Learning to cook Peruvian

So as Elsa and I have been alone all week; and as I’ve been sick, we haven’t been doing a lot of cooking. But thankfully each day I’m getting a little better and my energy and appetite have returned and now I’m just waiting for the rest of the yellow to leave my eyes so that I will once again look like a normal human being. As part of the Fiestas Patrias celebrations, yesterday was the great Military Parade in Lima that hosted the president and all of the countries grand officials and military officers. So Elsa and I sat on the couch yesterday morning and watched the parade together for a few hours. Afterward there was a morning program that hosted a local chef who was preparing a new twist on an old dish: Pasta a la Huancaina con Bruchettas. Translation: Huancaina pasta with Shish kebabs. Elsa decided that the dish looked good, and I was in the mood to cook again, so we decided that we would try making the meal for lunch today. Elsa left this morning to go buy the ingredients that we lacked, and we spent a lovely afternoon cooking together. Huancaina sauce is a typical sauce of Peru that is made out of egg yolks, aji peppers and cheese that is typically eaten with potatoes. But in this dish it was the sauce eaten with spaghetti and chicken shish kebabs with grilled peppers and onions. I’ll just go ahead and tell you that this was one of the best meals I’ve had in a while and I’m looking forward to cooking it for my family once I get home. The chef made his shish kebabs using tuna meat, so I assume you can use beef, chicken or seafood. The problem is the Aji pepper. It’s a pepper specific to Peru that I had never heard of until I got here. I don’t know if you can find it in Lincoln, let alone the States. So I will be on a mission when I get home to locate the aji pepper so that I can continue enjoying the delicious Peruvian cuisine that I am learning to prepare. In case any of you are adventurous and want to try making the sauce with a different pepper or perhaps you find some Aji someday, I will share my new recipe with you. Good Luck!

Huancaina Pasta & Shish kebabs

Huancaina sauce:

• 4 hard-boiled egg yolks
• 5 medium fresh Aji peppers
• ¼ kilo fresh cheese
• Lemon juice
• Milk
• Oil
• Parsley
• Parmesan Cheese

Remove seeds from Aji peppers and boil in water with a tsp. sugar. Blend the egg yolks, chopped cheese, milk, lemon juice and oil and Aji until it has a semi-thick and creamy consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Boil 1 pound spaghetti noodles and set aside.

Shish kebabs:

• Red and Green peppers cut in chunks
• Onion cut in chunks
• Preferred meat (beef/chicken/seafood) cut in chunks and seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano or your favorite marinade.

Cook vegetables and meat in a sauté or place on skewers and cook on the grill until done.
In a large pan pour the Huancaina sauce to boil, add spaghetti and parmesan cheese; mix well. Serve on plates topped with parsley and parmesan, place shish kebabs, or open meat and veggies on top of the mound of spaghetti. Serve hot.