Hispanic Heritage · Colombia

Bogotá y el Altiplano

Bogotá · Chapinero · Usaquén · La Candelaria · Chía · Cajicá

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Ajiaco santafereño

Ajiaco served in Bogotá. Presentation may differ from this recipe. Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized source thumbnail; display may crop to fit.

Descubre

Bogotá’s ajiaco is a chicken-and-potato soup with a distinctive herbal note from guascas. Several kinds of potato contribute different textures, while corn gives the bowl another kind of sweetness and substance.

La Gente

Watch how the potatoes change as they cook: some hold their shape, others help thicken the broth. Serve capers and cream separately so each diner can finish a bowl to taste. Guascas is a defining ingredient worth seeking out.

Sabor

The plateau cooks gentle. Salt, garlic, green onion, chicken, and the mineral sweetness of potatoes and corn. Guascas is the only seasoning that announces itself. Heat comes from the ají on the table, if at all. The richness is added at the last second, cream and capers and avocado, by each person at their own bowl.

Spice DNA · Herb medium · Sweet low · Smoke none · Heat none · Acid low

Seasonings to explore

Minced Garlic in Olive Oil. In the broth from the start. Adds a savory garlic base.
Onion Powder. With the garlic, alongside the fresh green onion.
Black Pepper, ground. On the chicken.
Cumin, ground. A small pinch. Some families do, some would be scandalized. Both are Bogotá.
Cilantro flakes. For the changua the next morning, not the ajiaco.

From your market: dried guascas. Badia does not sell them, and no substitute exists. Colombian and Latin markets carry them dried in small bags, and they are the difference between ajiaco and soup. Also chicken breasts on the bone, three kinds of potato (yellow, russet, and red will stand in for criolla, pastusa, and sabanera if you cannot find the real ones), corn on the cob, green onions, cream, capers, and avocado.

Cocina

Ajiaco santafereño

Chicken and three-potato soup with corn and guascas. The plate of the cold plateau. Thick enough to stand a spoon in, and served with cream, capers, and avocado on the side for each person to add.

Serves 6

2 lb bone-in chicken breasts
10 cups water
4 green onions, whole, plus 2 more chopped
1 tbsp Badia Minced Garlic in Olive Oil, or 3 garlic cloves
½ tsp Badia Onion Powder
½ tsp Badia Black Pepper, ground
Pinch of Badia Cumin, ground, optional
1 lb papa sabanera or red potatoes, peeled, in thick slices
1 lb papa pastusa or russet, peeled, in thick slices
1 lb papa criolla or small yellow potatoes, peeled, whole if small
3 ears of corn, cut in thirds
½ cup dried guascas, or a large bunch fresh
Salt

On the table

Heavy cream
Capers
Avocado, sliced
Ají, if you want it

The broth. Put the chicken, water, whole green onions, garlic, onion powder, pepper, and cumin if using in a large pot. Bring to a boil, skim, and simmer 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Lift out the chicken and set aside. Discard the whole onions.
First potato. Add the sabanera and the corn to the broth. Simmer 10 minutes.
Second potato. Add the pastusa. Simmer 10 minutes.
Third potato. Add the criolla. Simmer 20 to 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the criolla has fallen apart and the soup is thick and yellow. The other two potatoes should still be in pieces.
Guascas. Add the guascas and the chopped green onions. Simmer 5 minutes. Salt to taste. The smell that fills the kitchen now is the smell of Bogotá.
The chicken. Shred it and either return it to the pot or lay it in each bowl, which is how many households do it.
Serve. A piece of corn in each bowl. Cream, capers, and avocado on the table. Each person builds their own, and each person is right.

Pueblos del Altiplano

Bogotá · Chapinero · Usaquén · La Candelaria · Chía · Cajicá · Zipaquirá · Soacha · Facatativá · Fusagasugá · Girardot · Tunja · Villa de Leyva · Paipa · Duitama · Sogamoso · Chiquinquirá · Ubaté