Papa a la Hancaina — Peru

Papa a la Huancaína is a cold Peruvian starter built around boiled potatoes napped with a thick, spicy sauce named after the city of Huancayo. The potatoes, usually a yellow-fleshed variety close to Yukon Gold, are boiled whole, then cooled and sliced into rounds before the sauce is poured over them. The sauce is what defines the dish: a blend of fresh cheese, aji amarillo, a mild-to-medium yellow chili central to Peruvian cooking, along with evaporated milk, oil, and salt, mixed until smooth and creamy. Some households add garlic, onion, or crushed salted crackers to thicken the sauce or round out its flavor. To assemble it, lettuce leaves are laid on a plate as a bed for the sliced potatoes, which are arranged in a single overlapping layer. The blended sauce is spooned generously over the top, covering the potatoes completely, and the plate is finished with black olives, a scattering of corn kernels, and wedges of hard-boiled egg arranged around the edge. It is served chilled or at room temperature rather than hot, which suits its role as a starter or light dish. The heat level of the aji amarillo and the thickness of the sauce vary from one household to another, and some versions swap in other soft cheeses when queso fresco is not available.