AjiacoFood made for sharing, recipes worth keeping.
My Mom’s Recipe
There are recipes you learn from a cookbook, and then there are recipes that arrive on a piece of paper in your mother’s handwriting.
This is the latter.
Ajiaco is one of the dishes that tastes like home to me: warm, comforting, and unmistakably Colombian. My mom’s version is simple and intuitive—the kind of recipe made by someone who has cooked it enough times that measurements become secondary to knowing what it should taste like.
So this is her recipe, just written down a little more carefully so I can keep it—and share it.
Ingredients
1 bone-in chicken breast
2 large potatoes, peeled and sliced
3 red potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 package papas criollas (Colombian yellow potatoes)
3 ears of corn, cut into pieces
2 liters (about 8½ cups) water
1 bunch green onions
Salt, to taste
Guascas, to taste
Heavy cream (crema de leche), for serving
Capers, for serving
Instructions
The night before, season the chicken with salt and green onion and refrigerate overnight.
When you’re ready to cook, add about 2 liters of water to a large pot and bring it to a simmer. Add the seasoned chicken breast and additional salt to taste. Let it cook for approximately 15 minutes.
Add the corn and potatoes and continue simmering until the potatoes are very tender. Some of the potatoes—especially the papas criollas—should begin to break apart into the broth. That is exactly what you want. As they dissolve, they naturally give ajiaco its thick, creamy texture.
Remove the chicken breast, allow it to cool enough to handle, and shred the meat.
Add the guascas to the soup and allow them to infuse the broth. Taste and adjust the salt as needed.
Return some of the shredded chicken to each bowl when serving.
Serve hot with a spoonful of crema de leche and capers on the side or on top, according to taste.
A little note from Casa & Clover
The measurements here don’t have to be precious. My mom’s original instructions include things like “sal al gusto” and “un poco de guascas para que le dé sabor”—salt to taste and enough guascas to give it flavor.
I think that’s part of what makes family recipes beautiful. Eventually, you stop measuring and simply know.