2 ingredients

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Epazote can be found in all Mexican markets, along with coriander, mint, parsley, basil and rue. I don´t think there´s a sub, really; I´d just leave it out, Sakks.
Mexican oregano is far more intense than other varieties I´ve tried.
As for your pepitas, you could always make pipian:

100 gms pumpkin seeds
50 gms sesame seeds
1-2 serrano chiles
5-6 sprigs coriander leaf
2 green tomatoes (or tomatillos)
1/2 tsp anise seeds
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 medium onion
Chicken/veg stock

Grind the seeds together. Toast the chiles, green tomatoes and onion until they blacken a little on the outside ( this is referred to as "toreados") then put everything into a blender and mix together until you have a thinnish sauce.
Cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes until the sauce thickens.
Serve hot or cold.

[Sakkarin Profile]

That's similar to one of the recipes I was considering KK, but tomatillos are as rare as epazote here! My recipe uses annatto seeds, which by chance I DO have, the pack of them I bought were the only ones I've ever seen in this country...

[karadekoolaid Profile]

green tomatoes, they´ll do. Not exactly the same, but close.

[Badger's Mate Profile]

If we ever get to meet up somewhere, I can always provide tomatillos, fresh or frozen (depending upon season), to anyone who wants to try them. They're starting to fruit on the plot and I've still got enough from last year in the freezer.

For the foreseeable future though, green tomatoes will be generally easier to come by. I'm reminded of Little Chef, who seemed to have a contract with a supplier to provide them with unripe tomatoes all year round.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Tomatillos are sometimes available in shops and supermarkets in London, worth keeping an eye open if they are coming into season

I remember seeing them once or twice years ago but New Zealander’s are obsessed with them and I think the posh greengrocer here stocks them for the antipodeans

Is this an annual conversation?

[Amyw Profile]

So what are tomatillos like taste and use wise ? I’ve heard of them but that’s about it

[Badger's Mate Profile]

Is this an annual conversation?

I think we've both posted our last posts before.

How to describe tomatillos? Hard to sum up; savoury, slightly acidic but not sharp, like a tomato in that regard plus shape and texture but with a different flavour. I can't really liken them to anything else. Garden Organic had a members' experiment a few years ago, several of my gardening club tried them, but I don't think any of them continued. I've grown them for years. Never seen them on sale in greengrocers, supermarkets or on market stalls. They're sometimes grown by chilli farmers, maybe the Mexican theme suggests itself. Maybe ask South Devon Chilli Farm (if they're anywhere near you Amy).

Uses are for salsas - chopped fresh with onion, coriander, chilli, salt and lime, or much the same things cooked together. I cook cubes of pork shoulder with them as pork chilli verde, but the cooked salsa goes well with fried fish. A friend with an Ecuadorean husband serves the sauce with prawns. Otherwise they can be used in chutneys, or in soup. There's a recipe in a book of Latin American food for a 'Venezuelan tomatillo soup'. Perhaps KK knows it, or maybe it has got nothing to do with Venezuela!

Growing them yourself is probably the easiest way to taste them, as the seeds are much more freely available than the fruit, but some Mexican restaurants might use them in dishes, albeit probably tinned ones.

A quick google suggests that Riverford sell fresh ones. £3.65 for 400g. Currently unavailable. Blimey, there's a few quids worth growing in Herts...

[Stokey Sue Profile]

The nearest I can get is somewhere between a tomato and a kiwi fruit, but that’s a vague approximation

My NZ friends do just munch them as fruit most of the time

I’d like to make Mexican salsa verde if I see any this season

[Sakkarin Profile]

Here's a daft two-ingredient recipe I just spotted in the very first Indian cookery book I owned, "Spicy & Delicious" by Prya Wickramasinghe.

It's a bit like having a bread recipe, where the first ingredient is a loaf of bread...

[Earthmaiden Profile]

.

Bread and butter.

[Sakkarin Profile]

You're toast.