Passport & Plate - Anchi de la Puna
Argentina | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 4 photos
Ingredients
1 lt of water
1 orange
half lemon
2 cups of cornmeal
4 spoons of sugar
3 apples
How to prepare this recipe1.Put the water till it boils
2.Peel the apples and chop into small squares
3. squeeze the juice from the orange and lemon and drop them in the water
4, chop the skin of the orange in very small squares
5. Drop the corn meal and the sugar into the water and mix.
6. Once the corn meal get the proper shape, not too dry, (has to be semi semi-liquid) drop the orange skin and apples chops.
7. Mix everything, till the orange skin and apple get well soft.
8. you can serve it hot or cold and as an option you can powder it with a touch of cinnamon
The story behind this recipeWhat this recipe means to me? my family roots and the same time reminds me about my trips to the Argentinian and Bolivian "Puna" which is in the north of Argentina, where they share many traditions and foods with Bolivia.
As my parents come from that place, my mom used to make it, specially during the winter time. Why? After a long day, in the cold weather and after having a hot shower there is nothing better to have some delicious sweet hot anchi to warm up your soul.
But living in the city is not a hard life, I realized about it when I started to explore what in south america people call "La Puna", when you are in such high altitudes, when the weather has no mercy, people look for rich a nutrition to be able to deal with very hard journeys, specially working in farms.
I was visiting Abra Pampa and my mom said "would you like a to have a hot drink?" I didn't doubt to accept her offer, it was a freezing summer day, and we jumped in a wee bistro, in the town market, my surprise was to see they have all types of corn, like white corn, purple corn, yellow corn, etc.
I decided to try the anchi, their recipe was lovely, or probably their cornmeal was even better than the one i could find back home. while i was waiting for my order, I saw a bunch of people having big bowl of it, people who would have to leave to work with the sheep, or other outdoor jobs, an old man who had a long way to go to work in the mines.
This meal comes from very few aboriginal people left in south america, struggling to keep their traditions, goodies and food.
As you can see this is not a fancy recipe with fancy ingredients, but it doesn't mean its not delicious and very healthy, specially if you have a long day to go, or if you just arrived home tired from a hard day.
Today Im in the Scottish Highlands visiting my best friend, their wanted me to make something from my country, as the weather has been miserable the last days, guess what did i make for them?.
