We have living with us, a Colombian national named Pedro Olarte. He is a La Salle exchange student from Medellin, Colombia, to us here at the University of St. La Salle. To appease his “hidlaw” for his native Colombia, I will cook for him a Colombian dish called “AJIACO”. I just hope that it will at least be, just a little bit similar to the orig. I will let you know next week. “Abangan ang susunod na kabanata!”

AJIACO (pronounced aHYaco)
1 whole chicken
½ kilo potatoes (diced)
½ kilo carrots (diced)
4 pcs sweet corn on the cob (cut in 2-inch segments)
2 pcs Knorr chicken cubes; salt & pepper
5 cups water
1 teaspoon Cumin powder
1 small bottle of capers (drain, rinsed & drained)
3 small avocados;
2 cartons Nestle all-purpose cream

PROCEDURE:
1.) Boil whole chicken in water with salt, pepper, Knorr cubes and cumin. When chicken is cooked, take out and set aside. Put in your corn’ when corn is halfway cooked, add potatoe and carrot pieces.
2.) While all the above are boiling, peel your avocados and cut up into cubes. Put these in a bowl. Also, pour cream into a small bowl. These two things will serve as your garnishing over the main ingredients, once you serve the stuff into your bowl.
3.) Once everything is cooked, shred the chicken into big pieces and incorporate it back into the pot with the veggies. At this point, broth is already a bit “espeso” (semi thick).
4.) Serve this “potaje” with the condiments along side.

TIPS:
- Though I am not so keen on capers, some Colombians add this as a garnish also.
- Usually, this dish is eaten with “arepas”- a bread like yummy made out of corn flour and with a hidden piece of cheese in the center. But that my friend, is a totally different ballgame!
- Just for the record, Pedro and his two Colombian friends Juancho and Jenny had three servings each and said, that it was so good and “autentico”! Either they didn’t want me to feel bad, or it must have been really good! Hehehe…. Well,, they asked for the leftovers that night too!!!

Enjoy your Ajiaco and a big hug from the Red Hot Mama!!!