The fry-and-sausage dish named from Spanish words for sausage and potato is salchipapa.
The name is a portmanteau of salchicha, meaning “sausage,” and papa, meaning “potato.” The dish typically combines French fries with sliced, pan-fried beef sausages, then adds sauces such as ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, or chili-based condiments. Some versions include a fried egg, cheese, tomato, lettuce, or coleslaw.
Salchipapa is associated especially with Peru, where it developed as street food in Lima. It later spread widely across South America and the Caribbean, with notable popularity in Colombia and Bolivia and appearances in Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, Chile, and elsewhere.
A common mix-up is choripapa, a related variation made with chorizo rather than the more general sausage used in salchipapa. The dish is also sometimes confused with carne asada fries because both are loaded fry dishes, but salchipapa’s defining pairing is sausage and potato.