Papa a la Huancaína

Method

Boil whole yellow potatoes in salted water until a knife slides through without resistance — roughly 20 minutes depending on size. Drain and cool slightly, then peel while still warm; the skin comes away cleanly at this stage. Keep them whole or halve them lengthways if they're large. Set aside.

The sauce is a andean-cuisine construction built on a base of ají amarillo — the fruity, moderately hot Peruvian chilli that gives the dish its identity. Deseed three peppers, roughly chop them, then blitz with 200 g queso fresco, 100 g peanut butter, three garlic cloves, and 150 ml evaporated milk until completely smooth. The milk acts as both binder and dilutent; it tempers the heat and richness while giving the sauce the correct viscosity. Drizzle in 50 ml extra virgin olive oil whilst blending — this emulsifies with the starch from the cheese and creates the silken mouthfeel that defines the dish. Taste and adjust salt.

Warm the sauce gently in a pan over low heat. Do not boil it; high temperature breaks the emulsification and the sauce splits into grainy curds and separated fat. A gentle warm-through is enough.

Arrange the potatoes on a serving platter — either standing them upright or laying them cut-side up — and pour the warm sauce generously over them until they're mostly submerged but the tops are visible. The potatoes will absorb some sauce as they cool, so oversaturate slightly. Scatter hard-boiled egg halves across the surface and finish with black olives.

Serve at room temperature, not cold. The sauce thickens as it cools and the potatoes have already shed their heat; cold serving masks the fruity-spicy character of the ají amarillo and deadens the fat. This is best eaten within two hours of assembly.