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Latin-American Cuisine

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby karadekoolaid » Wed Jan 27, 2021 1:51 am

SALSA!

Not the music, although that´s pretty fantastic. These are the salsas (sauces) you´ll typically find when you ask for tacos, tostadas,empanadas or a barbecue. As soon as we sat down in a restaurant in Mexico City called " Tacos Al Pastor", they brought a tray with five different sauces. A pico de gallo; a coriander mayonnaise with jalapeños, a smoky chilpotle sauce, a salsa toreada and an habanero sauce (not for the faint-hearted).
Salsas appear on the tables, not only in Mexico, but all across South America. Here are some simple recipes to slather on your next Yorkshire pudding... :shock: 8-) or empanada or taco or burrito.
1) Pico de Gallo
Literally " Chicken feed" - because it looks like the food thrown to the birds. Simple to make and very tasty.
1-2 tomatoes
1 small onion
1 jalapeño, de-seeded and deveined
Coriander leaf
Lime ( or lemon) juice
salt
Dice the tomatoes, onion and jalapeño, and mix with all the other ingredients. Allow to rest for half an hour, so the flavours can blend.
2)Salsa Toreada
2-3 jalapeño or serrano chiles
1 small onion
lime juice
vegetable oil
salt
Pinch of cumin
Grill or toast the chiles and the onion until they´re slightly blackened on the outside. Chop finely and mix with the other ingredients.
3)Salsa Yucateca
This salsa comes from Yucatan, home to the habanero chile.
1 habanero chile
1 medium red onion
salt
Lime juice
Remove the seeds and vein from the habanero - use gloves if possible to avoid getting burned! Finely dice the chile with the red onion and mix with the lime juice and salt. Serve with tacos filled with " Cochinito Pibil" or pulled pork cooked in orange juice.
4) Salsa Macha
30 gms dried red chiles
Oil - about 1/3 cup
2 large garlic cloves
salt
Gently fry the dried red chiles ( you can remove the seeds if you wish) in some of the oil until they darken. Remove from the oil, drain on kitchen towels until cool. Place all the ingredients in a blender and whizz until well -mixed.
5) Salsa de Pepitas
Pepitas are pumpkin seeds - but you could also use hulled sunflower seeds in this sauce.
125 gms pepitas, hulled
250 gms sour cream
1 small onion
2-3 serrano chiles
2 large sprigs coriander
salt to taste
Lightly toast the seeds in a pan (no oil) until they change colour. Allow to cool, then blend with all the other ingredients until you have a smooth sauce. good with chicken or fish.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Gillthepainter » Wed Jan 27, 2021 2:25 pm

I'm off to do the salsa de pepitas. Ta very kindly.
I appear to have everything in, even fresh coriander leaves.

And of course I know pico de gallo, but they all look excellent.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Amyw » Thu Jan 28, 2021 11:28 pm

I love salsas. I make pico de gallo quite a bit , the pumpkin seed one sounds good . I love the freshness and heat of salsa , done well it really livens up any meal

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby ZeroCook » Tue Feb 02, 2021 1:51 am

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Next on the list:

Birria De Res Tacos With Queso Oaxaca From Salvador Alamilla
https://food52.com/recipes/84963-birria ... cos-recipe

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby karadekoolaid » Tue Feb 02, 2021 2:09 am

Love it! I´m not a meat eater, but I did try some birria in CDMX last year; just a spoonful :shock:
my kids love it.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby ZeroCook » Tue Feb 02, 2021 8:16 am

That's right- fish only KDKA?
Octopus Birria? :D

Another Birria recipe - have never made it so took a look around. Actually found the last recipe confusing as it has several stages, extra marinade quantities and two salsas worth of ingredients all running into each other in one long scroll :?

This is Gabriela Camara's Birria recipe
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/ho ... ria-recipe

Will also look for Diana Kennedy's recipe and compare.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby karadekoolaid » Tue Feb 02, 2021 2:09 pm

Gabriela Camara is super-famous and was named in Time magazine in a list of 100 most influential people!
I´ve found that, in general, the more renowned the chef, the more complex and picky the recipe! Must be a fame thing - although I´m pretty sure it´s just minute attention to detail.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby ZeroCook » Tue Feb 02, 2021 6:19 pm

Hers is by far the simpler recipe KDKA - the other one is almost impossible to follow!

Speaking of chefs famosos here's a link to a slew of Rick Bayless recipes on his website. Some really good stuff on there. I've made quite a few of his recipes over time. Thoroughly recommend a read.

https://www.rickbayless.com/recipes-fro ... k-bayless/

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby karadekoolaid » Tue Feb 02, 2021 6:36 pm

ZC - I really like Rick Bayless - he´s not overly complicated and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Mexican cuisine. He also speaks very good Spanish; although his accent is appalling :gonzo

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby ZeroCook » Tue Feb 09, 2021 11:15 pm

karadekoolaid wrote:ZC - I really like Rick Bayless - he´s not overly complicated and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Mexican cuisine. He also speaks very good Spanish; although his accent is appalling

He is good. Not heard him speaking Spanish - sounds like a friend who's lived in Spain donkeys ears. :lol:

Doing the Gabriela Camara Birria using a chunk of beef. Marinating overnight and cooking tomorrow.





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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby ZeroCook » Thu Feb 11, 2021 6:40 pm

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Absolutely fantastically good. :D
Like going to to the best taqueria in town during lockdown!
Took a 6 hour cook to fall apart. Left out the canela- not a fan of it in dishes with tomatoes. So good that we're having it again today at Mr0's request. Must be that good. 8-)

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Last edited by ZeroCook on Thu Feb 11, 2021 6:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby karadekoolaid » Thu Feb 11, 2021 6:42 pm

Excelentísimo, ZC!
Washed down with a glass or two of Mezcal, I hope...

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby ZeroCook » Thu Feb 11, 2021 6:47 pm

No, but a cold Becks sin alc just as good :D

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby ZeroCook » Sun Mar 21, 2021 11:37 pm

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Rick Martinez. Good everyday recipes.

For anyone interested, I made his Pork Ribs in Green Chile stew recently - used pork shoulder. Really good. If you can't get poblano chiles, thick fleshed dark as you can get them green peppers plus any hot green chilli to taste, will work. Ditto his no-soak beans/Frijoles Olla - I used mayacoba beans, but they all work. I also used his recipe for achiote paste a while back when I made Cochinita Pibil - simplified but v good and I used achiote powder/annatto powder (same thing) not whole seeds, both of which are available from spice sellers on Ebay UK for a reasonable price, btw.

Pork Ribs in Chile Verde
https://food52.com/recipes/85219-costil ... ign=Social

Frijoles de la Olla
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/frijo ... de-la-olla

Achiote Paste
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/achiote-paste


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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Badger's Mate » Mon Mar 22, 2021 12:17 am

I replied on the other thread, but yes, chilli verde is nice. :yum

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby ZeroCook » Mon Mar 22, 2021 12:22 am

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The Cochinita Pibil recipe. I didn't have leaves - baked it in pryrex dish covered with foil which worked.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/101 ... nita-pibil

Cochinita Pibil byTejal Rao

Image



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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby ZeroCook » Mon Mar 22, 2021 12:35 am

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Badger's Mate wrote:We have pork chilli verde quite often, always with cubed pork shoulder. I grow tomatillos on the plot and they can be quite productive. There are several bags in the freezer still. Would probably have made some last week but was talked into doing the Goan pork and potatoes from Madhur Jaffrey's Curry Bible. That was very nice too, but now need more pork to make more chilli verde. A Uni friend married an Ecuadorean chap and she makes it with prawns rather than pork. The sauce goes well with fish as well of course.



Hi BM - didn't see you there as I was posting :D I don't usually make this type of chile verde - I usually make the New Mexico version, no tomatillos, chopped hatch or poblano chiles and without browning the pork, so this was a nice change. I often freeze the chiles too. Do you grow poblanos? A really great mild green chile.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Badger's Mate » Mon Mar 22, 2021 12:07 pm

Not successfully grown poblanos. I have bought them quite a few times at chilli festivals, but not in the last few years when I've been a keener seed-saver. Perhaps I'll have a go next time I buy some. :D

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Suffs » Mon Mar 22, 2021 1:18 pm

scullion wrote:... and i didn't say that the empanada was mexican - i said it had won a category in the world pasty championships a few years ago.


I remember that Scully ... I think it was agreed that while pasties were not empanadas, empanadas were pasties.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby karadekoolaid » Mon Mar 22, 2021 2:42 pm

On my first visit to Mexico, after almost 20 years, my son picked me up from the airport and took me straight to a place called "La Montejo" - a cantina/restaurant specialising in Yucatan dishes. First on the list: tacos with cochinita pibil. Exactly like the above recipe!! I had 3 of them, with the traditional "salsa" (also described above) of redi onion, habanero and lime juice.
It´s stretching it to cook it in banana leaves, interred in the back garden ( guaranteed to ruin the lawn), but as long as you can make sure it´s cooked long and slow, in a well sealed pyrex, or Dutch Oven, it´ll work.

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