Locro

Ingredients

Soaked overnight

• 500 gwhite hominy corn (maíz blanco pisingallo or mote), soaked 12 hr in cold water
• 250 gdried white beans, soaked 12 hr in cold water

The pot

• 500 gpork belly, in 3 cm pieces
• 400 gbeef brisket or falda, in 3 cm pieces
• 300 gchorizo colorado, thickly sliced
• 200 gpork skin (cuerito), cut in strips
• 150 gtripe (mondongo), pre-cooked and sliced (optional)
• 2onions, chopped
• 3garlic cloves, minced
• 1red pepper, chopped
• 600 gpumpkin (calabaza), in 3 cm chunks
• 300 gsweet potato, in 3 cm chunks
• 3 litreswater or light stock
• 2bay leaves
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspground cumin

Quiquirimichi (the chilli oil served on top)

• 150 mlsunflower oil
• 3spring onions, finely sliced
• 2 tbspsweet pimentón
• 1 tspají molido or chilli flakes
• ½ tspground cumin

Directions

1. Drain the soaked corn and beans, put them in a large heavy pot with the 3 litres of water, the bay and the pork skin, and bring to a boil. Skim the foam for the first 10 minutes.
2. Simmer covered for 1 hour, then add the pork belly, beef and tripe if using and cook a further 1 hour. The corn should be swelling and beginning to split.
3. Add the onion, garlic, pepper, cumin and salt and cook another 30 minutes with the lid ajar, stirring from the bottom every 15 minutes so nothing catches.
4. Add the pumpkin and sweet potato and simmer 40–50 minutes uncovered. They should dissolve almost completely: this is what thickens locro, and no flour or cream is ever used.
5. Add the chorizo in the last 20 minutes so it perfumes the pot without going grainy.
6. Stir often now with a long wooden spoon. Locro sticks and scorches easily at this stage and a burnt bottom flavours the whole pot.
7. Judge the consistency: the spoon should stand for a moment before falling, and the corn should be soft and creamy but still whole enough to feel between the teeth. Total cooking is 3 to 3.5 hours.
8. Make the quiquirimichi by warming the oil with the spring onion for 2 minutes, then taking it off the heat and stirring in the pimentón, ají molido and cumin. Never let paprika hit hot oil on the flame or it turns bitter.
9. Rest the locro 20 minutes off the heat, then serve in deep bowls with a spoonful of the red oil on top, to be stirred in by each person.

Technique

• Locro is eaten on Argentine patriotic dates, above all 25 May and 9 July, and is an Andean dish that predates the cattle: the corn, squash and beans are the original, the meats are colonial.
• It is better the next day and is normally made in a pot far larger than one meal. Reheat gently with a splash of water.
• Do not add salt early. The corn absorbs liquid for hours and the pot concentrates; salt at the two hour mark and correct at the end.
• Every province argues about the cuts. What is not negotiable is hominy corn, squash to thicken, and the chilli oil on top.

Substitutions

• No hominy corn: dried white maize sold as mote or pozole corn is the same thing; tinned hominy works but needs only the last hour of cooking.
• Chorizo colorado can be replaced with a smoked paprika sausage, though the Argentine version is milder.
• For a lighter pot, use only pork belly and chorizo and leave out the tripe and skin.

Variations

• Locro criollo, the standard pot described here.
• Locro de trigo, made with wheat berries instead of corn, common in Catamarca.
• A vegetable locro of corn, beans and squash with no meat, cooked in the same way for Lent.

History

Andean maize and squash stew of Quechua origin, cooked for the national holidays of 25 May and 9 July.

Frequently asked questions

What is Locro?

Locro is a soup & stew from Argentina: hominy, squash and meat stew eaten on patriotic May 25. Andean maize and squash stew of Quechua origin, cooked for the national holidays of 25 May and 9 July.

How long does Locro take to make?

Locro takes 40 min of preparation and 3 hr 30 min, plus overnight soaking of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Locro?

Yes, within limits. No hominy corn: dried white maize sold as mote or pozole corn is the same thing; tinned hominy works but needs only the last hour of cooking. Chorizo colorado can be replaced with a smoked paprika sausage, though the Argentine version is milder. For a lighter pot, use only pork belly and chorizo and leave out the tripe and skin.

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

Stir often now with a long wooden spoon. Locro sticks and scorches easily at this stage and a burnt bottom flavours the whole pot.