Cartesian Method: Surco Peruvian

Last week I met up with the Eating in Madison A to Z crew, Megan from Madison Street Eats, and a gentleman whom I found out was co-worker. We had assembled to sample the food from a cart or two that were mysteriously absent from Library Mall that day so we engaged in a culinary diaspora. I hit the Surco Peruvian cart and had this, aji de gallina:



(Thanks to Nicole for the snap.)


An expert on Peruvian food I ain't with my having eaten at Inka Heritage a couple times being about it. One thing I've noticed is the chow down there isn't particularly spicy as opposed to the way we think of everything south of the border. Aji de gallina is a chicken stew served over potatoes with a side of rice so you drown in starch gluttony. Turmeric gives the sauce its color while its rich flavor surely comes from chicken stock and some kind of mellow chili paste. And those are raisins perched atop.

The stew was not spicy and Surco provides a trio of hot sauces for all your mouth-burning needs. A yellow one, which I did not sample, was mild, green was medium, and red the hottest. The latter two both added a nice kick as well as flavor which was sharp and contrasted with the stew nicely.