A Traditional Homestay on Lake Titicaca

Passport & Plate - Sopa de Quinoa - Peruvian Quinoa and Chicken Soup

Peru | Monday, March 2, 2015 | 5 photos

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped
½ cup carrots, chopped
½ cup celery, chopped
2 medium potatoes, cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup flour
5 cups chicken stock
2 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tsp cumin
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup corn
juice of 1 lime
2 Serrano peppers
freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste

 

How to prepare this recipe
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a medium pot on medium heat.

Add chopped onion, carrots, celery, and potatoes and sauté while stirring for 15 minutes.
Add 2 cloves minced garlic, remove from heat and set aside.

In a large pot over medium heat, add ¼ cup olive oil and let heat for 1 minute. Gradually add the flour, stirring constantly. Gradually add 5 cups of chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, whisking constantly to ensure no lumps.

Add the vegetable mixture to the large pot and add the cooked chicken, cumin, quinoa and corn. Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring often.

Before serving, add the lime juice, Serrano peppers, and freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste. Stir well and enjoy!

I recommend serving with fresh bread, and possibly a Pisco Sour, a popular Peruvian cocktail.

 

The story behind this recipe
“Welcome to Amantani Island. One of these women standing before you will be your new Mama for the rest of your stay here,” our local guide yells above the whistling warm wind of the approaching thunderstorm. 15 Peruvian women in traditional dress line themselves up before us, wrinkled brown hands smoothing back their fly-away hair as they jabber amongst themselves rapidly in Quechuan. I wonder why there are so many more potential mothers than there are participants wanting a room for the night. The scenario reminds me of middle school gym class – will the women select which tourists to bring home with them, or do we go choose the Mama we want to adopt us? The ladies all look kind and I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
My friends and I departed the vibrant city of Puno, Peru, earlier that morning to board the boat that would drop us off on this a basket-weaving community on one of Lake Titicaca’s islands for an overnight homestay. Before boarding we were told to go shopping at a nearby market to buy presents for our new family.
We stand as still as statues, staring at the ground, feeling like we are on display for the troop of potential Mamas. Our guide keeps calling names, but none of them are mine. This really is like middle school gym class.
Finally, my friend and I are selected to go home with Mama Gilda. We follow her up a steep hill to her home, huffing and puffing in the altitude, and enter a dark room with a dirt floor, where Mama sits on a pile of straw in front of a small rustic stove, cooking supper. We greet our host father, sister and three little brothers and give them small gifts, like marbles and pencil crayons. Our sister Soledad serves us thick clay bowls of hot soup. It breaks the silence and we chat eagerly over the meal, comparing our lives. When I returned home, I experimented to find the recipe that sustained us that night, bringing warmth to what could have been a cold uncomfortable experience. It tastes like my second home.