ají de gallina

Ají de gallina combines cooked, shredded poultry with a creamy sauce flavoured with Peruvian chillies. Bread helps thicken the sauce, while milk, nuts and cheese can enrich it. Morena Cuadra’s version uses ají amarillo and ají mirasol, red onion, garlic, pecans and Parmesan. The meat is cooked separately before it is added to the sauce.^[1]

Cuadra softens bread in the poultry stock, blends it into a paste and cooks it with onion, garlic and chilli. Shredded chicken, pecans and cheese are added, followed by evaporated milk or half-and-half. The mixture is served over slices of boiled potato, with white rice alongside and hard-boiled egg and black olives as garnishes. She notes that some cooks use almonds or sesame seeds in place of pecans.^[1]