Students Learn Spanish and Peruvian Cooking

Nearly a dozen adventurous Malibu cooks gathered in the  campus condominium kitchen of Al and Jody Sturgeon on a recent Saturday. They came bearing bags of ingredients, nervously practicing their Spanish and with a curiosity and readiness to learn one of the most famous Peruvian dishes.

Papa a la Huancaina is a delicious first course of boiled potatoes on a bed of lettuce in a rich, spicy chili-cheese sauce, served cold or at room temperature. The title means potatoes in the style of Huancayo, a bustling city in Peru's central highlands—the cultural and commercial center of the Peruvian Andes.  

Peru = potatoes = perfect. Sounds good, right?

But just a minute. The recipe, sent to them a week earlier, was entirely in Spanish, and the class was to be taught entirely in Spanish. They were to translate it, shop for their ingredients, and come to class ready to plunge into this Peruvian classic. Did I mention entirely in Spanish?

The class was taught by Peruvian native Carmen Gonzales and was created by Al Sturgeon, the new executive director of the , and Cindy Short, a passionate activist and a member of the board of directors for the Labor Exchange.

Gonzales, a Labor Exchange client, is known for her kindness, said Sturgeon. She watches over the other women who show up, inquiring about them, cheering them up and on, and mother-henning them when they need it. The men and women of the Labor Exchange think so highly of her, they voted Gonzales onto the board of directors to fill the seat designated for a client.       

She's also a good cook!

Gonzales gently led the students, speaking softly and slowly, so we could comprehend her words. The group of eager students included Al and Jody Sturgeon (he is also director of academic success at Pepperdine's ; she is the student services coordinator for the university's Office of Student Employment), their daughters Hillary, a  ninth-grader, and Erica Grimes, a local preschool teacher; Stacy and Steve Rouse (she is associate teaching director for , he is a Pepperdine psychology teacher), Short, who is a pet portraitist as well as a social organizer, and your devoted columnist. Patricia Martinez helped Gonzales in the kitchen.

The students boiled potatoes, peeled them, scraped veins from the fresh peppers, watched as Gonzales gently sautéed the peppers and garlic in oil and had fun liquefying the chili-cheese sauce in the blender.

Exemplifying the phrase "many hands make light work," we got the potatoes on the plates, decorated with sliced eggs and olives, and ready for lunch in no time at all.  

The sauce was surprisingly spicy, but not-so-hot smoke shot out your ears. You know what I mean? The peppers lent a light-yellow color to the sauce, which turned out to be a favorite for several students.

As she tasted the Huancaina (say it wan-kay-eena) sauce, Stacy Rouse marveled at the rich, spicy flavor, commenting that it would also be good as a dip. When I returned home and looked it up, I learned it is actually also used as a dipping sauce for bite-sized boiled potatoes or raw veggies, so Rouse was onto the right idea. A few days later, she reported that she had happily dipped crackers in the leftover sauce as part of her dinner.

I wonder whether it might be good on pasta (yes, I think). Or how about Peruvian nachos? That might not be authentic, but it sounds delicious, doesn't it?

And the Spanish? It turned out to be fun to use everyone's existing language skills, and the context in the kitchen, to figure out what was being said (I should also credit my daughter Katie Reinhold, a first-year Spanish student at Malibu High, for helping with my recipe translation, and Google translator, which I also employed to good effect).

"I loved the class," Grimes said. "I was nervous because I don't speak Spanish, but by listening and watching, I was able to catch on and follow the recipe."

Gonzales is eager to teach additional classes in other Malibu-area homes where cooks would like to learn authentic Peruvian cooking. Those who would like to arrange that can do so by sending an email to cindyshort65@gmail.com. Gonzales and Short are also simmering a plan for a group tamale-making class just in time for the holidays, on Dec. 3 at 11 a.m. in the kitchen at . To register for that class, send Short an email. 

Papa a la Huancaina

(Potatoes from Huancayo, a city in Peru)

Shared by Carmen Gonzales

3 medium yellow or white potatoes (boilers, not baking potatoes)
5 fresh yellow Peruvian peppers (aji Amarillo)
2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
½ cup vegetable oil + 2 tablespoons (divided use)
1 teaspoon butter
14-16 ounces queso fresco (fresh cheese, or substitute ricotta, feta or cottage cheese)
Salt
Milk as needed
4-6 saltine crackers, as needed
2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled
Garnish: Lettuce, 4 black olives (sliced)

Wash potatoes. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add whole, unpeeled potatoes and boil gently, until potatoes yield when you test them with the tines of a fork (this will take 15-20 minutes, depending on size). Remove from heat, drain and cool slightly so you can handle them.

While potatoes are cooking, cut the top cap off each pepper, slit the pepper down the side, and remove the seeds. Using a small paring knife, scrape and remove the veins of the peppers. Discard seeds and veins; be careful not to rub your eyes during this process because the pepper will sting your eyes. Wash hands thoroughly to remove hot pepper residue from hands. 

Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil and the teaspoon of butter in a large skillet. (Adding the touch of butter is Carmen Gonzales’ secret. Shhhh…don't tell anyone else.) Add the peppers (whole) and garlic cloves (whole), and sauté, turning occasionally, until the peppers begin to caramelize and brown a bit.

While the peppers are cooking, the potatoes should be cool enough to handle now, so using your fingers, peel and discard the skin of the potatoes.

When peppers are done cooking, add the peppers and garlic to the container of a blender, and pulse a few times to chop them finely. Add the ½ cup vegetable oil and the cheese to the container, and blend until smooth and creamy, about 30-60 seconds or more (will depend on the efficiency of your blender). Taste and add a pinch of salt if needed (if you use a salted cheese like feta, you may not need extra salt). 

If cheese mixture is too thick, add a splash of milk and whirl. If mixture is too thin, whirl in a saltine cracker or two to thicken it.

To assemble salad, put lettuce on plate and slice potatoes on top. Pour cheese-pepper sauce over potatoes, arrange sliced hard cooked eggs and sliced olives over top as decoration. Enjoy!

Serves 6.

Notes:

• Can be assembled on a large platter for self-service from a buffet or potluck, or can be assembled on individual plates (1/2 a potato per person).
• The peppers can be found in Mexican markets (such as Jon’s Market), usually in a bag in the freezer section. In Peru they are available fresh; here they are frozen, Gonzales said.

Calories: 489; protein 16.7g; fat 28.27g; carbohydrates 43.72g