Comments on: Ají­ de Gallina http://www.saltshaker.net/20070328/aji-de-gallina Casting a little flavor (and a few aspersions) on the world of food, drink, and life Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:16:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: dan http://www.saltshaker.net/20070328/aji-de-gallina/comment-page-1#comment-210896 dan Sun, 19 Jun 2011 16:55:11 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20070328/aji-de-gallina#comment-210896 Probably because the heat of the cayenne pepper is closer to the original, and the flavor is more similar, than that of a jalapeño, which would be too mild and a bit more vegetal - at least that would be my guess. Probably because the heat of the cayenne pepper is closer to the original, and the flavor is more similar, than that of a jalapeño, which would be too mild and a bit more vegetal – at least that would be my guess.

]]> By: Marc http://www.saltshaker.net/20070328/aji-de-gallina/comment-page-1#comment-210894 Marc Sun, 19 Jun 2011 14:20:19 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20070328/aji-de-gallina#comment-210894 He makes it clear that it's not traditional and goes on about the use of aji amarillo but, at the same time, notes that the pepper is difficult for many--at the time of writing at least--to find, thus the suggestion. On the chili pepper description page he suggests pureeing roasted yellow bell pepper with cayenne, not just for color but for flavor and heat as well. However, in the pepper sauce recipe, jalapeño provides the heat. I don't know why he made the switch for that. He makes it clear that it’s not traditional and goes on about the use of aji amarillo but, at the same time, notes that the pepper is difficult for many–at the time of writing at least–to find, thus the suggestion. On the chili pepper description page he suggests pureeing roasted yellow bell pepper with cayenne, not just for color but for flavor and heat as well. However, in the pepper sauce recipe, jalapeño provides the heat. I don’t know why he made the switch for that.

]]> By: dan http://www.saltshaker.net/20070328/aji-de-gallina/comment-page-1#comment-210893 dan Sun, 19 Jun 2011 11:49:08 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20070328/aji-de-gallina#comment-210893 Marc, With all respect to Raichlen, the answer would be, I suppose, which chili pepper is providing the heat? Because they also provide flavor. Are we adding some habanero to the bell pepper (as Julie, way back above says the Peruvians near her do), or are we adding a chipotle or a guajillo or...? The final sauce will be different in flavor. This is, despite Elizabeth's spice-averse husband, a spicy dish. Peruvian ají amarillo has a heat rating somewhere in the range between tabasco and cayenne peppers, even verging on to chiltepins, and it's a straightforward puree of the pepper mixed in, not just a pinch or a drop. When made right, you should break a little sweat eating the dish, despite the tempering effects of the milk and cheese (which do have a huge impact - I suppose since she leaves out the chilies, she may as well leave them out too, since it's the casein in the milk products that normally interacts with the capsaicin in the peppers to tame the intensity of them). Now, I'm not one to object to the altering of dishes, I do it all the time. But I don't try to claim it's the traditional way to make it. And of course there are individual variations on the dish to begin with, but there is a core to it - the nuts for example are definitely optional, and I've seen many folk leave them out, or use peanuts instead, which also seems to be popular - but the version presented above is about as traditional as you can get. When it comes down to it, I could pour ketchup on my pasta and call it marinara sauce, and there are people who do, but that don't make it so. And it seems to me that if the entire list of a sauce's ingredients are 6 - chili puree (plus more of a second chili added later on), cheese, bread, milk, walnuts, onions and garlic, and you leave out three of those, you have a quite different dish - actually, it sort of sounds like it's closer to a classic French sauce soubise than anything else - bechamel with onions - with what amounts to yellow food coloring added. Marc, With all respect to Raichlen, the answer would be, I suppose, which chili pepper is providing the heat? Because they also provide flavor. Are we adding some habanero to the bell pepper (as Julie, way back above says the Peruvians near her do), or are we adding a chipotle or a guajillo or…? The final sauce will be different in flavor. This is, despite Elizabeth’s spice-averse husband, a spicy dish. Peruvian ají amarillo has a heat rating somewhere in the range between tabasco and cayenne peppers, even verging on to chiltepins, and it’s a straightforward puree of the pepper mixed in, not just a pinch or a drop. When made right, you should break a little sweat eating the dish, despite the tempering effects of the milk and cheese (which do have a huge impact – I suppose since she leaves out the chilies, she may as well leave them out too, since it’s the casein in the milk products that normally interacts with the capsaicin in the peppers to tame the intensity of them).

Now, I’m not one to object to the altering of dishes, I do it all the time. But I don’t try to claim it’s the traditional way to make it. And of course there are individual variations on the dish to begin with, but there is a core to it – the nuts for example are definitely optional, and I’ve seen many folk leave them out, or use peanuts instead, which also seems to be popular – but the version presented above is about as traditional as you can get. When it comes down to it, I could pour ketchup on my pasta and call it marinara sauce, and there are people who do, but that don’t make it so. And it seems to me that if the entire list of a sauce’s ingredients are 6 – chili puree (plus more of a second chili added later on), cheese, bread, milk, walnuts, onions and garlic, and you leave out three of those, you have a quite different dish – actually, it sort of sounds like it’s closer to a classic French sauce soubise than anything else – bechamel with onions – with what amounts to yellow food coloring added.

]]> By: Marc http://www.saltshaker.net/20070328/aji-de-gallina/comment-page-1#comment-210890 Marc Sun, 19 Jun 2011 03:10:28 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20070328/aji-de-gallina#comment-210890 I've never tried it but in Steven Raichlen's "Barbecue Bible Sauces Rubs and Marinades" book, he recommends roasted yellow bell pepper (skinned) plus heat from a hot chile pepper (if you want the heat) as a suitable replacement--turmeric for color if needed. He is usually good at recreating flavors for recipes that call for ingredients that may be difficult to find. Do you think that would work? I’ve never tried it but in Steven Raichlen’s “Barbecue Bible Sauces Rubs and Marinades” book, he recommends roasted yellow bell pepper (skinned) plus heat from a hot chile pepper (if you want the heat) as a suitable replacement–turmeric for color if needed. He is usually good at recreating flavors for recipes that call for ingredients that may be difficult to find. Do you think that would work?

]]> By: dan http://www.saltshaker.net/20070328/aji-de-gallina/comment-page-1#comment-210882 dan Sat, 18 Jun 2011 12:51:57 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20070328/aji-de-gallina#comment-210882 Elizabeth - ají panca comes in both red and yellow varieties, though many folks refer to the yellow as ají mirasol, but if you go into a market in Peru, Bolivia, Chile, here in Argentina... when you ask for the panca, they ask, "yellow or red?". As to options, sure, you can leave it out, but "Ají de Gallina" without "Ají"? And without the nuts and cheese, which are part of the tradition as well, it's just chicken in milk thickened with a little bread - there's really nothing else in the sauce but onions and garlic. It sounds like something that you or I might have grown up on in the Midwest (though we would have definitely put in at least the cheese!), but it's not this dish, by any stretch of the imagination. I mean, you can leave butter out of butter sauce and still call it that, but it don't make it so. Elizabeth – ají panca comes in both red and yellow varieties, though many folks refer to the yellow as ají mirasol, but if you go into a market in Peru, Bolivia, Chile, here in Argentina… when you ask for the panca, they ask, “yellow or red?”. As to options, sure, you can leave it out, but “Ají de Gallina” without “Ají”? And without the nuts and cheese, which are part of the tradition as well, it’s just chicken in milk thickened with a little bread – there’s really nothing else in the sauce but onions and garlic. It sounds like something that you or I might have grown up on in the Midwest (though we would have definitely put in at least the cheese!), but it’s not this dish, by any stretch of the imagination. I mean, you can leave butter out of butter sauce and still call it that, but it don’t make it so.

]]> By: Elizabeth http://www.saltshaker.net/20070328/aji-de-gallina/comment-page-1#comment-210873 Elizabeth Fri, 17 Jun 2011 21:36:10 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20070328/aji-de-gallina#comment-210873 I just came back from living in Peru for three years, and the aji amarillo (also known as aji verde or escabeche) is not that hot compared to others. I live in Utah, grew up in Iowa, and I can eat an escabeche straight, which I can't do with a jalapeno or others which are hotter. I made aji de gallina today without the aji...my MIL uses turmeric for the color, and says the aji is optional. I had a maid in Peru, she never put the aji in it, because she knew my kids and (Peruvian) husband wouldn't eat it. And I think I have only had it with any kind of nuts at one restaurant, and that was here in Utah. Most people I know don't add nuts (added bonus, due to a nut allergy in the family). I may add a bit of the aji if I get around to hunting some down, or when my plants grow (should I admit I brought some seeds into the country in a contact lens case?), but a tiny bit. Like I said, my kids can't tolerate any heat. I think the cheese is also optional. I would suggest using a red onion, because in Peru, yellow onions are hard to find and rarely used. They use red onion for everything. And to the person that said that panca is a dried aji amarillo...I don't think that is right. Panca is what they also call "aji especial", and it is red. The aji amarillo starts out green, looks like an Anaheim chile, and then slowly turns orange. That is why in Lima they call it aji verde most of the time. This is an excellent dish. I have a number 1 son who is a very picky eater, and he loves this dish. I just came back from living in Peru for three years, and the aji amarillo (also known as aji verde or escabeche) is not that hot compared to others. I live in Utah, grew up in Iowa, and I can eat an escabeche straight, which I can’t do with a jalapeno or others which are hotter. I made aji de gallina today without the aji…my MIL uses turmeric for the color, and says the aji is optional. I had a maid in Peru, she never put the aji in it, because she knew my kids and (Peruvian) husband wouldn’t eat it. And I think I have only had it with any kind of nuts at one restaurant, and that was here in Utah. Most people I know don’t add nuts (added bonus, due to a nut allergy in the family). I may add a bit of the aji if I get around to hunting some down, or when my plants grow (should I admit I brought some seeds into the country in a contact lens case?), but a tiny bit. Like I said, my kids can’t tolerate any heat. I think the cheese is also optional. I would suggest using a red onion, because in Peru, yellow onions are hard to find and rarely used. They use red onion for everything.

And to the person that said that panca is a dried aji amarillo…I don’t think that is right. Panca is what they also call “aji especial”, and it is red. The aji amarillo starts out green, looks like an Anaheim chile, and then slowly turns orange. That is why in Lima they call it aji verde most of the time.

This is an excellent dish. I have a number 1 son who is a very picky eater, and he loves this dish.

]]>