The Hirshon Peruvian Papitas Rellenas

Citizens, my first exposure to Peruvian Papitas Rellenas was at the SOMA street food park in San Francisco not two weeks ago!

A Peruvian food truck was there, and these sizzling potato croquettes were the star attraction. Peru is the ancestral home of the potato and this croquette combined the humble fried mashed tater exterior with a nobly spiced meat filling genetically linked to the Argentine empanada.

Peruvian Papas rellenas (English: stuffed potatoes) are the most popular type of croquettes in Latin American countries such as Chile, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Colombia, Peru, and the Caribbean.

The first recorded Latin American recipes were printed in the late 19th century, during a time when French cuisine (among others, e.g. Italian) was influencing those of Latin America.

In Peru, the dish is a baked potato dough into which a filling made of chopped beef and onions, whole olives, hard-boiled eggs, cumin and other spices is stuffed. Once prepared, the obloid mass is deep-fried. Potato flour is often added to give greater consistency to the dough. In Peru, the dish is usually accompanied with a “salsa criolla”, or an aji sauce.

A spicy dipping sauce and pickled onion rounded this simple Peruvian dish out into a truly flavorful masterpiece worthy of its ancient Incan roots.

Papitas Rellenas is not a difficult recipe to make, but I guarantee it will be the talk of the table if you follow this authentic recipe with exactitude.

! 🙂

Battle on – The Generalissimo

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