The Family Meal: Mama Doris’ Peruvian Rice & Chicken Recipe

Who needs OK Cupid when there’s Mama Doris? The matriarch of the popular Portland, Oregon Peruvian restaurant, Andina, counts seven marriages to the restaurant’s credit since they opened in 2003. And she says owes many of them to the staff family meal.

“Family meal is a way to socialize and celebrate the spirit of friendship in the workplace,” Mama Doris, aka Doris Rodriguez de Platt, says. “It creates harmony among the staff,” not to mention kick-starting some deeper affection. “The romances started with the fact that the staff were sitting together and eating together on a daily basis,” she adds, proud as only a mother can be.

Rodriguez de Platt also credits family meal with fostering a sense of great pride among Andina’s staff. “We always identify who cooked that day so everybody knows,” she said. “And everyone gives thanks once they finish. It’s a part of our culture to be thankful for what we receive.”

That culture stems from the chef's hometown of Cajamarca, Peru, a colonial city in the Andean highlands. And not only do the dishes on the menu hearken to her home, so does staff meal, particularly when Rodriguez de Platt's recipes are used. One of the staff favorites—a chicken and rice dish—has been a staff meal staple since the restaurant opened in 2003, when Rodriguez de Platt would often cook family meal herself. Back then, her staff was made up of 12 employees.

Today, family meal feeds 50. She says her arroz a la Peruana con seco de pollo is perfect for staff meal, since the slow cooking of the dish allows time to do other things in the kitchen. The group especially enjoys the infusion of cilantro with the chicken, which she says is prominent but “not too much,” referring to a classic Peruvian cooking rule (and rhyme): es bueno cilantro, pero no tanto.  “Frying the cilantro with garlic and onions makes the cilantro milder,” she points out.

Next month, Mama Doris and company will take part in Feast Portland, a culinary festival that showcases the city’s best restaurants along with the quality bounty of the Pacific Northwest. Andina will have a station at the centerpiece event: Night Market, on Friday September 19.

Whether cooking at the restaurant for restaurant patrons, her staff, or at a food festival, Rodriguez de Platt says her message remains the same: “Andina is not only about food. It is to transport people and make them feel closer to each other.” And, maybe even make a love connection, too.

Here's how you can recreate Rodriguez de Platt's meal at home. 

Arroz a la Peruana con Seco de Pollo  

• 1/3 cup olive oil or good vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 6 cups water
• 2-3 teaspoons salt
• 3 cups long grain rice
• 1/3 cup olive oil or good vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seed
• 1 chopped medium size onion head (any color: yellow, white or red)
• 1 tablespoon Aji Amarillo (Peruvian yellow pepper) puree

Get the full recipe.