Hispanic Heritage · Cuba

Camagüey

Camagüey · Nuevitas · Florida · Vertientes · Santa Cruz del Sur · Guáimaro

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Ajiaco camagüeyano

Descubre

Camagüey’s ajiaco brings meats, corn, roots, plantain, and squash into a generous soup. It is a useful introduction to the Cuban term viandas and to the way several starchy ingredients can give one pot both variety and body.

La Gente

Each ingredient contributes a different texture. Add them in stages, allowing some to soften into the broth while others hold their shape. The recipe is a starting point for understanding the dish; household combinations can differ.

Sabor

Camagüey cooks the ajiaco's way: tasajo and fresh meat for the salt and the body, sofrito of onion, pepper, garlic, tomato, cumin, oregano, bay, and sour orange at the end to brighten a pot that has been cooking since breakfast. Sweetness from the ripe plantain and calabaza. No heat.

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

Seasonings to explore

• Minced Garlic in Olive Oil. In the sofrito. Adds a savory garlic base.
• Sour Orange Marinade 20. At the end, to brighten the pot.
• Cumin Ground. In the sofrito.
• Oregano Whole. In the sofrito.
• Bay Leaves Whole. In the pot from the start.
• Black Pepper Ground. In the pot.
• Onion Powder. With the fresh onion.
• Sazón Tropical. For the color.

From your market: tasajo (dried beef, from a Cuban market, soaked overnight) or flank steak, pork ribs, and every root the market has: yuca, malanga, boniato, ñame, calabaza, plus green and ripe plantains and corn on the cob. Badia does not sell the tasajo. Look for tasajo at a specialty market, or use the flank steak alternative.

Cocina

Ajiaco camagüeyano

Every root and every meat, all morning, one pot. A substantial combination of meats and vegetables.

Serves 10

• 1 lb tasajo, soaked overnight and rinsed, or 1 lb flank steak
• 1 lb beef chuck, cubed
• 1 lb pork ribs, cut
• 14 cups water
• 2 Badia Bay Leaves, whole
• 3 tbsp oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 2 tbsp Badia Minced Garlic in Olive Oil
• ½ tsp Badia Onion Powder
• 1½ tsp Badia Cumin, ground
• 1 tsp Badia Oregano, whole
• ½ tsp Badia Black Pepper, ground
• 1 tsp Badia Sazón Tropical
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 lb yuca, 1 lb malanga, 1 lb boniato, 1 lb ñame, all peeled and cut in chunks
• 2 cups calabaza, cubed
• 2 green plantains and 1 ripe plantain, in chunks
• 2 ears of corn in rounds
• ⅓ cup Badia Sour Orange Marinade
• Salt

1. The meats. Simmer the tasajo (or flank), chuck, and ribs in the water with the bay leaves 1½ hours, skimming.
2. Sofrito. Warm the oil. Cook the onion and pepper with the garlic and onion powder until soft. Add cumin, oregano, pepper, sazón, and tomato sauce; cook 5 minutes. Stir into the pot.
3. The hard roots. Add the yuca, malanga, ñame, and green plantain. Simmer 30 minutes.
4. The soft ones. Add the boniato, calabaza, ripe plantain, and corn. Simmer 30 minutes more, until everything is tender and the broth has thickened. Mash a few pieces of root against the pot.
5. Finish. Stir in the sour orange. Taste for salt; the tasajo has brought some.
6. Serve in deep bowls with a piece of every meat and every root. Bread. A long afternoon.

Pueblos de Camagüey

Camagüey · Nuevitas · Florida · Vertientes · Santa Cruz del Sur · Guáimaro · Sibanicú · Minas · Esmeralda · Jimaguayú · Najasa · Sierra de Cubitas · Carlos Manuel de Céspedes

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