South America Serves Up Sassy Flavor

March 2001


South America Serves Up Sassy Flavor
What sets one country’s foods apart from those of its neighbors? To a great degree, the difference is in the seasoning — the spices and herbs used most frequently and the combinations used with various foods. The traditions and habits that characterize a national or regional cuisine are known as “flavor prints.” In much the same way that fingerprints can reveal the identity of a human being, flavor prints help describe the unique qualities of a cuisine. In this series, developed in cooperation with the American Spice Trade Association, we explore the contribution of spices to flavor prints around the world as a guide and inspiration for food product designers.

South American cooking is a dazzling hybrid of many different cultures and ingredients at play on a vast continent. One-pot cooking over wood fires, a style that welcomes new foods and seasonings, is at the core of cucina criolla, a Spanish term referring to a cross-cultural mix of cuisines. An early example was a typical Inca stew, which enlivened New World ingredients, such as corn, potatoes and quinoa (a high-protein grain), with the aji, a hot yellow pepper. The “mixing” began when immigrants arrived with Old World foods and flavors.
In “Latin Ladles” (Ten Speed Press, 1997), Chef Douglas Rodriguez asks us to imagine Spanish newcomers adding yuccas, calabezas and other native ingredients to their steaming cauldrons of Mediterranean chickpeas, white beans and cabbage to create something entirely new and delicious. Virtually all of the herbs and spices beloved in the Old World — from thyme, rosemary and tarragon to cinnamon and cloves — traveled to South America with the Portuguese, Spanish, Italians and Germans. Natives and immigrants alike adopted the Spanish technique of making sofrito, an aromatic base of onions, garlic and herbs, that begins with sautéing annatto seeds.

The piling up of ingredients and flavors characteristic of South America is seen in Brazil’s most famous dish, feijoada, an array of meats and sausage typically seasoned with hot chilies or ground red pepper, cilantro and parsley, and served with side dishes of rice, black beans, greens and orange slices. Carbonada criolla, a delicious stew of corn, peaches, sweet potatoes and beef, served from a scooped-out pumpkin, suggests that Argentineans love vegetables and fruit almost as much as beef.

A classic Chilean dish, pastel de choclo, contains meat mixed with raisins, olives, garlic, cumin, oregano, black pepper, and either hot chilies or mild paprika. This dish comes with a fresh corn topping — in fact, choclo is a native Indian word meaning “corn.” A similar meat filling is used in empanadas, fried or baked turnovers that can be sweet or spicy, and are eaten in many South American countries.

South American cooks often rely on multi-purpose spice and herb blends to add vibrant flavor to foods. One of these is a paste made by blending chiles with oil, which is used in soups, stews, marinades and other dishes. Aliño is a mixture of dried, crushed herbs such as thyme, rosemary, oregano, sage, mint, lemon balm, marjoram and tarragon that is rubbed liberally on fish, poultry and meat. A signature “nuevo Latino” dish, served by Chef Douglas Rodriguez at New York City’s Chicama, is roast chicken tinted a deep red-brown by an achiote basting sauce and served with malanga, a starchy vegetable.

Ceviche is popular not only in Peru, Argentina and Chile, but in trendy North American restaurants. Probably invented by the Incas, it consists of extremely fresh seafood “cooked” in lime juice with chiles, garlic and cilantro. Escabeche, on the other hand, has a Spanish pedigree. Typically, cooked fish or chicken is served at room temperature after marinating in a vinegary sauce containing black peppercorns, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme and orange leaves.
Among the contributions of West Africans to the South American melting pot are spicy dishes, porridges called fufu and velvety coconut milk. Cilantro, or coriander, which is widely used, came originally from Asia. Appropriately, another name for the herb is “Chinese parsley.” In addition, Chinese and Japanese immigrants have made their mark on this continent’s fascinating mix of cuisines with dishes such as pork in tamarind sauce and vegetable tempura with ginger-lime dipping sauce.

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