Bolivian Cuisine

Since my last post I have been diagnosed with an infection in my leg, been to a Bolivian hospital (twice), completed 16 days of antibiotics at 6 pills per day, and successfully avoided salmonella.  I have also started doing my grocery shopping at the outdoor market a few blocks from where I live.  Whereas you will pay just as much at the grocery store here for a week's worth of groceries as in the US, at the outdoor market I can buy my food for the week (including beef, pork, chicken, seafood, spices, fresh fruit and vegetables, cereal, milk and juice) for around US$30.  Though I'm sure you would all enjoy hearing about Bolivian hospitals and the huge open-air meat market, I'm inspired to write about something else.  Today I cooked my first Bolivian dish.

Aji de fideo is a typical paceño dish (native to La Paz).

This dish is typically known as "poor man's food" here because the ingredients are so inexpensive.  It basically consists of noodles, potatoes, onion, aji molido (a ground pepper resembling paprika), peas and lima beans.  Regardless of the class label, people of all economic means eat aji de fideo in La Paz (though the wealthier people add meat).  It's easy to make, great for cold weather and delicious.  If Chef Boyardee got ahold of this recipe, America would never eat Spaghetti-O's again.

I was inspired to make this dish because they were holding an aji de fideo competition Sunday at the street fair downtown.  Mind you, I had no intention of participating in the competition.  After spending a good 30-minutes watching 80-year-olds dance their hearts out (thankfully not literally) to Good Golly Miss Molly and the Happy Days theme, and then sneaking into a 5-star hotel to use the bathroom, I had completely missed the competition.  So I had nothing to base my aji de fideo on besides a vague memory from when Jaime's mom cooked it a year ago.  I had already bought the basic ingredients, so I decided there was no other option but onward and upward.  After some brief instructions from Jaime's mother, I began my culinary journey.

Aji de Fideo
(all measurements are estimated)

1/2 lb. ground beef
2 cups noodles (I used shells, but any kind will do)
3 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup red onion, minced
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup lima beans
3 T red aji molido (I encourage any of you in the US who want to attempt the recipe to substitute paprika)
salt to taste
cooking oil
lots of water

-serves 6-

Who wouldn't love cooking with views like these from the kitchen window??

I began by cooking the onion with salt over medium heat in a large pot without any oil, until the juices had boiled out.  This process was surprisingly long (about 30-40 minutes) so, in the meantime, I browned the ground beef (seasoned with salt and pepper) in a pan with a little bit of oil.  I stirred the onion frequently to keep it from burning.  Once the onion was "dry," I added about 4 tablespoons of cooking oil and the aji.  I let this steep for a few minutes and then added the beef.  When everything was red in color and pasty in consistency I added as much water as possible to the pot (about 3 cups).  I dumped in the potatoes, peas, and lima beans, and turned up the heat.  While those began to cook, I toasted the uncooked noodles in oil.  I had to use two small frying pans to do this, but ideally you would use one big one.  When the noodles were toasted, I dumped them into the big pot as well.  Then I let the water boil for 35 minutes, adding water as necessary to cook the noodles.  I also turned the heat down towards the end to keep it from burning to the bottom of the pan.

I brought Jaime in to judge my attempt at aji de fideo, and it looks like I passed.  We both went back for seconds, which was a mistake.  This dish fills you up quick.  Now I think I need a nap.

I'm not sure what I'll try next, but I'll be sure to keep you posted.