Walk past any dry spice stand in Argentina and you’ll have a hard time missing the adobo para pizza sitting right beside chimichurri mixes, oregano, parsley, and other common herbs & spices. For chefs or home cooks, who see no need in purchasing a commercial blend, this mixture may be custom made before or at the last minute by sprinkling here and there a few simple ingredients. Either way, adobo para pizza is the go to seasoning for adding a spicy herbal kick to pizzas when parsley, oregano, or basil just won’t cut it by themselves.

Although technically, adobo para pizza can consist of many flavorful herbs and spices, there are few ingredients that define the seasoning and, therefore, should always be present. You know, like how everyone expects their chimichurri to at least have garlic, parsley, and olive oil. These are oregano, aji molido, and pimenton dulce (sweet paprika.) After that, local favorites such as ground white/black pepper, ground laurel(bay leaf), cumin, and garlic powder are added into the equation.

Spicy Adobo Para Pizza (all of this does not need to go on one pizza)
2 tablespoons aji molido (substitute with red pepper flakes)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon pimenton dulce (sweet paprika)
1/4 teaspoon ground laurel (bay leaf)

Mix all of the ingredients and store in an airtight container.

Oh, and if you think adobo para pizza is only for pizza, think again. This mixture is great for sauces, meats, soups, and pasta dishes. Then again, it definitely adds some nice spice to matambre a la pizza (thin flank steak, pizza-style)….

I’ve been meaning to write up a little list on the use of herbs and spices in Argentina, and I’ll get to that eventually, but aji molido came up twice about a week ago so I’ll get it out of the way first. First, there was a comment on the chimichurri recipe post and then one through e-mail; the latter a request for retailers that sell it in the U.S and I listed a couple at the end of this post.

Note: Aji molido (ground red pepper in Argentina) is also known as aji triturado (crushed red pepper) and, at times, aji picante or aji picante molido (hot pepper.) For the rest of this post I’ll just refer to it as aji molido.

(Pakistani Crushed Red Pepper Flakes Bought In U.S.)

(Aji Molido Argentino)

When I first encountered aji molido in Argentina, I noticed a much softer more moist texture, with a slightly thicker flesh, than red pepper counterparts I had seen widely available in the U.S. (See photos for comparison) The level of heat is quite mild yet tingles the tongue as much as biting into a black pepper berry. The heat more from the seeds than flakes. Maybe that’s just my scorched tongue talking. Though, it lacks in heat, is definitely made up in earthy flavor. Lightly sweet and smoky with hints of tobacco and dried fruits.

In Argentina, those who enjoy aji molido’s flavor and spice will add it to all sorts of dishes, but there are a few classics, depending on whose recipe you are looking at, where the flaky red stuff is a downright requirement. These are, but not limited to, chimichurri, empanadas, pizza, stews, sofrito, and adobos for meats. At an asado, one can often see a spicy reddish chimichurri packed with aji molido right next to the mild version.

From reading various sources, my belief is that aji molido is simply from the same peppers used for certain types of pimenton or paprika–peppers from the capsicum annuum species. I could only find one company that clearly translates aji molido as hot paprika so I’m taking their word for it. The aroma, flavor, and level of heat are practically the same. If aji molido has picante prominently resting between the two words then the mixture may consist of cayenne peppers. If so, the packaging will often state such information. As to which specific peppers are used for the general mild aji molido, I’m still looking, or I should say waiting, for a definitive answer. The Intsituto Nacional de Technologia Agropecuario (INTA,) or National Institute of Agricultural Technology, lists anaheim and jalapeños as peppers [.DOC file] used for pimenton picante (hot paprika.) For now, I’m leaning on anaheim as lead pepper for most major brands of aji molido in Argentina.**

Aji molido can be bought at:

Gaucho Gourmet
Amigo Foods

**I’ll update this article when someone replies to my inquiries.

This just caught my eye yesterday but it seems to have been playing for a while. (I don’t watch much TV except for documentaries and a few cheesy serials here and there.) Hellmann’s, the mayo people, have a set of 3 commercials promoting the use of their ketchup as a subsitute for any other form of tomato sauce. Now I use ketchup from time to time when whipping up a quick bbq sauce but this is just WRONG!

April Fools!!!

Soy is such an awesome crop. Soy can fuel our cars, feed our bellies, and be the clothes on our back. I’ll bet they’ll even be able to make soy charcoal so that we can grill soy turkey legs. All of those minerals, vitamins, and proteins. Soy hamburgers taste just as good as the real thing. Soy milk with calcium carbonate. We won’t even need cows anymore. Soy can replace wood so we won’t need trees anymore. And what’s good about that? With all of the forests gone we’ll have more room to plant soy! But we need forests for water you say? Pfft, I’m sure we can easily filter the exhaust of our cars running biofuel in order to gather our daily water needs. Soy is the future.

Here’s a great recipe with soybeans.

1 Cup ready-to-use drained soy beans (canned, re-hydrated, etc)
3 Tablespoons red onion; finely minced
2 Tablespoons red bell pepper; finely minced
1 1/2 Teaspoon flat-leaf parsley; finely chopped
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Mix all of the ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Gently stir occasionally. Remove from refrigerator 15 minutes before serving to allow the mixture to warm up a bit.

April Fools!!!

April Fools!!!

You can’t go wrong using carrot salad to accompany many different types of vegetarian fare. Today I’ll be using it as a side to a delicious tofu burger I’m making that will be topped with alfalfa sprouts, portabello mushrooms, and cherry-pecan soy mayo.

About one medium-size carrot per person. Only use firm unblemished organic carrots that have deep orange hues. Wash and peel carrots. Slice a little bit of the thin end off and a bit off the end where leaves sprout. Grate the carrots with a cheese grater. Season to taste with a little splash of lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Raisins or beets are great additions.

April Fools!!!

April Fools!!!

Yesterday’s post might have weirded out some of you but I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching lately. You know what? I feel great!! I stayed up into the early hours of today discussing with my wife, plus a few phone calls to friends and family, on how to combat the various demons inside of me. What a relief! I feel as if I’ve unbuckled a backpack with a ton of bricks off my shoulders. What’s the great news?

I’M GOING VEGETARIAN!! Seriously! No, really!

Well, at least for a year just to try things out. That’s the time table that we all thought would be appropriate for me figure out where I want to head in life with regards to my overall diet. Strange huh? Now, I’m sure this comes as a disappointment to many of you, that’s an understatement, but I sincerely hope that you understand how important all of this is for me. It’s a personal challenge that I truly need to overcome.

I’m also sure you are wondering what will become of this site, but fear not my friends. All of the previous posts and images will remain. That is the past and there is no need to do away with a wealth of information that could still benefit so many. Also, there are so many tasty vegetables and grains that can be cooked on the parrilla, so perhaps I can sway this site toward a theme of vegetarian asado. Chimichurri is vegetarian so I can continue to post many different versions of those as well.

Now when I see beef shortages and people crying about the high prices of meat I won’t have to shed a tear. Not even one ounce of guilt will enter my mind.

Whew, I feel so good to get this off of my chest. This morning I had an absolutely fantastic wheat germ and goji berry shake. I feel a whole new energy already!

April Fools!!!