Asado and Alfajores - Cooking in Argentina

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Pad Thai Cordillera Blanca Style

2007-10-18T06:11:00.000-07:00

I've decided to expand this blog to some of the foods and unusual things we've been enjoying during our travels. I hope it is interesting. As you can imagine, we continue to treat 'our big trip' as 'our big meal'!

In Huaraz we had the fortune of a kitchen in our hostel. In between waiting for job interviews we hung out for a few days exploring the markets, laying in bed hoping I'd get better soon, and preparing a twist on pad thai with what ingredients we could find.

There are lots of cool different types of dried corn at the markets, very colourful. These are used shallow fried with salt as a kind of ubiquitous beer nut/ side dish or rehydrated in other dishes.

We couldn't resist the variety of different chillies, just a few cents for a pile.

These little fellas were just too different to pass by and were our beansprout substitute.

Cutting them open revealed big seeds, not what I'd expected. Luckily the mum at our guest house showed me how to prepare them. Surprisingly you peel off the outside bit with all the soft spikes and cut into strips. These are then used in salad or sauted with meat, or in this case, in pad thai!

So I give you pad thai, improvised in the Cordillera Blanca:

Take whatever noodles you can get (these are asain cup of noodle ones) and prepare per the packet.
Prepare a thin omlette and break up.
Add funky green vege, finely sliced chillis and noodles to pan and add lovingly carried pad thai sauce mix. Garnish with coriander leaves, rough chopped peanuts and lime wedges, and serve.

Andean Potatoes

2007-10-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I had a proper kitchen but still have so many good memories of food in Salta.
I love markets and used to love the Salta Mercado Central for getting all manner of vegetables and tasty local goats cheese. So many lovely fresh things all laid out to select. It's also a place where you still see the seasonality of produce.

From our first few days in Salta I was drawn to all the unusually shaped potatoes we found at the market. There are said to be over 200 varieties of potatoes found in the Andes between Peru, Bolivia and northern Argentina. This is the origin of what is now a global staple, carried back to Europe by the spanish conquistadors. It was usual to find at least 5 or six different types at the market in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours. Each have their own taste. The long finger like ones and the dark purple ones are sweet while the speckled ones are distinctly earthy.

The Asado is Tom's domain. The masculine art of fire and meat was one of his particular passions during our stay in Salta, learning from the masters like Mavi's dad Hector and Dr Roffo, as well as devoted practice on our balcony:

I am allowed to help with sides though and it was always hard to resist some sort of potato dish.
Simply rapped in foil and placed in the coals below the grill for 40 mins gives them a slight smokey flavour and brings out their natural sweetness.

Roasted and then dressed with lemon juice, wholegrain mustard and green shallots while warm is also good for a change.

The andean potatoes can also be used in place of regular potatoes in soups, stews and empanadas, or simply roasted or boiled as a side dish. We like to leave the skins on for the pretty colours but most restaurants (andean potatoes are a real fashion in hip Salta restaurants) peel them.
The andean potatoes aren't found at the regular supermarket in Salta so some of my workmates had never tried them before. Up in the mountains they are often the only potatoes available.

Chuños are a traditional way of long term storage of potatoes that is seen in the mountains of Salta and Jujuy and also very common in Bolivia, where you can even get them at the super market. With the cold nights of the altiplano the potatoes are naturally "freeze dried" sometimes after having excess starch leached out in a running stream. Thus treated they can last for centuries. Dry they look like strange shrivelled up pale versions of potatoes. Once rehydrated chuños are used in soups stews or shallow fried with seasonings. They have a slightly spongy texture similar to eggplant and take on surrounding flavours well.

Pastafrola

2007-08-07T18:16:00.000-07:00

Pastafrola is a typical Argentine tart found all over the country. It's usually made with Dulce de Membrillo (quince paste) or Dulce de Batata (it's sweet potato sister). Dulces served with cheese are a classic desert but I like Pastafrola even better. My friend Diego doesn't like sweets very much but loves this tart. His wife Mavi does a great version of his mum's old recipe. It's a little lighter on the bottom in comparison to the delicious looking pie type version on Pip in the city but not as cakey as many that you see on street stalls around here.
So, in the next episode of "family recipes I've been given" I give you the Reservato family Pastafrola:

Ingredients:
150g Margarine or butter
100g sugar
1 egg
1 yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
300g self raising flour (sifted)
Dulce de Membrillo (250g or more)

Method
Mix together margarine and sugar into a paste. Add the eggs and vanilla and combine.
Rub in flour until you form a crumbly mixture. Spread 2/3 of this into a wide pan (a pizza pan works well) and press into form lightly.
Form a spreadable mixture by mashing the quince paste with a couple of spoons of boiling water and spread over tart crust.
Form remaining pastry into strips and decorate top of tart with a lattice pattern.
Bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees C) for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in tin before cutting into squares.

Tropical delight

2007-08-06T11:21:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I last wrote. First we went to Brazil to visit friends and then Mum and Dad were here. With all that wining and dining there's been no time to write!
While I get my act together, here are some photos of the famous Mercado Central in Sao Paulo which we visited in Brazil.

There was a great variety of tropical fruits we hadn't seen in months so we made a tasty fruit salad for breakfast: Mango, cherries, strawberries and dragon fruit!

Pavlova

2007-07-23T14:07:00.000-07:00

Well, this is a actually an Australian desert but I made a pavlova for an Asado with workmates the other week as it was Noelia, one of the nurses' birthdays.
The fresh fruit lightens the sweetness of the meringue and cream. What
makes this different to other meringues is the addition of vinegar and
cornflour giving a lovely soft fluffy interior and crisp outside.
This is a recipe I found on line rather than a family heirloom but it tasted good!

Two recipe notes:
- 18cm might seem small to mound all the mixture onto but the meringue will spread as it cooks so follow the instructions!
- make friends with someone with an electric mixer. I did this by hand with a standard whisk and do not recommend it!

Maicenas

2007-07-12T15:05:00.000-07:00

Sol has unfortunately had to go away but I'm trying to keep the dream alive and have tried to make some typical biscuits. Maicenas
are a typical afternoon tea and feature the classic combination of
dulce de leche and desiccated coconut.
They are supposed to be melt in your mouth biscuits sandwiched together with dulce
and given a rim of coconut. Mine weren't quite "melt in your mouth" but
still were light with a good crumb and very popular at work.

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This recipe is from a great recipe anthology called "Cien Años de Cocina Salteña" (One hundred years of salteñan cooking) that covers the whole range of traditional dishes.
Ingredients

500g Maicena (corn starch)
325g flour
250g sugar
250g butter (I used softened but have heard of people using melted since)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
6 eggs (using farm fresh from a patient´s family gave beautiful rich yellow colour to my second attempt)
dulce de leche (as required)

Method
Beat the egg whites to soft peak stage (punto de nieve
in Spanish - snow point). Add the yolks and sugar. Sieve the
dry ingredients and add to the previous mix stirring well to combine
but not kneading or overworking. Add butter.
Roll out thinly and cut with a round cutter. Bake in a moderate oven (180ºC).
Once cooled pair biscuits with a layer of dulce de leche. Roll the sticky edge in desiccated coconut if desired.

Post Script:
I tried using melted butter instead. The maicenas were a success, one hungover and hungry colleague even gave them a 10/10! Talking to many people around Salta the melted or softened butter question is open to personal preference.
Getting a uniform texture and not overworking the dough is difficult
with both melted and softened butter.

Bread in an Adobe Oven

2007-07-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

While I was in the mountains on the Gira Medica we made bread in an Adobe oven with the people from the school.

We made huge portions of a basic dough of flour, dried yeast, grasa (melted fat) and a little warm water in huge quantities in a tub.
This was then kneaded and formed into round loaves around 1.5 cm thick.
Meanwhile the oven was prepared by making a fire of wood and twigs in the oven. The coals thus produced where raked to one side and the breads placed inside and the door sealed.

It was a big team effort with people passing, rolling etc.

They turned out tasty and lightly wood charred. We had them for afternoon tea with canned pate.

This is a very common bread that I´ve seen on street stalls and in homes around the northwest.

There was enough bread for the whole week!

Budin de Pan

2007-07-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

This is a popular and easy traditional desert. Sol, our super cooking teacher, isn't exactly sure of the history of Budin but like many dishes it has strong links with immigrants of Italian heritage. It is a classic childhood memory of many, brought to the table by grandma where everyone would fight for the biggest piece, bathed in Dulce de Leche.
Like all the best simple recipes this one has been passed down and enhanced through the generations. Sol has been kind enough to share her grandmother's recipe.

Ingredients

750 ml Milk
2 and a half bread rolls (big dinner roll size)
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
sugar for caramel

Method
Soak bread torn into pieces in the milk
Make a caramel with about a cup of sugar in a little water over low heat. You can do this in your ovenproof ring tin or in a small fry pan and transfer to the pan. Coat the base of the pan with caramel.

Break up bread with your hands and mix in sugar and eggs.
Pour into pan and cover with foil. Cook in slow to moderate oven in a bain marie for 30 minutes or until set.

Cool and then refrigerate.
To unmold run a small knife around the edge and turn out onto serving platter that can accommodate the thin syrup that glistens all around.
Often served with dulce de leche. I like strawberries.

Variations: a little grated mandarin zest or a dash of vanilla are also nice if not quite as traditional. Many families add sultanas soaked in rum similar to an English bread and butter pudding.

Charqui and Charquisillo

2007-07-04T13:27:00.001-07:00

Charqui is dehydrated meat (beef, pork, llama or sheep) that is cured with salt and left out in the sun. It was, and in some places still is, used to conserve meat for extended periods. The word "charqui" comes from Quencha and was what the Incas called slices of meat, fruit and beans dried in the sun. Many say that the "jerked beef" of english pirates comes from this word. There's never only one version though; others say that french pirates (the bucaneers) used to dry pork by smoking it and call this "charcuitier".

Preparation:
The usual method is that the meat is cut into pieces or slices as thin as possible and the fat and blood is removed as much as possible. These pieces are then hung up in dry, well ventilated, and are above all, sun exposed areas, until they take on a texture similar to cardboard or leather. Often they are protected by mosquito net during this process. Sometimes the drying process is reinforced by smoking.
Once dried the meat is usually stored in jars with salt and at times mixed with pepper, paprika and dried chillis. Rarely charqui is covered in honey to preserve it.

Charqui drying under the eaves of a remote school.

Consumption:
If the meat is dehydrated in areas like the Puna or andean altiplano, the resulting charqui is sanitary due to the climate at may consumed as is. The more coman is to rehydate the meat and use it in soups and stews. Once the meat is rehydrated it can be used in all sorts of dishes such as the fillings of empanadas or tamales. In the east of Bolivia it is eaten fried with boiled yucca.

Charquisillo
This is a stew with charqui as the priciple ingredient. As with all folk dishes there as many versions as there are cooks and depends on the place and what is at hand. This version uses another classic regional ingredient - quinoa. This is a great winter dish succulant and rich with all the flavours in the pot coming together.

Ingredients

500g Charqui
2 medium onions
2 large potatoes
200g quinoa
1 medium capsicum
100g lard or oil
Aji Molido (ground chili)
Pimenton (sweet paprika)
salt and pepper

Method
Boil pieces of charqui until softened. Meanwhile, cut onion and capsicum into dice and saute in oil
When softened remove charqui from water and tear into strips with your hands. You may find a small paring knife useful to remove meat from the bones. Add meat to pan with vegetables.
Cut the potatoes into 1.5cm cubes and add to pan. Cover with stock or just plain hot water and bring to the boil before adding the quinoa. Test for salt and add if required. Cook for 15 minutes over medium heat until vegetables and quinoa tender. Season with aji and pimenton and cook for another 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for a few minutes before serving in a deep bowl accompanied by crusty bread.

Dulce de Leche

2007-07-02T16:38:00.000-07:00

To call this a national obsession may sound like overkill but this ubiquitous sweet paste may even hold more cultural importance than peanut butter in the USA.
You find it as a spread for breakfast, or any other time of day; an alternative to ice cream or cream with you desert; a topping for ice cream; and in almost every imaginable pastry, tart and biscuit prepared in Argentina it seems, as seen below on a street stall.

While I found it's sweetness a little overwhelming at first it has grown on me. Dulce de Leche could be up there with grilled beef as the quintessential Argentine flavour.
The origins of Dulce de Leche are controversial but the history books point to 17 July 1829. Much of the confusion comes from another desert called "manjar blanco" that is also a preparation of milk and sugar to which cornstarch or gelatin is added but which stays totally white.
Dulce de Leche as we know it was first made in 1829 in Cañuelas, in Buenos Aires province, during the meeting of General Lavalle and Juan Manuel de Rosas. These two major Argentine historical figures came together to end the hostilities and call elections that would integrate the Junta de Representantes (Convention of Barracas). On July 17, Lavalle arrived at the camp of Rosas very tired from his ride and asked to see him to address the important matters. Being so tired he was unable to resist the temptation for a siesta while waiting in a nearby tent but he fell fast asleep.
An assistant was preparing sweet warm milk ("lechada") for mate when she saw someone sleeping on Rosa´s cot and, indignant, went to find help to get him out. In her haste she forgot the milk over the coals and it kept simmering slowly. When she returned with reinforcements Rosas ordered that his "brother" not be disturbed. Next day the newly awoken Lavelle and the cook found the "lechada" had changed into a type of brown gel. She and some of the sweet-toothed soldiers tried the paste and their enthusiasm converted those around them: thus Dulce de leche was born.

Ingredients

1 litre whole milk
200g sugar
50g Glucose syrup (may be omitted if unavailable)
1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda (aids the coloration of the final product)
vanilla or other flavouring - optional

Method
Combine all ingredients in a heavy based saucepan over low heat. Simmer until thickens, stirring frequently to begin with and continuously once it starts to thicken to prevent it catching on the bottom of the pan.
Cool and store in a jar in the fridge.
Can last many weeks in the fridge if you can resist it that long!

Tamales

2007-06-30T17:41:00.000-07:00

Tamal is a generic name given to various indigenous latin american dishes generally made with corn flour.
Originally from Mexico, this preparation is now distributed throughout Central America and the Andean region of South America where corn is a large part of the diet. They basically consist of a paste of corn cooked rolled in banana leaves or corn husks. Mexico has the greatest variety with each state having several distinctive types. Although tamales are are found in many countries in Latin America they are thought to date back to prehispanic mesoamerian cultures in what is now Mexico. The name tamal comes from the náhuel word tamalli, which means wrapped.

In Colombia, Ecuador and other Andean nations tamales are a dish similarly made with a dough of cooked corn which surrounds a filling made with pork or chicken accompanied by onion, peas, boiled eggs, sultanas and other ingredients that vary depending on region and family traditions.
One legend say that corn was born when the sun formed grains of gold that fell on the ground: thus they are a symbol of good luck. With corn, the people prepare meals to give thanks for the season and the husks foretell happiness for the children, fertility, and abundance in the kitchen.

Salteñan tamales are traditionally made with the meat from the head of a pig but you can use whatever is available including the same meat that is inside empanadas or jerky. Due to the labour involved in getting the flesh of the head many tamales you buy in stores use other meats. The meat is lovely and rich but not super healthy due to the high fat content. It did give us an opportunity for gratuitous ingredient shots though!

Salteñan Tamales
Ingredients

Filling:
Half a pig´s head.
1 large onion
1 large potato
200g pork fat
3 eggs
spring onions (green part only)
Pimenton (Sweet Paprika), to taste
Cumin, to taste
course ground chilli, to taste
Dried corn husk leaves

Dough:
500g Cornmeal for tamales (finer than standard polenta)
100g pork lard
stock as required
Pimenton

Method
First the pig's head must be boiled with a carrot, a capsicum, an onion, bay leaves, and garlic until it is cooked. The cooking time varies depending on the size. Once cooked leave to cool. The cooking liquid makes a rich stock for use in the dough or other dishes. When cool remove the meat from under the skin and outer fat and cut into small pieces.
Separately cut the onion into small dice and saute in the lard until transparent. Add the chopped meat and leave to cook a few minutes, season with pimenton, cumin, chili and salt if required. Cook a further 2 minutes then remove from heat.
The potato is prepared in the same fashion as for empanadas. First cut into small cubes then boil in a small amount of water until tender and then mix with the rest of the mixture.
Boil the eggs and mash with a fork. Cut the spring onion finely and set aside.
Pour filling into a broad dish and cover with mashed egg, the spring onion and leave to cool.
In a bowl combine cornmeal, a pinch of salt and pimentón to give color. Add the lard (melted) and stock as required to form a thick, firm dough.

To form the tamales:
Soften the dried husks in hot water. Select one large or two smaller husks. Moisten the palm of your hand. Place a ball of the dough on your hand and flatten into a disk that covers your palm. In the centre place a spoonful of filling and close the dough disk around it to form a sphere. Place on the husk and roll into a parcel and close both ends firmly with "strings" formed from tearing strips of husk.

Boil in a covered pan with a small amount of water (as for humitas) for about 35 minutes.

Empanadillas

2007-06-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

Empanadillas are the sister of empanadas in the patisserie. In the north of Argentina they are usually filled with Dulce de Cayote, a jam made from a large round gourd, mixed with walnuts. The pastry uses egg yolks and the finished product are glazed with a egg white icing. None ever go to waste...!

Ingredients
Pastry
300g flour
3 egg yolks
100mL water
a pinch of salt

Filling:
your choice of jam: cayote, quince paste or sweet potato paste (dulce de batata)

Glaze (meringue):
3 egg whites
200g ultra fine or icing sugar

Method
Make pastry combining all ingredients in a bowl. Knead lightly to combine only. Roll out to 2-3mm and cut circles 4cm diameter (number 5 cutter).
Place a spoonful of Dulce on wrapper and seal into a hemisphere. mark edges with the tongs of a fork.
Bake in a hot oven until lightly browned (10 mins)
Brush surfaces with meringue and allow to cool.

Empanadas

2007-06-26T18:13:00.000-07:00

Empanadas are a key part of Salteñan food. They are famous throughout Argentina. We have even been to a whole fair devoted to judging the best empanadas from about a hundred stalls. They are part of the global street food tradition that extends from Cornish pasties to curry puffs or samosas. Is anything quite as tasty as filling hidden in a pastry case?

Background
Empanadas figure in almost all Latin American cuisines, with origins in the eating habits of the conquistadors. This method of preparation dates back to Galicia in the 10th century and was a part of medieval cooking in Europe. There are recipes for meat, and for seafood, empanadas in "Libro de guisados" by Ruperto de Nola (first published in 1525 in Toledo).

Empandas belong to the broad group called "pasties". They are packets of rolled dough containing an infinite variety of fillings. Their edges are sealed and they are then fried or baked according to the recipe. There is a wide range of pastries used for the outer package but an even greater variety of fillings. However for Latin America and especially Argentina the traditional basic formula is diced meat wrapped in a pastry of wheat flour bound with some form of fat. These days there is a diverse range of fillings deriving from the variety of ingredients found in each region. The pastries also offer a gamut of possibilities.

While the basis is simple attention must be paid to a number of factors determining the quality of the end product: The composition of the pastry and the temperature of the oven (or oil if frying) in which it will be cooked; experts agree the most important factor is the filling - especially the meat as about 80% of empanadas are meat ones. Here the question is not so much the composition of the filling as the method of cutting the meat: hand diced meat is much better than machine ground mince. The juiciness of the meat and thus the empanada depend on this.

Almost every province of Argentina have their typical empandas, and are distinguished by a special ingredient or combination of ingredients. Hard boiled eggs, olives, capsicum and potatoes are among these. There are also differences in the spiciness between different provinces. Size is another factor: Salteñan empanadas are spicy and smaller than the milder ones found in Mendosa. The northwest, especially Salta and Tucuman, is a nucleus where the recipe resembles that which arrived from urban "creole" Peru. In Salta empanadas are often served with "salsa picante" a mildly chili spiced tomato sauce.

Recipe: Salteñan Empanadas a la Color Maïs

Filling:
500g beef (any thin, about 1cm thick, low fat cut)
1 medium onion
1 medium potato
Lard or oil 50g
3 eggs
Spring onions
salt
Pimentón (paprika)
Ground chilli
Cumin
Pastry:
500g Type 000 Flour
100g lard (fat from under the skin of the animal)
200mL Boiled water
10g salt
Method
Filling
Note: the key to a great filling is everything being carefully cut into fine cubes.
Place the meat in steaks in a pot of boiling water and simmer until changes colour to white (this makes the meat easier to cut into cubes). Drain and cut into fine (1/2cm) cubes.
Meanwhile, cut the onion into fine dice and sweat in fat and a little salt until translucent but not caramelised. Add the previously chopped meat. The potato is also cut into small cubes and then boiled in a separate pan, just covered in water with a little salt, and set aside until the end. Boil the eggs for 9 minutes and then set aside.

Once the meat and onion are cooked add chilli and paprika and cook another 2 minutes. Finally add the cumin and remove from heat.

Incorporate the potato and its cooking liquid into the meat mixture. The addition of the water lends the potato starch that helps to thicken the mixture while keeping it moist. Spread the mix in a wide dish and top with mashed boiled eggs and the finely chopped green portion of the spring onions. Set aside to cool.
Pastry:
Make a well in the centre of the flour and add salt, melted fat and incorporate flour. Finally add the water.
Form into a dough and knead for 5 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes covered.
Roll out to 1-2mm think and cut into rounds using a number 10 cutter (about 8cm). This is much easier if you use a pasta machine (to setting 3). Alternatively balls of mixture can be hand rolled with a pin.

Forming the empanadas:
Place a spoonful of mixture (incorporating meat, egg and spring onion) on pastry round. Enclose mixture and seel edges firmly to form a semi circle. Fold edge over and over to give the rounded pleat edge. If this proves too difficult a pastry wheel or the tongs of a fork also work to seal the edge but don´t look as pretty.

This is easier to understand if you watch the video below.

Bake in a very hot oven until brown - about 10 mins.

You can experiment with the fillings. Some ideas I´ve tried with success are pumpkin and goats cheese and leftover quinoa and charqui stew.

Locro

2007-06-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

This is a typical Argentine dish that has variations all over the country. Locro is a particularly typical dish in the north west. The name is thought to derive from the quechua indian word "loqru" or "ruqru" which means "pot" although it refers particularly to a dish with a base of dried corn, beans and pumpkin. It has been declared a national dish and is seen at most cultural events although it has it´s origins in the north west. It is not uncommon to see it cooked in massive crowd sized portions with pots big enough to fit a small child.

After the arrival of the conquistadors the new ingredients of beef, pork and panceta were added. In places the corn is replaced with wheat. In the Missiones region fish is added; while in Salta it usually contains pieces of pork or lamb, tripe, panceta and salted dried bony meat. In less abundant times guaschalocro (orphan locro) is made with fresh corn and smaller quantities of whatever meat is available (especially dried meat). I actually really like this version as it's a little less rich. But both are good especially on a cold day.

The key to a creamy locro is the inclusion of the water used to soak the dried corn in the dish as it contains the dissolved corn starch.
The stew is garnished and spiced by quiquirimichi which is melted fat or oil flavoured with paprika, dried chilli and spring onions (shallots).

Locro Color Maïs
(lucky for us Sol doesn't like tripe either)
Recipe for 9 people

Ingredients
250g Dry white corn
250g white dried beans
125g Panceta
375g Queperi - divided fland steak
375g Alita - strip ribs around 4cm wide with meat attached
125g chorizo
65g salted bones
1.25 kilos pumpkin (unpeeled)
2.5 litres water
1 small onion (finely diced)
1/2 red capsicum (finely diced)

Method
All ingredients should be cut into pieces that can be picked up with a spoon. This is a stew that shouldn´t need a knife or fork to be eaten.
Wash the beans and corn. Place water in pan for cooking the locro and soak corn for 10 hours. Soak beans in another container.
To the soaked corn add the salted bones and panceta and boil. After 2 hours add onion and capsicum and the meat cut into cubes.
In another pan boil the beans until cooked.
When the meat and corn is cooked add the pumpkin that has been peeled and cut into cubes. Once the pumpkin is added the pot needs to be continually stirred to stop the pumpkin from catching. Finally add the beans and chorizo and remove from heat. Let the pot stand covered for 15 minutes before serving.
For the quiquirimchi heat lard and add one spoon each of paprika and salt. At the last minute add finely chopped green part of spring onions. Top portions of locro with this oil for colour and flavour.

Anzac Aflajores

2007-06-18T15:44:00.000-07:00

For Anzac day I made Anzac biscuits. Luckily the south of Salta province and it's neighbours are big sugar cane districts so there is a local product that resembles Golden Syrup called Miel de Caña. It's not quite as sweet but they're still pretty tasty and people seem to like them when I make them.
Alfajores are a classic Argentine biscuit you can find all over the place. They are a sandwich of two biscuits, usually with the ubiquitous Dulce de Leche in the middle that is then covered in chocolate. Dulce de Leche is caramelised milk spread and is a major Argentine obsession, but more on that another time.
Around the time of Anzac Day Tom found a great recipe for fat free bananas that consists of frozen bananas that you mush in the blender.
In a cross cultural moment I came up with a desert of Anzac biscuit and banana ice cream sandwiches - the Anzac alfajor.
Thank you to mum for her never fail Anzac biscuit recipe:

Mix
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup dessicated coconut
Melt
1 tablespoon golden syrup
125g butter
Disolve 1/2 teaspoon bicarb in 1 tablespoon boiling water and add to syrup and then to dry ingredients.
Bake in a slow oven 20 mins.

Humitas

2007-06-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

Our first class with our Salteñan cooking teacher Sol at Color Mais restaurant was appropriately the oldest of traditional foods. Humitas date back to precolumbian times when indians cooked corn in parcels formed from the husk in covered pits with coals or hot rocks like you see in cooking from pacific islands. With the arrival of the spanish cheese and spicing was added to these tasty parcels.
These days Humita is a paste of corn, onion and capsicum (peppers) spiced with cheese, paprika and basil that is cooked al olla (in a saucepan) down south while up in the north of Argentina it is still cooked wrapped in parcels formed from the husks - en chala.
There are both savoury and sweet variations. The sweet version seen in the north particularly adds sugar and omits basil. It´s an acquired taste in my opinion but a friend from the USA loves it.

Ingredients
6 whole cobs of corn with husks (yellow corn can be used instead of the pretty speckled while corn in the photos)*
2 medium onions
1 red capsicum
Basil to taste (at least half a sydney bunch is good)
200g animal fat (lard) or butter
Criole or Goats cheese to taste (about 200g)
Pimentón = sweet paprika to taste (1 desert spoon)
Chilli flakes (aji molido) to taste (half a spoon)
Salt or sugar

Method
Cut of the tips and bases of the corn in husks freeing the leaves. Carefully remove the husks and set aside.
If you´re a stickler for tradition you can grate the corn. If you've got other things to do but cook one dish for the whole day cut the kernels off and process to a fine mince in a food processor. Add a little milk if the paste is very dry.
Cut the onions and red capsicum into fine dice and saute in the fat in a large pan. Once they are cooked add the minced corn.
Once cooked, after about 5 minutes, flavour with paprika, chili and salt or sugar depending how you want the humitas. Cook another 1-2 mins and remove from heat.
Mix in cheese cut into medium cubes (about 1-1.5cm) and basil.

Making the parcels:
Form 'strings' for fastening with strips of husk tied together.
Select nice big husks if possible and overlap them with the broader bases overlapping about half the length of a husk. Place mixture in the middle and fold the long tips towards the centre overlapping them and covering the paste. Roll up the short edges that are still open to close and fasten with one of the 'strings'.

Place the completed parcels in a saucepan with lid in which you have brought to the boil 2-3cm deep water. Cook in this boiling/steaming environment with lid ajar for 30 mins until the parcels are firmish to touch (like a bread dough). The parcels can also be steamed in a bamboo or other steamer (I recommend this if you have a big enough steamer)

Eat warm preferably with a glass of chilled Torrentes (sweet dry white) from Cafayate.

* the specks of colours, sometimes effecting almost all the kernels, seen in the corn from the mountains around Salta come from the combinations of minerals found in the soils, also the origin of many spectacular landscapes.

Welcome!

2007-06-16T17:21:00.000-07:00

As everyone I know is aware I like cooking. Now that we have a flat in Salta and are taking fun classes at Color Mais Restaurant once a week I can now realize my dream of having a food blog.
The markets here a full of fun and strange things so I thought I'd share some with you.

coca tea is a great digestive not just the precursor of that funky white powder - I promise! I love that this one is labeled "export quality"