Dulce de Leche

Anyone who knows me well, or indeed has travelled with me, will know that I am not much of a beach person. Even when armed with a beer and a good book, I can seldom plant myself on a beach for more than an hour without becoming fidgety. And don’t even get me started on the sand! It is this fact however, that perhaps best illustrates how delightful Paraty and Ilha Grande were. This small town and beautiful island located on the Costa Verde in south-eastern Rio state had a relaxing vibe that I hadn’t experienced in some time. Paraty itself was full of colonial charm and from there I embarked on a magical island-hopping cruise, where I swam, lounged and consumed my body weight in Caipirinhas. Anyone who remembers the Mezcal bus trip from Oaxaca: this was more or less the same, only on the ocean. Messy, but fun. Even more fun was when we relocated to Ilha Grande for a few nights. On this gorgeous island, we enjoyed the most phenomenal weather and survived a hike across the island to a secluded beach – that I actually enjoyed. Sure the fact that I was drenched in sweat and exhausted after the hike may have contributed, but it was relaxing and undeniably beautiful.

Both locations were notable for their natural beauty, golden sands, clear seas and lack of traffic. In fact there are no cars on Ilha Grande at all. But what was less notable, was the food. That’s not to say the food wasn’t good, the seafood in particular was spectacular, but the influence of the tourist trade meant my best meals were Spanish, Italian and Thai. Not a Brazilian meal in sight. So it is for this reason that I have decided to finally post a recipe for that most cloyingly delicious of south american confections – Dulce de Leche (for accuracies sake, it is called Doce de Leite in Brazil). Dulce de Leche literally translates as “sweet of milk” and is sometimes referred to as milk jam. What it is though, for those who don’t know, is a delicious caramel derived from the slow reduction of sweetened milk over a low heat. So ubiquitous is it that I ate Dulce in various forms in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil. And for anyone worried about investing so much time into making this delicious preserve, it really is very flexible. Peruvians dollop it liberally into Alfajores (recipe already posted), Brazilians heat it and pour it over ice cream, but the Argentinians (who are most adept at its use) treat it like Nutella in continental Europe, drizzling it over waffles and crepes, sandwiching it in between sponge cakes, spreading it on toast for breakfast and even stirring it into coffee as a sweetener. The joy of this recipe lies in its simplicity. If you have a spare day on a cold winter weekend, try making it. The aroma is reward enough and the stuff can be stored in sterilised jam jars for a good few weeks (but please store in the fridge.)

This recipe can be scaled down, by halving the ingredients, but this will alter cooking times slightly.

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Level: low
Skills: reducing

Time: 3-4 hours
Makes: approximately 1kg (or 3 jam jars worth)

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Ingredients
3 litres whole milk
800g golden granulated sugar
2tsp vanilla extract
1/2tsp baking powder

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Method

1. Pour the milk into a large heavy based saucepan.

2. Add the sugar and vanilla extract.

3. Bring to the boil, then immediately reduce to a gentle simmer and cook for two hours, stirring from time to time (every 15 minutes or so) to prevent sticking.

4. When the mixture has reduced and begun turning a pale brown, remove it from the heat and stir in the baking powder. A foam will appear on top of the mixture, but this will disappear in a few minutes.

5. Return to the heat and continue reducing. As the mixture reduces you will need to stir it more frequently (every 4-5 minutes) to prevent it catching. This may take up to an hour.

6. As the mixture starts to turn a copper/caramel colour you will want to stir it constantly until you have reached the desired consistency (it should coat the back of a spoon and you should be able to pour it in a near-continuous stream.) Remember it will get denser as it cools.

7. While still warm, pour into your prepared jam jars.

8. Replace the lids and allow to cool fully before placing in the fridge.

Churros with Hot Chocolate

Playa del Carmen signalled the end of my time in Mexico as well as the end of my time with my new friends. For those unsure, Playa del Carmen is just 40 minutes from Cancun and share many of its “charms”. Essentially a resort town, it is littered with bars, American junk food and shopping malls – ¡muy touristico! Still, the place isn’t without its own unique appeal. On the way into the city we visited Chichen Itza, a souped up, theme park style version of all the ruins we had visited so far. Still, I suppose that’s to be expected when visiting one of the seven wonders of the world. From Playa it is possible to visit the phenomenally unique ruins of Tulum, Mayan ruins set on a cliffside overlooking the Atlantic ocean. Arriving just a few hours before dusk, the slowly setting sun cast a moody almost ethereal glow over the location. I also managed to make it to Cozumel to snorkel amongst sea turtles and sting rays. The real highlight came however in the form of Coco Bongos, the most ridiculous, overblown, super club I have ever attended. But boy, what fun. Imagine a stadium like club with steps up each side on which patrons balance precariously, jets of hot and cold air being blown at you, confetti and balloons falling from the ceiling, girls pulled from the audience to dance on a podium 20 feet above the ground and live-action recreations of scenes from famous movies, musicals and pop videos. Bonkers, but a hell of a lot of fun. I even saw a faithful reproduction of the Batman versus Bane battle from the latest caped crusader flick.

Playa is a great place to have fun and relax if that’s your kind of thing, but don’t expect authentic Mexico. It is for this reason that I am breaking the rules and presenting a recipe that I didn’t taste in Playa, but is indeed one of the countries most famous dishes and one I have cooked with my students many times over. That synonymous, sweet street food, the Churro. Recipes online tend to include a thick, sickly dipping sauce to serve with the churros, laced with syrup and double cream. But what I prefer is to serve these already sweet calorific treats with a light, frothy cup of Mexican hot chocolate, subtly accented with cinnamon and vanilla. I’ve managed to abstain from posting a deep-fried recipe for quite some time now, but here is another one in all its glory.

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Level: medium/high
Methods: novel batter
Skills: deep frying

Time: 1 hour
Makes: Serves 4

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Ingredients

For the Churros:
50g butter
½ tsp vanilla extract
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
about 1 litre sunflower oil

For the hot chocolate:
1tsp vanilla extract
1 cinnamon stick
1 litre whole milk
150g good quality plain chocolate, grated
sugar, to taste

For the cinnamon sugar:
100g caster sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

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Method

1. Boil a kettle, then measure 350ml boiling water into a jug and add the butter and vanilla extract. Stir until the butter is melted.

2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a big mixing bowl with a big pinch of salt.

3. Make a well in the centre, then pour in the contents of the jug and very quickly beat into the flour with a wooden spoon until lump-free.

4. Rest for 10-15 mins while you make the hot chocolate.

5. Heat milk, cinnamon stick and vanilla in a saucepan until just below boiling.

6. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate, stirring vigorously until the chocolate melts.

7. Whisk the hot chocolate until frothy on top and add sugar, to taste. Keep warm on a low heat.

8. Heat a standing deep dryer to 170°C.

9. Mix the caster sugar and cinnamon together on a tray or large plate.

10. Fit a star nozzle to a piping bag. Fill with the rested dough, then pipe 2-3 strips directly into the oil, snipping off each dough strip with a pair of kitchen scissors.

11. Fry until golden brown and crisp, turning occassionally, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on some kitchen paper.

12. Carry on cooking the rest of the dough in batches, tossing the cooked churros in the cinnamon sugar as you go.

13. Once you’ve cooked all the churros, serve with the hot chocolate for dunking deliciousness.

Sopa de Lima

Our next destination took us into the Yucatan region of Mexico and it’s capital city of Merida. The Yucatan peninsula has often regarded itself as separate from Mexico and indeed many of the modern roads connecting them to the central regions were only built in the 60’s. It comes as little surprise then, that yucatecan cuisine has as much in common with continental Europe and Northern Africa as it does the rest of Mexico. Flavours are richer, dishes are sometimes heavier and the spicing is more delicate. I tasted many great dishes in Merida, but my travel weary stomach was craving something lighter and fresher. This is when I discovered my favourite regional dish, the delicious Sopa de Lima or Lime Soup. A restorative meal that was as beneficial as a swim in the crystal clear waters of the sacred cenotes.

The delicate, cloudy chicken broth is punctuated with fresh tomatoes and tender shredded chicken. It is made appealingly astringent through the addition of fresh lime juice. Garlic, onion and aromatic herbs provide a flavourful backbone to this dish, while the addition of warming spices and a hint of chilli give the requisite warmth. And just in case you forget you are still eating Mexican food, the garnishes of smooth avocado and crisp fried strips of tortilla, leave you in no doubt as to the dishes true origins.

I prefer to use chicken thighs here with their bones in, as this provides most flavour to the stock. But skinless, boneless thighs are admittedly less bother to deal with and you can steer clear of flabby, waterlogged chicken skin. So feel free to make your own choice, just please stay away from chicken breast which can easily become tough.

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Level: low
Skills: sautéing, simmering

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Makes: Serves 6

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Ingredients
4-5tbsp oil for frying
6 corn tortillas, sliced into cm wide strips
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Scotch bonnet chilli, seeded and very finely chopped
1/4tsp ground cinnamon
Small pinch of ground cloves
400g tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and chopped
2 litres of good quality chicken stock
1tsp dried oregano
1tsp salt
600-800g chicken thighs
juice of 4 limes
1 small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
2 avocados, stoned, peeled, and roughly chopped for garnish

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Method

1. Preheat the oven to 130C. Pop the tortilla strips into the oven for 2-3 minutes. This will dry them out and prevent them from absorbing too much oil.

2. When ready, pour some oil into a large, heavy-based saucepan. Bring up to a medium heat, then working in batches fry off the tortilla strips until they begin to go golden. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain.

3. Add the onions to the remaining oil and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.

4. Add the garlic, minced habanero, cinnamon, and ground cloves and cook a few minutes longer.

5. Next add the peeled chopped tomatoes followed quickly by the stock, oregano, and chicken. Season with a pinch of salt.

6. Bring to a low simmer. Cover and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked through.

7. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully Remove the chicken with tongs or a slotted spoon. Allow to cool briefly then, using two forks, shred the chicken.

8. Return the chicken to the soup. Stir in the lime juice.

9. Serve topped with the diced avocado and a generous mound of fried tortilla.

Cochinita Pibil

After the breakneck pace of my Mexican tour thus far, I was happy to arrive in the idyllic town of Palenque. A modest, yet beautiful stop on our route, that skirted the edges of some bonafide Mexican jungle. There are many reasons why Palenque could potentially oust the competition, on its way to becoming my favourite location. It could have been the gorgeous waterfalls we visited on the way, where we supped rum poured directly into freshly cleavered coconuts. It could have been the local ruins, which to my mind were the most beautiful and intriguing of all those we visited. It could have been the barefoot trek through the jungle, where we hiked down waterfalls whilst howler monkeys and snakes rustled in the canopy above us. It could have been the long, pitch black walk back to our hotel on the second night where we witnessed shooting stars and I nearly walked face-first into a large tree. But being the rampant and unapologetic foodie I am, I would suggest that it is because outside of the ruins, served from a sun bleached cooler, by a little old local woman, was my ultimate Mexican food experience. Cochinita pibil.

Cochinita Pibil, in many regards shares a close familial bond with its now ubiquitous and overexposed American cousin, pulled pork. But to me Cochinita is so much more than that. The melting tender shreds of pork, still iridescent after bathing in their own juices during hours of slow cooking, is not coated with a cloyingly sweet barbecue sauce, but instead a fresh, tangy and delicately spiced marinade. Served in a softly yielding bun, it is topped with rich buttery avocado slices and acerbic fluorescently pink pickled onions. When I first sampled this sandwich I was blown away. This is not mere hyperbole folks, it was so good that every last person on the tour tasted one. Most of the guys ate two. I ordered another to take away. We were in such raptures that the dear old lady selling them looked distinctly embarrassed and somewhat uncomfortable with the praise we heaped upon her in our ineffectual broken spanish.

I knew immediately that this was a dish that I would have to reproduce and perfect. Below is the beta version. I have included only one ingredient this time that is difficult to acquire – the achiote paste. Achiote is known for its subtle heat, earthy flavours, woodsy aroma and shockingly orange/red colouration. You could substitute the achiote with 2tbsp paprika, 2tsp ground cumin and a pinch of saffron, but you would be doing my favourite dish a disservice. Do what you must, just don’t tell me.

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Level: high
Methods: rendering spices, marinating
Skills: braising

Time: 4.5 hours (plus overnight marinading)
Makes: Serves 6 hungry people

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Ingredients
For the marinade:
1tsp allspice berries
2tsp ground cumin seeds
½tsp cloves
1tsp peppercorns
100g achiote paste
3tbsp cider vinegar
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1tsp dried oregano
3 fresh bay leaves
2tbsp sea salt
3tbsp olive oil
juice of 6 oranges (about 450ml)

For the pork:
3kg neck of pork, cut into a few large pieces
1 Scotch bonnet pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
50g butter

To serve:
6 submarine rolls
2 red onions finely sliced
juice of 2 limes
2 avocados, thinly sliced

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Method

1. To make the marinade, warm the spices in a dry frying pan for a few minutes then grind to a fine powder using a pestle and mortar.

2. Place in a blender with the achiote, vinegar, onion, garlic, herbs, salt and olive oil and pulse to start breaking up the achiote.

3. Slowly pour in the orange juice with the motor running to get a smooth paste.

4. Pour about two-thirds of the marinade over the pork, ensuring it is thoroughly coated. Refrigerate overnight.

5. The remaining marinade can be frozen and used for a smaller meal. It tastes great with simply grilled chicken or pork chops.

6. Now to make the pickled red onions. Cover the sliced onions with boiling water and allow to sit for ten minutes.

7. Drain and cover with the lime juice. Refrigerate overnight to macerate fully.

8. The next day, preheat the oven to 130C.

9. Transfer the pork and its marinade into a large casserole dish and add the chopped chilli and butter. Bring to a simmer on a medium hob.

10. Cover with foil and a tight-fitting lid and cook slowly for 3-4 hours until the pork is soft and falling apart.

11. Allow to cool slightly.

12. Meanwhile remove your onions from the fridge and bring to room temperature. Slice your rolls and prepare your avocado (always do this last minute to prevent it from browning.)

13. Using two forks, pull apart the pork into soft uneven shreds. Stir back into the remaining sauce and juices.

14. Dollop some pork into each bun, top with avocado and the pink pickled onions.

Guacamole

For me and my merry band of international travel companions San Christobal de las Casas was about two things: exploring the more challenging and less known side of Mexican culture… and booze. The latter, I will come back to later, as I try to justify my rather simplistic recipe entry for this most beautiful bohemian city.

San Christobal, for decades, has been the centre of a great deal of political activism. Embodied first by the innovative Bishop Samuel Ruiz and later by the Zapotista movement. Although the two were never affiliated, they did share some left leaning policies and eventually, via much political upheaval, most of the region of Chiapas modified their Catholic beliefs to incorporate indigenous customs into their religious ideology and practices. In fact, nearby Chamula provided us with our most challenging look at this hybrid culture. The town enjoys unique autonomous status within Mexico. No outside police or military are allowed in the village for Chamulas have their own police force. Many of their law-enforcement techniques seem valid and even forward thinking, whilst at times it can also lead to viciously terrifying vigilantism. The central church of San Juan, best illustrates the blend of Catholicism, pre-conquest Mayan customs and subsequent modifications. The floor is covered with pine needles, families sit on the ground and light coloured candles. They sip bottles of fizzy drinks and seek advice from Shaman. They pray in their native Tzotzil dialect (99% of the population speak this language) and drink ceremonial cups of Pox (a strong but delicious sugar cane based liquor.) All of this is conducted under the loving gaze of many Catholic saints lining the walls. Their culture is unique and difficult to understand, but the people seemed largely happy and welcoming of tourists.

With all of this complex sociopolitical information to digest, it is no surprise that all we could stomach was a few drinks, to help us unwind. Whether it was more mezcal, shots of the aforementioned pox, or local wines, this gorgeous city was a great place to relax and hang out. Our favourite wine bar served tapas with every order, and the local bakery had a distinctly Parisian feel. It is for this reason that I inadvertently took a break from Mexican food. I did consume one traditional dish here though (in fact I consumed it in every city on the tour.) By my reckoning it is the ultimate bar snack – Guacamole. Slathered on bread, dolloped into tortas or scooped up extravagantly with fresh tortilla chips, we literally couldn’t get enough of it. So after all this heavy reading, here is a light bite to enjoy at any time of day.

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Level: low
Skills: vegetable prep

Time: 20 minutes
Makes: a light snack for 2-4 people

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Ingredients
1 large ripe tomato
3 avocados, ripe but not overly soft
juice 1 large lime
handful coriander, leaves and stalks chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
tortilla chips, to serve

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Method

1. Using a paring knife make a small incision at the base of the tomato and submerge in boiling water for 30-60 seconds. This will make it easier for you to remove the tough skin.

2. When skinned, slice the tomato, remove most of the seeds, and pulverise using a pestle and mortar. Tip into a bowl.

3. Next, halve and stone the avocados (saving one stone) and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh into the bowl with the tomato.

4. Tip all the other prepared ingredients into the bowl, then season with salt and pepper.

5. Use a whisk or fork to roughly mash everything together.

6. If not serving straight away, sit a stone in the guacamole (this helps to stop it going brown), cover with cling film and chill until needed.

7. Serve with crisp lightly salted tortilla chips and (for the over-18s) the tipple of your choosing.

Mole Negro

During the Mexican leg of my round the world journey I joined a tour group and together we travelled from Mexico City to the gulf of Mexico. As a group of 11, similarly aged, like minded travellers we got to enjoy the best of this amazing countries culture and cuisine, all whilst enjoying one another’s company. For all of us the watershed moment for both our bonding and our enjoyment came at the next stop on our culinary tour of Meso-America; Oaxaca. The town is regarded by many as the epicurean epicentre of Mexico and it’s easy to see why. For me and my fellow travel companions this historic city boasted many of the greatest foods and beverages we had yet to sample. To give you a flavour of my experiences (pun intended) I will attempt to explain some of the delectably authentic treats that can be enjoyed.

On our first day we had an orientation tour where we walked through the cities bustling markets. We sampled Oaxacan cheese (like a cross between mozzarella and halloumi), witnessed the creation of crude cocoa powder which we sampled in the form of milkshakes, tasted enriched egg buns used during the Dia de los Muertes celebrations and even sampled some fried, chilli coated grasshoppers. The grasshoppers incidentally had a pleasantly savoury flavour, laced with the aforementioned chilli – the only draw back was that the legs tended to get stuck in your teeth. We also enjoyed a trip to a Mezcal distillery, where we sampled over 22 varieties of this agave-based liquor. Mezcal is a strong, smoky, tequila like drink that is usually around 38% alcohol. The bus journey home from that particular tasting session will live long in my memory…

In addition, a few of us partook in a Mexican cookery class, where we made a variety of salsas and sides, as well as the distinctly Oaxacan Mole Negro. Mole is another dish that is usually attributed to the Nuns of the region. Much like the Chile en Nogada, this dish is exceptionally time consuming and tricky to prepare – those nuns must have had a lot of time on their hands. The version of the recipe I bring you here is the definitive Oaxacan mole. A dark, intensely rich, spiced and fruity sauce that is enjoyed with various cuts of meat, most commonly chicken and turkey. The etymology of the word mole suggests that the word meant a mix, which is understandable when you see the sheer number of ingredients used in this dish. This is the one and only time where I will not provide substitute ingredients for a recipe. The delicate interplay of the 26 ingredients, with their unique flavour and aroma characteristics, means that to change just one would be sacrilege and hugely compromise the end product. The hardest to acquire will no doubt be the dried chillis. But if you are already going to the great cost and effort of creating this dish then look about online. Mexican food stockists and even commercial stores like Amazon should help you to procure them. Good luck!

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Level: high
Methods: stock making, reduced sauce, rendering spices
Skills: frying, blending

Time: 3 hours approx
Makes: Serves 6

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Ingredients
5 dried ancho chillis
5 dried pasilla chillis
5 dried chilhuacle negro chillis
1/2 dried chipotle meco chilli
800g chicken joints (legs, thighs and drumsticks are good)
400g tomatoes
100g green tomatoes
1tbsp sesame seeds
10 cloves garlic
5 prunes
1 large plantain
1 slice bread
1tbsp raisins
1 onion, halved
1tbsp almonds
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
3 peppercorns
1/4 nutmeg, grated
200g dark (70% cocoa) chocolate
1tbsp thyme
1tbsp oregano
1tbsp cumin
1tbsp salt
3tbsp sugar
vegetable oil

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Method

1. Remove the seeds, veins and stems from all of the dried chillis using a paring knife. Try to leave them largely whole.

2. Toast the chillis in a dry frying pan over a low heat. Turn them frequently until they change colour, begin to release their aroma and soften.

3. Place the toasted chillis in a bowl and cover with cold water. Massage gently to remove any acrid flavour and to help make them more mellow. Do not handle roughly or the chillis will crumble. Repeat this process once more with clean water.

4. Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water (1-1.5 litres) to the boil. Add the chicken joints along with a pinch of salt, half the onion and five cloves of garlic.

5. After 30 minutes (or when the chicken is cooked through) take the pan off the heat. Use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken to a plate, but make sure to save the chicken broth.

6. Fry the tomatoes with the remaining garlic and onions for approximately 10 minutes. Set aside.

7. You are now ready to start making your mole. Using a blender liquefy a third of the soaked chillis with a label or two of the chicken broth. Strain the puree into a large bowl using a fine sieve. Any of the tougher fibres that do not pass through can be returned to the blender and liquefied with the next batch of chillis and broth.

8. When all of the mixture has been blended and strained set the bowl aside till later.

9. Now fry the prunes and raisins over a medium heat. Remove to a plate.

10. Now saute the bread and plantain until well browned. Remove to a plate.

11. Finally, delicately fry the sesame seeds, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, oregano and cumin, until they start to sizzle and release their natural aromas. Place on a plate with the other fried ingredients.

12. Place all of the fried ingredients from the previous three steps into the blender with the almonds and a ladle of chicken broth. Strain into the mole.

13. Repeat the blending and straining process for the tomatoes, onion and garlic, adding them to the mole.

14. Heat 3-4 tablespoons of oil in a large pan until hot. Add the entire contents of the mole bowl. Fry, stirring frequently for at least fifteen minutes.

15. Add a few more ladles of chicken broth to achieve the correct consistency – the mole should be smooth and coat the back of a spoon.

16. Season with chocolate, sugar, salt and pepper to taste.

17. Serve by spooning the sauce over individual portions of the chicken. Do not add chicken directly to the mole pot as it can make the meat tough.

18. Enjoy with simple boiled rice.

Any remaining mole sauce can be stored in a refrigerator in an air tight container for at least a week. The flavour will actually improve. The mole can also be frozen, but some of the freshness may be lost.

Chile en Nogada

Puebla is home to a number of speciality dishes, but in my opinion the finest of all is the chile en nogada (meaning ‘chilli in walnut sauce’) – which despite being a strange combo of meat, dried fruits, spices and nuts is a genuinely unique and glorious concoction. The painstaking preparation process, means that chile en nogada is not meant to be eaten every day, but prepared with love and enjoyed on special occasions.

The chile en nogada is a large green poblano chilli stuffed with a fruity picadillo, covered in a walnut sauce and bejeweled with juicy fresh pomegranate seeds. A liberal sprinkling of green parsley leaves, completes the red, white and green presentation representative of the Mexican flag. Both the origin and the presentation of this elaborate meal are symbolic of Mexican independence. In August 1821 the Mexican military commander Agustín de Iturbide (who became the Emperor from 1822-23) signed the Treaty of Cordoba in Veracruz, which granted Mexico its independence. As he travelled from Veracruz inland towards Mexico City, he was scheduled to stop in Puebla, and the nuns of the convent of Santa Monica created this dish especially for his visit. Each year in August and September this dish is recreated all over the city in commemoration, but thankfully for me some restaurants serve this celebratory dish year round and I got to sample it in all its glory in late october.

As with most dishes on this blog there are a number of local variations. The one I sampled was served capaeda, meaning it is coated in a frothy egg batter and fried. This added another textural dimension and is a must when trying to create an authentic version of this dish. One substitution however has to be made – the poblano chilli itself is not available fresh in the UK, so I suggest a long green pepper the likes of which supermarkets sell in their luxury ranges. The look will be authentic, but as this is essentially a spear shaped bell pepper some piquancy will be missing. I added a little extra chilli to the picadillo to compensate.

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Level: high
Methods: picadillo sauce, batter making
Skills: blending, sautéing, shallow frying

Time: 2 hours
Makes: 6 chile en nogada

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Ingredients
6 long green peppers

For the Nogada sauce:
110g ricotta
100g walnut halves
80g diced white bread
350ml whole milk
1/2tsp salt

For the Picadillo filling:
1tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium ripe tomato, finely chopped
400g chicken breast or thighs, diced into 1cm cubes
1/2tsp ground cinnamon
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp ground black pepper
1/4tsp hot chilli powder
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 apple, cored, peeled and diced
2tbsp raisins
2tbsp toasted sliced almonds
1tbsp freshly minced cilantro leaves

For the Capeada:
oil for cooking
100g plain flour
3 egg whites
3 egg yolks

Garnish:
3tbsp pomegranate seeds
2tbsp coarsely chopped parsley leaves

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Method
1. Prepare the long green peppers by heating a heavy based frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the peppers, and cook, turning occasionally with tongs, until the skin is blackened and blistered on all sides (about 5 to 7 minutes).

2. Remove the peppers from the pan and place in a plastic bag. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, until the skins are soft enough to be easily removed. Use your fingers and small paring knife to scrape off as much of the blackened skin as possible.

3. Leave the tops on the peppers and make an incision down one side from top to bottom. Carefully pull out as many of the seeds as you can without tearing the flesh.

4. Next, add all the Nogada sauce ingredients to a blender and process until thoroughly pureed. Set aside at room temperature until ready to serve.

5. Now for the filling. In a medium-size pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring often.

6. Add the tomato and diced chicken and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

7. Add the spices, fruit, almonds and coriander. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes longer, until moist and fragrant. Remove from the heat.

8. Carefully stuff the mixture into the peppers through the slit, taking care not to rip them. They should be plump but not impossible to close.

9. Coat the peppers in a fine dusting of plain flour. This will help the capeada batter to stick.

10. Pour about 1cm of oil into your chosen frying pan and heat to medium.

11. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl using an electric whisk, until stiff peaks form. At this point you must speedily incorporate the yolks. The fat in the yolks can cause the batter to lose volume so work quickly here.

12. Dip each flour coated pepper into the batter and fry in batches of 2 or 3. The batter should puff up and turn golden in about 30-60 seconds. Spoon some extra batter on top and then carefully turn to cook the other side.

13. Remove each pepper to a baking tray covered with kitchen towel and allow to drain.

14. When complete, transfer the peppers to a serving platter. Cover with the walnut sauce and garnish with pomegranate seeds and parsley.

Sopes (using Corn Tortillas)

My first morning in Mexico City was a relatively quiet one. I had my first lie-in in four weeks and then set about exploring the bustling streets of the city. The street food scene in the DF (District Federal) is not just burgeoning, it isn’t just large, it is thoroughly established and a completely ubiquitous part of life here in the world’s third most populous city. Walk down any street here and you will encounter dozens of locals selling handcrafted foods to tourists and citizens alike. Fresh, authentic, aromatic food is generously served on brightly coloured plastic plates, that would look tragic in England, but somehow come off as endearingly kitsch in this setting. The cost is generally low and you can eat well for very little money indeed. Choosing what to eat though, is a gargantuan task. Especially if like me, you suffer from the occasional bout of FOMO (fear of missing out).

However, one thing is apparent, whatever the meal, the tortilla is king. I visited a tortilleria, where one family produced literally thousands of them each day. In fact the tortilla is so essential to the Meso-American diet, that until 1999 the price was capped by law. The increasing cost of corn production and rising international demand meant that prices did rise slightly in the intervening years. So in 2007, then President Felipe Calderón, again enforced a ceiling price of 8.5 pesos per kilogram. That’s less than fifty pence for a kilo of tortilla. I was informed by a local that this was extremely important as a poor family could easily consume that volume of tortilla in just one meal.

Of all of the dishes I had that utilised tortilla, the simplest has to be Sopes. A deliciously filling breakfast food, these are made from small corn tortillas, topped with refried beans and crumbled cheese. Salsa can be added as well, for some piquancy. In order to master Mexican cuisine you MUST master the tortilla, and this recipe provides a basic route towards achieving that. It is worth trying to source some proper masa harina from a larger supermarket or online retailer to use in this recipe. Wheat tortilla are not nearly as good and have much less flavour.

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Level: medium
Methods: novel bread dough
Skills: frying

Time: 45 minutes
Makes: Serves 4

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Ingredients
170g masa harina
220ml water (approx.)
215g tin of refried beans
100g feta cheese, crumbled finely

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Method
1. Mix the masa and water together in a bowl, until a smooth consistency is reached. It should not be sticky. This takes about 3-5 minutes.

2. Masa dough is too delicate to be rolled out so other methods must be sought. Take a piece of the dough about the size of a golf ball, and roll into a firm ball in the palm of your hands.

3. Place the ball of dough on a solid work surface, in between two pieces of plastic. Make sure the masa ball is in the middle and then apply pressure evenly using a large hardback book of a solid wooden chopping board. You want the ball pushed out into a 3 to 4-inch diameter disc.
Tip: if the edges of your tortilla are cracked deeply the dough may be too dry, so add more water. However, if the tortilla does not remove from the plastic easily the dough may be too moist, so add some extra masa harina to the remaining dough.

4. Heat a heavy based frying pan over a high heat. Place the tortilla into the pan without any oil, and allow to brown on both sides, approximately 1 minute on the first side, then a further 2 minutes on the second. If your tortilla puff up after turning, you are on the road to success. Remove and let cool.

5. While still just warm, pinch the edges of each tortilla between your thumb and forefinger, thus creating a small lip.

6. Top each sope with a spoonfull of warmed refried beans and a little of the crumbled cheese.