• Start a personal food blog, or, start a community food thread for all.

Comida South America!

For a long time now South American food, esp Peruvian, has held a special place in my heart. Recently i was generously given a gift of a couple of Rocoto sauces from friends overseas. So I thought id start this thread in hopes to learn more about the cuisine and also try my hand a little more often to cook some of their dishes.
 
tonights dinner is a couple of my Peruvian favorites:
 
*Anticuchos - Traditionally beef heart is used.... i used blade steak marinated in 1/2C vinegar, 2T Aji Panca paste, garlic, scotch bonnett, oregano, cumin
*Ajiaco de Papas- 1/2 onion diced and sauteed in butter/oil, add 200g of diced halloumi (or queso fresco), add 3T Aji Amarillo paste, 1/2C stock, 1/2C evaporated milk. Stir and mash in 1kg of cooked potatoes.
*Others - Rice, Salsa Criolla (onion) and one of my favorite beers, Cusquena Negra.
 
 
2015-01-25%2012.30.30_zpsvhiq7cib.jpg

2015-01-25%2014.00.14_zpsgtgsntvp.jpg

 
 
 
Click to expand...
Thegreenchilemonster said:
Damn Malarky, that aji de gallina looks picture perfect!!!

My mouth started watering just looking at that.

Nice rocoto shot as well! What variety of rocoto is that?
Click to expand...
That was the Peruvian red rocoto. Planning on tasting it with friends tomorrow.

My blender apparently doesn't liquefy very well. I still had some orange chunks of Aji in the sauce. It is very good. I've never tasted anything like it.
 
Malarky said:
That was the Peruvian red rocoto. Planning on tasting it with friends tomorrow.

My blender apparently doesn't liquefy very well. I still had some orange chunks of Aji in the sauce. It is very good. I've never tasted anything like it.
Click to expand...
I'm really surprised you were able to get that plant to fruit inside a solo cup. That is a very productive variety of rocoto though, with really tasty pods. I'm glad those seeds worked out for you.
 
Thegreenchilemonster said:
I'm really surprised you were able to get that plant to fruit inside a solo cup. That is a very productive variety of rocoto though, with really tasty pods. I'm glad those seeds worked out for you.
Click to expand...
I have one outside in a 2 gallon that is budding out. I'm going to pot it up this weekend.

The plant in the solo cup has about 7 good size fruits. I'm going to wait for them all to ripen and then plant it up in my gritty mix to see if I can train it as a house plant.

What huge variety of rocoto do you use for the rocoto relleno?
 
Some fine looking Aji de gallina and Papas a la Huancaina there Malarky.
 
Your crema looks good! Its meant to have some body about it.... i find myself agreeing with the Boss.... not meant to be super cheesy.... and while that is the traditional preparation of the dish, i think its best served on other dishes like arroz con pollo/tallarines verdes/tallarines rojo, with or without the potatoes, it really boosts those dishes and is how most families eat them at home...
 
 
 
Got a couple more dishes i have made over the last coupla weeks....
 
Salchicha Huachana con huevos - which basically means Huacho style sausage with eggs - is usually made for breakfast in a big batch and eaten in bread rolls. Of course i dont have actual Huacho sausages, so i used regular pork sausages removed from their casing, fried up with onion, garlic, cumin, paprika, achiote powder, aji panca and beaten eggs mixed through. Used about 3 thin sausages to 4 eggs.
 
7LvlyRP.jpg
IGrCQto.jpg

 
Tallarines Saltados Criollo - which is a Peruvian style noodle stirfry - Basically lomo saltado with spaghetti, more stock and soy sauce to create more of a sauce..... i needed to use up a bunch of portabello mushrooms that i chucked in, while not traditional worked out very well.....
 
Y2mzMq1.jpg

 
 
Sopa Criolla - Peruvian beef and pasta soup - a soup typically found in Lima. Minced (or finely diced beef) fried up with onion, garlic, 1T aji panca, 2T aji amarillo.... add 2L of stock and bring to the boil.... add spaghetti and cook till done (roughly 10mins)... potatoes can be added.... i chucked in some carrot and zuchinni as i want some veges in there..... other veges would go well.... sometimes served with a fried egg on top.....
 
Tr1iQ1L.jpg
 
That would be correct. I would say they are interchangeable, im sure someone could make a case of how the amarillo and mirasol pastes are different, not sure i could, ive seen recipes that call for both though.
 
I can say the types of Peruvian food/recipes are largely defined by region, on a basic level coast, mountain and jungle. Andean recipes tend to call for Mirasol peppers/paste because that is what is avaliable to them, while amarillos are more common in coastal cooking. Especially outside Lima a lot of food is defined by what is avaliable or sourced locally.
 
Malarky said:
So I'm shopping online for paste and i've run into jars of Aji Mirasol?
I thought Mirasol=Amarillo?
 
So is Amarillo Paste made from fresh aji, and Mirasol paste is made from dehydrated-->then rehydrated and pasted aji?
Click to expand...
Aji mirasol is just a dried aji amarillo. They sell paste for both. Aji amarillo paste they make with fresh aji amarillos, and aji mirasol paste they make with sun dried aji amarillos.
 
Just made Rocoto Rellanos tonight and through searching found this. Wonderful. 

My Rocoto's were grown in the UK and only took a teaspoon of filling because they were so small but good. I boiled three times because I was concerned by the heat of them raw but would probably only do so once to do so again. They were nice but a bit mushy and not spicey enough for me (probably right for the wife). Coincidentally it is two years since I first had Rocoto Rellanos in Arequipa and I don't think they were boiled like that. Must be a Lima thing (Lima was the one part of Peru I could not visit again but for the airport)
 
Some time ago my wife bought me some sauces from an expat store in the UK because I loved the food. So I have a jar of Pasta de huacatay I don't know what to do with. Does anyone have any recetes?
 
I also remember the taste of a steak I had in Ica with Papas Huancaina and a sauce of ají and maracuya. Does anyone have a recipe for such a sauce?
 
This thread is great!
 
FlourPower said:
Just made Rocoto Rellanos tonight and through searching found this. Wonderful. 

My Rocoto's were grown in the UK and only took a teaspoon of filling because they were so small but good. I boiled three times because I was concerned by the heat of them raw but would probably only do so once to do so again. They were nice but a bit mushy and not spicey enough for me (probably right for the wife). Coincidentally it is two years since I first had Rocoto Rellanos in Arequipa and I don't think they were boiled like that. Must be a Lima thing (Lima was the one part of Peru I could not visit again but for the airport)
 
Some time ago my wife bought me some sauces from an expat store in the UK because I loved the food. So I have a jar of Pasta de huacatay I don't know what to do with. Does anyone have any recetes?
 
I also remember the taste of a steak I had in Ica with Papas Huancaina and a sauce of ají and maracuya. Does anyone have a recipe for such a sauce?
 
This thread is great!
Click to expand...
 
 
:welcome:
 
 
Bite sized rocoto rellenos sound like a fantastic beer snack!  :drooling: .... i might have to steal that idea!  :P
 
The huacatay can be used to make Pachamanca, Ocopa and Aji de Huacatay which is fantastic with beef or chicken, though im sure there are many other uses too.
 
I have never had the Aji de Maracuya, but i found a recipe online by Don Cucho who is a famous chef and restaurant owner in Peru.... it would not let me copy and paste the recipe but if you go to the web page your browser should have an option to translate it to english for you.....
 
http://www.cuchosazonperuana.com/cocina_criolla_recetas_17.htm
 
Thanks all for the welcome.
 
Thank you Tinnie for the recipe. Though no hablo espanol I can usually muddle through the written form. Amazing what latin loan words in English and Gaelic will do for one's comprehension! :) I shall have to have a look though the passion fruit in England are so different from the ones in Perú. Don't even mention Chirimoya, I love them, found a supermarket that sold them. Top of the packing it said keep in fridge. Bottom of packing it said do not keep in fridge. Bought two lots both went mouldy before ripe! I miss those and Lacuma. We've sucessfully grown Physallis before but I don't think the wife would be up for heating a greenhouse of the size for the chance of one or two Chirimoya/Lacuma!
 
When I had Pachamanca it seemed to be a ground oven like an Imu or Hangi. Is there a particular recipe you recommend?
 
I had leftover mince from the Rocoto peppers so I added a commercial Pasta de Rocoto in large amounts and had it like that. What I may do now out of Rocoto season is use Bell peppers and coat the insides in pasta de rocoto. Not the same but may be the best I'm getting till next year!
 
I wasnt a huge fan of the lucuma fruit by itself, but when used to make drinks, ice cream or other desserts it is absolutely incredible. Lucuma powder has become avaliable in recent years but is criminally over priced. Ive not had chirimoya but will make a conscious effort to pick some up next time they are avaliable.
 
Yeah Pachamanca is very similar to a hangi and both have a similar importance to their indigenous cultures.
 
Ive not tried this particular recipe but lately my first stop to find recipes is a site/channel called A comer. Their videos/recipes are very straight to the point and simplify what otherwise look like daunting or complicated dishes. There are a few other good sites/channels out there, just not as easy to follow without fluent spanish, which i dont have either.
 
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top