These delicious sausages have a counterpart all over Latin America. The ingredients can vary widely; some recipes call for saltpeter, some use all pork, some include spices such as cloves and cinnamon, and still others prefer vinegar or wine. I have included this rather traditional recipe from Argentina utilizing the famed ají p-p, the “bad word” chile; for a substitute, use pure hot red chile powder, such as New Mexico Chimayó. In Argentina, these sausages are almost always included at an asado–a barbecue. Note: This recipe requires advance preparation.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless pork

• 1 pound round steak

• ½ pound fresh bacon (available at natural supermarkets)

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 clove garlic

• 1 ½ teaspoons oregano

• ½ teaspoon cumin

• 6 peppercorns, crushed

• 2 teaspoons ají p-p chile powder, or substitute hot red chile powder, such as cayenne or New Mexican Chimayó

• 3/4 cup dry white wine

Instructions

Coarsely grind the pork, round steak, bacon, salt, and garlic together a meat grinder or food processor. If you use a food processor, take care not to grind the meat too finely; you want the meat to have some texture.

Place the ground meats in a large ceramic bowl, add the remaining ingredients, mix thoroughly, cover, and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Form the meat into patties and fry them in a skillet over a medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until no pink remains on the inside. Drain the patties on paper towels and serve hot.

Nothing keeps you warmer on a cold winter night than a bowl of paprika soup, which is a variation of the popular Hungarian goulash. Since “hot” paprika is hard to find, I bring up the heat by adding small dried red chiles, rather than adding a lot of paprika which can make the soup excessively sweet. Traditionally, sour cream would never be served with this soup by any central or eastern European, but I think it adds a creaminess makes a nice finishing touch.

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon, diced

• 1/4 cup paprika

• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 pound boneless chuck or sirloin beef, trimmed and cut into ½ to 1-inch cubes

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 3 cups beef broth (4 cups if not using the beer)

• 1 12-ounce can dark beer (optional)

• 4 to 6 dried red chiles, such as piquins, chiltepins, tepins, or japones

• 1 medium potato, diced

• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced

• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

• 3 tablespoons tomato paste

• 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper

• Salt to taste

• Sour cream for garnish

Instructions

Slowly saute the bacon in a large heavy skillet to render the fat. Remove the bacon and drain on a paper towel.

In a large bowl combine 2 tablespoons of the paprika and one half of the pepper with flour. Add the beef, toss to coat, remove and shake off the excess flour. Add the beef to the skillet and quickly brown. Remove the beef as it becomes browned and put it in a heavy stock pot.

Add the onions and garlic to the skillet, adding a little vegetable oil if necessary, and saute until they are browned. Remove and add to the pot with the beef.

Deglaze the pan by adding a cup of the broth to the skillet, raising the heat, and bringing it to a boil and scraping the sides and bottom of the skillet to remove all the browned bits and pieces in the pan. Pour the mixture in with the beef.

Add the remaining broth and the beer, if using, chiles, potato, carrot, caraway seeds, vinegar, and tomato paste. Also stir in the remaining paprika, black pepper and reserved bacon. Bring the pot to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are done and the meat is very tender, about 45 to 50 minutes. Add more broth if necessary to thin to the desired consistency.

To serve, ladle the soup into individual soup bowls, garnish with a dollop of sour cream and serve.

Many of the stews in Argentina are garnished with fresh fruit or even dried fruit. This spicy, creamed seafood dish is very elegant and makes a gorgeous presentation dish. Accompany the dish with a simple green salad and a chilled Argentine white wine.

Ingredients

• 2 cups long grained white rice

• ½ cup butter

• 1 2-inch thread of saffron

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 4 cups chicken stock, boiling

• 1/4 cup minced jarred pimientos, or substitute red bell pepper, cooked in water until soft

• ½ cup cooked tiny green peas

• 2 tablespoons flour

• 1 ½ cups milk

• 1 tablespoon habanero hot sauce

• 1/4 cup minced onion

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 3 tablespoons finely chopped green bell pepper

• 2 pounds lobster, cooked and cubed

• 1 pound medium shrimp, cooked, peeled, and deveined

• ½ pound crabmeat, cooked and flaked

• 3 oranges, peeled and thinly sliced into circles

• 2 ripe avocados, peeled and sliced

• 2 grapefruits, peeled and sectioned

• 16 lime wedges

Instructions

Combine the rice, 3 tablespoons of butter, the saffron, salt, and the boiling chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. When the rice is tender, stir in the pimientos and the peas and keep the rice warm.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large, heavy saucepan and sprinkle in the flour and stir for 30 seconds until it is well blended with the butter, taking care not to burn the mixture. Add the milk, all at once, and the hot sauce, stirring constantly until the mixture starts to thicken. If the mixture is not smooth, beat it with a whisk. Then, remove the cream sauce from the heat and set aside.

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large pot, and add the onion, the garlic, and the bell pepper and saute for 3 minutes. Then, add the lobster, shrimp, and crabmeat and toss the mixture lightly. Add the cream sauce to the seafood mixture, and heat slowly, until the mixture is hot. Serve the creamed seafood over the cooked rice and garnish with the oranges, avocados, grapefruit, and the lime wedges.

Since Chile has a 2600-mile coastline, I would be remiss if I didn’t include a fish recipe from that country. There is a minimum of grazing land in Chile, so instead of beef being the major source of protein, it is fish and shellfish. The wines of Chile are quite good, so be sure to include a nice chilled Chilean white wine when you serve this Chilean ceviche. Note: This recipe requires advance preparation.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds halibut fillets or substitute sole or flounder

• 1 cup fresh lemon juice

• ½ cup fresh orange juice

• 1 cup chopped onions

• 2 teaspoons Caribbean-style habanero sauce

• 1 fresh ají chile, seeds and stem removed, sliced into rings, or substitute yellow wax hot or jalapeño

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced

• Garnishes: tomato wedges and cilantro sprigs

Instructions

Cut the fillets into 1 inch pieces, place them in a ceramic bowl, cover with the fruit juices, and toss them lightly to coat.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix gently. Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate overnight. Drain off some of the juice and arrange the fillets on lettuce leaves on 4 individual plates and garnish with the tomatoes and the cilantro.