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    My Colombian Recipes » This and That » Guascas

    Guascas

    Mar 19, 2009 · Modified: Jul 14, 2021 by Erica Dinho · 42 Comments

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    An herb from Colombia, guascas can be found in the USA in specialty food stores in dehydrated form and packaged in bags.

    I have had good experiences with: AmigosFood and HatoGrande.

    Other Posts You Might Like

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    About Erica Dinho

    My name is Erica and I was born and raised in Colombia and now live in the northeastern United States with my husband and family. This blog was inspired by my grandmother, Mamita, who was an amazing traditional Colombian cook.

    Author Page →

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Juan R.

      January 03, 2010 at 1:08 am

      Thank you For posting all this food I like learning new thing every day and most sertainly there are many name of Dishes and ingredient that I will like to know their meanings.

      Such as arepas, masarepa...etc.etc.
      Thank you again For sharing it all. I love Food and love to cook it too.
      J. Ruiz

      Reply
      • Rafael

        March 02, 2015 at 11:43 pm

        Juan R., "sertainly"? For heavens sake. Where did you learn your spelling?

        Reply
        • Anonymous

          August 16, 2015 at 7:07 pm

          heaven's

          Reply
          • Anonymous

            April 01, 2018 at 6:00 pm

            Heavens’ actually. There are more than one.

            Reply
            • Anonymous

              January 13, 2020 at 8:11 pm

              Heaven's sake. 's is: For the sake of Heaven. Lol

        • Lydia von S

          December 01, 2015 at 11:32 pm

          Rafael, where did you learn your manners?

          Reply
          • Anonymous

            February 07, 2017 at 6:26 pm

            Lol

            Reply
            • John

              June 21, 2017 at 1:59 pm

              Double LOL

          • Michelle Toubali

            February 22, 2021 at 4:21 pm

            Wepa!! When people speak more than one language it’s easy to spell something phonetically or to make simple mistakes. He was still understood.

            Your manners show your lack of breeding and education. More so than his grammar/spelling error.

            Reply
            • KAB

              March 30, 2023 at 3:22 pm

              Thumbs up! You’re absolutely correct. Second language learners inherently spell phonetically. And I have And I have a CLAD Credential Tom prove it.

        • John

          June 21, 2017 at 1:57 pm

          Probably learned in school where English was not the first language, but I am sertain you know what he intended.

          Reply
          • Anonymous

            January 02, 2018 at 3:07 pm

            I agree, at least he tried and you know what he meant. Did it cross your mind that perhaps it was a typo or autocorrect? You are being mean and rude.!

            Reply
        • Anonymous

          February 13, 2018 at 12:25 pm

          Someone is jealous and petty.

          Reply
        • Nellie Sturzaker

          June 09, 2018 at 9:07 pm

          Maybe English is not the first language! They were paying you a compliment!

          Reply
        • Anonymous

          December 26, 2020 at 3:32 pm

          Haha Rafael you need exactly the same. Lol

          Reply
        • Anonymous

          January 25, 2024 at 7:02 pm

          That would be "heaven's" sake, Rafael.

          Reply
      • Pat

        July 30, 2021 at 12:40 pm

        Arepas is a form of tortilla. Más arepa is the name of the flour used for the Arepas

        Reply
    2. ju

      January 07, 2012 at 6:17 pm

      Estas guascas son lo que le dan ese sabor tan carcteristico al ajiaco cierto ? pero sin pasarse creo, ya que algunos ajiacos que he provado tenian un sabor muy fuerte quiza por esceso de esta hieva, al igual que cuando se hacen las cremas con apio y se le añade demasiado apio luego tiene ese sabor tan invasivo a apio que no me gusta nada. Viva Colombia ! 😀

      Reply
      • Erica

        January 08, 2012 at 8:35 am

        Ju,

        Si, las guascas le dan el sabor perfecto al ajiaco!

        Reply
    3. Linda Koch

      January 20, 2012 at 6:32 pm

      what does guascas taste like

      Reply
    4. Rebecca

      February 16, 2012 at 2:19 am

      Is there anything similar i could use instead of the guacas? I havent been able to find it..

      Reply
      • Anonymous

        January 03, 2019 at 8:37 am

        You may order it from e-bay

        Reply
    5. football jerseys for sale

      April 25, 2012 at 4:56 am

      Thank you For posting all this food I like learning new thing every day and most sertainly there are many name of Dishes and ingredient that I will like to know their meanings.

      Reply
    6. Jenny

      April 26, 2012 at 11:55 am

      I alos have good experience buying from Amigofoods.

      Reply
    7. mark belles

      November 02, 2012 at 10:04 pm

      i live near some corn fields. would you please tell the scientific name for guascas. i would like to visit the local ag coop near me to ask how i could start growing it here in washington state.

      Reply
      • Marilyn raff

        January 12, 2014 at 6:21 pm

        Is there a Mexican spice I can use instead of Guascas?

        Reply
    8. Carolina

      April 01, 2013 at 6:39 pm

      Hola! Sabes en qué mercados latinos se pueden conseguir? Los he buscado en Sedano's en Florida pero no los he encontrado

      Reply
      • Erica

        April 02, 2013 at 8:19 am

        I usually buy mine online at "Amigosfood".

        Reply
    9. Chris Caldwell

      August 09, 2013 at 6:26 pm

      I've found things that describe the taste of guascas as artichoke-like. Anybody able to confirm or deny this? I'm trying to find a reasonable alternative.

      Reply
    10. debs

      March 06, 2014 at 7:46 am

      I have *finally* found guascas in the UK. Now I want to cook with it! I've found one recipe on your site, for Ajiaco, but what else can I do with guascas?

      P.S. I LOVE this site. Ever since I returned from a holiday in Cali, I have been missing the wonderful Colombian food. I'm so pleased to be able to recreate some of the flavours of Colombia in my kitchen thanks to your lovely recipes.

      Reply
    11. Maure

      August 28, 2014 at 2:17 pm

      Got tons of this growing in my garden in Massachusetts... pull it out all the time... keeps coming back, lol !

      Reply
      • Maure

        August 28, 2014 at 2:18 pm

        https://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/ajiaco-bogotano-colombian-chicken-and/

        Reply
      • Bob W

        January 05, 2017 at 9:44 pm

        Can you send me some...?? Please?

        Reply
    12. Maure

      August 28, 2014 at 2:19 pm

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galinsoga_parviflora

      Reply
    13. Richard Barry

      January 16, 2015 at 11:06 pm

      Guascas is a common weed found all over the temperate areas of the new world. Commonly called Quickweed. It IS a weed. The plant resembles stinging nettles and has an odd bulbous flower that looks as though every other petal is missing. The flavor is a bit like artichoke but a bit more intense and weedy.The dried herb is available from the Amazon marketplace at a reasonable price.

      Reply
    14. Richard Barry

      January 16, 2015 at 11:17 pm

      I have found that chicken thighs or even wings are a much better choice of chicken for Ajaico than breasts---more flavor and not so dry. The authentic Colombian recipe calls for crillo potatoes which are not grainy or mealy. A good choice is the yellow fingerlings or cowshorn if you can find them. There is also a mix of small new potatoes sold in some markets that are a fairly good choice. Russets are not too good for Ajaico because they cook up too soft rather than in slices or chunks and also are a bit mealy for the base. You do need the Guasca however or you just end up with plain old cream of chicken soup.

      Reply
      • John

        June 21, 2017 at 2:01 pm

        Nothing wrong with plain old cream of chicken soup.

        Reply
    15. Gaby Rivera

      February 07, 2018 at 12:54 am

      Hola buenas noches
      Aquí en Mexico, se pueden encontrar las Guascas?

      Estoy enamorado de Colombia la he conocido en diciembre del 2017.. Y entre la comida y su gente que belleza !!

      Reply
    16. Daniela

      July 05, 2020 at 2:12 am

      Hi, I would like to know how can I replace guascas. I live in Asia and I can't find them here.

      Reply
      • Anonymous

        October 10, 2020 at 12:13 pm

        Guascas are pretty difficult to replace, BUT if you cannot find anything at all, dried oregano is your friend. I tried this while in Thailand. It's not the exact same "Ajiaco" flavor, but it's close enough to know that someone was trying to get that taste

        Reply
      • Anonymous

        December 30, 2020 at 1:44 pm

        a little bit of spinachs

        Reply
    17. JC

      May 10, 2023 at 9:34 pm

      THAT’s what the flavor is in Ajiaco! Guascas or Quickweed. I couldn’t figure it out, glad to find out & how special it makes the soup. Maybe a substitute could be Mexican Oregano (have seen full dried stalks with florets) can work? And a bit of cilantro stems?

      Reply

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