Locro de papa

Ingredients

Potatoes

• 1.2 kgfloury potatoes
• peeled and chopped
• a highland variety if possible

The pot

• 1onion, finely chopped
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 tablespoonsoil
• or 30 g butter
• 1 tablespoonachiote oil
• or 1 teaspoon ground achiote
• 1 teaspoonground cumin
• 1.5 litreswater or light stock
• 2 teaspoonssalt

To finish

• 400 mlwhole milk
• 200 gfresh white cheese
• queso fresco, crumbled
• a handful of coriander, chopped

To serve

• 1avocado, sliced
• ají criollo, chilli sauce
• more crumbled cheese

Directions

1. Peel all of the potatoes first. Cut most of them into large chunks. Grate or finely chop a few of them. The chunks stay in soft pieces. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Add the finely chopped onion to it. Cook it for a good ten minutes. It must be cooked slowly and properly.
2. Add the crushed garlic to the onion. Add the achiote oil or ground achiote. Add the ground cumin in as well. Cook them for about two minutes. Add it with the pot off the fierce heat. Add all of the potatoes to the pot. Turn them through the refrito. Let them cook for about five minutes. Pour in the water or the stock. Add the measured salt to the pot. Bring the pot up to a full boil.
3. Cover the pot and let it cook on. Give it about twenty-five minutes. Crush some of the potato against the pot. Use the back of a wooden spoon. Crush about a third and leave the rest. That keeps the two textures together.
4. Pour all the milk into the pot. Stir it through the soup gently. Warm it through without boiling. Keep it below a simmer from here on. It only needs warming through.
5. Take the pot right off the heat. Stir in all the crumbled cheese. Let it soften in the residual heat. It should be thick and creamy. Add hot water if it is too thick. Simmer it uncovered if it is too thin. Leave it looser than you want it. Reheated leftovers need thinning.
6. Taste it and adjust the salt as needed. Add the chopped coriander to it. Potato soup needs generous salt. Taste it after the cheese goes in. Preparing the avocado is done at the last moment.
7. Cut the avocado just before serving. Slice it into thick even pieces. Cut it just as the soup is served. Serving it is done hot in deep bowls. Ladle the soup out into deep bowls. Lay avocado slices over each one. Crumble more cheese over the top. Put aji criollo out on the table. It keeps three days refrigerated.

Technique

• The potatoes are the only thickener: most go in as chunks and a few are grated so they dissolve early, giving a soup that is partly smooth and partly chunky, which is characteristic of it. Floury varieties break down where waxy ones hold their shape.
• Locro comes from the Quechua ruqru, a stew of tubers, and locro dishes are made across the Andes but differ enormously: the Ecuadorian one is a smooth potato soup while Argentine locro is a thick hominy stew, sharing a name and little else.
• The cheese goes in off the heat, since cheese added over heat goes stringy and can separate into oil and curd; queso fresco softens into small pieces rather than melting, which is what this soup wants.

Substitutions

• Turmeric gives a similar colour to achiote, which has little flavour of its own.
• Any fresh mild white cheese stands in for queso fresco.

Variations

• Some cooks blend part of the soup smooth rather than crushing it in the pot.
• Ají criollo, the Ecuadorian chilli sauce, is set on the table with it.
• Avocado on top is part of the dish rather than a garnish.

History

Highland potato soup finished with cheese and avocado; locro comes from the Quechua ruqru, a stew of tubers.

Frequently asked questions

What is Locro de papa?

Locro de papa is a soup & stew from Ecuador: creamy potato-cheese soup crowned with avocado. Highland potato soup finished with cheese and avocado; locro comes from the Quechua ruqru, a stew of tubers.

How long does Locro de papa take to make?

Locro de papa takes 20 minutes of preparation and 40 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Locro de papa?

Yes, within limits. Turmeric gives a similar colour to achiote, which has little flavour of its own. Any fresh mild white cheese stands in for queso fresco.

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

Peel all of the potatoes first. Cut most of them into large chunks. Grate or finely chop a few of them. The chunks stay in soft pieces. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Add the finely chopped onion to it. Cook it for a good ten minutes. It must be cooked slowly and properly.