Papa a la Huancaína

Ingredients

• 2 lb potatoes, boiled and sliced thick
• 6 oz feta or queso fresco
• ⅔ cup evaporated milk or cream
• 2 tbsp aji amarillo paste (or sriracha + ½ tsp turmeric)
• 4 saltine crackers
• 2 tbsp oil
• Lettuce leaves, boiled egg halves, black olives — the mandatory tableau

Method

1. Blend the sauce: cheese, milk, ají paste, crackers, and oil until completely smooth — it should pour like thick cream and glow yellow.
2. Taste: creamy first, then a rising warmth, salt from the cheese. Loosen with milk if needed.
3. Arrange lettuce on plates, shingle the potato slices over.
4. Flood generously with the huancaína sauce.
5. Finish with egg halves and olives — the classic still life. Serve cool or room temp. Peru puts this sauce on potatoes first, then on everything else once you've tasted it.