Locro is a corn, squash, and bean stew that predates Argentina by a long way — it is Andean, it is older than the Spanish, and it is what the country eats on its two national holidays in the cold months. Every family’s is different and every family’s is correct. What they share is this backbone: two paprikas, serious cumin, oregano, and ají. It is the most warming spice profile in the line and it does not stay in the locro pot for long once people have it.
2–3 tbsp per large pot of stew, bloomed in fat at the start rather than stirred in at the end — this is a blend that needs oil and heat to open. Locro, white bean stews, chili, black beans, pumpkin and squash soup, braised pork. Also excellent on roasted winter squash with olive oil.
Sweet paprika, smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, crushed red chili (ají molido), granulated garlic, bay leaf.
