{"id":24,"date":"2016-09-14T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-14T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enrilemoine.com\/en\/2016\/09\/14\/aji-de-leche-hot-sauce-recipe\/"},"modified":"2018-01-03T12:00:58","modified_gmt":"2018-01-03T17:00:58","slug":"aji-de-leche-hot-sauce-recipe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enrilemoine.com\/en\/2016\/09\/14\/aji-de-leche-hot-sauce-recipe\/","title":{"rendered":"Aj\u00ed de Leche Hot Sauce Recipe"},"content":{"rendered":"
Aj\u00ed de leche<\/em>. I’ve been craving aj\u00ed de leche<\/em>\u00a0lately, the kind of thick, creamy milk-based hot condiment that they put on everything in Trujillo, one of the Andean states in my home country, Venezuela. I have yet to create a recipe that does justice to those flavors I hold dear in my memory.\"aj\u00ed<\/a>Besides lacking some of the ingredients for a recipe, I also lack a taparo<\/em>,\u00a0or taparita<\/em> (a special container made in\u00a0Venezuela and Colombia from the fruit of a taparo<\/em> or totuma<\/em> tree) to store the aj\u00ed de leche. These taparos<\/em> or taparitas\u00a0<\/em>are usually sealed by a lid made of a piece of dry ear of corn, called\u00a0tusa<\/em>.\"jalape\u00f1os<\/a>Whoever has yet to try an authentic aj\u00ed\u00a0de leche<\/em> from Trujillo does not know what they’re missing. It’s something in its own category, something inexplicable in how much of an experience it is. When my cousin Juana Mar\u00eda Espinoza Godoy sends me the taparito<\/em>\u00a0she bought me in Valera and I can make my ajicero<\/em>\u00a0as it’s mean to be made, you’ll all be the first to know.\"chopped<\/a>Until then, we make due with this incredible recipe by chef Giorgio Rapicavoli (Eating House<\/a>\u00a0y\u00a0Glass & Vine<\/a>), one of Miami’s top chefs, from the same generation as Jos\u00e9 Mend\u00edn (Pubbelly Group<\/a>) and C\u00e9sar Zapata (Phuc Yea<\/a>), who’ve transformed the local gastronomical scene in South Florida\"aj\u00ed<\/a>I went to eat at chef Rapicavoli’s Coral Gables restaurant, invited by the Fuertes con lech<\/em>e<\/a>\u00a0campaign. Once there, I tried a spectacular fish soup that was out of this world, topped with aj\u00ed de leche<\/em>. It tasted like heaven, and as I praised\u00a0Rapicavoli’s food, he recognized my accent and explained the ingredients of the aj\u00ed as well as imparting the sweetest saying: “surely, this is something you ate at your grandma’s house.”\"Aj\u00ed<\/a>Well, the answer is yes and no. My grandparents were from Margarita Island, where the aj\u00edes (hot peppers)\u00a0are kept in glass jars and are\u00a0pickled in vinegar. That being said, he brought to mind the combination of milk with garlic and spices only found in the Andes, a delightful mixture where one can even find hints of oregano and cilantro.\"Aj\u00ed<\/a>And of course I loved it! So much, that I’ve gotten into the habit of keeping a small bottle of aj\u00ed de leche\u00a0in my refrigerator. To my pleasant surprise, it doesn’t run out as fast as I would think. Not that it lasts a long time, however: this\u00a0aj\u00ed\u00a0de leche is the perfect topper for a\u00a0pisca Andina <\/em>soup<\/a>, carabinas<\/em> (corn tamales similar to hallacas but\u00a0stuffed with black beans and wrapped in plantain leaves), and, of course, it matches perfect with\u00a0arepas<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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