Locro Revisited

Buenos Aires – I promised weeks ago that I’d continue exploring the world of locro, the corn based stew of northern Argentina. I’ve spent quite a bit of time searching through recipes, talking to people who cook it at home, and experimenting with my own versions. I think I’m ready to present version 1.0.

VerduleriaI began with acquiring good ingredients – key to any recipe. Back in New York, shopping for the best ingredients often meant searching out the small markets for quality. It also meant paying more than I’d pay in a grocery store. One of the things I like here is that the dichotomy isn’t present. Not only are the quality ingredients available at local vegetable, fruit, meat, and fish stands, but they are almost universally less expensive than the grocery stores. Here, you pay for the convenience of everything being available in one spot, and sliced, diced, and packaged for your convenience.

CarniceriaIt’s also kind of fun to get to know the proprietors and have them get to know you. When I explained what I was working on, the butcher down the block at the carniceria was delighted to discuss different options. We settled on a couple of slices of thick cut smoked bacon, a freshly made chorizo sausage, and a couple of pieces of osso buco. The lady I usually talk to at the verduleria made sure that I remembered to pick up potatoes, batatas (yams), squash, fresh corn, onions and tomatoes.

LocroThis is a fairly long, involved process, especially because the base ingredient of locro is dried white corn, or hominy. This needs to be soaked for at least 12 hours before cooking. There are lots of things to cut and chop. The results are completely worth it – absolutely delicious if I do say so myself – and I do. We each managed two full bowls before giving up, and Henry was quite pleased, so I have evidence!

 1 cup dried white corn
2 ears of fresh yellow sweet corn, cut the kernels off the cobs
2 medium white onions, coarsely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
2 ¼” thick slices of smoked slab bacon, cubed
1 chorizo or other slightly spicy sausage, sliced
2 1″ thick osso bucos, or similar cut
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
½ teaspoon of ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
1 cup of butternut squash, peeled and diced small
1 cup of batata (white yam), peeled and diced small
1 large baking potato, peeled and diced small
2 plum tomatoes, cut in small wedges
salt to taste
chili oil

Soak the white corn in 2 cups of water overnight, at least 12 hours. In a large stewpot put the onions, garlic, bacon, sausage, and osso buco. Cook over medium heat until the onions are translucent. Add the fresh corn kernels, the paprika, cumin, bay leaves, and a little salt and the pepper. Continue to cook, stirring regularly, for roughly ten minutes. Add the soaked white corn kernels, water and all (may as well add in the extra corn flavor). Add hot water to pot to about 2″ above the level of the ingredients. Add the remaining vegetables, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, stirring every 15-20 minutes, for at least two hours.

At this point, remove the cover, remove the bay leaves. Fish the osso bucos out, discard the bones, and cut the meat into bite sized pieces, then return it to the pot. Continue to stir over low heat – at this point you want to start using the back of a wide spoon or spatula to start pressing the ingredients against the sides of the pan. The idea is to have the starchy vegetables and tomato disintegrate into the soup. The corn and meat will tend to resist being mashed, which is fine. As you continue to stir, mash, and cook, the soup should gradually become thicker and thicker. Continue until it’s a nice, rich, stew consistency. Add salt to taste.

Serve in bowls, drizzle a little chili oil over the top if you like things spicy. I like to make my own chili oil by soaking a teaspoon of dried chili flakes in a tablespoon of olive oil for 2-3 hours (while everything else is cooking). Serves 6 unless you decide to pig out like we did.

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16 thoughts on “Locro Revisited”

  1. […] Buenos Aires – Friday was a day of wandering. Maureen wanted to see the Recoleta Cementerio, so we started there and spent a good amount of time wandering up and down the pathways. It was apparently maid service day – an inordinate number of crypts were open, and scattered throughout the cemetery were buckets of soapy water, cleaning supplies, and, even the occasional worker. There also appears to be a large amount of repair work going on – apparently some money must have been allocated to spruce the place up a bit. Afterwards was a bit of shopping and a stop-off to sample through some of my favorite empanadas and locro at la cocina (see July 14). The empanadas are still the best I’ve tried, the locro now, pales in comparison to some others (and, I think, to mine). […]

  2. […] The locro, which has become a favorite stew, does not surpass the recipe I provided recently. In fact, it doesn’t surpass the very first locro I tried (see July 9th) that Henry thought was barely edible. I doubt it would surpass a canned version from Campbell’s. It was little more than pureed squash with some corn, white beans, and gristly bits of meat and bacon. It was completely unseasoned. The only thing that made it palatable was the serving on the side of a sort of green onion salsa that wasn’t bad, a dish of hot pepper flakes, and a salt shaker. And it was still pretty uninteresting. I’ll stick with the 5 peso locros thank you. […]

  3. […] The wine was a great accompaniment for our left-over locro from the night before. It was definitely a fruit-forward, lighter style of Tannat, quite reminescent of Uruguayan style. This one, unlike the one I reviewed a week or so ago was not particularly tannic or dense, so it was a nice contrast. Definitely more food-friendly! […]

  4. […] Even more interesting was the locro, the ubiquitous corn and pumpkin based stew of the Andes. Hands down this is the best locro I’ve had in Buenos Aires (including my own, found at the link above). It was chockful of hominy and lima beans, a variety of different sausages, bacon, and roasted beef and topped with a thick tomato-green onion salsa that was spicy and delicious; and the whole dish was spiked with a touch of vinegar that added a whole new dimension to it. I ordered a side of fainá, a thick, chickpea flour pancake that is served in wedges. This could have used a touch of salt, but that was easy enough to rectify. All around – yum! I wish I’d had enough room to try some of the dessert empanadas, something I don’t often see, that included a version filled with chayote squash, one of my favorite vegetables. Oh wait… they deliver… and after all, we North Americans are addicted to delivery… (This from a newspaper in a culture where anything and everything can be and is delivered!) […]

  6. Hi Dan,

    I’d like to make this recipe for Día de la Bandera, but I’m concerned about the availability and/or price of osso buco. What specific cuts of meat can you suggest as a substitute (name in Spanish would be helpful)?

    1. Any kind of beef cut that’s made for long-term cooking, though you’ll probably find most supermercados have oso-buco. But, paleta (shoulder), cuadril (rump – makes a great stew cut), even ojo de bife (rib-eye) – best if you can get something with some bones, as they add flavor – or just see if in addition to whatever cut of meat you can buy a bag of bones from the butcher to add flavor to the stew.

    1. You’re welcome!

      Put in some extra regular potato or squash if you don’t have a sweet potato, it just helps to make it nice and thick and rich.

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