Colombian

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Ajiaco (Bogotá Chicken Soup Built on Three Potatoes)

One of Colombia's national dishes, and where this site has treated choosing a potato as a two-way question on eight separate pages, this one puts three in the same pot. Mashed potatoes says use floury, German potato salad says use waxy, and lohikeitto says "their crumbling edges thicken the broth naturally" — every one of them picks one. In ajiaco it is not a choice but a division of labour: the small yellow papa criolla disintegrates completely and becomes the body of the soup, the waxy potatoes stay in pieces to the end, and a middling one fills in between. With it go corn cut into lengths and guascas, a herb with no substitute, and each person stirs in the cream and capers at the table.

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Arepas

A staple of Colombia and Venezuela — round corn cakes griddled until golden and crisp outside, soft inside. The dough is just three things: masarepa, water, and salt. Spread with butter, or split and stuffed with cheese, egg, or meat.