Roughly 3500 different varieties of potatoes grow in the Peruvian Andes. There is no limit to the number of dishes that these carb-rich spuds can provide, but Peru's layered dish, causa rellena, is one of my favorites. A staple in Peru for centuries, the word causa actually comes from the Quechuan word 'kausaq' which means gives life.
Causa refers to the yellow potato (papa amarilla), and rellena refers to the stuffing. Feel free to get clever with the recipe – and presentation. But try this simple and tasty Latin American comfort food for yourself…
Causa (potato)
- 8 yellow potatoes (boiled, peeled and mashed)
- 3 yellow peppers
- Juice from 3 limes
- 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
Rellena (stuffing)
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ chopped med. onion
- 1 tsp. mustard
- 2 hard boiled eggs (chopped)
- 1 avocado (cut into slices)
- black olives (chopped) to your preference
- For a little extra protein, add cooked chicken breast or tuna to your stuffing
The Sacred Valley - Not a bad place for a picnic lunch
Cook
1. Saute yellow peppers and garlic in vegetable oil until soft. Place in blender with mashed potatoes, lime juice and salt and pepper. Process until smooth.
2. Mix all stuffing ingredients (mayonnaise, onion, mustard, boiled eggs, avocado, olives and optional chicken/tuna) in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste
3. To serve, shape ½ potato mixture into a square on a plate. Spoon stuffing mixture over potatoes, and layer the remaining potato mixture on top. Eat!
We've used Adventure Life for several trips in the past and have always been very pleased with them. The staff is personable and professional at the same time. Erin put this trip together for us in just a few days, and it has everything we were looking for! I recommend them without hesitation.
benn
1 month ago
I served as the person responsible for planning a trip to Galapagos and Machu Picchu for a group of 14 people. Jane with Adventure Life was very helpful throughout the process. Making suggestions, offering insight, and in the end helped me overhaul an initial plan into something even better. Also, Jane makes all the plans including the flights within and between Peru and Ecuador. Thanks to her this is going to be a stress-free adventure. After making the final decision about the trip, Jane gathered the contact information for all the travelers and sent out the details to each traveler individually with links to pay deposits, upload passport info, and personal preferences. She also ensured a group email was sent out to the entire group welcoming us to the trip preparation process. Our trip is a year from now and we are excited to make this once in a life time trek. I am happy to have organized things through Adventure Life. However, two small issues came up that were a little off putting. First, Adventure Life adds $50 per person to the cost for each traveler as a donation to a Galapagos conservation fund. I think this should he offered as something that can be added at each traveler’s discretion. Instead, it is automatically added, and each person must ask to have it removed if they do not want it included. Second, although the trip deposit may be paid with a credit card without incurring an additional fee, the balance must be paid in another way to avoid a 3% credit card fee. Maybe this is standard with all travel agencies. In the end I would definitely go through Adventure Life for the next big trip.
Brenda Nielsen
2 months ago
I think it was very helpful that Franny and I spoke on the phone. I think she had a better idea of what we were looking for, and she planned a great itinerary for us!
Elizabeth
3 months ago
My representative Kevin was very responsive generally and in crafting our itinerary to our specific priorities.
Rocco Labella
3 months ago
Easy.
Great work on the follow up and details by Waru.