Pollo sudado is a popular chicken stew in Colombia. First you fry some vegetables, mainly onions and tomatoes, and to this mixture you add raw chicken and raw potatoes. You cover this with a lid and steam this with the water slowly. “Sudado” literally translates as “sweated”, the idea is that the chicken is steamed in the liquid of the vegetables. This may sound a bit strange, I agree. I was suspicious, I mean raw chicken is not something anyone wants. However, since it is one of the favorite dishes of my husband, I decided to give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised. It does get a different kind of flavor from this vegetable steam. The best thing? It tastes even better on day 2 or 3!
This is a nostalgic recipe for me: borscht, a soup from the former Soviet Union. Probably the reason why there are still fights who can call it a national dish. Whereas Russia has declared the dumplings called pelmeni its national dish, Ukraine claimed borscht, the soup with red beet, a national treasure. However, quite a few of the former states of the union serve a variety of this famous soup. The main ingredients are usually red beet and cabbage. In the Ukraine typically it will be served with sour cream, dill, and vinegar. Since I got used to the version from my grandma, who was born in Odessa, Ukraine, it probably comes as no surprise that I will introduce the Ukrainian version here.