2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
The cuisine in South America is as diverse as the peoples living there. Spanish and Portuguese colonial influence prevailed in part over local cultures, and in countries such as Brazil and Argentina there were no native Indian civilizations, so Spanish influence was more visible there than in Peru and Ecuador, where the Incas lived.
Spicy spices
The Indians grew corn and made tortillas like the Mexicans - they fried corn pancakes on an open fire or baked the dough on hot flat stones, the ancestors of the pan. The food was very spicy and typical of the local conditions. When the European conquerors came, they brought not so spicy but more refined food. However, they used local spices and adapted them to their own cuisine.
Plenty of vegetables
The climate determines what will be grown in different countries. For example, Colombia is rich in avocados and guavas. In Chile, more apples and strawberries grow, everywhere you can see piles of bright and varied peppers - sweet and hot.
Local products
The products in Latin American cuisine are familiar to us because they are inherited from the mutually influential Spanish and Portuguese cuisines.
Spices and aromas
Allspice (pimenta - pimento), sometimes called Jamaican pepper, is obtained by grinding small grains with an astringent-spicy taste.
Alino cryolo is a Creole spice, a specialty of Venezuela. Annato seeds are hot and color the food orange. Guasca Colombian spice, with the aroma of anginar. Palm oil has a great nutty flavor.
Vegetables
Root crops are widely used throughout South America. Cassava (cassava - cassava) starch-rich vegetable from which tapioca is made. Red-skinned sweet potatoes and yams come in different sizes and are peeled before cooking. Yams taste like walnuts. The tarot looks like it, but its leaves are also eaten. Pumpkin flowers are used for an unusual but very tasty soup.
Meat
Canned meat such as carneseca (dried beef) and chicharones (pork bites) are eaten.
Fruits
The variety is dizzying. We will present you only a few species. Bananas are the fruit we most often associate with South America. Plantain, a plant close to bananas, is used in savory dishes. Fry or boil when ripe or semi-ripe. Green bananas are also used for savory dishes. Banana leaves are used to wrap products such as sarma (the leaves are not eaten). Nopal is a species of particularly prickly cactus. The young leaves are used in salads and the fruits are eaten raw.
other products
Arepas are Venezuelan corn cakes. Flour from a type of tropical root is used as a starch in sweet and savory dishes. Bakalao or bakalau is dried salted fish [cod]. Slightly sour cream is also widely used.
Alternatives
Pumpkin flowers: replace them with zucchini flowers, they have a similar taste.
Palm oil: tastes similar to walnut oil.
Plantain: pick unripe green bananas.
Arepas: hard to find, replace them with tortillas.
Techniques and tips
Cooking techniques are influenced by Spanish and Portuguese cuisine, which have adapted to local tastes and products.
Veal bites
Finely chopped beef is a staple in recipes throughout South America. The cheap and tender meat from the rib steaks is first stewed or boiled. Then cut into pieces with two forks or fingers, mix with various products and lightly fry. A wonderful dish with beef bites is pabellon caraqueño, the national dish of Venezuela. The appetizing mixture of beef, onion, beans, plantain and rice together with a fried egg on top gives the interesting name of the dish - pabion (meaning flag).
Sauces and spices
Sauces are an essential part of South American cuisine. Sofrito, a mixture of fried onions, garlic, peppers and tomatoes, is the basis of many recipes. Avocados are found in sauces such as spicy guasacaca, where sweet and hot red peppers are mixed with tomatoes, onions and olive oil. A popular way to enhance the taste of meat and fish is to roll in a seasoned mixture of onions, fresh onions, garlic, hot peppers, cloves and green lemon juice before cooking.
Flavored oil
Flavored oil is used for its taste and color. To make orange-red oil, mix equal parts oil and anato seeds in a thick-bottomed saucepan and heat until the seeds change color from red to golden yellow. Strain it immediately. To prepare the pepper oil, heat 300 ml of oil in a saucepan and fry 2 chopped garlic cloves. Remove from the heat and add 4 tablespoons of red pepper. Strain and store in a tightly closed jar.
Ceviche
Fish is a common food, eaten raw or marinated in the juice of plain or green lemon. Many types of fish and seafood are prepared in the marinade, from cod to lobster, from octopus to black mussels. Cod marinated in green lemon juice is a typical Peruvian dish called Ceviche. Season 700 g of cod fillet with salt and pepper and place in a large plate. Add 1 chopped sweet red pepper, 1 sliced onion, a pinch of red pepper and 300 ml of green lemon and orange salt. Leave in the refrigerator for a few hours. Serve with various vegetables, such as lettuce, boiled sweet potatoes and corn.
Breads
Flatbreads are the traditional bread, but the colonial trend is displacing them. Industrially produced breads cannot reach the taste of the aroma of home-made cornbreads. If you make the bread yourself, you can add some finely chopped green or black olives to the dough.
Arepas are cakes from Venezuela and Colombia - round white bread with a crust on top with a soft inside, can be filled. Sopa paraguaya (Paraguayan cornbread) is a colonial recipe. Two types of cheese and lightly fried onions are added to the dough.
Cachapa de hoja are small corn pancakes fried and wrapped around fresh cheese.
Empanadas
These are some of the most popular snacks on the entire continent. They are filled with different salty fillings and are prepared in different sizes. Each country has a preferred type of empanadas, the dough is the most diverse. Cheese, sliced beef and poultry, seafood are the basis of appetizing fillings. The dough is cut into circles, the filling is placed in the middle, the dough is covered and the edges are pinched well with your fingers.
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