Mélange: Native American—Andean Cuisine

Those of you who know me, or who read Volume 2 of The Food Goddess cookbook, know that I am the product of several generations of interracial/multicultural marriages. And I have tried to incorporate dishes from all the ethnic groups and national regions that I knew about. I always loved the idea of having a global cultural heritage and making it my own.

After taking Ancestry’s DNA testing, we were surprised about what we each inherited but also what we both lacked that we expected to find in our personal maps. There were some surprises, and what I want to do is combine Mom’s and my results and add recipes for each country of origin we didn’t know about. And we have lots of choices because my people liked to travel and mix it up!

There are three goals here:

1. To expand our culinary repertoire,

2. To learn a little more about our ancestors and honor them in doing so, and

3. To inspire me to blog more regularly.

So this is the first in a series which I’ll call “mélange”—mostly because that’s just a medley and often a delicious one, so it seems appropriate. I’ll be exploring cultural entries from our collective DNA map and coming up with the most interesting recipes I find (and there may be some rumor, speculation and innuendo thrown in, maybe a fact or two, but mostly an excuse to cook!).

Countries and cultures will be chosen at random and will not appear in any preset order, except whatever whim drives me that week… To start us off, I will try to choose cultures and regional cuisines I haven’t covered yet, and then revisit those I am well versed in (and that I’ve shared with you already).

1. Native American—Andean Cuisine

Both Mom and I inherited a trace of Andean heritage, which in my mind translates to New World Highlander! And while I am not aware of whether this is a trace of my mother’s paternal grandmother or an older ancestor, modern day relatives appear to be spread out around the western coast of South America from Ecuador to Chile (see map).

And while I will certainly revisit each of these countries' cuisines, I wanted to start with Andean food in general. I love the idea of starting with something pre-Columbian. We could easily to lump it into some sort of Incan ancestor, the truth is that there are several cultures in the area--including the Atamaca, Aymara, Kichwa, Quechua and Uru people (not including the Colombian indigenous folks along the Andes).

The gifts Andean culture bestowed on civilization include the domestication of squash around 8000 BCE by the Las Vegas culture from present-day Ecuador. These mountain folks, through the centuries, mastered agriculture and had consumable crops that still exist today, and some of which I have indulged in with careless abandon—some even led me to criminal behavior and it is not the obvious one!—from potatoes to tomatoes, chile peppers, pineapples, peanuts, several varieties of beans, cotton and coca.

Andean cuisine is replete with vegetables, especially tubers, so the vegetarians and vegans will find great options here (just steer clear of anything that says cuy and ask no questions about it).

When we make a large batch soup--as opposed to a quickie wonton soup--on one of its leftover iterations, it is likely to get an infusion of cornmeal to thicken it (especially nice with a chicken asopao). And while soup and stew season is about to end here, we do have several rainy days coming our way so that cornmeal soup sounds awesome. The word chochoca is Quechua for a type of maize flour (cornmeal). The soup is generally made with beef or pork (spare ribs), but it works as a filling and satisfying vegetarian dish as well. Here’s an easy version to get you started.

Caldo de Chochoca (Cornmeal Soup)

½ cup of cornmeal

1 cups of water

2 tablespoons of vegetable or canola oil

1 ½ lbs of beef (for stew, in bite sized pieces)

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

1 leek, chopped

1 medium to large onion, finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon of aji colorado* paste

6-8 cups of water

2 or 3 medium potatoes, cut in pieces

½ cup of shredded white cabbage

1/8 cup chopped mint

Salt to taste

Lightly season meat with salt and set aside. Heat oil in a Dutch oven under medium low flame. Sautee garlic and onion (until translucent but not so long that garlic browns). Add the aji colorado (see note below), and stir until well mixed.

Add meat, celery, leek, until meat is browned on all sides. Add water and bring to a boil.  Add potatoes, cabbage and half the mint leaves. Cover and cook until the potatoes are tender (at least 20 minutes).

Add the cornmeal and stir until fully incorporated (the broth will thicken and gain a velvety finish). Add salt, if needed, and cook for another 5 minutes.

Serve hot and garnish with remaining mint leaves.

Notes:

1. You may make your own aji colorado paste (panca pepper paste). If you want to make your own, there is a recipe here. If you have a good international section in your market, you may purchase any of these: Inca Food’s Aji Panca, Doña Isabel’s Panca Pepper Paste.

2. I saw a recipe that includes daikon, though I don’t know that this is a traditional ingredient. I saw another recipe that included corn on the cob, cut in one-inch pieces, added at the end as you add the chochoca.

3. You may use spare ribs, though this is best left for a lazy Sunday when you have time to let the broth simmer for an hour or more.

4. You may also make your own cornmeal, and there is a great piece about it here.