Today in my Spanish class, my teacher showed up with this typical Cusqueño dish called "papa helada" or "cache chuño" in Quechua (the local language). We are lucky as these are only available in the local markets in May and June, as the ground need to frost in order for them to make papa helada. With melted cheese on top, these are pretty good.
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
1 kg of small to medium potatoes (1.5" in diameter)
Cheese
Preparation:
Wash your potatoes. In winter, put the potatoes in a pan outside overnight (about 12 hours). If it's not winter, you can put them in the freezer instead (but it's not as good….they say). Let the potatoes thaw and peel them.
In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add the potatoes and some salt and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Once cooked, drained the water and sprinkle with cheese. Continue cooking for about 1 minute.
Tada!!!!! Now you have a typical Cusqueño dish :)
Note: When the papa helada lady saw a police officer, she quickly ran away. It seems you need a permit to sell in the streets.
