"It can't be done," my chef friend insisted. "You can't make causa with American potatoes. The moisture content isn't right."
We were talking in Lima, Peru, where causa, a layered concoction of mashed potatoes, seafood or chicken and avocado, is commonplace.
Despite what he said, this past weekend I had excellent causa in Los Angeles. And it was made with ordinary supermarket red potatoes. The chef responsible was Ricardo Zarate, who has just opened Mo-Chica, a Peruvian restaurant in downtown Los Angeles.
Mo-Chica is refreshingly different from the lackluster Peruvian places I've run into here. Zarate, from Lima, is an experienced chef and presents Peruvian food as it should taste rather than altering it for customers who wouldn't know the difference.
The menu is short, a list of Peruvian top hits that are very well done--I've tasted almost all of them--amplified by specials of the day.
Last weekend's causa contained a layer of the sort of spicy tuna you'd find at sushi bars. This is not surprising, considering that Zarate has cooked at Sai Sai at the Millenium Biltmore downtown and at Zu Robata in West Los Angeles. He is now executive chef of Wabi Sabi in Venice. Somehow, he finds time to handle both gigs.
This Japanese-Peruvian connection isn't unusual. If you go to Lima, you will run into a lot of Chinese and Japanese food. And potatoes.
Spuds turn up as fat fries on top of lomo saltado, which is Chinese-style stir-fried beef. This is not a nod to American fast food. It's the way lomo saltado is served in Peru. The seasonings include soy sauce and ginger.
For papa (potato) a la huancaina, Zarate makes a mellow, creamy cheese sauce that is light years away from what I encountered at another restaurant, where the gooey mixture could have come straight from a squeeze tube.
His sauce employs feta, which he finds similar to Peru's queso fresco (fresh cheese), and the Peruvian chile aji amarillo.
Zarate's cooking is sophisticated. And affordable. Seco de cordero, a wonderful dish of lamb shank with canario beans in a beer and cilantro sauce, is just $13, and that includes taxes, as do all the food prices.
The causa of the day is $5. Papa a la huancaina is only $3. And if you're eating on the run, there's a sanguche (sandwich) of the day for $5.
Of course there is ceviche--it's Peru's most famous seafood dish. Zarate varies it according to what he finds at the market and presents it Peruvian style with sweet potato and giant corn kernels.
Last weekend he picked out excellent salmon, which he served on a green mixture of English peas, barley and cilantro.
Seafood and rice (arroz con mariscos) is a sort of Peruvian paella, but much spicier than anything you'd come across in Spain.
Zarate does a fine version of aji de gallina, shredded chicken in a cream sauce that includes ground walnuts. That is a Peruvian classic. but he goes beyond the usual with quinotto, turning the Andean grain quinoa into a risotto with wild mushrooms and creme fraiche.
An interesting herbal flavor sets apart arroz con pollo (chicken and rice). To achieve this, Zarate cooks the rice with beer and cilantro, then adds pan-sauteed chicken and a dribble of huancaina sauce.
Last weekend he tried out a dessert, algarrobina mousse, that was so well received it's going on the menu. The rich, molasseslike flavor and deep brown color come from Peruvian algarrobina syrup. That long word means carob.
Mo-Chica isn't a stand-alone restaurant but a location inside the Mercado La Paloma.
Large jars on the counter contain typical Peruvian drinks such as chicha morada, a dark, purple-red liquid made by boiling purple corn with pineapple rind and cinnamon.
The drink on the left in the photo is maracuya, or passion fruit. Another is made with barley.
But don't ask for Peru's national cocktail, the pisco sour. The Mercado La Paloma is a no-alcohol zone. No reason to complain though. You can get pisco sours elsewhere, but not Peruvian beverages as well made as those at Mo-Chica.
Mo-Chica Contemporary Peruvian Restaurant, 3655 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90007 (in the Mercado La Paloma). Tel: (213) 747-2141. Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
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