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Refresco de coconaCocona cooler

In Iquitos, Pucallpa and the river towns of Loreto, heat and humidity make a cold refresco part of every lunch, and cocona is one of the favourites sold from plastic jugs at the Belén market. The fruit looks like a fuzzy orange tomato and tastes between tomato, lemon and apricot: very sour, aromatic and juicy. Blended with water and sugar it makes a tangy, golden drink with a light pulp, served with juane or tacacho con cecina. The usual mistake is skipping the fuzz: cocona skin is covered in fine hairs that make the drink scratchy, so rub them off under running water before you start. Blend only briefly, too, so the many seeds do not crack. It is ready when the refresco is opaque orange, sour first and sweet after, with no grit. Outside the Amazon, look for frozen cocona pulp in Latin American shops; naranjilla (lulo) pulp is the closest substitute. Chef's tip: a pinch of salt makes the fruit taste sweeter and fruitier without more sugar.

10 min

Peruvian Drinks

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Jugo de macaWarm maca drink

Before dawn at markets in Huancayo, Cusco and Lima, juice ladies ladle hot jugo de maca from big pots for workers on their way in: maca root, a turnip relative grown above 4,000 metres in the Junín highlands, simmered with milk, cinnamon and cloves and sweetened with honey or sugar. It tastes malty and toasty, a bit like butterscotch. The common mistake is stirring the powder straight into hot milk, which leaves gritty lumps; whisk it into a little cold milk first. Maca is not usually advised in pregnancy, so ask your doctor first if you are pregnant. Chef's tip: use gelatinised (cooked) maca powder if you can find it; it dissolves smoothly and is gentler on the stomach.

10 min

Peruvian Drinks

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Mate de muñaAndean mint tea

Muña is the minty shrub that grows wild on the slopes around Cusco, Puno and the Sacred Valley, and highland cooks reach for it after a heavy meal of chicharrón or when visitors are struggling with the altitude. Market herb sellers sell it in fresh bunches, and hotels and homes leave it in a flask for anyone coming in from the cold evenings. Steeped simply in hot water, it smells somewhere between spearmint, oregano and pennyroyal, with a cooling, slightly peppery taste and a pale green-gold colour. It is traditionally drunk to settle the stomach. The usual mistake is boiling the leaves hard for a long time, which turns the tea brown and bitter. Pour water just off the boil over the sprigs, cover, and let it steep. It is ready when the cup is pale gold and the aroma rises as soon as you lift the lid. Outside Peru, look for dried muña in Latin shops; failing that, use mostly spearmint with a little fresh oregano. Muña is strong: avoid large amounts in pregnancy, and check with a doctor if you take regular medication. Chef's tip: cover the cup while it steeps so the scented oils stay in the tea.

8 min

Peruvian Drinks

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Cocido quemadoBurnt sugar mate drink

Cocido is how Paraguay starts the day: in Asunción, in the villages of Guairá and Itapúa, and in school kitchens, a pot of burnt yerba is brewed and poured into cups with chipa, the cheesy cassava bread, or with a hard galleta. The old way is to drop a glowing piece of charcoal into a pot with yerba and sugar and stir until the sugar burns. On a home stove you caramelise them together in a dry pan instead, which is safer and gives the same smoky, toffee-like taste. The drink is clear amber-brown, with roasted, slightly bitter mate notes over burnt-sugar sweetness; with milk added it becomes cocido con leche, creamy and coffee-coloured. Yerba mate contains caffeine, so treat it like a cup of coffee. The common mistake is letting the sugar go black: it turns acrid and bitter. Pull it off the heat when the caramel is deep amber and the yerba smells toasted, not burnt. It is ready when the liquid is a clear dark amber and tastes of toffee and smoke. Chef's tip: the water will spit fiercely when it hits the hot caramel, so pour it in from the side, at arm's length.

14 min

Paraguayan Drinks

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Ají amarillo pasteYellow chilli paste

In Lima's markets ají amarillo is sold fresh all year, and most Peruvian cooks keep a tub of this paste in the fridge the way others keep tomato purée: it is the golden base of causa limeña, ají de gallina, papa a la huancaína, chupe and the sauce for tiraditos. The chillies are seeded, de-veined and blanched in three changes of water, which tames the heat and the raw grassiness, then peeled and blended with oil into a thick, silky, saffron-orange paste. It tastes fruity and sunny, almost like apricot and passion fruit, with a rounded, medium heat. Abroad, buy whole frozen ají amarillo from Latin grocers; dried ají mirasol, soaked, gives a darker, earthier paste. Common mistake: skipping the peeling; the thin skins leave papery flecks and a bitter edge. It is ready when it is completely smooth and holds a soft peak like thick hummus. This is a low-acid paste: keep it in the fridge for a week or freeze it, never on the shelf. Chef's tip: freeze it in an ice-cube tray; one cube is about a tablespoon, just right for a pot of ají de gallina.

40 min

Peruvian Basics

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Pisco sour

Lima drinks its pisco sour as the aperitif before a long ceviche lunch, and celebrates it every year on the first Saturday of February; the recipe took shape in the city's bars in the 1920s. It is for adults only and stronger than its pillowy look suggests. Underneath a thick white foam you get sharp Peruvian lime, a clean sweetness and the floral, grapey warmth of quebranta pisco, with the bitters adding a spicy smell to every sip. The texture should be silky, almost creamy, never thin. The classic mistake is squeezing the limes too hard or too early: the oil from the pith turns the drink bitter within half an hour. Halve the limes, press each half gently by hand just before mixing and stop when the juice slows. The egg white is raw, so use pasteurised egg white for anyone pregnant, for babies, older people or anyone unwell, or swap in 30 ml aquafaba. It is ready when the foam stands about 1 cm high and is firm enough to hold the drops of bitters on its surface. Sip one slowly and drink responsibly. Chef's tip: shake once without ice first to whip the egg white, then again with ice; the foam will be twice as thick.

5 min

Peruvian Drinks

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Chilcano de piscoPisco and ginger ale highball

When Lima's grey winter finally lifts and summer reaches the beaches south of the city, the chilcano takes over from the pisco sour: lighter, longer and made for an afternoon. Peru even gives it a Semana del Chilcano each January, and it is poured at weekend lunches with chifa or fried fish. This is a highball for adults only: pisco poured over a tall glass of ice with fresh lime and ginger ale, finished with a few drops of bitters. It should taste crisp and fizzy, with the ginger and lime lifting the floral grape notes of the pisco rather than hiding them. The common mistake is using too little ice and warm ginger ale, which gives a sweet, diluted drink that goes flat in minutes. Fill the glass to the top with ice and keep the ginger ale in the fridge until the last second. It is ready when the glass is frosty, the bubbles race up the sides and the bitters drift through the top as a pink haze. Light it may be, but drink responsibly. Chef's tip: try a fruit-infused pisco, made by steeping passion fruit or mandarin peel in the bottle for a few days; Limeños love a chilcano de maracuyá.

10 min

Peruvian Drinks

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Locro de zapallo for toddlersPumpkin stew for toddlers

Locro de zapallo is the golden pumpkin stew of Lima's home kitchens and menú lunch spots, eaten on weekdays with white rice and, for adults, a fried egg and ají on the side. For toddlers from 12 months it is cooked without any ají, the pumpkin is simmered until it melts into a sauce, and just a little crumbled fresh cheese is stirred in, so it is sweet, creamy and easy to mash. It contains milk; there is no gluten, egg, nuts or soya. Queso fresco is often made with animal rennet, so for a vegetarian bowl choose one labelled vegetarian, or use a little paneer, and always a pasteurised cheese. Chef's tip: cut half the pumpkin small so it dissolves into the sauce and the rest larger so it keeps some shape.

45 min

Peruvian Curries

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Postre MassiniCustard sponge with burnt sugar top

Montevideo's birthday cake of choice since the early twentieth century, the Massini is two thin layers of sponge sandwiching a thick filling of whipped cream folded with egg-yolk custard, crowned with a thin glassy crust of torched yolk and sugar. Bakeries across Uruguay sell it on Sundays. Traditional versions sometimes add a sweet fortified wine to the custard; this one is alcohol-free. The custard is cooked to a safe 71 °C. The common mistake is assembling with warm custard, which melts the cream into a puddle. Chef's tip: if you don't have a blowtorch, put the sugared top under a very hot grill for a minute and watch it closely.

80 min

Paraguayan Baking

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TereréIced yerba mate

In Asunción the hottest part of the day stops for tereré: a horn or cup packed with yerba mate, topped up again and again with ice water infused with crushed herbs, and passed round the group through a metal straw. It was recognised by UNESCO as part of Paraguay's cultural heritage, and the herbs (yuyos) change with the season and the drinker's mood. Yerba mate contains caffeine, so it isn't one for small children. The common mistake is pouring water straight into loose yerba, which then clogs the straw; tilt the yerba to one side first. Chef's tip: for tereré ruso, swap the water for cold orange or grapefruit juice.

10 min

Paraguayan Drinks

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Jugo surtidoMixed fruit juice

Step up to any juguería in Lima's Mercado de Surquillo or a barrio market at breakfast time and order a surtido: the juicer drops papaya, banana, pineapple and freshly squeezed orange into a tall blender, sometimes a slice of cooked beetroot for colour or a splash of milk, and pours you a big glass with the rest left in the jug for your 'yapa', the free refill. It is thick but still pourable, sweet from ripe fruit with a sharp orange edge, the kind of drink that stands in for breakfast before a long day. The common mistake is adding lots of ice and water, which makes it thin and frothy rather than velvety. Use cold fruit and freshly squeezed orange juice as the liquid. It is ready when it coats the glass and no lumps of banana are left. This version is fruit only; stalls also make it with milk if you prefer. Drink it straight away: papaya and banana go brown and bitter within half an hour. Chef's tip: use very ripe papaya with orange flesh; under-ripe papaya tastes of nothing and gives a faintly bitter aftertaste.

10 min

Peruvian Drinks

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EnsaïmadaSpiral sweet breakfast pastry

This contains pork: the name comes from saïm, the pork lard brushed over the dough before it is coiled, and it is what gives an ensaïmada its shattering, flaky layers. Mallorcans eat them for breakfast with hot chocolate or coffee, and at Palma airport you will see travellers carrying flat hexagonal boxes of large ones home as gifts. The dough is enriched with egg and sugar, stretched until thin enough to see through, rolled into a rope and wound into a loose spiral, then proved overnight. Chef's tip: oil your hands and the worktop generously before stretching, so the dough slides rather than sticks and tears.

78 min

Spanish Baking

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CarquinyolisTwice-baked almond biscuits

Catalan bakeries sell carquinyolis in paper bags, especially around Christmas and village festivals, and grandparents keep a tin of them to dunk in coffee, milk or, after a big lunch, a glass of sweet wine. They are cousins of Italian cantucci, but often rougher, with whole unpeeled almonds and a hint of lemon and cinnamon. Baked once as a log, sliced, then baked again, they keep for weeks. Chef's tip: slice the logs while still warm with a serrated knife and a single firm cut; cold logs crumble and the almonds shatter.

60 min

Spanish Baking

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FartonsSweet glazed buns for dipping

In Alboraya, just north of Valencia, the horchaterías that serve cold tiger-nut horchata in summer put a plate of fartons beside every glass: long, slim, soft buns with a shiny sugar glaze, designed to be dunked and to soak up the milky drink without falling apart. The dough is enriched with egg, milk and sunflower oil rather than butter, which gives them their light, cottony crumb. They are just as good with coffee or cold milk. A common mistake is rushing the second rise; under-proved fartons stay tight and bready instead of airy. Chef's tip: roll each strip a little thinner than you think, about as thick as your finger, because they almost double in the oven.

45 min

Spanish Baking

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BarraquitoLayered coffee with condensed milk

Order a barraquito in any café in Santa Cruz de Tenerife or La Laguna and it comes in a small glass showing neat stripes: sweet condensed milk at the bottom, then espresso, then foamed milk, perfumed with lemon peel and cinnamon. The bar classic adds a measure of a vanilla-citrus Spanish liqueur between the layers, which makes it contain alcohol; this recipe leaves it optional, and without it the drink is often called a zaperoco or barraquito sin licor. Chef's tip: pour each layer slowly over the back of a spoon, so the layers sit on top of each other instead of mixing.

10 min

Spanish Drinks

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CordialesAlmond and candied pumpkin cakes

Murcian Christmas tables always have a plate of cordiales, small domed cakes of ground almond and egg with a spoonful of cabello de ángel, the stringy candied squash jam, hidden in the middle. They are sold in every pastry shop in Murcia from December and baked at home in the weeks before Christmas, traditionally on a round of edible wafer so they lift cleanly off the tray. They should be crisp at the very tips and soft and moist inside. Chef's tip: make them a day ahead; the almond paste firms up and the flavour deepens.

43 min

Spanish Baking

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Bica de TrivesButtery cream cake

Pobra de Trives, a mountain town in Ourense, holds a festival every August in honour of its bica, a rich, close-textured cake made with fresh cream and butter from local dairies. It is baked in a rectangular tin, sold in paper and eaten in thick slices with coffee or a glass of milk. The sugar scattered on top bakes into a thin, crackly crust. A common mistake is overmixing once the flour goes in, which makes it tough; fold just until no streaks remain. Chef's tip: whip the egg whites separately and fold them in last for a lighter crumb.

65 min

Spanish Baking

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Tarta de SantiagoFlourless almond cake

Pilgrims finishing the Camino in Santiago de Compostela see this cake in every bakery window around the cathedral, dusted white with icing sugar and stencilled with the cross of St James. It is made only from ground almonds, sugar, eggs and a little lemon and cinnamon, so it is naturally free of gluten, moist and dense with a thin crisp crust. Galicians eat it with coffee after Sunday lunch or at weddings. A common mistake is overbeating the eggs to a foam, which makes the cake rise and then sink; just mix until smooth. Chef's tip: cut a cross from paper and lay it on the cold cake before sifting over the icing sugar.

55 min

Spanish Baking

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PantxinetaCustard and almond puff pastry tart

Pantxineta was first baked in a pastry shop in San Sebastián's old town in the early twentieth century, and Donostiarras still buy it on Sunday mornings to take to family lunch. Two layers of buttery puff pastry enclose vanilla pastry cream, and the top is covered with flaked almonds and icing sugar. It is best eaten warm on the day it is made, while the pastry shatters. A common mistake is filling the pastry with warm custard, which melts the butter layers and stops them rising. Chef's tip: chill the assembled tart for 20 minutes before baking so the pastry keeps sharp edges.

70 min

Spanish Baking

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Coca de Sant JoanCandied fruit and pine nut brioche

On the night of 23 June, the Revetlla de Sant Joan, Catalonia lights bonfires, sets off firecrackers on every beach and street, and shares a long oval coca: a soft, lemony brioche topped with candied fruit, pine nuts and crunchy sugar. Bakeries sell thousands, but a homemade one, still slightly warm, is something else. Some recipes add a splash of anise liqueur; this one uses aniseed instead. Chef's tip: give the shaped dough a long, slow second rise; a well-proved coca bakes up light, an under-proved one dense.

65 min

Spanish Baking

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Mona de PascuaEaster brioche with egg

On Easter Monday, families across the Valencian Community head out to the countryside or the beach to "menjar-se la mona": they eat an orange-scented sweet brioche, often with a whole egg baked on top, and children crack the egg on a friend's forehead. The bun is soft and fluffy, glazed and sprinkled with sugar or coloured aniseed sprinkles. Here the eggs are hard-boiled first, so they are cooked through whatever the size of your bun. A common mistake is adding all the flour at once to a sticky dough; it softens as you knead, so hold back the last 50 g until you've kneaded for a few minutes. Chef's tip: make the starter the evening before and the dough on the day; the slow start gives a lighter crumb that stays soft for two days.

70 min

Spanish Baking

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Pastel vascoAlmond cake with pastry cream

Bakeries across the French Basque province of Labourd, from Cambo-les-Bains to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, sell this round cake by the slice, and the village of Itxassou has long filled it with black cherry jam instead of cream. The dough sits between a biscuit and a shortcake, rich with butter and ground almonds, and it hides a thick layer of vanilla pastry cream. Some bakers add a spoon of rum to the cream; this one leaves it out. A common mistake is baking it too pale, so the crust stays soft: wait for a deep golden top. Chef's tip: chill the dough well, as it is very soft and much easier to roll when cold.

85 min

Spanish Baking

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Pastissets de moniatoSweet potato pastry half-moons

As Christmas nears, bakeries and home kitchens from Valencia to Alicante turn out trays of pastissets, little half-moon pies of crumbly olive-oil pastry wrapped around a filling of sweet potato cooked with sugar, lemon and cinnamon, finished with a snowy dusting of sugar. They are eaten with coffee or a glass of mistela after the big family meals, and also for All Saints in November. The pastry traditionally includes a splash of sweet mistela wine; orange juice works just as well for an alcohol-free version. A common mistake is overfilling, which splits the seams in the oven; a heaped teaspoon is enough. Chef's tip: chill the filling until firm before you shape, so it sits neatly in the centre and is easy to seal.

95 min

Spanish Baking

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Coca de llandaLemon and olive oil sponge

Every Valencian grandmother has a coca de llanda, a plain, fluffy sponge named after the shallow metal tray (llanda) it is baked in, and it turns up at breakfast, at afternoon merienda and in lunchboxes all over the Comunitat Valenciana. Sunflower oil and milk keep it moist for days, lemon zest perfumes it, and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top bakes into a crackly crust. A common mistake is opening the oven in the first 25 minutes, which makes the middle sink. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for 10 minutes in the tin before it goes into the oven; the cinnamon sugar then sits on the surface instead of sinking in.

50 min

Spanish Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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