My friend Brad and his girlfriend, Jenny, moved to Mexico City in January. He’s a musician, she’s a chef, and every email I get includes some version of “Mexico City is insanely wonderful”: a feast for the eyes, the ears and the heart, as well as an actual feast every time they sit down to eat.
I know shamefully little of Mexican cuisine. But while I might not have been south of the Rio Grande, recent cookbooks – from Margarita Carrillo Arronte’s Mexico and Diana Kennedy’s The Essential Cuisines of Mexico, to Enrique Olvera’s Mexico from the Inside Out and Hartwood by Eric Werner and Mya Henry – have reeled me in. This week’s impromptu primer to la cocina Mexicana has cemented my aim to keep cooking with the chillies and the pulses and the corn varietals that this mesmerising nation has so graciously bequeathed to kitchens the world over.
For anyone in the UK wishing to take my cue, Sous Chef – the online cook’s retailer – does a specialist Mexican selection. A note on cooking with dehydrated chillies: they need to be rehydrated before you do anything with them. Wipe down, toast lightly, soak in hot water for 20 minutes, then pat dry, and you’re good to go.
The winning recipe: Ensenada-style fish tacos
Mexican chef and restaurateur Enrique Olvera told me last year: “Markets are where Mexican food actually comes from – the reference is always in the street.” And prepping Karla Zazueta’s tacos here is like setting out a market stall: there are myriad bold components to sweep a hungry passerby off their feet. You can rustle up the final thing in seconds. Claire Tweet’s homemade corn tacos below took these beauties to a whole other level.
Serves 4
For the tacos
300g cod (or other white fish) cut into long, thin strips
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
8 corn tortillas
½ white cabbage
For the batter
120g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
Salt, to taste
A pinch of oregano
1 tbsp dijon mustard
A pinch of black pepper
240ml dark beer
For the salsa
3 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 white onion, finely chopped
A small bunch of coriander, finely chopped
Salt, to taste
Juice of 1 lime, to taste
For the pickled onion
1 onion, thinly sliced
Salt and black pepper
Juice of 1 lime
A pinch of dried oregano
1 habanero pepper, chopped
For the mayonnaise
½ tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp mayonnaise
Salt and black pepper
A few drops of lime juice
1 Prepare the salsa bandera by mixing the tomatoes, onion, coriander, salt and juice of a lime. Set aside.
2 To make the pickled onion, rinse the onion in water, shake dry, then add some salt. Set aside for 10 minutes, then add the lime juice, oregano and the chopped habanero. Set aside.
3 Make the mayonnaise. Mix the sour cream, mayonnaise, a pinch of salt and pepper and a few drops of lime juice. Set aside.
4 Shred the white cabbage. Set aside.
5 To make the batter, mix all of the ingredients together, then put the pieces of fish in the batter and set aside while you prepare to start frying.
6 In a large, deep frying pan, warm the oil until very hot. Fry 2-3 pieces of battered fish at a time, for around 3 minutes on each side. Drain on kitchen paper and set aside while you fry the rest.
7 Heat the tortillas (wrap individually in aluminium foil and bake for 10 minutes at 180C/350F/gas mark 4) then cover them with a tea towel to keep them warm.
8 To build the tacos: take a warm corn tortilla, spread with mayo, put 1-2 pieces of fried fish on top, then add some shredded cabbage, salsa bandera, habanero pickled onion and, if you want to add a bit more heat, add some spicy salsa of your preference.
Corn tortillas
Claire Tweet was right when she said that freshly made tortillas are the business. I can’t wait to get my hands on some azul masa harina for some blue ones.
Makes 8-12
225g masa harina
A good pinch of salt
1 tbsp olive oil
325ml hand hot water (approximately)
1 Mix the ingredients together with a fork. Let it stand for a few minutes then knead for 5 minutes.
2 Add more water if it’s needed to get it to a soft dough. Cover with cling film and leave for 30 minutes.
3 Shape up balls of dough, a little bigger than a golf ball. Press a dough ball in a tortilla press, or if you don’t have one, between 2 sheets of plastic (I use zip lock bag plastic), flip it and press again.
4 Cook in a very hot dry pan, turning twice. They should puff up a little on the 3rd side. Wrap them up and keep them warm until you eat them.
Pumpkin seed and jalapeño spread
Annie Levy’s Mexican spread (sikil pak) has crunch and brightness and the satisfying heft of a good sandwich filler. Also good as a tortilla chip dip.
Makes 1 jar
250g pumpkin seeds
200g pickled jalapeños (reserve the pickling vinegar)
1 small onion, chopped
A bunch of coriander, finely chopped
A bunch of parsley, finely chopped
Olive oil
Juice of 2 limes
1 Fry the onion until soft, then set aside while you do the next steps.
2 Toast your seeds in a hot pan until fragrant, then soak them in the jalapeño pickled vinegar.
3 Put the soaked seeds, onion, jalapeño pickles and herbs in a food processor with a drizzle of olive oil, and whizz. Add lime juice to loosen it all up and get the desired consistency.
4 Serve with crackers or tortilla chips, or as a spread, with salsa, in a taco.
Elote
Grilled corn has never tasted this good. Rachel Kelly substitutes the traditional cotija cheese with feta, or caerphilly.
Serves 4
Vegetable oil
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp sour cream
1 tsp chilli powder
8 ears of corn, husked
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
100g feta or caerphilly, crumbled
2 limes, quartered, to serve
1 If cooking on the barbecue, lightly brush the grill with vegetable oil. If using an oven grill, preheat the grill for 5 minutes before using.
2 Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream and chilli powder.
3 Grill the corn until cooked and a little charred, turning occasionally. This should take about 10 minutes.
4 Once cooked, brush each ear of corn with the mayonnaise mixture. Sprinkle over the crumbled cheese and serve with a squeeze of lime juice.
Horchata
Rhian Williams’s easy take on this nut milk drink is beautifully simple – I added a drop of vanilla the second time, and it rounded the flavours out admirably.
Makes 1
120ml vanilla rice milk
120ml almond milk
A pinch of cinnamon
A dash of vanilla essence (optional)
1 Combine the milks in a saucepan and gently heat. Stir in the cinnamon.
2 Serve immediately if you want it hot, or aside to cool and serve with ice, if you’d prefer it cold.
Pollo con papas
The daughter of Mexican immigrants to the US, Melanie Parra has sent us one of her maternal grandmother’s signature recipes: Mexican slow‑cooked chicken and potatoes. It really is a quintessential family favourite of a dish, with a flavour as deep as the red sauce is rich. I served this with Bobby Ananta’s lime and coriander sweet potato rice below.
Serves 4
4-6 chicken thighs or drumsticks
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Oil, for frying
500g white potatoes, peeled and cubed
½ large white onion, sliced
1 tbsp tomato puree
Fresh coriander, chopped (optional)
Sour cream (optional)
For the sauce
3-4 dried ancho chillies
2-3 vine tomatoes
½ large white onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt and black pepper, to taste
A pinch of sugar (optional)
To serve
Refried beans
Mexican-style rice
1 To make the sauce, boil the ancho chillies with the tomatoes in about 240ml of water, until the tomatoes start to lose their skins. Remove the skins from the tomatoes and put them in a blender along with the chillies and some of the liquid from the pot. Reserve the rest to thin the sauce, if necessary. Add the chopped onion, the garlic and cumin. Add salt, to taste and a pinch of sugar if the tomatoes need sweetening or the bitterness of the chillies needs toning down. Blitz, then sieve to obtain a smooth sauce. If the sauce is too thick add a bit of the boiling liquor to thin it out. Set aside.
2 Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper, then fry in some oil in a heavy-bottomed pan until browned. Remove and set aside. Fry the potatoes in the oil along with the sliced onion. When the onions have softened, return the chicken pieces to the pan, add the sauce and the tomato puree, then simmer until the potatoes are soft and the chicken is cooked.
3 Serve garnished with coriander and a dollop of sour cream, if desired.
Lime and coriander sweet potato rice
A perfect companion to many a main dish from Bobby Ananta – sweet potato, coriander and lime make an enduringly winning combo.
Serves 2-4
380g jasmine rice
720ml water
1 sweet potato, 1cm diced and parboiled
Juice and zest of 1 lime
A small bunch of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Put the rice and water In a medium pan and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes. Turn down the heat add the sweet potato, put the lid on and cook another 10 minutes. Set aside for 5 minutes with the lid on.
2 Add lime juice, lime zest and coriander leaves, stir gently so rice and sweet potato are fluffy. Mix well with coriander leaves and season to taste.
Hibiscus margaritas
Colonial Cravings meshes hibiscus tea with the quintessential Mexican cocktail for a drink pretty as a picture.
Serves 2
50ml tequila
Juice of 1 large sliced lime
30ml orange liqueur
30ml hibiscus syrup (see below)
1 lime, cut into slices, to garnish
For the syrup
75ml water
50g sugar
2 tbsp dried hibiscus
1 To make the hibiscus syrup, just boil the water, sugar and dried hibiscus for about 3 minutes. Strain and let it cool before using.
2 Shake everything except the syrup and lime slices together with ice. Pour into two glasses, filled with ice and rimmed with salt or sugar, if desired.
3 Drizzle the hibiscus syrup around the edge, so that it sinks to the bottom of the glass, then garnish the rim with a slice of lime.
Tarascan bean soup
The hearty goodness of a bean broth cannot be underestimated and the name of Marcel Salles’s ancho-infused soup – Tarascan harking back to pre-Columbian days – suggests people have been making it since time began. As with most soups, the beauty is in the toppings, and the fried tortilla croutons. Soak the beans for four hours.
Serves 6-8
500g flor de mayo, pinto, pink or brown beans, presoaked for at least 4 hours
2 to 4 dry ancho chillies (depending on size), deseeeded, stalk removed
500g tortilla, sliced into bite-size pieces
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
Half an onion, sliced
Oil for frying
1 sprig fresh oregano, washed
A little cumin
Salt and pepper
To garnish
Sour cream
Cotija cheese (substitute with caerphilly or feta)
Avocado slices
1 Put the soaked beans in a heavy-bottomed pan and bring to the boil, then simmer, semi-covered until tender – this might take up to an hour. Remove the beans, reserving the broth in the pan for later.
2 Lightly toast the ancho chillies then soak them in warm water for about 20 minutes. Pat dry, then set aside.
3 In a skillet fry the garlic and onion in a generous amount of oil then set aside. Using the same oil, fry the ancho chillies then set aside.
4 In a blender, blitz the beans with the garlic, onion, chillies, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper until smooth, or the consistency you prefer. Then return to the pan and mix into the bean broth. Bring to the boil and cook on a low heat for a while, allowing the flavours to blend.
3 Fry the tortilla pieces in oil over a medium heat until crisp. Drain on kitchen towel.
3 To serve, add a handful of golden tortillas pieces to each bowl, add hot bean broth and garnish with cream, cotija cheese and avocado slices.
