Cazuela

Cazuela

An Ecuadorian cazuela
Type	Soup
Main ingredients	Stock (meats and vegetables)
Media: Cazuela

Cazuela (Spanish pronunciation: [kaˈθwela] or kaˈswela) is the common name given to a variety of dishes, especially from South America. It receives its name from the cazuela (Spanish for cooking pot) - traditionally, often shallow and of unglazed earthenware - in which it is cooked. The ingredients and preparation vary from region to region, but it is usually a mid-thick flavoured stock obtained from cooking several kinds of meats and vegetables mixed together.

Chilean cazuelas

A Chilean cazuela

The cazuela is a typical dish of Chile. The most common types are made of chicken or beef, but there are also other types made from pork and turkey.

One typical dish of Chilean cazuela contains a piece of meat (it can be a piece of rib or several pieces of bones, in the case of beef, or a leg of chicken), a potato, a piece of pumpkin, and the stock obtained from boiling all of them together. These are sometimes complemented with cooked rice (in the stock), small-sized noodles, green beans, celery, sliced carrots, garlic, cabbage, among others. In summer the cazuela is accompanied by a piece of sweetcorn, cooked apart or in the same stock.

The cazuela is typically eaten by consuming the liquid stock first, then eating the meat and larger vegetables (e.g. potatoes, large piece of squash or carrot) last. However, the meat and larger vegetables can also be sliced up within the liquid stock and can be eaten simultaneously with the liquid stock.

The Chilean cazuela is related to the olla podrida, a colonial dish of similar characteristics, but it also shares roots with a Mapuche stock called "korrü".

Peruvian cazuela

Cazuela is a typical dish of the Amazonas Region in Peru. The dish is prepared and cooked differently in each province or district of Amazonas.

In Chachapoyas, cazuela is prepared by boiling a piece of hen, a good piece of meat and a good piece of sheep. Add some wild cabbage, rice, carrot, sweetcorn grains, and a glass of white wine.

A few minutes before taking the saucepot out of the fire, add some milk and vermicelli noodles (also called cabello de ángel noodles). It is necessary to try that the cazuela has sufficient broth or juice to be able to be served as a soup.

Puerto Rican cazuela

In Puerto Rico, cazuela is a traditional crustless pie cooked in banana leaves usually made during the Christmas season. It is similar to a pumpkin pie but uses batata (a type of sweet potato), calabasa (Caribbean squash), raisins, ginger, spices, coconut milk, eggs, butter, and bread, flour or rice flour. There are recipes with added sweet plantain, taro, or yuca with baking powder and lard.

Other regional variations

In southern Arizona, cazuela is frequently made with carne seca or machaca (two varieties of dried beef) with potatoes, garlic, green chiles, and herbs.

See also

• List of soups