Ajiaco recipe

A Bogotá soup thickened by papa criolla potatoes dissolving into the broth and scented with guascas, a local daisy-family herb.

2 hourseasy12 ingredients

Ingredients

• 30 g guascas
• 500 g papa criolla potatoes
• 500 g sabanera potatoes
• 500 g pastusa potatoes
• 800 g chicken breast
• 3 corn on the cob
• 4 scallions
• 2 clove garlic
• 200 ml heavy cream
• 50 g capers
• 2 avocadoes
• 2 tsp salt

How to make Ajiaco

1. Simmer 800 g of chicken breast in 3 L of water with 4 scallions, 2 crushed garlic cloves and 2 tsp of salt for 40 minutes, then lift out the chicken and keep the broth.
2. Add 500 g of papa criolla, cut in half, to the broth and cook 30 minutes until they collapse completely: their starch is what thickens ajiaco, no flour or cream is used for that.
3. Add 500 g of sliced sabanera potatoes, 500 g of sliced pastusa potatoes and 3 pieces of corn on the cob, and cook 20 minutes until the slices are tender but still whole.
4. Stir in 30 g of dried guascas (or two handfuls of fresh) for the last 10 minutes only; without guascas this is chicken and potato soup, not ajiaco, and long boiling kills their aroma.
5. Shred the chicken and return it to the pot, then check the salt.
6. Ladle into bowls and let each person stir in 200 ml of heavy cream, 50 g of capers and slices of 2 avocados at the table.
7. Guascas and papa criolla are sold dried or frozen in Latin American shops; there is no substitute that gives the same soup.

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