Ajiaco (Ajiaco santafereño)

Name: Ajiaco
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 95 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Colombia
Ingredients: 1 kg chicken pieces; 1.2 kg mixed potatoes (waxy, floury and small yellow); 3 corn cobs, cut into chunks; 3 spring onions, 2 garlic cloves; 3 tbsp dried guascas; Cream, capers and avocado to serve

Overview

Ajiaco santafereño is the signature soup of Bogotá, a hearty chicken and potato stew suited to the cool air of the Andean capital. It traditionally uses three kinds of potato: waxy sabanera, creamy pastusa and small yellow papa criolla, which melts into the broth and thickens it to a golden colour. Pieces of corn on the cob and chicken simmer alongside, and the essential seasoning is guascas, a dried herb with a grassy, slightly minty aroma that gives ajiaco its unmistakable taste. The shredded chicken is returned to the pot and each bowl is finished at the table with cream, capers and slices of avocado, often with rice on the side.

History

Ajiaco brings together ingredients from two worlds. Potatoes and corn were grown in the Andes long before the Spanish arrived, while chicken, capers and cream came with European settlers. In Bogotá, the old Santa Fe, this mix became ajiaco santafereño, a defining dish of the capital that is often served at family gatherings and Sunday lunches. Other soups named ajiaco exist in Cuba and Peru, but they are quite different dishes. The Bogotá version is set apart by its use of the herb guascas.

Main ingredients

Chicken, three kinds of potato, corn on the cob, guascas herb, capers, cream and avocado. The soup is built on chicken broth and is usually served hot. Diet: contains meat; usually gluten-free.

Explore: Chicken soups · Potato soups · Corn soups · More soups from Colombia

Recipe

4Serves

1h 35m20 prep · 75 cook

~450kcal / serving

MediumDifficulty

Method

1
40 min
Simmer the chicken with spring onion and garlic in 3 l water for 40 minutes; remove and shred.
2
20 min
Add the sliced waxy and floury potatoes and the corn and cook for 20 minutes.
3
Add the small yellow potatoes and guascas and cook until they break down and thicken the soup.
4
Return the chicken and season with salt.
5
Serve with cream, capers and avocado on the side.
✓
Serve. About 1h 35m from start to bowl.

Pictures

Ajiaco: Ajiaco — Photo: Mauricio Giraldo from Bogotá, Colombia · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Sources

Ajiaco (Wikipedia)

Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.