Ajiaco Cubano

"Ajiaco is a Cuban stew consisting of different indiginous root vegetables. It is incredibly tasty and nutritious. A native dish that symbolizes who Cubans are as a people and how diverse their ethnic backgrounds came to be formed. According to famed Cuban scholar Fernando Ortiz, the Amerindians gave us the maiz (corn), papa(potato), malanga (arum), boniato(sweet potato), yuca (cassava),and aji(pepper). The Spaniards added calabaza(pumpkin) and nabo (turnip), while the Chinese added spices. The Africans contributed name(yams). He says, that Cubans are " a mestizaje(mixture) of kitchens, a mestisaje of races, a mestisaje of cultures, a dense broth of civilization that bubbles on the stove of the Caribbean." The Cuban ajiaco retains the unique flavors of its diverse ingredients, which enrich one another. Some ingredients may dissolve completely, while others may remain more distinct. Yet all provide flavor to this hearty simmering stew, which by its very nature is always in a state of flux. The cuts of meat all have something in common aside from being "Cuban-style-cut" they are cheaper cuts, as this is the dish of the "common man." I have used many sources to come up with this recipe for you, from books published in 1925 to ones that I found on the internet. Also, used A Taste of Cuba recipe by Sonia Martinez, from El asere.com.,Ms Ramona V. Abella's "The Cuban Food Fairy", and Srta Maria Antonieta Reyes Gavilan y Moenk's "Delicias del la Mesa - Manual de Cocina y Reposteria". All you need with this dish is some good Cuban bread, a French baguette or even Foccaccia and some sliced fresh fruit, if you aren't too stuffed by this point! Cuban food is highly seasoned but never HOT! The ajiaco is/was made every Saturday(Before Castro)and was served as a noon meal which would have a longer lasting effect and in the evening they would have something light. This is very good and appetizing. Hope you will enjoy!"
 
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Ready In:
5hrs 10mins
Ingredients:
27
Serves:
10-12
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ingredients

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directions

  • THE DAY BEFORE:

  • Cut the beef jerky in large pieces and soak in water to cover.
  • Soak overnight.
  • SOUP:

  • Now drain jerky and place in a very large and deep stockpot.
  • Add the 5 quarts of water and the cut up hen or chicken.
  • Boil for one hour.
  • Add the flank steak and pork pieces.
  • Add the spare ribs.
  • Boil for one more hour.
  • Remove fat and froth that will rise to top.
  • While meats are cooking, make the "sofrito", peel and cut the "viandas" (vegetables).
  • PREPARE SOFRITO:

  • Add all ingredients, except for seasonings, to sauté pan and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
  • Then add seasonings and simmer about 5 minutes longer.
  • Discard the bay leaves.
  • PREPARE THE VEGETABLES:

  • When meats are tender, add the viandas, except ripe plantains and pumpkin.
  • Cook about one hour more.
  • Add the sofrito and cook another 20-30 minutes.
  • Add the ripe plantains and pumpkin and cook 30 more minutes or until pumpkin and plantains are tender.
  • Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
  • If broth is too thin, thicken by mashing some of the viandas in a little broth and adding it back to the pot.
  • Serve in a large soup tureen and give each guest a large, flat rimmed soup bowl.
  • You can place lime slices in little dishes along the table.
  • The ajiaco tastes really good with freshly squeezed lime juice, but let each guest decide if they would like to squirt their own.
  • This is so versatile, it can be served as a stew with rice and a salad of lettuce, tomatoe and cucumbers, or served with just the broth or served as is; meats and vegetables in a deep soup bowl.
  • Buen Provecho!

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Reviews

  1. Yes, indeed it is a very cuban meal, even taste better the day after it's made. I like to add chorizo and lots of boniato(sweet potato) great recipe..nice for a winter day.
     
  2. Made an ajiaco for the very first time. Time consuming but well worth it! Delicious and savory. Love how soft and tender the meat gets, and the root vegetables make the dish thick and hearty. This will be a personal favorite from now on!
     
  3. the BEST!!!
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p>Hello all, thank you for visiting My Page but forgive me for&nbsp;it is a work in progress! :) As I am sure you have noticed I changed my Chef Name to Manami which means love &amp; beauty. ;) Just thought I should get with the program - my geisha &amp; my icon! :) Don't fret, I won't change it again! <br /><br />I am 70 years young and I live in a nursing home, which is out of this world, I am treated like a princess and the world is my oyster! I have a private room and during the season I do taxes for most of the staff, as well as my personal clients that have been following me since I left the business world about 25 years ago. I was rear-ended by a van and it turned my whole world upside down. Why dwell on that? <br /><br />I am an American Jew (from NYC) who moved to Havana, Cuba when I was 2 1/2 years old, lived there until a few days after Castro took over and vamoosed it out of that country as fast as my legs would carry me! I&nbsp;was on a forced hiatus from the UofM, due to illness. <br /><br />From there my sister, mother and I went to NYC to work and my father went to Haiti in Port-Au-Prince, where he and my uncle had purchased some tiny cocoa plantations &amp; a chocolate factory - for the choccolate liquer - to make baking chocolate (the real bitter stuff). We joined my father about 2 months later where I spent 2 of the most carefree &amp; wonderful years of my life! It is the stuff that movies are made of! (A la Grace Kelly - even my clothes were like hers)&gt;&nbsp;</p> <p>I then continued my studies in upstate NY and hated it because it was too, too cold!:( Went back to NYC to work and see what I wanted to do with my life - I was all of 20 years old and had to drop out of school because of illness and then because of the weather! Yuck - so I got a job in a Textile Buying Office as a receptionist and soon I found myself buying trimmings! Loved it and was very happy with the work I was doing. <br /><br />However, I got an offer from two young guys who had a factory in Cleveland, Ohio, where they made Maternity Clothes and they wanted me to be in charge of the shipping dept, keep inventory and in my spare time - help with the designing!! I couldn't pass it up - the offer sounded so great and the salary was twice what I was making in the NYC. So I went to Cleveland, got married, had both my children and got a divorce 15 years later. <br /><br />Then my children and I moved to South Florida and have been here since 1978, I can't count that far back :) <br /><br />Learned how to do taxes with H&amp;R Block and worked simultaneously&nbsp;as a Supervisor in 2 offices&nbsp;for them for 15 years. Then after the accident everything went spiralling downwards until I could no longer walk alone even with a walker - so the next step was a wheelchair. Stayed at home with a lot of help (nurses, PT therapists) fixed the bathroom so I could bathe myself and fixed the kitchen so I could help warm-up meals (was taught how to cook in rehab) and so forth and so on. <br /><br />However, the fire department had other plans for me, I called them too often to pick me up off the floor - how embarassing! So they gave me a choice - either a home or they would have to call HRS! :( (very sad) <br /><br />It was there, in my home where I was robbed! <img title=Cry src=/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-cry.gif border=0 alt=Cry />&nbsp;All my cookbooks (all my Julia Childs Cookbooks, my Settlement Cookbook which had been my mothers - published in 1939 - with all her notes) my mother's cookbooks from Cuba &amp; Haiti, all my handwritten recipes. They also took all my Delft collection, some antiques that I had in the kitchen like my rolling pin, a beautiful old &amp; used wooden bowl, a charcoal-iron that was brought north when my parents left Haiti, it was hand-painted &amp; was gorgeous, as well as all the other things that are too numerous to mention! <br /><br />That proved to be the last straw &amp; from there it was an ALF,<img title=Yell src=/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-yell.gif border=0 alt=Yell /> which was horrible, and then on to another home where the administrator of that home became the administrator here and voila, here I am. <img title=Smile src=/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-smile.gif border=0 alt=Smile /></p> <p>I have a beautiful large private room with a private&nbsp;bath, furnished to my liking: eclectic!&nbsp;<img title=Wink src=/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-wink.gif border=0 alt=Wink /> My room is large enough to house my office and all the other odds and ends with which I like to surround myself.<br /><br />During tax season, mostly, my room is always full (of course I love it that way)! I have a blanket&nbsp;my daughter bought for me in New Mexico and that is on my bed. You guessed it - that is where everbody sits or on my great grandfather's arm chair which is in great shape. <img title=Smile src=/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-smile.gif border=0 alt=Smile />&nbsp;Update 01/11/2008 that time is here again :) Have started doing taxes already and not just regular taxes but corporations, partnerships and 1040X - ammended returns! Whoopee! I love the feeling I get when this time comes around and I get into gear!!! I love it! :) <br /><br />The head chef, the kitchen supervisor &amp; the dietician enjoy the recipes from Zaar; the ones that I post, as well as, the others. We are in the process of changing the menu right now - so we have been doing a lot of figuring. The administrator is so cute because every once in a while she asks for a recipe and then she gives me a pack of paper so I can print them. <img title=Wink src=/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-wink.gif border=0 alt=Wink /><br /><br />I am president of the resident council and most of the family members come to me to take care of their grievances - this way I do my part - and the staff can take care of the larger problems! It has been working for 10 years - why change if it ain't broke?<img title=Wink src=/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-wink.gif border=0 alt=Wink /></p> <p>Well, it's time to say hasta luego folks. <img title=Laughing src=/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-laughing.gif border=0 alt=Laughing /><br /><br /></p>
 
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