Ajiaco is a hearty soup from the cold mountains near Bogotá, Colombia. Charles learnt this recipe from his wife’s sisters during one of his visits, and shared it with us in the office.
8 small yellow or white potatoes, cut into quarters
2 onions
1 chicken cut into eighths
1 liter water
2 maize, cut into thick slices
2 cloves of garlic
2 avocados as a complement, diced
400 ml cream
coriander
guascas (or bay leaf)
capers (alcaparras)
rice on the side
oil for cooking
Instructions
Heat a bit of oil on a casserole and fry chicken, onions and garlic until golden.
Add potatoes and guascas to taste, fry for 5 min, stirring so it doesn't get stick.
Add the maize, coriander to taste and water until covered. Cook for 40 min. The starchy potatoes should disintegrate but the other ones should be well-cooked without disintegrating.
When cooked, serve on soup bowls and add 100ml of cream, half avocado, and capers to taste.
This is supposed to be a big thing in the region above the Mura river in north-east Slovenia —”the head of the chicken.” This is Tina’s grandmother’s recipe.
Mix all of the ingredients but rather quickly as not to make the dough too warm and soft, refrigirate it before use.
“PULLED” DOUGH
Be careful to use warm water so the ingredients bond more firmly and make the dough softer.
Mix all of the ingredients into a firm ball and rest for 30 minutes under a kitchen cloth (you can halve the dough so it will be easier to strech it thinly later on). Then role out the dough into about a fingers width of a sheet and spread oil over the surface to prevent tearing.
Strech the dough over the surface of the table as thinly as you can (make sure you put a cloth underneath with lots of flower so it wont stick to the table). Cut the dough into about ten sheets that are slightly larger than the base of the baking dish.
CAKE
Role out the base dough into a thin sheet and spread it over the bottom of the baking dish, fold and lift the ends of the dough and press them against the walls of the dish making a bowl.
Then put a sheet of “pulled” dough over it and spread your first filling - the poppy seeds. Spread a modest amount of the sour cream topping and sugar.
Then come the next sheet and the grated apples which you season with cinnamon (grandma used to have a heavy hand when it came to this but use as much as you see fit) and sugar.
Now comes another layer with the walnuts and then cottage cheese. You cover both with the cream topping but don’t hold back with the cottage cheese, make sure that bad boy is nice and moist. Also you can mix the walnuts with the cream beforehand so they’ll be easier to spread.
Repeat all four layers and cover the whole thing with two sheets (spread the butter and some cream carefully between the layers so they won’t get stuck into a single hard sheet).
Before putting it in the oven generously cover the top with, you guessed it, more cream.
Slowly bake for about an hour (this part is really vague so I guess at around 180 degrees).
Mix the flour and salt in a big bowl, then, using your fingertips, rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Add enough of the cold water to mix to a firm dough. Let rest in the fridge for an hour.
Roll out three-quarters of the pastry on lightly floured surface. Grease a 20 cm pie dish with butter and fill in the pastry.
Fill with the apples peeled and cut to dices and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar.
Roll out the remaining of the pastry and use to cover the pie, moistening the edges of the pastry base to seal on the lid. Cut a vent or pinch the top and brush with milk.
Bake in a preheated oven at 200º C for about 30 minutes until pastry is golden.
Serve with whipped cream.
Pro tip: use brown muscovado sugar instead of brown sugar, and add all spice besides the cinnamon, just a hint.
Boil the potatoes in their skins. Then, peel and press or grate.
Fruits thoroughly wash and cut into medium-sized pieces.
Potatoes and salt in a bowl, mix the flour, egg and prepare dough from which we associate roller. This, in turn, cut into equal pieces and carefully wrap each plum. Cook for in a boiling lightly salted water. Cook until the dumplings rise to the surface.
Potato dumplings with fruit split plate, slice of butter and sprinkle with sugar (even vanilla) or cocoa powder.
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Ladislav’s mother secret pro tip: boil the potatoes and let cool overnight so the dough doesn’t become sticky.
Dema’s mother, who is Palestinian, learnt this baklava recipe from a Lebanese woman while living in New York city, whereupon Dema learnt it already living in Hamburg, and came all the way down to Barcelona to share it with us. The world of food is simply amazing.
In a large pot, mix together all the ingredients until the chicken is coated. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium and cook about 35 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.
Preheat the oven grill to super high. Place the chicken pieces skin side up on an oven tray and cook under the grill until the skin gets crispy.
Simmer the leftover cooking sauce until thickened.
Serve with steamed white rice. Drizzle the sauce all over the rice and chicken.
The first thing that comes to mind when foreigners think about Spanish food is the almighty paella, but, while arguably a perfect dish, my favorites are variations like the fideuà or arròs negre, which pass under the radar and so keep the quality of well-kept secrets. This recipe is taken from a book from the most famous Catalan cook, Ferran Adrià.
Fast and easy way to preparea a soba soup with few ingredients.
Cuisine: Japanese
Serves: 2 people
Ingredients
200 gr. of fresh shiitake mushrooms
150 gr. of soba (or any kind) noodles
1 big garlic clove
2 green onions
Miso paste
Salt
Olive oil
Instructions
Cut the clove of garlic in slices and throw them into a pan with a bit of olive oil. Heat up the pan so the oil absorbs the flavour of the garlic.
Cut the mushrooms in quarters and once the garlic starts to jump, add them to the pan and sauté them for about 1 min, then reserve.
Put about a bowl and a half of water to boil in a small pot with a pinch of salt. Once it starts to boil put in the noodles.
Boil the noodles for the time suggested in the package. Once done do not rinse, just add in a tablespoon of miso paste, the sautéed mushrooms and garlic, and the green onions cut into fine slices, and mix until the miso paste dissolves.
