Arequipa Day

Today is Arequipa Day and there is a big parade in town. Andy's back is still too weak to stand for hours so we'll stay home. In fact you don't have to stand. You can go the day before and find someone who has placed a chair beside the parade route and rent the chair for the day. It costs about $5, which is a lot of money. The problem is that the place is so crowded that unless you get there early you won't be able to make your way to the chair and once there, you're stuck for the day; it takes 6 hours for the parade to pass and there is no escape; the crowds are so thick. Andy's back is not up to that either. The man putting in the kitchen cabinets, Pedro (whose picture is in another posting), is working the parade. He makes small boxes he sells to people so they can stand on them and get a few inches higher. You pay according to the height of the box.

In honour of Arequipa Day we tried a typical dish suggested to us by the young woman who comes and cleans once a week. It is called "kapchi de habas". The woman's name is Juanita and she has a child of 11 months called Daniel. Her husband's name is Edwin.

Back to the habas. Habas are Lima beans. Or should I say "Leema beans". The name in English probably came from the fact that the beans came from Peru.

Here goes.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion chopped small
  
• 1 medium tomato chopped small
  
• 2 Tbspns vegetable oil
  
• 3 garlic cloves crushed
  
• 1 cup hot water
  
• 3 cups of lima beans
  
• 2 cups of potatoes, cubed
  
• 1/2 cup of evaporated milk
  
• 3/4 cups of fresh cheese cut in cubes (mozzarella will do)
  
• 2 Tbspns of wacatai finely chopped. For those of you in New Paltz you can buy wacatai in the Associated Supermarket in Newburgh; otherwise use fresh mint. You can get the fresh cheese there too.
  
• 1 fresh egg
  
• salt and pepper
  

Preparation:

• Fry the onion and garlic in the oil for 5 minutes and add the tomato and continue to cook until the tomato disintegrates.
  
• Add the hot water and lima beans (if fresh) and cook for 10 minutes at medium heat. Skip this step if the lima beans are frozen and add them with the potatoes.
  
• Add the potatoes (and lima beans if frozen) and cook until potatoes and lima beans are cooked.
  
• Add the evaporated milk, cheese, wacatai/mint, break the egg into the pot and mix well.
  
• Cover and cook for another couple of minutes.
  
• Add salt and pepper to taste at some point.
  

The dish should not be too dry.

This dish can be served with fresh rice or if you want a complete Peruvian experience go to the health food store and buy some quinoa. It's preparation is a bit like couscous.

Edwin and Juanita