My great great aunt tocuhg me how to cook a real ajiaco Santafereño when I was 8 years old. althoug she has pass a long time ago, I think I need to give her a well-deserved credit. Mrs. Rebeca Hernandez de Naranjo, has a few little tricks to make the best ajiaco. I have won a couple local food competitions with this secrets.
• Potatoes should be add on on steps. Lina was right on her comment. first red potatoes, then Rosset (or white potatoes), and then finally yellow (papa criolla). But not only that, potatoes should be layered every 15 minutes, so every 15 minutes you should add 1 pound of potatoes, starting with the red kind. The reason for this action is to assured that creaminess and multi-layered flavor characteristic of a great soup.
• BEST TRICK: ” DON’T CUT THE POTATOES WITH A KNIFE. cut chunks of potatoes with a spoon. My great aunt insisted that the starch was sealed inside the potatoes when you used knifes. when you use a spoon you will see how the starch just “pops” and covers your hands while doing it. You will see how incredible of a difference this little trick makes.
• Add a quarter pound of arracacha at the very beggining with the first layer of red potatoes. The arracacha (Arracacia xanthorriza) is a garden root vegetable originally from the Andes, somewhat intermediate between the carrot and celery. Its starchy taproot is a popular food item in South America. You might be able to find some in local Hispanic Markets. They are called white carrots. Arrachacha will add a subtle depth in flavor and taste, making it surprisingly smooth.
• Guascas should be preferably fresh, but in a pinch use the dried kind. If you are using the fresh guascas add a bunch of the herbs, very well tied, when you are boiling the chicken, and remove it before serving. Guascas can turn a litle sour if you decide to freeze your leftovers.
• Use a whole chicken instead of the chicken breast. Save the chicken stock you used to boil the chicken and use that as a base for the soup.
• Take 1/4 cup of chicken broth and boiled the chicken’s skin for 5 minutes, after that time get rid of the skin and add the leftover liquid to the broth used as a base for your soup.
• Use very little salt (1 spoonful for every 12 pounds of potatoes. Cappers are traditionally added right before serving and they are particularly salty since they have been pickled in the jar. It might seem like it would need more salt but they won’t. Worst case scenario is best to add salt to taste.

This would make of your ajiaco the best family recipe and you can pass these secrets along to the new generations. Just give some credit to my great aunt Rebeca, while you are telling the story.

I went on a quest to find guascas this past weekend. i was able to find dried guascas in Queens at a Colombian grocery store named Rivera Grocery. It’s located on 82nd street right off the 7 train. Good luck!

Emerging Markets

4826 Trail Run Ct
San Jose, CA 95136
United States

Contact us at:
(408) 600-1621

Domain name: EMERGINGMARKETS-US.COM

Administrative Contact:
Rios, Oscar
4826 Trail Run Ct.
San Jose, California 95136
US
4089307964 Fax: 408-6293951

I did google search (streetview), and that address is a house not a store.

Also, I called that number and the recording message only repeats the # and does not even say the name of the “business”

At this point, I’m not sure if that’s a real business or a scam. I wanted to buy guascas from that site, but it does not seem to be a real business, and there are not online reviews either. They seem to accept paypal. By the way the price went up: 1.99 .

http://maelisa.home.sprynet.com/recetas/pages/pechug.html

The best ajiaco we ever had was out at a restaurant at a ranch in the hills. Good times. Thanks for the memories.