Around the World in Eighty Bites—Peru

My first introduction to Peruvian food came courtesy of a brief fling with a Peruvian guy. We split up quickly, but my love affair with Peruvian cuisine was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.


Peruvian Ingredients

From my first taste—Lomo Saltado with Aji Paste—to future finds such as my favorite, a layered potato dish called Causa, I’ve never tried a Peruvian dish I didn’t like. One of my close friends grew up in Peru, and she knows all the best Peruvian restaurants in and around Boston.

In recent years, Peruvian food has been touted as the next “It” cuisine. While Peruvian food is exotic enough to be a break from the ordinary, most Peruvian food is not so foreign that it cannot be easily made at home. Still, some authentic ingredients may not be easy to find if you do not live in an area with a significant Hispanic/Latino customer presence. Thankfully, we live in an era where anything we want is merely a click away, and there are plenty of online retailers selling authentic Peruvian foods.

I've created versions of several traditional Peruvian recipes that you can try at home!


Margarita Ceviche

2 cloves garlic, quartered
Juice of 2 limes
Juice of ½ orange
1 shot tequila anejo
1 habanero pepper, quartered
2 sprigs parsley, minced (leaves only)
3 sprigs cilantro, minced (leaves and stems)
A few paper-thin slices red onion
1 lb. dry sea scallops, cut into medallions*

Combine all the ingredients in a large glass or ceramic bowl. Cover with plastic film and place in the refrigerator. Let it chill for at least 2 hours (up to 12). Serve immediately in chilled bowls, or in margarita glasses with a salted rim!

* To cut the sea scallops, it helps if you place them in the freezer for about 30 minutes before slicing. When slicing, slice across the grain of the scallop as shown in the photo to the left—the blue lines in the photo represent the “grain” of the scallop, and the red line shows the direction that the knife’s blade should cut. Slice each scallops into 4 medallions of equal thickness.




Aji Sauce

1 thick slice baguette, torn into pieces
5 oz. can evaporated milk
2 aji amarillo chiles (use habaneros or serranos if you cannot find aji amarillos
2 small garlic clove, minced
2 sprigs cilantro, minced
1/3 c. grated cotija cheese
1 T. olive oil
Pinch smoked sea salt

Soak the bread for 10 minutes in the evaporated milk. Place the bread and milk in a blender or food processor with all remaining ingredients. Blend well until smooth. Keep refrigerated and use as a condiment.


Giant Corn with Cotija and Orange




Giant Corn

8 oz. dried giant corn (Goya sells this product)
4 c. cold water
2 dried de arbol or chipotle chiles
2 oz. cotija cheese, grated
Rind of1/2 orange
1 T. minced red onion
2 T. Aji Sauce (recipe above)

Soak the corn in the cold water overnight. Once soaked, drain the corn. Place it in a pot with the 2 dried chiles, cover with water by 2 inches, and bring to a boil. Boil for approximately 45 minutes, adding water if necessary.

Drain the corn and chiles and place in a bowl. When cool enough to touch, remove the chiles, mince them and place in the bowl with the corn. Add the cotija, orange rind, onion, and Aji Sauce. Blend well.

Serve either at room temperature or chilled.


Purple Potato Causa

1 lb. purple potatoes, peeled and diced
¼ c. grated cotija cheese
3 T. Aji Sauce (recipe above)
1 lime, halved
8 oz. canned crabmeat
2 T. mayonnaise
1 ripe avocado
Salt

Aji Sauce, to serve
Cilantro leaves, for garnish

Boil the potatoes in salted water. Drain and mash, incorporating the cotija cheese, Aji Sauce, and the juice from one of the lime halves. Set aside.

Combine the crabmeat and the mayonnaise and set aside. Next, mash the avocado with the juice from the remaining lime half and a pinch of salt.

Assembly will require a ring mold. To assemble the Causa, spoon a tablespoon or two of Aji Sauce onto a small plate. Set aside. Place your ring mold onto a sheet of parchment or waxed paper. Fill the mold with about 2 inches of the mashed potato mixture. Then, add a ½ inch layer of the avocado mixture. Finally, top the avocado with a 1 inch layer of crabmeat. Place the blade of a spatula under the parchment and over the plate containing the Aji Sauce. Slip the parchment out from the bottom, letting the mold slip onto the sauce (this will take practice—I ruined my first few tries!). Top with one or two cilantro leaves. Repeat until all ingredients are used, and serve chilled or at room temperature.

Giant Corn with Cotija and Orange



Margarita Ceviche

Purple Potato Causa

Peruvian Small Plates

Inspiration on 'Roids - New England Nicoise, Nicoise Peruvienne

Yup, this bacon, butter, steak, mayonnaise, sour cream, cheese, and pork rind-loving blogger is writing an entire post about salad.  But I'm not writing about rabbit food; I'm writing about new twists on an old favorite, and I'm writing about a salad that is substantial enough to take center stage.  I'm writing about Salade Nicoise.  No lightweight, this French classic contains potatoes, green beans, hard-cooked eggs, olives, tomatoes, tuna and anchovies, nestled in a bed of rich butter lettuce and dressed with tangy dijon vinaigrette.  This is not a dish that will leave you hungry. 

So what happens when this French salad meets ingredients native to my side of the Atlantic?  Magic.  Pure magic happens.  The two salads I created were not planned; rather, I got a boatload of inspiration during one random food shopping excursion and decided to try something new, and the results may be two of my favorite creations to date. 

It all started with a batch of purple potatoes. 


Purple potato cross-section


We've all seen red and yellow potatoes, but purple ones are far less common, at least here in Northern New England.  However, in Peru, the potato's homeland, potatoes come in a variety of colors spanning the rainbow.  When I saw purple potatoes at the market, I loaded them into my basket.  I had no idea what I'd do with them, but I never worry about that until after I'm home and all my groceries are put away.  I started to think - I could boil them?  I could bake or roast them?  Potato salad?  Boring, boring, boring.  I then started to scan my brain for recipes containing potatoes where the color would really stand out, and I came up with salade nicoise.  I felt wicked smart until I thought, "Purple potatoes in a salad?  So f***ing what?"  I knew color alone wouldn't lift my dish from ordinary to extraordinary, but then it hit me - I could add a little aji.  Aji is a traditional Peruvian condiment made from chiles, garlic, and olive oil, and it turns everything it touches to gold.  OK, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it's really damn good.  Once I had aji on my brain, my ideas started snowballing until I realized that I could replace tuna with ceviche, another Peruvian specialty.  And just like that, I created a recipe. 

I couldn't wait to test my recipe, so I ran to the store to pick up all the ingredients I'd need for the ceviche, the aji sauce, and the salad itself.  Cod?  Check.  Chiles?  Check.  Tomatoes?  Check.  Wait - what's that in that bin over there?  Ohhh Lord...I found fiddleheads. 



Fiddlehead

For those of you who don't live in Northern New England, fiddleheads are the edible fronds of young ostrich ferns.  You cannot visit a market in Maine during late spring without seeing at least one basket of fresh fiddleheads.  When steamed or lightly boiled, they retain their bright grass-green color and crunch, and they taste like a green bean/artichoke hybrid.  And face it - they look wicked awesome! 

Back to my market trip - I saw the fiddleheads and knew I had to have them.  While picking through the basket for the smallest, most tightly coiled fiddleheads, my mental wheels began turning and trying to come up with a plan for the fiddleheads.  They're good with just a little salt, pepper, and butter; they're great with hollandaise, and they can replace green beans in any dish.

Waaaiiittt a minute - green beans are used in salade nicoise...use the fiddleheads instead of green beans, and voila!  New England Nicoise.  Hmm, what other ingredients scream "New England?" and would also work in a salad?  Duhhh, lobster!  I'm sure the other market patrons were quite amused seeing this tiny little girl talking to herself out loud and stopping dead in her tracks to turn around and go pick up another ingredient when the light bulb went off over her head, but that's how I roll when inspiration skyrockets.  I whirled around the store like a madwoman, throwing ingredients into my basket and at the same time writing memos to myself on my iPhone so I wouldn't forget my ideas. 

Getting inspired was the easy part.  The hard part was the prep work, especially for Nicoise Peruvienne, which is a recipe within a recipe within a recipe.  While nothing in these recipes is difficult, the process is time consuming.  The most important part of preparing this dish is your mise en place, which is a fancy-schmancy chef term meaning "having one's $#!t together."  Once all the prep work is out of the way, this salad goes together in under 10 minutes, but if you try to assemble it while boiling potatoes, cooking eggs, making vinaigrette, etc., you'll be making a lot of extra work for yourself, and the process will be needlessly stressful. 

If you come across fiddleheads or purple potatoes, do try these two salads.  They are delicious, fun to make, and both are guaranteed to be great talking points if you serve them to guests. 



New England Nicoise

2-4 cups butter lettuce, torn
1/2 lb. baby potatoes, quartered
2 roma tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
2 hard-cooked eggs, quartered lengthwise
1/2 lb. fiddleheads, steamed
1 lb. cooked lobster meat, chopped
8 black olives, pitted
vinaigrette

Boil the potatoes and steam the fiddleheads in advance.  Let chill for at least two hours. 

Assemble the salads.  Fill 2 large bowls with equal amounts of lettuce, then arrange the potatoes, tomato, and egg in a decorative pattern along the edge of the bowl.  Add the fiddleheads and lobster meat to the center, then dress with desired amount of vinaigrette.


Vinaigrette

1 garlic clove, smashed
1 t. dijon mustard
2 T. tarragon vinegar
1/3 c. olive oil
salt & pepper

Whisk all the ingredients in a bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for at least an hour.  Remove the garlic clove, whisk again, then use to dress New England Nicoise. 

Nicoise Peruvienne

2-4 c. butter lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
2 roma tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
1 avocado, sliced lengthwise
2 hard-cooked eggs, quartered lengthwise
1/4 lb. green beans, steamed
2-4 purple potatoes, quartered lengthwise
2 cups ceviche
aji vinaigrette

Begin prep at least 4 hours, and up to 24 hours, ahead.  Prepare the ceviche style whitefish, hard-cooked eggs, and the aji vinaigrette (recipes below).  Boil the potatoes and steam the green beans, let both cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until it is time to assemble the salads. 

Assemble the salads.  Fill 2 large bowls with equal amounts of lettuce, then arrange the tomato, avocado, and egg in a decorative pattern along the edge of the bowl.  Add the potatoes, green beans, and ceviche, then dress with desired amount of aji vinaigrette. 



Ceviche

1/2 lb. cod or other firm whitefish, cut into chunks
1 serrano chile, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 c. freshly squeezed lime juice
salt and pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a nonmetallic bowl.  Cover and let marinate in the fridge, stirring occasionally.  Marinate at least 4 hours; preferably overnight. 


Aji Vinaigrette

1T. aji sauce (recipe below)
1 clove garlic, minced
juice of 2 limes
1/2 c. olive oil.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until blended.  Use to dress Nicoise Peruvienne.  Any leftover vinaigrette can be used on chicken, fish, potatoes, vegetables, rice...you name it. 


Aji Sauce

5 habanero peppers (can use a milder pepper if you can't take the heat of habaneros)
2 cloves garlic
1 T. chopped cilantro
salt & pepper
splash olive oil

Combine ingredients in a blender and puree until a thick, consistent paste is formed.  Use in Aji Vinaigrette.