Ajiaco

Ingredients

Soup

• 1 kgbone-in chicken (breasts and thighs), skin on
• 2.5 litreswater
• 500 gpapa criolla (small yellow Andean potatoes), scrubbed, or 500 g yellow-fleshed new potatoes
• 500 gpapa sabanera or red-skinned waxy potatoes, in 1 cm slices
• 400 gfloury white potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
• 2corn cobs, cut into 4 cm rounds
• 1onion, halved
• 4spring onions, whole
• 4garlic cloves
• 1large handful guascas (dried Galinsoga parviflora), about 15 g
• 1 bunchcoriander stalks
• Salt and black pepper

To serve

• 200 mlsingle cream or crema de leche
• 60 gcapers, drained
• 2avocados, sliced
• Plain white rice
• Sliced lime, optional

Directions

1. Put the chicken in a large pot with the cold water, the halved onion, spring onions, garlic and coriander stalks, bring slowly to a simmer and skim the foam for the first 10 minutes.
2. Simmer gently, uncovered, for 35–40 minutes until the chicken is cooked through, then lift it out, strain the broth and return it to the pot. Shred the meat off the bone in large pieces and discard skin and bones.
3. Add the floury white potatoes and the corn rounds to the broth and simmer 20 minutes; the white potatoes are there to dissolve and thicken.
4. Add the sliced sabanera potatoes and simmer another 15 minutes until just tender but still holding their shape.
5. Add the papa criolla whole and cook 20–25 minutes, stirring occasionally and crushing a few against the side of the pot. They break down into golden threads and give ajiaco its distinctive cloudy, faintly grainy body.
6. Crumble in the guascas and simmer 10 minutes more. Add them late: long boiling turns their artichoke-and-hay flavour flat and grassy.
7. Return the shredded chicken, season generously, and simmer 5 minutes so the meat takes on the broth. The soup should be thick enough to coat a spoon but still spoonable.
8. Ladle into deep bowls with a piece of corn cob in each and serve with cream, capers, avocado and rice handed round separately, so each diner stirs in their own. The capers and cream are not optional garnishes in Bogotá; they are how the dish is eaten.

Technique

• Three potato types is the whole architecture: one to melt, one to hold, one to colour and thicken. Using a single variety gives you a decent chicken soup but not ajiaco.
• Guascas is the non-negotiable herb, sold dried in Colombian shops. There is no true substitute; without it the soup is simply a potato and chicken soup.
• Ajiaco santafereño belongs to Bogotá and the savanna around it. Cuban and Peruvian dishes called ajiaco are unrelated.

Substitutions

• Frozen papa criolla is widely sold and works well; add it still frozen and give it 5 extra minutes.
• If guascas is truly unavailable, a small amount of dried oregano with a few artichoke hearts approximates the direction, but say what it is: an approximation.

Variations

• Some households add a splash of the cream directly to the pot at the end for a richer, paler soup.
• A meatless version built on the same three potatoes and guascas is common during Lent, using vegetable broth.

History

Bogota’s soup of three native potato varieties, thickened as the criolla dissolves; guascas, an Andean herb, gives its defining flavour.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ajiaco?

Ajiaco is a soup & stew from Colombia: bogotá chicken soup of three potatoes, corn and guascas, with capers, cream. Bogota’s soup of three native potato varieties, thickened as the criolla dissolves; guascas, an Andean herb, gives its defining flavour.

How long does Ajiaco take to make?

Ajiaco takes 25 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Ajiaco?

Yes, within limits. Frozen papa criolla is widely sold and works well; add it still frozen and give it 5 extra minutes. If guascas is truly unavailable, a small amount of dried oregano with a few artichoke hearts approximates the direction, but say what it is: an approximation.

What is the most important thing to get right in Ajiaco?

Three potato types is the whole architecture: one to melt, one to hold, one to colour and thicken. Using a single variety gives you a decent chicken soup but not ajiaco.