Peruvian · salad

Solterito Arequipeño

Name: Solterito Arequipeño
Prep time: 32 min
Total time: 52 min
Cuisine: Peruvian
Ingredients: fresh fava beans — 300 g; choclo — 400 g; queso fresco — 200 g; roma tomatoes — 200 g; red onion — 150 g; rocoto chilli — 40 g; aceitunas de botija — 80 g; red wine vinaigrette — 44 g; extra-virgin olive oil — 54 g; flat-leaf parsley — 20 g; salt — 5 g; freshly ground black pepper — 3 g; dried leaf oregano — 1 g

Solterito Arequipeño reads salinity 4.1, sourness 3.6 and richness 2.8 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Peruvian salad, about 52 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 4.4 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 2.6 / 10
Sour & Bright — 4.0 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 1.8 / 10
Rich & Fat — 3.1 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 3.0 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Salinity 4.1 · Sourness 3.6 · Richness 2.8 · Heat 2.5 · Herbaceous 2.5 · Fruity 2.1 · Allium 1.9 · Sweetness 1.9 · Umami 1.8 · Bitterness 1.6 · Earthy 1.5 · Funk & Ferment 1.5 · Citrus 1.4 · Warm Spice 1.3 · Nutty 0.9 · Floral 0.8

What's in it (13)

fresh fava beans — 300 g
choclo — 400 g
queso fresco — 200 g
roma tomatoes — 200 g
red onion — 150 g
rocoto chilli — 40 g
aceitunas de botija — 80 g
red wine vinaigrette — 44 g
extra-virgin olive oil — 54 g
flat-leaf parsley — 20 g
salt — 5 g
freshly ground black pepper — 3 g
dried leaf oregano — 1 g

Time & effort: about 52 min (32 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 68.5 kcal, 4.3 g protein, 3.4 g fat, 5.8 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

Arequipa eats this beside a plate of something heavy — rocoto relleno, adobo, chupe — and it exists to cut the richness. It is a salad of the high valleys: fava beans, big-kernelled corn, fresh cheese and rocoto, dressed simply and eaten cold.
Boil the podded favas in salted water for 4 minutes, then drop them into ice water. Slip each one out of its grey skin; skinning takes ten minutes and it is the difference between a bright green salad and a dull one. Do not skip it.
Boil the choclo kernels for 8 minutes in lightly salted water until tender but still crunchy at the core, and drain. If you can get frozen choclo from a Latin grocer, use it — sweetcorn is far sweeter and smaller and will make a different, sugarier salad.
Rinse the diced onion in cold running water for a minute and pat it dry, which takes off the raw sting without cooking it.
Rocoto is much hotter than it looks and its heat sits in the seeds and the pale ribs. Seed and devein it, dice it fine, and taste a speck before deciding how much of it to use.
Toss the favas, choclo, tomato, onion, rocoto and olives together. Whisk the vinegar, oil, salt, pepper and oregano and pour it over, then fold in the cheese and parsley last so the cubes stay whole.
Let it sit 20 minutes at room temperature before serving so the dressing gets into the beans, and taste again for salt — the cheese and the olives both bring their own and the balance moves as it sits.
Substitutions: the salty Arequipa queso serrano can stand in for the queso fresco.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Panzanella — Italian · Tuscany
Zucchini and Corn Enchiladas Verdes — Mexican
Chimichurri — Argentine
Koshari — Egyptian
Ensalada Mixta — Argentine

Keep reading: what salinity, sourness, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.