1 liter for the stew; keep the rest in case the texture needs adjusting. Chop the meat and gelatin from the foot into small pieces and shred the cured meats. Warm the precooked tripe for 8 minutes in some of the reserved broth, then drain; it should become hot and supple rather than cooking until overly soft.
Heat the vegetable oil in a wide pot and cook the remaining red onion for 7 to 8 minutes, until very soft. Add the remaining garlic, ají panca paste, ají mirasol paste, cumin, and black pepper. Lower to medium-low and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring and scraping frequently, until the mixture changes from bright red to deep brick red, looks glossy, and the oil begins separating around the edges. Do not rush this stage; raw-tasting chile will spoil the entire stew.
Spoon off 2 tablespoons of the red oil that has separated from the chile base and reserve it for finishing. Add the chopped beef foot, tripe, charqui, and chalona; cook for 5 minutes, coating them thoroughly in the chile. Add 700 ml of the reserved broth and simmer for 12 minutes, until the liquid becomes thick, red, and clings to the meats rather than resembling soup.
Boil the white potatoes separately until tender, peel them, and break them by hand or with a spoon into irregular pieces; leave some chunks large while partially crushing others. Fold them into the stew and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring carefully from the bottom, until some of the potato breaks down and turns the broth into a thick, creamy sauce with visible chunks remaining. Add small amounts of the reserved broth only if it dries out before the potatoes fully integrate.
Rub the dried oregano between your hands and add it with the remaining salt, tasting first because the charqui and chalona already bring plenty of seasoning. Turn off the heat and let the stew rest uncovered for 10 minutes; stir once, then finish each serving with a few drops of the reserved red oil. The picante should be dark, thick, and gelatinous, with potatoes partly melted into the chile while the meats remain distinct. Serve piping hot: once bread starts functioning as a utensil, Tacna has done its job.
