Victor Albisu: Cooking With Chiles

“Generally, people feel that Latin American cooking is one big category, but it’s really not. And the chiles so plentiful in Latin American cuisines are just as diverse,” says Victor Albisu, chef de cuisine at BLT Steak in Washington, D.C.

Albisu himself is a reflection of Latin American diversity. His father’s family hails from the Basque region of Spain, with several generations having lived in Cuba, and his mother is Peruvian.

“Garlic, onions, and peppers are the trinity of Latin cooking, but other than that, most of these cuisines have little in common,” says Albisu, who, after earning two bachelor’s degrees at George Mason University, abruptly circumvented law school. Instead, he enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu in France.

Because Albisu is a descendent of bakers, grocers, and restaurateurs, his decision wasn’t a total surprise. Since becoming a chef, he’s traveled extensively to broaden his food education.  His travels have confirmed that Latin American countries have distinct flavors that can—and should—be appreciated individually. “The meat culture of Argentina, where they’re so influenced by Europe that they love pasta and pizza, is nothing like the fiery foods of Brazilian or Peruvian dishes, which most resemble clean, simple Japanese cooking,” he says.

Albisu didn’t always possess this purity of palate. Like many chefs, he once created innovative, blended dishes and cites Chef Douglas Rodriguez, author of Nuevo Latino: Recipes That Celebrate the New Latin American Cuisine, as one of the masters of fusion cooking. But these days, Albisu rejects the idea of layering Latin flavors. His favorite cuisine is Cuban, which has virtually nothing in common with the Mexican foods that most people associate with Latin cooking. “Cuban food has a strong influence from Spain and the Caribbean, and also, it’s soul food that has an African foundation,” Albisu says. “In my Cuban culture, the chiles they use are generally not spicy. They use a lot of bell peppers and interesting things from the soil, like tubers (yucca, malanga, and taro root).”

The heritage of Latin American cuisines and the various chiles they use can be summed up in one concept. “It’s geography,” Albisu says. “Any kind of cooking is always people using the best of what is available to them. And then, to make crops last, they preserve them. In this case, chiles are dried.”

Dried chiles are spicier than fresh, and they can take on smoky, leathery flavors. “It took me a while to comprehend these. Some, like anchos (dried poblanos), even taste more like raisins to me. And their capsicum (heat) levels are all over the place.”

Canned and allowed to break down in their own liquid, chiles take on a complexity of flavor that adds depth to certain dishes. In Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Columbia, and Puerto Rico, the word aji means “chile,” and it is also the name of a particular type (aji pepper), also known as the Peruvian hot pepper. Aji peppers are often ground into powders for preservation and then used for cooking.

There are many chile varietals—bell, sweet, and hot—and the heat of each is classified by the Scoville scale. The greater the number, the hotter the chile. A bell pepper, for example, is a zero on the scale. “I believe the hottest known pepper in the world is a bhut jolokia, around one million Scoville units,” Albisu says, “[They’re] so strong, they can keep elephants at a distance when they are smeared on fences.”

When it comes to chiles, Albisu enjoys the varietals used in Mexican cooking the most. “When I started studying Mexican cuisine, I became enamored with blending the chiles and making moles and sauces from all of the different chiles, exploring their distinct characteristics,” says Albisu. “In Mexico, you’re going to find really spicy chiles that blow the back of your head off when you eat them!”

A well-known Mexican variety is the jalapeño. Albisu says, “Jalapeños are crisp, bright, and spicy, and they’re used in salsas, tacos, or burritos. When they’re smoked, they become chipotles, which are mild and earthy. Poblanos are a beautiful dark green, heart-shaped, mild Mexican chile. Another mild chile is the Anaheim, also called the New Mexico chile. They are longer in length, so many cooks like to stuff and fry them,” says Albisu, who adds that Anaheims are spicier when they’re dried (known as guajillo).          

Albisu has developed a heat tolerance. “The habañero pepper is one that I’ve come to learn to love to eat as a side dish with almost anything, and it’s one of the hottest peppers in the world, about as spicy as most people ever want to eat,” he says of the pepper that is about 40 times hotter than a jalapeño.

Milder than the habañero are rocoto peppers. “When Peruvian dishes call for heat, the rocoto is what they use,” says Albisu, saying that the very spicy chile looks like a mini-bell pepper with black seeds. Albisu uses rocoto, one of the oldest known South American peppers, in ceviches.

In Latin American cooking, the spiciest food is found in Central America and Brazil. Brazilian cooking has many different influences. The Brazilian malagueta “has this amazing fruitiness,” Albisu says. “But they are viciously spicy and give you this sense of euphoria”—in other words, that chile-love feeling enjoyed among various but not all Latin Americans around the world.

Try these spicy dishes by Victor Albisu, and you’re sure to become a chile devotee.

— Michele Deppe

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Homemade Chili Powder

4 ancho peppers
4 pasill peppers
3 guajillo peppers
3 chiles de arbol
2 pequin chili peppers
1 small habañero or scotch bonnet

In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the peppers one group at a time for 5 minutes. Do not burn them; they should be lightly toasted. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, place in a spice grinder and blend to fine grind. 

This chili powder can be used to season steaks, chicken, and seafood. It’s also great on grilled vegetables and for traditional American chili.

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BLT Hamachi Ceviche

Serves 2

6 ounces thinly sliced Hamachi
Juice of 6 key limes
6 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon aji Amarillo purée
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon finely diced red onion
1 diced aji rocoto pepper
1⁄2 roasted sweet potato
Salt
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon finely chopped Peruvian black olives

To make the dressing, combine the juice of six key limes and half of the extra virgin olive oil.

In a separate bowl, combine aji Amarillo purée, cilantro, red onion, and rocoto pepper and reserve.

Peel the sweet potato and place in a blender with the other half of the extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and water and blend until smooth. With a spoon, paint this purée longways across a plate.

Marinate the fish in the dressing and place on top of the purée. Combine the marinade with the rest of the ingredients in the separate bowl and whisk. Spoon the mixture over the fish and garnish with chopped olives.

TD&N Nutrient Analysis: Calories: 642; Total Fat: 47 g; Saturated Fat: 7 g; Polyunsaturated Fat: 7 g; Monounsaturated Fat: 32 g; Cholesterol: 47 mg; Sodium: 100 mg; Carbohydrates: 31 g; Fiber: 2 g; Protein: 25 g

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BLT Prime New York Strip Encebollado
(a caballo)

Serves 2

One 16-ounce New York strip steak
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons adobo (garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, cumin)
Salt and pepper, to season
Juice of 2 limes
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
3 Piquillo peppers
1 yellow onion sliced into julienne strips
Cilantro chopped and whole for garnish
1 hen egg if you want it “a caballo” (or on horseback)

Heat extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet. Season the steak well with adobo, salt, and pepper. Drizzle with lime juice and rub the steak well. When the olive oil is hot, add the steak to the pan and sear for about 2 minutes. Turn the steak over in the pan and add sliced garlic, peppers, and onion. Season with salt and pepper and do not allow it to caramelize completely. Once the onion has cooked 2 minutes, add chopped cilantro and lime juice. Remove the steak and drape with the onion mixture. Garnish with fried egg and cilantro sprigs. Serve with black beans, white rice, and plantains.

TD&N Nutrient Analysis: Calories: 360; Total Fat: 11 g; Saturated Fat: 4 g; Polyunsaturated Fat: 0 g; Monounsaturated Fat: 4 g; Cholesterol: 99 mg; Sodium: 240 mg; Carbohydrates: 17 g; Fiber: 2 g; Protein: 47 g

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Cuban Black Beans

Serves 4

2 cups black beans (dried or canned)
Extra-virgin olive oil
6 cloves of chopped garlic
1 diced yellow onion
1 diced green or red bell pepper
1 bunch of chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon cumin
1 bay leaf

If using raw black beans (recommended), soak them in cold water for at least 1 hour before cooking to soften them. Rinse the black beans and discard any broken pieces or floaters. Place the black beans in a pot with three times as much water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and allow them to cook until they are soft, or approximately 2 hours.

While the black beans simmer, make the sofrito. Heat olive oil and add 3 cloves of garlic, cumin, bay leaf, onion, and pepper. Allow to cook until well incorporated. Add the black beans to the pan with sofrito and allow to simmer together for an additional 30 minutes.  At the end, remove the bay leaf and add remaining garlic and chopped cilantro.

TD&N Nutrient Analysis: Calories: 94; Total Fat: 0 g; Saturated Fat: 0 g; Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g; Monounsaturated Fat: 0 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 633 mg; Carbohydrates: 25 g; Fiber: 8 g; Protein: 6 g

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