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Even though the 30 days of November are over, we couldn’t resist sharing a few more recipes from IDEX partners, staff, and colleagues. Today we have a favorite Peruvian appetizer dish from Filomena Edelma Palomino Valencia, the mother of Katherine Zavala, IDEX’s Regional Director for Latin America.
She tells us that Papa a la Huancaína means “potatoes, Huancayo style.” Huancayo refers to a Peruvian city where the dish originated. According to local lore, the dish traces back to the late 1800s, when the train connecting Huancayo to Lima was being constructed. It was said that women vendors would go around the site, selling food to hungry workers.
One woman in particular was offering a unique dish made of boiled potatoes topped with a cheese-like sauce. The dish soon became a crowd favorite, and come lunchtime, the workers would ask, “A que hora llega la papa de la Huancaína?” meaning, “What time will the lady with the potatoes from Huancayo arrive?”
Katherine shared that her mom’s recipe and story made her think of new IDEX grantee, Federación Nacional de Mujeres Campesinas, Artesanas, Indígenas, Nativas y Asaliaradas de Perú (FENMUCARINAP), a national women’s movement that emphasizes the value of women’s work. Founded in 2006, FENMUCARINAP has grown to working with over 125,000 women across Peru. Much of their work is with women farmers to promote the practice of sustainable agriculture, and taking it to a national advocacy level to defend water, natural resources and food sovereignty.
“We’re a political organization in defense of our land and our body,” says Lourdes Huanga, FEMUCARINAP’s general coordinator.
They also focus on defending labor rights for women, such as those working in agricultural export industries in the coastal areas of Peru who work with minimal safeguards and without any labor benefits, and mostly in exploitative conditions. Many of the women members also work in the informal market selling artisan handicrafts or traditional dishes like this delicious one below.
Papa a La Huancaína
6 white potatoes
10 ounces queso fresco [or another mild cheese]
½ cup evaporated milk
3 chilies
2 tbsp oil
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced in half
6 black olives
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
lettuce leaves
pinch of salt and pepper
Boil the potatoes in water with pinch of salt. Once cooled, slice the potatoes in thick slices. In a blender, mix the fresh cheese, chilies, evaporated milk, oil, and pinch of salt and pepper (if the cheese sauce is too thick, add a bit more evaporated milk). On a plate, place a leaf of lettuce, with the slices potatoes on top. Pour the cheese sauce to cover the potatoes. Garnish with an olive, half of a hard-boiled egg and parsley sprinkled on top. Serve cold.
