Ajiaco Santafereño

Method

1. 01

   On the chicken — clear, rich broth first35–45 min

   Place the chicken in a large heavy pot with the cold water, onion halves, garlic, scallions, peppercorns, the cilantro stems if using, and 10 g (2 tsp) salt. A cold start extracts a cleaner broth than dumping meat into boiling water.

   Bring to a boil over high heat, and skim the grey-beige foam aggressively for the first 8–10 minutes. This keeps the finished ajiaco from tasting muddy.

   Drop to a gentle simmer — small bubbles, the pot around 90–95 °C / 195–203 °F at the surface — and partially cover. Cook 35–45 minutes, until the thickest piece reads 74 °C / 165 °F, the juices run clear, and the meat pulls from the bone with a firm tug without yet falling into shreds.

   Transfer the chicken to a bowl. Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a clean pot, discarding the spent onion, garlic, scallions, stems and peppercorns. You should have roughly 2–2.2 L (8–9 cups) of clear golden broth; add water if you are short. Taste it: chicken-forward and lightly salted. Under-seasoned broth cannot be saved by potatoes alone.

   When the chicken is cool enough to handle, pull the meat from the bones in large bite-size pieces. Discard the skin for a lighter bowl, or chop some back in for richness. Cover the meat so it does not dry out — it returns at the end, so it does not shred to nothing in a long potato simmer.

   Combine chicken, cold water, aromatics and 10 g (2 tsp) salt. Boil, skimming 8–10 minutes; partially cover and simmer at 90–95 °C / 195–203 °F for 35–45 minutes, until chicken reaches 74 °C / 165 °F. Strain broth, topping up to 2–2.2 L (8–9 cups). Debone cooled chicken and cover.

2. 02

   On the potatoes — staggered for texture40–50 min

   Bring the strained broth back to a lively simmer.

   Pastusa first, at 0:00: add the pastusa chunks and simmer uncovered 15–20 minutes. The edges should start looking soft and frayed, and a few pieces may begin to collapse. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom so the starch does not scorch. The broth turns from clear to lightly cloudy and coats a spoon more thickly.

   Sabanera next, at 0:15–0:20: add the sabanera chunks and the corn rounds, and simmer 15 minutes more. The sabanera should pierce with a knife but still hold its cubes, and the corn turns bright and smells sweet.

   Criolla last, at 0:30–0:35: add the papa criolla and simmer 10–15 minutes until tender and the pastusa has noticeably thickened the pot. Some pastusa will have melted into the liquid; that is correct.

   Total potato time is roughly 40–50 minutes from pastusa-in. If the broth is still thin, mash two or three pastusa chunks against the pot wall and stir. If it is glue-thick, loosen with hot water or unsalted stock, 60–120 ml (¼–½ cup) at a time.

   Simmer pastusa uncovered 15–20 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom. Add sabanera and corn; simmer 15 minutes, then add criolla for 10–15 minutes until tender. Mash 2–3 pastusa chunks if thin; loosen thick soup with hot water or unsalted stock, 60–120 ml (¼–½ cup) at a time.

3. 03

   On the guascas and the reunion8–13 min

   Crumble the dried guascas between your fingers into the pot — start with 5 g (about 2 Tbsp), and you can add more. Stir and simmer 5–8 minutes. The aroma should shift: greener, distinctly ajiaco.

   Taste the broth and add salt until a spoonful alone tastes complete. Black pepper to taste.

   Return the pulled chicken to the pot and simmer gently 3–5 minutes only, long enough to heat it back above 74 °C / 165 °F. Do not boil hard, or the meat turns stringy.

   Kill the heat and rest 5 minutes. Surface fat can be skimmed for a leaner bowl, though a little left in carries flavour.

   Crumble in 5 g (2 Tbsp) dried guascas; simmer 5–8 minutes and adjust salt and pepper. Return chicken for 3–5 minutes, heating above 74 °C / 165 °F without boiling hard. Rest off heat 5 minutes; skim excess fat if desired.

4. 04

   On the table — cream, capers, avocado

   Warm the bowls. Ladle in broth, potatoes, a piece of corn and chicken. The liquid should be opaque and lightly creamy from potato starch — not a clear consommé, not wallpaper paste.

   Pass the cream, capers, avocado slices and extra guascas. Each diner adds cream in a swirl, a spoon of capers, and avocado on top or to the side.

   Optional white rice goes in a separate small bowl, or under the soup in some households. Alongside is the safer choice, so it does not drink the broth before the spoon gets there.

   Eat while piping hot. Ajiaco cools fast in Bogotá-thin air and in air-conditioned kitchens alike.

   Ladle hot soup, potatoes, corn and chicken into warm bowls. Serve cream, capers, avocado and extra guascas separately for diners to add; offer optional white rice alongside so it does not absorb the broth.

5. 05

   Sensory checkpoints and temperatures

   • Simmer, not boil: steady small bubbles. Hard boiling emulsifies the scum back in and breaks the potatoes too fast.
   • Chicken done: 74 °C / 165 °F internal before it leaves the first simmer, and heated through again at the end.
   • Pastusa: fraying edges and some collapse, with the broth visibly thicker and cloudier after 20 minutes or more.
   • Sabanera: intact cubes, tender centres.
   • Criolla: soft and yellow, holding shape loosely, the broth tinted gold.
   • Guascas: a green-herbal lift within minutes of adding. If you smell only chicken and potato, add another pinch and simmer 3 minutes.
   • Finished consistency: the ladle leaves a light coat on the back of a spoon, corn and potato pieces are visible, and the chicken is in moist chunks.

   Keep a gentle simmer and check chicken reaches 74 °C / 165 °F. Look for collapsing pastusa, tender intact sabanera, soft yellow criolla and broth lightly coating a spoon. If guascas aroma is weak, add a pinch and simmer 3 minutes.