Peruvian appetizers

The Peruvian starter is mostly a potato in a good disguise. That is not a joke about a limited pantry — it is the opposite. Peru grows thousands of potato varieties, and the starters here exist because cooks had enough different potatoes to build a whole course out of them: yellow potato whipped with lime and chile and layered like a cake (causa), potato wrapped around a beef picadillo and fried (papa rellena), boiled potato under a chile-and-cheese sauce (papa a la huancaína) or under its greener Arequipa rival (ocopa).

Most of them are served cold or at room temperature, which is why they turn up at every gathering: they can be made hours ahead and they travel. That also makes them the backbone of a piqueo, the plate of small things that comes out alongside drinks — a slice of causa, some olives, a bit of cheese. Nobody orders a piqueo expecting to be full.

The exceptions on this list are the hot ones and the sandwiches. Rocoto relleno is Arequipa refusing to be moderate about anything: a stuffed chile that genuinely burns, baked with potato cake underneath. And the sandwiches — butifarra, with its jamón del país and salsa criolla — are street food that ended up on the starter list because they are the right size to share.

Where to start

Peruvian starters are mostly cold, mostly potato, and mostly built to be eaten standing up. These three cover the ground.

Papa a la huancaina. The first one to learn, and the sauce turns up everywhere afterward. Boiled potato under a sauce of ají amarillo and fresh cheese, served cold. Five minutes in a blender and you have it.

Causa limena. Yellow potato whipped hot with lime and ají, then chilled and layered like a cake. It is the dish that explains why potatoes are Peru's real luxury ingredient.

Salsa criolla. Barely a recipe and impossible to do without. Red onion, lime, salt, ají — five minutes, no cooking, and it goes on top of half the food in this country.

Questions people ask

Why are so many Peruvian starters served cold? Because they were built to be sold and carried. Causa, papa rellena and the sandwiches all come from a tradition of food handed over on a street or a bus, where nothing can depend on staying hot. Cold also suits the lime and raw onion that run through most of them.

What is a piqueo? The plate of small things that comes out with drinks, before anybody has decided what they are actually eating. Most of this page can go on one — choros a la chalaca, papa rellena and anticuchos are the usual suspects.

Can I make salsa criolla ahead of time? Chop it ahead, dress it at the last minute. Lime starts breaking the onion down on contact, and salsa made an hour early goes limp and watery. Rinse the sliced onion in cold water first or it will bully everything you put it on.

What is the difference between huancaina and ocopa? Both are cold chile-and-cheese sauces poured over boiled potato, and they come from different cities. Huancaina is ají amarillo and queso fresco — yellow, smooth, everywhere. Ocopa is Arequipa's, with huacatay and peanuts added, and it comes out green and herbier.