Causa limeña

Ingredients

• Yellow potatoes1.2 kg
• Ají amarillo paste4 tbsp
• Limes4
• Vegetable oil80 ml
• Tinned tuna400 g
• Mayonnaise150 g
• Red onion1
• Avocado2
• Eggs — hard-boiled3
• Black olives60 g
• Coriander20 g
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Boil the potatoes in their skins until completely soft, peel them hot and press them through a ricer.

   35 min

2. 2

   Work the purée by hand for five minutes, until it is even and elastic.

   7 min

3. 3

   Cool the purée to room temperature, then work in the ají paste, lime juice, oil and salt.

   12 min

4. 4

   Mix the tuna with the mayonnaise, finely chopped red onion and coriander.

   8 min

5. 5

   Press half the purée into a mould in a layer a centimetre and a half thick and level it.

   6 min

6. 6

   Spread the filling and the avocado slices and cover with the other half of the purée.

   8 min

7. 7

   Chill it two hours, garnish with egg and olives and serve cold.

   12 min

About the dish

The potato is mashed hot and worked completely smooth, but seasoned once cooled. Warm purée will not take the lime evenly and the flavour comes out in patches.

The purée has to be as firm as modelling clay. It carries the layers and cuts with a knife; a loose one slumps and there is no dish at all.

Causa is served cold. It is a Peruvian dish for hot weather, and warmed it loses both its texture and its point.

Worth knowing

• — A ricer gives a smoothness no masher can. A blender must not be used: it turns the purée gluey.
• — The avocado goes in last and gets a squeeze of lime. Otherwise it darkens inside the layer within an hour.
• — Causa is assembled in individual moulds or in rings. Restaurants usually plate it in portions; at home it is made as a whole cake.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

480 kcal

Protein

22 g

Fat

28 g

Carbs

38 g

More from Peru

• Ceviche — Raw fish in lime juice with onion and ají. It marinates for minutes, not hours — longer and it is cooked through.
• Lomo saltado — Beef seared in a wok with onion and tomato, served with both chips and rice at once.
• Ají de gallina — Shredded chicken in a creamy sauce of ají amarillo, nuts and bread.