Dinner reviews from our Casa SaltShaker evenings
Our plate of the week for takeout and delivery, Friday and Saturday, May 22-23. Nuestro plato de la semana para llevar y entrega, viernes y sábado, 22-23 de mayo. The first time I tried Adobo de Chancho was at a restaurant in Cuzco, Pacha Papa. I loved it. I recommended it to people visiting the city. A… Read More Qasa SaltShaker – Adobo de Chancho
It’s been awhile since I just did a post sharing “what have we been eating”…. Also, I’ve been offering some online classes – and if you’re sitting there at home thinking, I’d love to take a cooking class, why not…? Italian, Peruvian, French, Argentine, and more. Simple or complicated. Demo or cook-along. Contact me and… Read More Cooking in the Qasa
We’re back…. Sort of. We’re still in quarantine, but things have eased enough that we can start offering food for pickup and/or delivery. We’re starting slow, because we’ve not done this before and we’re still figuring it out. One or two days a week, one or two dishes, and limited quantities. It will, hopefully, be… Read More Qasa SaltShaker – Fettuccine Bolognese
Although I haven’t read any treatises attesting to the fact, I can make a reasonably educated guess that the near ubiquitous al ajillo preparation for prawns/shrimp, fish, and sometimes chicken throughout Latin America, originated in the Spanish colonization of those areas. There’s a classic Spanish dish, gambas al ajillo, that is usually served as a bubbling bowl… Read More The Garlic-Chili Fish
In these “pages”, I’ve brought up more than once the traditional Monday soup of northern Peru, particularly around the area where Henry’s from in Trujillo, shambar. The name supposedly comes from the Quechua word cha’ma, which referred to the start of the weekly agricultural cycle after the weekend, i.e., Monday. That seems a bit dubious, as… Read More The Monday Soup
Carapulcra means literally, “neat face”. So, why? Just poetic license is my bet. It’s actually just the Spanish-ization of the original Aymara name, qala phurk’a, which translates to “stew of hot stones”. In its most traditional form, it’s a stew made from rehydrated dry potatoes, either alpaca or llama meat, and a mix of spices –… Read More Stone Soup
Our featured dish, this time around, Ceviche de Solomillo de Cerdo – or, pork tenderloin ceviche. Now, does that mean we’re chowing down on raw pork basted with a little lime juice? No. Not at all. As I’ve mentioned before, there’s a long time tradition in Peruvian cuisine, particularly in the north, of ceviches with chicken… Read More Just Stick a Pork in it
Our pasta course was the overall hit of last week’s menu at Casa SaltShaker. Our favorite course too. A couple of years ago I introduced you to langanelli, a whole wheat pasta from the area around Rome. The original way I saw it made was in sort of vaguely trapezoidal shapes – a long strip… Read More We Are Langanelli