4 PLATOS FUERTES
MAIN DISHES
Platos fuertes translates literally to “strong dishes” and includes all entrées heavy enough to not be preceded by first courses (which isn’t to say that you shouldn’t have one, just that you won’t need one). In Italy, the equivalent would be a secondo, which is the second bigger course in a meal—typically a meat dish—that often follows a lighter pasta first course.
As in Italy, Mexican primeros also include most rice and pasta dishes, whereas platos fuertes tend to feature fish or meat. For instance, the vegetarian version of Fideo Seco con Chipotle (this page) gets categorized as a primero, while the Fideo Costeño (this page), which features chunks of seafood nestled in the noodles, becomes a fuerte.
Of course, as any vegetarian knows, a dish without meat can be perfectly filling and hearty, and there are plenty of seafood dishes that get categorized as primeros because they’re considered relatively light—such as ceviches and tostadas—and things to start meals, not meals in and of themselves. That said, I could be perfectly happy eating a selection of tostadas for a meal or a large bowl of ceviche with freshly fried tortillas…So I guess what I’m saying is, as in any art, knowing the rules doesn’t mean you have to follow them slavishly. It all depends on you, whom you’re serving, and the occasion.
Mexico has a lot of popular renditions of what you might call casseroles. These are great dishes to serve a crowd: things that can be made ahead of time and often taste even better when reheated. Enchiladas are one obvious example that traveled north long ago and have already found their way into many a non-Latino repertoire. But we have many similar dishes in Mexico—such as Pan de Cazón (this page), in which tortillas get layered with cooked fish and a red salsa, or Pastel Azteca (this page), which treats tortillas like the noodles in a lasagna—that deserve to be tried.
Among my favorite fuertes are guisos. Guisos means “stews,” often served as taco fillings or used to fill enchiladas or roasted peppers. A lot of times, that’s what I do with leftovers. I’ll make something like chicken in salsa verde and eat it as a plated entrée with rice the first night, then take what’s left and use it to make tacos or Pastel Azteca the second, giving my cooking a second life and ensuring that there’s something delicious to serve for dinner when I don’t have time to start a meal from scratch.
Some of these fuertes, including Camarones al Ajillo (this page), come together in less than 15 minutes. Others, like the moles, require more of a time commitment. But I think it’s worth making a mole for a very special occasion, like a birthday or holiday meal. While there are a fair number of steps involved, none of them is particularly difficult, and the whole dish is completely done before anyone arrives. Although if you have an open kitchen or accessible grill and enjoy cooking while chatting with company, other dishes in this section—like the ones featuring shellfish—are great for entertaining, too, since they come together quickly but definitely taste best served immediately.
Nothing in this section is overpoweringly spicy because I never want a guest at my table to feel as if their mouth is on fire if that’s not something they enjoy. In fact, at Contramar we even came up with our now famous two-colored fish, one side painted with a red salsa of medium heat, the other side with a green salsa that has no spice whatsoever, to serve a table of “mixed” palates so everyone could eat from the same dish and leave happy. The secret to entertaining well is paying attention to your guests, making sure that everyone can share the food you took the time to make for them and that everyone feels particularly cared for. And if someone wants to feel as if their mouth is on fire? Well, that’s what salsas are for.
COGOLLOS ASADOS Y FRIJOLES ROJOS GRILLED LITTLE GEMS AND RED BEANS
Grilled Little Gem lettuce makes the perfect base for this tart bean salad, since the lime vinaigrette seeps into the crevices of the lightly charred lettuce leaves that cradle the beans. Normally vinaigrettes call for a higher ratio of olive oil to acid, but this one gets a lot more kick from equal amounts of lime juice and oil, plus ample garlic, salt, and parsley. When the cooked red beans marinate in this vinaigrette, they soak up a lot of flavor. At Cala, this dish comes with warm tortillas that you can use to scoop it up into tacos, which I highly recommend. Even committed meat eaters will find this vegetarian main dish satisfying. And if you have leftovers, all of these components keep for several days, making this an easy workday meal to reassemble. This recipe yields at least 3 cups / 800g of red bean salad, but I usually find it’s not worth cooking dried beans to make a smaller quantity.
Make the red bean salad first, since the beans need to cook for about an hour and then marinate for another hour once dressed. Any small red bean that holds its shape could work, from adzuki beans to the Mexican red beans available at Mexican supermarkets. Plan on serving each person one head of Little Gem lettuce. It takes just a few minutes to grill the lettuce, which should be done right before you serve them to make sure they keep their crispness.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
2 cups / 360g dried small red beans
4 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed
¾ cup / 180ml plus 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
¾ cup / 180ml freshly squeezed lime juice
2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
½ cup / 10g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
4 to 6 heads Little Gem lettuce, rinsed and damaged outer leaves discarded
8 to 12 Tortillas de Maiz (this page)
Cook the beans, following the instructions on this page. Remember that the cooking time depends on the shape, type, and freshness of the beans. Start checking the beans for doneness after 45 minutes, since you don’t want them to overcook. They should be soft but not mushy, creamy inside but still able to hold their shape when you gently pinch them. At the very end of the cooking time, add 3 tsp of the salt to the cooking water and turn off the stove. Let the beans cool in the pot of water for about 20 minutes. Add ice cubes if you need to speed up the process. If you cook the beans in a pressure cooker, don’t use the quick-release valve or the beans may burst. Set them to a natural pressure release.
In a large bowl, whisk ¾ cup / 180ml of the oil with the lime juice and the remaining 1 tsp salt. Add the garlic and parsley. Cover and set aside.
Once the beans are cool, drain them. I encourage you to reserve the broth, which makes a simple and delicious soup or can be added to another soup as a base. Don’t rinse the beans under cold water. Cooked beans are delicate and, like potatoes, will absorb whatever they come into contact with. Cold water will probably make them fall apart and will reduce their flavor when cooked, which you definitely don’t want. In this case, you also want them to soak up the flavor of your lime vinaigrette.
Transfer the beans to the bowl of vinaigrette and stir gently. Let the beans marinate for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours before serving. (After 4 hours, lime juice oxidizes and starts tasting a little metallic and unpleasant.)
Cut the lettuce heads in half lengthwise, brush their cut sides with the remaining 1 Tbsp oil and sprinkle with salt.
Warm the tortillas on an ungreased comal or in a skillet over medium heat and place them in a basket or other container with a lid to keep warm.
Heat a grill pan or cast-iron skillet over high heat. When you lay the heads of lettuce face down on it, you should hear a sizzle. Let them cook for about 1 minute before flipping. Cook for about 1 minute on the other side. Press lightly with a spatula. You want them to wilt slightly, and—if using a grill pan—for the cut surface of each head of lettuce to have nice dark lines. But they should also hold their shape and remain crisp and sweet.
Serve the lettuce cut-side up, topped with a scoop of bean salad and dressing from the bottom of the bowl, passing the tortillas at the table.
GUISOS
Mexicans eat a lot of guisos, which don’t exactly exist as a category in the United States (outside of Mexican restaurants). In addition to translating to “stew,” a guiso can also be a “ragout” or “braise,” and all of these definitions apply.
Guisos are a practical way to feed a crowd. A lot of times, they begin as a way of extending leftovers. For instance, you might make a pork mole for a dinner party and then eat some of the remaining sauce with bits of shredded meat over roasted vegetables or on warm tortillas for an easy taco lunch the next day. But guisos don’t have to become tacos. You can eat them as is, over rice, as tamale fillings, or rolled into enchiladas. And many of the salsas in the basics chapter can be used as the base for guisados—such as tongue in morita chile salsa or chicken in salsa verde.
Whether you’re cooking ahead for a busy work week or planning an easy menu to entertain a crowd, guisos are a great way to go, because they’re the kind of dish that tends to taste better the longer it cooks and that can be made ahead and reheated without sacrificing any flavor.
PAPAS CON RAJAS Y CREMA ÁCIDA POTATOES WITH ROASTED POBLANO CHILES AND MEXICAN SOUR CREAM
This is an extremely popular vegetarian guisado and one of my personal favorites: it’s a combination of roasted poblano chiles, cubed boiled potatoes, onions, and crema, cooked into a savory concoction that can be used all in sorts of ways. It makes a divine taco filling and a heavenly topping for Pastel de Elote (this page), elevating an otherwise simple cornbread to a casserole that can easily be a dinner table centerpiece. It’s meatless but very hearty, thanks to the potatoes and crema. For a saucier guisado, rajas con crema, omit the potatoes. In that case, I’d double the amount of roasted poblanos.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
5 large poblano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be)
2 large Yukon gold potatoes or another waxy potato, cut into ½-inch / 12mm cubes
1 Tbsp sea salt, plus more as needed
1 Tbsp safflower oil
1 large white onion, thinly sliced
1 cup / 240g Crema Ácida (this page) or crème fraîche
Begin by roasting and peeling your chiles, following the instructions on this page. Once you have removed and discarded the skin and seeds, cut them into rajas, or strips, about the width of fettuccine.
In a small saucepan, cover the potatoes with 2 inches / 5cm water and add the salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then decrease to low and simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove one of the potatoes and taste it. The piece should be soft but not falling apart, still holding its cube shape. Cubed like this, they will cook quite quickly, so be attentive. Once they have the right texture, drain the potatoes and set aside in a medium bowl with a lid or cover the pan with a plate to keep them warm.
Using the same comal or skillet in which you toasted your chiles, heat the oil over medium-high heat until it’s hot but not smoking. Add the onion and sauté until it’s translucent but not browned.
In a saucepan, combine the potatoes, chiles, onion, and crema or crème fraîche. Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. As the mixture cools, the starches will absorb some of the melted cream and help it firm up. Taste and add more salt if needed. Serve as you wish!
These potatoes can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
CHILES RELLENOS
Mexican cooks love to stuff all sorts of peppers with all kinds of fillings. When roasting any fresh chile, the method for roasting and then peeling them is the same as the one given on this page, so you should feel free to use that as a template and experiment. Because they’re large and robust, poblano chiles are the most common chile to stuff and the one that most people in the United States associate with this dish. But like all chiles, the spiciness of poblanos can vary a lot from one pepper to the next and one farmer’s crop to the next. Poblanos in Mexico tend to be significantly hotter than the ones in the United States, where they’re usually quite mild.
If you like your food spicy, then I suggest that instead of stuffing fresh poblano chiles you try stuffing ancho chiles, which are smoked and dried poblanos. Anchos sold in the United States are usually imported from Mexico, so they’re likely to be spicier; plus, drying the chile intensifies its flavor. Stuffing dried peppers is actually easier than stuffing fresh ones, since you don’t have to roast and peel them, which is the most laborious part of the process. Instead you simply soak them until they’re soft enough to hold the fillings, then proceed as you would with the fresh version of the dish—scooping out their seeds, stuffing, breading (if you want), frying, and then cooking them in sauce.
If you really like food that sets your mouth on fire, you could also try roasting and stuffing manzano chiles. That’s a chile that doesn’t joke around. For something a bit milder but most likely more fierce than poblanos, try roasting large jalapeños and stuffing them with a melty cheese or simply with beans. In the following recipes, I’ll offer a few of my favorite stuffed chiles, but as with all of the dishes in this book, let the ingredients that look best guide you and don’t be afraid to experiment.
Chiles Rellenos at TACOS DON JUAN, Calle Juan Escuita 35, Condesa
CHILES RELLENOS CON FRIJOLES REFRITOS Y QUESO CHILES STUFFED WITH REFRIED BEANS AND CHEESE
In this version of chiles rellenos, the roasted poblano chiles are filled with refried beans and whole-milk mozzarella before they’re battered in whipped egg, lightly fried, and cooked to perfection in a bubbling pot of tomato sauce. While roasting, battering, and frying the chiles require some delicacy, once these are on the stove and simmering in their sauce, they can keep cooking for as long as needed, making them a great make-ahead dish for a dinner party.
If tomatoes are out of season and unappealing, feel free to use canned whole tomatoes (which are better than bad fresh tomatoes) instead.
You should serve chiles rellenos with any of the variations of Mexican rice (beginning on this page), which will sop up the delectable sauce.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
4 to 6 poblano chiles
1 white onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves
8 Roma tomatoes, cored and cut in half, or 1 large (28 oz / 795g) can of whole tomatoes
1 cup / 240ml water
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed
1 cup / 240g Frijoles Refritos (this page)
1 cup / 80g shredded whole-milk mozzarella or good queso Oaxaca
2 eggs
1 cup / 240ml rice bran oil, safflower oil, or any vegetable oil with a high smoke point
Follow the process for roasting poblano chiles (see this page), being extra careful not to tear the peppers as you peel them, since you want them as intact as possible for stuffing. While they are “sweating” in a sealed container, make your tomato sauce.
Place the onion, garlic, and tomatoes in the jar of a blender. Add the water and liquefy.
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottom stockpot over high heat. Once it’s shimmering but not smoking, suspend a fine-mesh strainer over the pot and pour the liquefied tomato sauce over the hot oil. While it’s not strictly necessary to strain the sauce (and if you’re not fussy, you could skip this step), it creates a more refined sauce, allowing you to eliminate the tomato seeds but still retain their flavor. Add the salt and bring the sauce to a boil, then immediately decrease to the lowest simmer. Taste and add more salt if needed.
Once your chiles have sweated and are cool enough to handle, after about 10 minutes, carefully remove their charred skins. Make a neat vertical slit from the stem end to the tip of each pepper and pull out the seeds, being as gentle but as thorough as possible. Because you will be stuffing the chiles, make an effort not to tear them open. Leftover pepper seeds will taste bitter and unappealing so do try to remove every one.
Using an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a medium bowl and a whisk, whip up your eggs for 3 to 5 minutes, until they hold firm peaks. You want them quite stiff and foamy.
Place your roasted chiles on a plate, slit-side up. Inside each pepper, place 1 to 2 Tbsp of the refried beans and top with 1 to 2 Tbsp of the cheese. If you want, you can close each pepper using a toothpick, which you gently thread through the flesh near the slit. (Just remember to remove them before serving or your guests could get an unpleasant surprise.) Remember not to overstuff your chiles, as you don’t want them bursting and losing their fillings in the pot.
In a medium heavy-bottom skillet, warm the oil over medium-high heat until it registers 375°F / 190°C on an instant-read thermometer. Gently dip each stuffed chile into the whipped egg, very carefully flipping it over so that both sides get well coated and using a spatula to spread the egg onto the top side. Then lower the battered chile into the hot oil and let it fry for about 2 minutes per side, flipping it carefully. You’ll know it’s done when it turns golden and puffs up. Then remove the chile with a slotted spoon, letting any excess oil drip back into the pot, and carefully place the chile in the hot tomato sauce. Repeat with each stuffed chile until they are all in the pot of tomato sauce. Don’t worry about crowding them. Once the chiles are fried, they will hold their shape in the pot and can withstand jostling.
Bring the tomato sauce back to a boil and then decrease to a simmer and cook the chiles for a minimum of 5 minutes so that all of the peppers are cooked through and hot. Feel free to leave them simmering on the lowest heat for longer if you’re still fixing the rest of your dinner or waiting for guests to arrive. You really can’t overcook chiles.
ANCHO RELLENOS DE QUESO DE CABRA / ANCHO CHILES STUFFED WITH GOAT CHEESE VARIATION
If you want to make chiles rellenos using ancho chiles, soak 4 to 6 anchos in very hot water for about 1 hour until they soften. Then pat them dry, pull off their stems, remove their seeds, and proceed with stuffing and frying them according to the directions above, substituting a soft chèvre for the mozzarella. The freshness of the goat cheese makes a great counterpoint to the smoked chiles.
TORTAS DE CHILES RELLENOS CHILES RELLENOS SANDWICHES
What do you do with leftover chiles rellenos? If you are guessing—put it on a taco?—you’re right. You certainly could do that. But my favorite—because it takes me back to a delicious childhood memory—is to make a torta (a Mexican sandwich) out of them. This was one of the things that the guys who worked construction on our house in Tepoztlán used to eat for their almuerzo, the late-morning meal which they were always willing to share with my brother and me or whoever was around. They worked up an appetite and the meals they brought from home, or that their wives or moms would deliver hot around 10 or 11 am, were some of the best things I remember having tasted. When I make chiles rellenos, I always throw extra in the pot so that I’ll be able to enjoy some on a torta or, yes, in a taco the next day.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SANDWICHES
4 to 6 bolillos (Mexican sandwich rolls) or 1 large ciabatta or baguette, cut into 4 to 6 sandwich-size pieces
½ cup / 120g Frijoles Refritos (this page)
4 to 6 Chiles Rellenos (this page)
1 large avocado, cut in half, pitted, peeled, and sliced
1 recipe Cebollas Rojas Encurtidas (this page) or Salsa Brava (this page), made with red onions
Cut your bread in half. Spread a thin layer of beans (about 1 tsp) on both cut sides. Top with a chile relleno, slices of avocado, and pickled red onions and serve.
CHILES EN NOGADA CON MARISCOS SEAFOOD-STUFFED CHILES WITH WALNUT SAUCE
There’s a legend surrounding chiles en nogada, maintaining that they were first made by the nuns in Puebla to serve to Agustín de Iturbide, the first president of Mexico. According to this legend, the red pomegranate seeds scattered on a creamy white walnut sauce that is poured over a roasted green chile—represent the colors of the Mexican flag. But this legend, it turns out, cannot be true. The flag at that time was white and blue, not green, white, and red. Nevertheless, the myth persists, and this dish is always served in September when we celebrate Mexican independence, which is also when the key ingredients in this dish are all in season (which is likely the real reason that chiles en nogada came to be served at this time in the year). The walnuts that arrive in the markets in Mexico are “green,” which means that they have been freshly picked and are unroasted so the nutmeats are a little soft and milky when they are blended. Although I love the walnut sauce that comes with this dish, flecked with the bright pomegranate seeds, the truth is, I’ve never cared for the typical chiles en nogada, in which the filling is made of pork, pineapple, and other dried fruits and can be too sweet for my taste. Everyone who makes this dish has their own traditional recipe. After I was invited by a good friend at a market in my neighborhood to taste a seafood version, I adapted it to make this recipe for Contramar. So my version features marisco—minced crab, shrimp, and octopus.
Green walnuts are only available in September and October and—in the United States—only for sale at some farmers’ markets (or nut stands if you live near nut orchards). If you can’t find them, get the freshest, best-quality walnuts that you can because old ones can taste a bit rancid. At a well-stocked natural foods store, you should be able to sample the ones in the bulk bins before you buy them.
For this recipe, make sure that you roast the chiles well before stuffing them. Unlike other chiles rellenos, these will not continue cooking in the sauce, so their skins need to be cooked all the way through, not just blistered.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
Walnut Sauce
1 cup / 240g Crema Ácida (this page) or crème fraîche
1 cup / 120g shelled walnuts, the freshest you can find
2 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp sherry
Filling
1 cup / 240ml olive oil
1 large white onion, minced
1 tart apple (such as Granny Smith or Pink Lady), peeled, cored, and diced
½ cup / 70g dried cranberries, chopped
1 cup / 200g cooked crabmeat, well cleaned (see this page)
1 cooked octopus (see this page), chopped into ½-inch / 12mm pieces
1 cup / 325g cooked chopped large shrimp
1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed
4 to 6 large poblano peppers, roasted and peeled (see this page)
2 eggs
1 cup / 240ml rice bran oil, safflower oil, or any vegetable oil with a high smoke point
Seeds from 1 pomegranate
½ cup / 10g parsley leaves, minced
To make the sauce: In a blender combine the crema or crème fraîche, walnuts, salt, and sherry and blend on low speed (so you don’t inadvertently make a nut butter), until everything is well combined and really creamy.
To make the filling: Warm the oil in a large heavy-bottom skillet over medium heat until it’s shimmering but not smoking. Add the onion and fry it until it’s translucent but not browned, then add the apple and cranberries and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, giving the apple time to soften. Add the crabmeat, octopus, shrimp, and salt and cook, stirring constantly, for only 1 to 2 minutes, just until everything is heated through. Taste and add more salt if needed.
Following the same process outlined on this page, cut through each roasted and peeled chile and remove all the seeds and big veins. Stuff each chile with ½ to 1 cup / 140 to 280g of filling, depending on the size of the chile. Don’t overstuff them. If you want, you can close each pepper using a toothpick, which you gently thread through the flesh near the slit. (Just remember to remove them before serving or your guests could get an unpleasant surprise.)
Place each chile on an individual plate. Cover each chile with 3 to 4 Tbsp of the walnut sauce. Scatter 1 Tbsp of the pomegranate seeds and 1 tsp of the parsley on top of each.
Serve immediately.
SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD
The fresh fish served on the beach in Zihuatanejo inspired me to open Contramar, and I’ve been cooking predominantly seafood at my restaurants ever since. But I was also raised to understand the importance of sustainability, and there’s no doubt that the ocean’s ecosystem is one of the most fragile ones, and that we must be mindful of our consumption of seafood and try not to do harm to the planet in the way that we eat.
When I got my start in Mexico, I was determined to use only Mexican fish on the menu at Contramar, but I would also only use tuna when it was legal to be caught; this meant that sometimes we couldn’t serve our signature tuna tostadas. Twenty years later, in California, the mercury levels in tuna are high, and it’s a controversial fish that should only be line-caught at certain points in their reproductive cycle. As a result, I decided to make the tostadas at Cala using a beautiful trout from a Northern California farm on the border between Oregon and California, where they feed their fish the by-products of pistachios grown nearby plus algae and other plant-based foods, which gives their flesh a silky richness, much like what you find in tuna and salmon from the ocean. The trout tostadas are slightly different than the tuna version from Mexico City, but just as good, and reflect my philosophy on using the best local or regional, in-season, and sustainable ingredients rather than slavishly following a recipe.
There are a lot of misconceptions about seafood. First of all, don’t assume that farmed fish is necessarily bad. Domestically, in the United States at least, there are sustainable fish and shrimp farms with ecologically sound operations that don’t use antibiotics and are organic. What you should avoid are imported Asian farmed shrimp, for example, because they’re known for using a lot of antibiotics and pesticides that pollute waterways, just to start with. But domestic bivalve shellfish, like clams, oysters, and mussels, are typically “farmed” in suspension systems—mesh bags hanging in the ocean—with no chemicals used. They glean plankton and other nutrients from the water. And because their little bodies work like filters, they actually help clean the water in which they live, which makes it even more important that they come from clean ocean water and that they are not fed anything they wouldn’t have in their natural state.
Also, don’t assume that you have to use a particular fish or shellfish just because it’s the one specified in a recipe. As always, you can substitute creatively, looking to what’s available and fresh and beautiful near you. I can’t give you a printed list of fish to choose from, because good food is a moving target, since the ocean and its populations keep changing. I follow the Slow Food principles: buono, pulito, and giusto (good, clean, and fair). For instance, pan de cazón, a dish from Campeche, Mexico, that I love, is traditionally made with dogfish, which is baby shark. For a long time, shark has been an endangered species in the United States, and so I have made this recipe with cod and other firm-fleshed white fish. Recently, some species in the San Francisco Bay Area have rebounded and are no longer on the prohibited list, so we can now use dogfish at times. I have learned from my mentors to live life like a progressive adventurer while regarding nature like a conservationist. Make sure you research the best sustainable options in your area and do your part for the future of the species and our whole ecosystem.
When buying fish, more than any other ingredient, you should shop with your senses, just as you do when cooking. The freshest fish is often the most sustainable, because it tends to have been caught locally, hopefully, in clean waters. If possible, buy your fish at a market where there are human beings behind the fish counter who can answer your questions about it. They should know where it was caught and when. They should also be willing to let you take a whiff of it to make sure it has no fishy smell. Finally, don’t assume that just because a fish was frozen, it’s bad. Sustainably caught fish can be frozen immediately after being pulled out of the ocean and not lose much in terms of flavor—although this will probably not be the fish you want to serve or eat raw, as the consistency does suffer alterations when frozen, especially if it’s not a very fatty fish. Octopus is almost always sold frozen in the United States, as are soft-shell crabs.
Seeking out sustainable seafood means that you’re investing in people and businesses with a stake in protecting the ocean and its biodiversity. And as always, what’s better for the planet also tastes better on the plate.
While I often make larger quantities of other meat and vegetable dishes so that I can enjoy the leftovers, I typically purchase only the amount of seafood that I think my guests and I can eat. Fresh seafood is best eaten on the day it’s cooked (or served raw, in the case of ceviches and aguachiles). Some seafood dishes are okay the next day, but they will never be as good as on the day you made them.
CAMARONES AL AJILLO PRAWNS SAUTÉED WITH GARLIC
This is basically a Mexican scampi. These rich and flavorful prawns come together in less than 15 minutes, but guests at a dinner party will never know how easy they were to throw together. The only tricky part is paying close attention when you fry the garlic and guajillo chiles. Garlic can burn quickly, so remove it from the oil as soon as it turns golden. In that same oil, you want to flash-fry the rings of guajillo for even less time than you did the garlic, just getting them crispy and releasing some of their flavor into the oil, which you will then use to cook the prawns. Definitely serve this dish over rice to soak up all of the great flavor from the garlic- and chile-infused olive oil.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
3 guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
½ cup / 120ml olive oil
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1½ lb / 650g raw giant (18- to 20–count) whole prawns, shelled and deveined, with heads on
1 Tbsp sea salt
1 recipe Arroz (this page)
Using kitchen shears, snip the chiles into skinny ⅛-inch / 3mm-wide rings.
Heat the oil in a medium heavy-bottom skillet over medium heat. You don’t want the oil to be too hot when you drop in the garlic since it fries so quickly. Drop all of the garlic slices in at once and then agitate them continuously as they fry so that they don’t stick together. Be sure to remove them from the oil when they are golden, not brown. If they’re still white, they will stay limp, but if they’re too dark, they will taste bitter, so pay attention and find that sweet spot when they’re just finished. Remove them with a slotted spoon in batches, taking out the most golden ones first and spreading them out in a single layer on a plate.
Decrease the heat slightly. Into this same oil, drop the chile rings and don’t take your eye off them for a second, since that is just about how long they take to fry. The moment you can smell them and they start to change color, pull them all out at once using your slotted spoon and spread them on another plate to dry.
Increase the heat to medium-high and add the prawns to the infused oil, followed by the salt. Sauté the prawns, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes, just until they turn pink. Turn off the heat, return the fried garlic and chiles to the pan, and toss to incorporate.
Serve the prawns over a scoop of rice.
ARROZ VERDE CON CAMARONES PRAWNS WITH GREEN RICE
It’s very Spanish to serve shrimp this way, adding green things (in this case spinach) to the water in which the rice is cooked, and using this as a base for buttery prawns freshened up with a squeeze of lime. It’s easy enough to be a weeknight dinner but tasty enough for company, too.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 qt / 960ml water
7 oz / 200g washed spinach or kale
1 Tbsp sea salt
½ cup / 120ml olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups / 400g Arborio or Calasparra rice
1 sprig epazote
2 Tbsp salted butter
8 to 12 large prawns, shells on
Juice of 1 lime
In the jar of a blender, blend the water with the spinach and salt.
Warm the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté. Add the rice to the pan and let it fry until the grains are clear. Stir in the spinach water. Bring the contents of the pan to a boil. Add the epazote, then decrease the heat, cover the pan, and simmer for 15 minutes.
As soon as you decrease the heat and place the lid on the pan, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter is bubbling but not brown, add the prawns and sauté for about 1 minute per side. Keep warm.
After 15 minutes, the majority of the liquid in which the rice is cooking should have been absorbed. Remove the epazote sprig, place the buttery shrimp on top of the rice, and cover the pan for a final 5 minutes to finish cooking. Taste the rice and if it is already very close to cooked, re-cover the pan, turn the stove off, and let it steam for 5 minutes.
Squeeze the lime juice over the pan and serve immediately.
CAMARONES A LA VERACRUZANA VERACRUZ-STYLE SHRIMP
Veracruz has one of the largest and oldest ports in Mexico, and a vast and complex gastronomic tradition. Many of the seafood dishes that come from there include imported ingredients that traveled into the country by boat from Europe, like the olives and capers that flavor these shrimp. Make sure that you buy olives in brine, since a splash of this goes into the dish, too. I like to break up the olives with my hands so that the chunks are big and irregular. I also drop them in at the very last minute rather than cooking them, to preserve their firmness and freshness rather than letting them stew. I usually serve this with white rice, but feel free to substitute Arroz Verde (this page) for an extra pop of color and flavor.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
3 Tbsp / 45ml olive oil
1 white onion, diced
2 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be), and sliced into rings
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 Roma tomatoes, cored and diced
1 bay leaf (preferably fresh)
1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed
¼ cup / 60ml Castelvetrano olive brine
1½ lb / 650g cooked bay shrimp
15 Castelvetrano olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp capers, chopped
Juice of ½ lime
2 Tbsp minced flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 recipe Arroz (this page)
Heat the oil in a medium heavy-bottom skillet over medium-high heat until it’s shimmering but not smoking. Add onion and chiles at the same time (the onion keeps the chiles from burning) and sauté until the onion is translucent but not browned. Then add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute, until you can smell it.
Decrease the heat to medium and add the tomatoes, bay leaf, and salt. Simmer until the tomatoes begin to break down and turn saucy—about 10 minutes. Then add the olive brine and the shrimp and cook for just 1 to 2 minutes. Since the shrimp are already cooked, you are really just heating them in the sauce. Cooking the shrimp any longer will make them overcooked and tough.
Turn off the heat and add the olives, capers, and lime juice. Taste and add more salt if needed. Garnish with the parsley.
Serve the shrimp immediately, with a scoop of rice to soak up the sauce.
JAIBA SUAVE A LA PLANCHA SAUTÉED SOFT-SHELL BLUE CRAB
A soft-shell crab is a crab that has outgrown its shell (molting like a snake) but has not yet grown a bigger one. Fishermen used to have to catch them at that exact moment, but nowadays they have developed the ability to grow them in tanks, monitoring their molting. Soft-shell crab is still a luxury, however. The thin, edible shell adds richness and flavor to whatever dish you eat them in. If you have only eaten soft-shell crab as sushi, you’re missing out. This Mexican preparation treats it like the grilled chicken or carne asada that you’d find in a taco. You sauté it in butter, chop it up, and serve it with warm tortillas, onion, cilantro, and any salsa you like. It’s simple yet unexpected, and such a treat. A good fish market will usually have a box of soft-shell crabs in the freezer, already cleaned. Just defrost them and then sauté them whole before chopping them up.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
3 fresh or frozen and thawed soft-shell crabs, rinsed and patted dry
½ tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp minced cilantro leaves
2 Tbsp minced white onion
4 to 6 Tortillas de Harina (this page), warmed
1 recipe Salsa Brava (this page) or another salsa of your choosing
In a skillet over high heat, melt the butter until it’s bubbling and turning golden. Add the crabs and salt. Turning them over fairly regularly, sauté them until all of the butter has cooked out of the pan. Place the crabs on a cutting board and chop them up into bite-size pieces. Arrange the crab pieces on a serving plate, sprinkle them with the cilantro and onion, and serve with the tortillas and salsa.
ALMEJAS A LA MEXICANA MEXICAN-STYLE CLAMS
Fresh clams steam in the juices of a brothy salsa Mexicana, and then the dish gets sprinkled with minced cilantro. I like to add mezcal to the mix; the alcohol cooks out, but a delicious hint of its smokiness lingers. This should definitely be served with rice to absorb the succulent broth.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
3 Tbsp / 45ml olive oil
½ white onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be), and minced
1 tsp sea salt
2 oz / 60ml mezcal
2 cups / 325g chopped Roma tomatoes
6 lb / 2.7kg clams, soaked in cold water in the refrigerator for 30 minutes then drained
3 Tbsp / 5g minced cilantro or parsley leaves, or a combination
1 recipe Arroz (this page) or crusty bread
In a medium Dutch oven or heavy-bottom pot, warm the oil over medium-high heat until it’s shimmering but not smoking. Add the onion, garlic, and chile all at once; the onion keeps the garlic and chile from burning. Sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, until everything has softened. Add the salt, mezcal, tomatoes, and clams and stir frequently until the liquid returns to a simmer. Place a lid on the pot and let the clams simmer in the broth for about 5 minutes, steaming until they open. Any clams that don’t open should be discarded.
Scatter with cilantro or parsley and serve over a scoop of rice or with a hunk of bread.
MEJILLONES AL CHIPOTLE MUSSELS IN CHIPOTLE SAUCE
Mussels are a wonderfully sustainable seafood. They are plentiful, reproduce quickly, and improve the water quality by filtering it through their bodies. Not only that, they’re also inexpensive and absolutely delicious cooked in this rich and aromatic broth of white wine, chipotles, and crema. If you want your dish to be spicy, blend whole chipotles from the can with crème fraîche. For less heat, use only the adobo sauce from the can of chipotles.
If you’ve never cooked mussels before because they seem fancy or you assumed they’d be difficult to cook, you’re in for a happy surprise. They couldn’t be simpler or quicker to make. Just be sure to wash them well. Use an abrasive sponge to scrub off their beards, the little tendrils by which they were attached to the rocks. As soon as mussels are done cooking, they open up. That’s when you remove them from the heat. This should take only a couple of minutes. For an extra pop of flavor, serve with warm garlic toast.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
¼ cup / 60ml olive oil
1 cup / 140g finely minced shallots
1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed
2 garlic cloves, pressed or mashed with a mortar and pestle
1 cup / 240ml white wine
1½ cups / 360ml shrimp stock or Caldo de Pescado (this page)
4 lb / 1.8kg mussels, well scrubbed so that no grit or beards remain
¼ cup / 60g Crema Ácida (this page) or crème fraîche
2 Tbsp adobo from canned chipotles in adobo or 2 whole chipotles
Chopped parsley
Crusty bread
Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottom stockpot over medium-high heat until it’s shimmering but not smoking. Add the shallots and cook until they’re translucent but not browned. Add the salt, then add the garlic and sauté for just 1 minute, until you can smell it. Add the wine, bring to a boil, and let boil for about 2 minutes before adding the stock. Return to a boil, add the mussels, and cover the pot. As soon as the majority of the mussels open, which should take only a few minutes, turn off the heat. Any mussels that don’t open should be discarded.
Combine the crema or crème fraîche and adobo or chipotles in a small bowl. Stir the chipotle mixture into the broth.
Serve the mussels immediately in individual bowls, dividing the sauce evenly over the mussels. Garnish each portion with a scattering of parsley. Enjoy with a hunk of bread.
PESCADO A LA TALLA CONTRAMAR’S SIGNATURE RED AND GREEN GRILLED RED SNAPPER
My family has two kinds of eaters: those who love chiles with wild abandon and those who really don’t. As you might be able to guess, the Mexican side likes their food hot; the Italians, not so much. But for a close family, Pescado a la Talla is the perfect solution. In its traditional presentation, a whole red snapper is butterflied and split down the middle so that you can grill the fillets on both sides of the fish at once. Two different salsas—a mild green parsley one and my hotter red adobo—are painted onto the two sides of the fish. The cooked fish is brought to the table on one platter. Everyone shares the same meal, but the spice lovers don’t have to compromise and those who prefer things milder don’t have to suffer. Both sides of this fish are delicious, and it looks spectacular, too. This has become one of our most popular fuertes at Contramar, where the waiters gingerly remove the flesh from the bones at the table and serve it with warm tortillas and refried black beans.
If you don’t have a fishmonger who can butterfly a whole snapper for you, buy four fillets instead and cook two of them with the red sauce and two with the green, in a grill pan or on a grill. You want the grill marks because they sear the sauce into the flesh of the fish. Both sauces can be made a day ahead and stored in separate sealed containers in the refrigerator.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
Green Sauce
4 garlic cloves
2 cups / 40g parsley leaves
½ cup / 120ml safflower oil
Pinch of ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
Safflower oil
1 whole red snapper, butterflied, or 4 (8 oz / 230g) boneless red snapper fillets, with skin on
Sea salt
1 cup / 240ml Adobo de Chiles Rojos (this page)
1 recipe Salsa Roja Asada (this page) or another red salsa of your choosing
1 recipe Salsa Verde Cruda (this page) or another green salsa of your choosing
1 recipe Tortillas de Maiz (this page), warmed
1 recipe Frijoles Refritos (this page)
Additional salsa of your choosing
Lime wedges
To make the green sauce: Place the garlic, parsley, oil, cumin, and salt in the jar of a blender and puree until smooth.
Once you are ready to cook your fish, heat a grill to medium or a grill pan over medium heat. Brush the cooking surface with oil so that the fish won’t stick.
Clean your fish well, then pat it dry. Using a sharp knife, crosshatch the flesh on the diagonal, making cuts about ½ inch / 12mm deep and 1 inch / 2.5cm apart. Sprinkle with salt. If using fillets, spread two of them with ½ cup / 120ml of the red sauce each and the other two with ½ cup / 120ml of the green sauce, being careful to coat the entire surface and get the sauce into the crosshatched knife marks. If using a butterflied whole fish, spread the red sauce on one half of the fish and the green sauce on the other half, carefully covering the whole surface area and working the sauce into the knife marks.
Grill the fish, skin-side down, until it’s almost cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes. Using a spatula, carefully flip it over and cook the flesh side until it has char marks and easily releases from the grill or pan. Place it flesh-side up on a platter or onto individual plates. Serve with the warm tortillas, a bowl of refried black beans, whatever salsa you wish, and wedges of lime.
FILETE DE ESMEDREGAL CON VERDOLAGAS Y NOPALES EN SALSA VERDE SEA BASS, PURSLANE, AND CACTUS WITH SALSA VERDE
It’s very a Mexican thing to braise pork and grilled cactus under a thick layer of salsa verde and serve it with sautéed purslane. My friend Guillermo taught me this version and I adapted it for Contramar, using sea bass instead, and it soon became a favorite fuerte. The tart tomatillo salsa and grilled cactus really balance the sweet and flaky white fish. You may be more familiar with purslane, or verdolagas as we call it, than you realize. This succulent grows like the weed that it is, in many parts of North America (including lots of backyards). It’s also available in the produce section at most Latin markets and many farmers’ markets, prized by cooks in the know for its bright lemony taste. Note that grilling cactus means that you don’t have to cure it in salt to de-slime it, as the grilling process will have the same effect.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
Salsa Verde with Purslane
1 lb / 455g small tomatillos, papery husks removed and discarded, rinsed
1 large white onion, cut in half, half left intact and the other half chopped
2 garlic cloves
3 or 4 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be)
1 tsp sea salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbsp / 45ml vegetable oil
1 lb / 910g purslane, well rinsed and leaves cut from the stems
4 to 6 cactus paddles, dethorned
Olive oil
4 to 6 (6 oz / 170g) sea bass fillets
1 tsp sea salt
Generous pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 recipe Frijoles Refritos (this page)
To make the salsa: Begin by placing the tomatillos in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottom skillet, together with the half intact onion, garlic, and serranos. Add enough water just to cover and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour the contents of the Dutch oven into the jar of a blender, add the salt and pepper, and liquefy.
Warm the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté until it’s translucent but not browned. Then add the salsa from the blender and simmer for 10 minutes. In the last minute, add the purslane and stir to combine and heat through.
While your salsa is simmering, grill your cactus paddles. Heat a grill to medium or a grill pan over medium-high heat. Score the cactus paddles by slicing thin crosshatched lines across each flat surface. Rub them with the olive oil to keep them from sticking and then place them on the hot grill or grill pan, and cook for 6 to 7 minutes on each side. Place the grilled cactus on the bottom of a baking dish large enough to accommodate them.
Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.
Arrange the sea bass fillets on top of the grilled cactus. Season with the salt and pepper. Cover with the salsa and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
Serve hot, with the refried beans.
FIDEO COSTEÑO NOODLES WITH SEAFOOD
Fideos, or noodle casseroles, are super popular in Mexico. The most basic one, Fideo Seco con Chipotle (this page), is a homey and easy comfort food. Fideo costeño (“coastal” fideo) is a much more elegant and grown-up version of the dish, a menu staple at Contramar that is mostly enjoyed as a full meal, which includes seafood.
As in the original fideo, broken pieces of angel hair pasta get treated like the rice in a paella: briefly fried until they turn golden, then simmered in a seafood stock blended together with tomato, onion, and garlic, most of which gets absorbed into the simmering noodles. Then you nestle succulent chunks of cooked octopus, whole shrimp, and steamed clams into the noodles, spread it all in a casserole dish, and broil it to crusty goodness. Served with a generous dollop of mayonnaise, this is still comfort food, but comfort food at its most refined.
While you could make this dish with any cooked seafood you like, I think that octopus makes it extra special. There is a lot of debate about how to cook octopus, which is basically one huge muscle and is quite tough if it’s not tenderized. Some people advocate using extreme measures like slamming it against a wall. I find this impractical (and I’ve had less than great results). A simpler solution is to let it simmer and braise for a couple of hours, enough time for the meat to toughen up and then gradually relax to the desired softness. If you have a pressure cooker—a tool I couldn’t live without—you can reduce a 2-hour simmer to 20 minutes, and the octopus comes out tender and perfect. One thing to note is that most octopus for sale is frozen (or was previously frozen), and that’s actually a good thing, since the freezing process begins tenderizing the meat. It also means that your octopus will have been well cleaned, saving you that step. This recipe calls for ¼ cup / 65g of salt in the cooking water for the octopus, because you want the water to have the saltiness of the sea.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
Octopus
1 (2 to 2½ lb / 910g to 1.2 kg) fresh or thawed frozen whole octopus, rinsed
4 scallions, crowns discarded
1 tomato, punctured with the tines of a fork (so that it doesn’t explode in the pot)
1 garlic clove
2 bay leaves (preferably fresh)
4 sprigs thyme
¼ cup / 65g sea salt
3 cups / 720ml Caldo de Pescado (this page)
3 or 4 Roma tomatoes, cored
1 garlic clove
½ white onion
1 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp safflower oil
7 oz / 200g angel hair pasta
12 steamed clams
6 oz / 120g shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 lime, cut in half
1 recipe Mayonesa con Chipotle (this page)
Begin by cooking your octopus: Put the octopus, scallions, tomato, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt in a large stockpot and add water to cover by about 2 inches / 5cm. Bring to a boil, then decrease the heat and simmer with the lid on for 2 hours. If using a pressure cooker, cook under high pressure for 20 minutes. Once the octopus is cooked, it will have shrunk to about 50 percent of its original size and will puncture easily, since the flesh will be tender. The skin should come off easily but the suckers less so.
Remove the octopus from the pot and let it cool until you can handle it. Starting with the tentacles, pull off any loose skin, which should slip off like a sock, and discard. You don’t need to worry about getting all of it off, just the parts that come off easily. Chop the body and tentacles into bite-size pieces and set them aside.
In the jar of a blender, combine the stock, tomatoes, garlic, onion, and salt and liquefy.
In a Dutch oven or heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat, warm the oil until it’s shimmering but not smoking. Add the pasta, breaking the noodles into 2-inch / 5cm lengths as you drop them into the hot oil. With a wooden spoon or spatula, stir them continuously as they fry to a golden color. Pour the contents of the blender over the fried noodles. Bring to a simmer and continue to cook until the noodles are very soft and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 8 minutes. Don’t worry if it’s still a bit soupy. This is a wet casserole, and more of the moisture will cook out in the final broiling step.
Preheat the broiler.
Pour the cooked noodles and their sauce into a paella dish or a large, shallow casserole dish. Tuck the chunks of cooked octopus, the steamed clams, and the raw shrimp into the top of the noodles. You could also use steamed mussels or other seafood if you prefer—it all tastes delicious. Broil for 3 to 4 minutes, until the top is just crusty and a little browned.
Finish with a squeeze of lime, a dollop of mayonnaise, and a scattering of parsley and serve immediately.
ARROZ NEGRO BLACK RICE
This is essentially a squid paella, made black by the squid ink that gets added to the stock near the end of cooking. While this is a traditional Spanish dish, this recipe originally came to me from a fishmonger at the Mercado de San Juan, who shared it with the mother of a friend. The Mercado de San Juan is a really good produce market in downtown Mexico City. It used to be the only place where you could find extraordinary things from Spain and Italy, like imported prosciutto or bottles of squid ink. Chefs would go there, as well as the cooks of fancy ladies, like the one who made it for my friend’s mother. These days, delicacies like squid ink are more readily available. Aside from this one ingredient, everything in this dramatic showstopper of a dish is easy to come by and inexpensive, making this a great one to wow guests at a dinner party who may never have seen—or tasted—black rice. While it’s satisfying as is, you could also add a little minced Soppressata or Spanish chorizo for an even more filling fuerte.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
½ cup / 120ml olive oil
1 white onion, minced
1 garlic clove, pressed or mashed with a mortar and pestle
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1½ cups / 150g cleaned and quartered cremini or white mushrooms
¾ lb / 340g squid, cleaned and cut into rings
1 oz / 30ml sherry, tequila, or mezcal
2 tsp sea salt
2 cups / 480ml Caldo de Pescado (this page)
2 Tbsp squid ink
2 cups / 400g bomba or Arborio rice
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
2 jalapeños, stemmed and minced
1 recipe Mayonesa con Chipotle (this page) or Mayonesa con Limón (this page)
Warm the oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or paella pan. Once it’s shimmering but not smoking, add the onion and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, until it looks translucent but not browned. Then add the garlic, bell peppers, and mushrooms, and fry for an additional 1 to 2 minutes. Once you can smell the garlic and the mushrooms have softened, throw in the squid, and add the sherry, tequila, or mezcal and the salt. Cook everything for 4 to 5 minutes. While this mixture cooks, bring your stock to a boil in a small saucepan.
Add the boiling stock to the pot with the vegetables and the squid. Decrease the heat to low, add the squid ink, and simmer to dissolve it into the stock. Add the rice and the nutmeg and continue to simmer for 20 minutes, until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed into the cooking rice. You shouldn’t stir it, but you can use a spoon or spatula to nudge the broth under the rice occasionally.
In the last 5 minutes of the simmering time, preheat the broiler.
Once the rice has just absorbed the broth but is still quite moist, remove the pan from the stove top and place it under the broiler for 2 minutes, just to crisp the top.
Sprinkle with the parsley and jalapeño and serve immediately, passing the mayonnaise at the table.
PAN DE CAZÓN FISH AND TORTILLAS IN RED SALSA
This dish from Campeche is kind of like a deconstructed enchilada or an individual lasagna, because you get a stack of layered fried corn tortillas, separated by a savory fish filling and refried beans, all smothered in a hot red salsa and served with pickled red onions and avocado. The filling is the same one used in Pescadillas (this page). Make it ahead of time so that it’s ready when you’re ready to assemble this dish, which is plated individually and makes an impressive dinner that will delight any seafood lover, who probably has never enjoyed fish this way before.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
Tomato Sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 white onion, coarsely chopped
1 habanero chile, stemmed, seeded, veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be), and chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
4 Roma tomatoes, cored, blanched in boiling water for 30 seconds, peeled, and chopped or 4 canned whole tomatoes
1 Tbsp tomato paste (optional; use only if the tomatoes are at all pink)
½ tsp sea salt, plus more if needed
Pinch of freshly ground white pepper
2 cups / 480g Frijoles Refritos (this page)
1¼ lb / 575g Pescadillas filling (this page)
¼ cup / 60ml safflower oil
8 to 12 Tortillas de Maiz (this page)
6 habanero peppers
1 recipe Cebollas Rojas Encurtidas (this page)
To make the sauce: Warm the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat until it’s hot but not smoking. Add the onion and chile and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more, just until you can smell its fragrance. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, and pepper and simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes, until it reduces a bit. Taste and add more salt, if needed.
In separate pans, warm the refried beans and pescadillas fillings over low heat.
Once your filling, tomato sauce, and beans are all hot and you’re ready to serve this dish, heat the safflower oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until it’s shimmering. Line a plate with a brown paper bag. Fry the tortillas one at a time in the oil, flipping them so that each side gets golden and they puff slightly. Place them on the plate to drain.
On the ungreased comal or in a skillet over high heat, cook the habanero peppers until blistered on all sides, about 3 minutes.
To serve, place a tortilla on a plate and spread it with 1 to 2 Tbsp of the beans. Top with 1 to 2 Tbsp of the filling. Place another fried tortilla on top of it and ladle the sauce over. Garnish with a sprinkling of pickled onions and a padron pepper and serve immediately.
WHAT WOULD DIANA DO?
Even before I was friends with Diana Kennedy, I thought of her as “Diana,” because she had been such a presence in my home since I was a child. My mother grew up in Italy and the United States, so she didn’t know about cooking Mexican food. After she married my dad, one of his sisters gave her Diana Kennedy’s books. Even though we lived in Mexico, those were the recipe books we had for Mexican food. When we wanted to see how something in Mexican cooking was done, we always checked to see what Diana would do.
I met Diana for the first time when she came to Contramar, not long after we opened. Her publisher was in the same neighborhood, and he decided to bring her in for lunch, and she loved it immediately. She said it was so full of life, which is exactly how I would describe her. We got along right away. It was like meeting family. She’s a person who’s interested in everything—of course food, but also science, history, the environment—and she loves a real conversation, not chitchat that hovers at the surface. It wasn’t long before I got to know her very well.
Diana’s life would make a great movie. She was born in England, and served in the forestry service during World War II, when she was still in her teens. After that she emigrated to Canada and then traveled to Haiti, where she met a New York Times correspondent with whom she moved to Mexico based on “a half-baked promise of matrimony”; eventually, they married. They moved to New York for a few years, but after her husband died she returned to Mexico, where she has been living for more than fifty years, traveling all over the country, interviewing people, and writing down their recipes. A lot of these recipes would have been lost if not for the nine cookbooks in which she faithfully compiled them.
Diana disagrees when people call her “the Julia Child of Mexican cooking.” “I’m the Mick Jagger of Mexican food, because I wear leather pants” she likes to say. Some people find her intimidating, but I love how frank and unapologetic she is. I’ll never forget the first time she invited me to her house in Michoacán. I brought my brother, and both of us immediately felt so at home. She had the same solar-powered oven as we had in Tepoztlán, the same low-flush toilets and cisterns to collect rainwater. My brother and I ended up tucked into bed with her, all of us watching a movie.
It’s still Diana’s books I turn to when I want to check how to make something traditional. In my own Mexican cooking, I walk a line between tradition and innovation. On the one hand, I believe that recipes exist to be followed. If people have always done something a certain way, because it works, and it still tastes good, then why mess with it? I don’t believe in a lot of hacks, especially because doing things the right (or traditional) way isn’t that difficult. On the other hand, innovation happens every time someone enters the kitchen, especially for experienced cooks. Good cooks add their own variations to recipes for various reasons, maybe because they want to feature a special ingredient, to use something up that might otherwise go bad, or to play around a little.
It’s important to me to be creative, to take risks in the kitchen, but also to be respectful of the traditions I’m playing with so that the dishes don’t get lost in the innovation. That’s why I owe Diana such a tremendous debt, not only for the reference library that she’s provided with her cookbooks, but also for her friendship and honest evaluations of my cooking. Diana truly has no filter. She cannot hold back. Her opinion of tasting menus? “They’re for people who are bored and not very hungry.” And when she pronounces a dish, “sophisticated,” her mouth puckering as if she just sucked on a lemon, no one could mistake it for a compliment. But she’s just as generous when she loves something, and she doesn’t mince words or talk about “flavor profiles” or anything pretentious like that. When Diana likes a dish I cook, she calls it “delicious,” and that’s all I need to hear to know that I got it right. Diana means the world to me. We relate in absolute respect and love for each other. Honesty and “no suffering in silence” is our motto. She always pushes me in new directions and makes me go places that are important in my life and in my cooking.
TAMALES
Tamales might seem intimidating to make if you’ve never made them before, but don’t feel daunted. You don’t need origami skills to wrap them up. In Mexico, some tamales are wrapped in corn husks and others in banana leaves. It really depends on where in Mexico a particular tamal originated. Seafood tamales, from the coastal regions, tend to use banana leaves because those trees grow nearby. Vegetarian and meat tamales tend to be wrapped in corn husks. In the United States, you can almost always find corn husk wrappers at Mexican markets. To use them, simply soak them in a big bowl of warm water until they’re soft, then squeeze out the excess moisture. Banana leaves are also available at a lot of Asian markets as well as at Mexican ones (and are also used to steam things in Southeast Asian cuisines). They are stocked in the freezer section and thaw out very quickly. They don’t need to be soaked; just cut them into pieces that are the right size for your tamales. I usually cut them to be about the size of a small place mat, unless I’m making pibipollo (this page), which is one big tamal made with uncut leaves.
In terms of wrapping strategies, you don’t need to follow a diagram to the letter. What matters most, no matter which kind of tamal you’re making, is that you keep all of your fillings tightly bundled up so that the masa doesn’t escape while they’re steaming. The masa that I use in tamales is the same as the one I use to make tortillas. This means you can use fresh masa if you have access to it, or mix your own from masa harina and water. To this mixture, you will add lard and/or butter, depending on the recipe, and possibly some other seasonings as well. When you add in fat, you want to mix it extremely well so that it gets really fluffy. The more air and fat you manage to whip into your masa, the lighter the tamale will taste.
To make the kind of tamal you have probably eaten in restaurants, you spread a small rectangle of masa—about 3 x 4 inches / 7.5 x 10cm and ½ inch / 12mm thick—on the wrapper and place 2 Tbsp of filling in the center of the masa. When you roll or fold it up, the masa will surround and encase the fillings. To ensure that it’s tightly contained, feel free to use a few wrappers, one on top of another. When you are enveloping a tamal with a cut piece of banana leaf, fold it up like an envelope around the masa and fillings. The wrapped tamales will be rectangular and fairly flat; this means you can stack them up in your steamer. With tamales wrapped in corn husks, stand them on end, with the open part of the wrapper facing up, so that the fillings stay contained at the bottom and steam comes out of the top. Some people like to take the extra step of cutting a corn husk into ribbons and using them to tie up the tops of the tamales. This is a good idea, though not essential.
It doesn’t really matter what size or shape your tamales are. What does matter is that each of the tamales is the same size as the others that you’re steaming simultaneously. It’s like pasta—if you try to cook angel hair pasta with penne, it won’t work because pastas of different sizes need to cook for different amounts of time. Tamales of the same size will also cook for the same amount of time. Whenever you steam tamales, you should take one out after 20 minutes to see if it’s done. When you unwrap it and cut into the masa, you should be able to slice through it neatly, both halves staying more or less intact. If the masa oozes at all, wrap it back up and steam for another 5 minutes, then test again.
One of the best things about tamales is that, aside from seafood ones that should be eaten right away, you can steam them until they’re cooked, then refrigerate them until you’re ready to eat them and resteam them right before serving. The second time around, you’re just getting them hot, so you don’t have to worry about masa oozing out or nailing the timing.
And as with tacos, tostadas, enchiladas, you can really put anything in a tamal that strikes your fancy. Pumpkin and cheese, leftover carnitas, pineapple and walnuts (in a sweet tamal). Once you get the basic idea down, experiment with fillings to your heart’s content. The method doesn’t change, and most fillings are tasty inside steamed masa.
TAMALES DE MEJILLÓN MUSSEL TAMALES
This recipe is my adaptation of a delicious dish from Oaxaca, where there are lots of tichindas (tiny mussels that thrive in brackish waters), which people have traditionally cooked inside tamales. In my version, as in the original, you press whole mussels, shells and all, inside seasoned masa, and wrap everything in a banana leaf to cook. Once it’s done, you have to go on a treasure hunt for the mussels in the masa. Because the masa gets flavored with serrano chiles and garlic, you don’t need to serve these tamales with any condiments.
MAKES 10 TO 12 TAMALES
1 package banana leaves
4 cups / 1kg fresh masa or 4 cups / 520g masa harina mixed with 2 to 2½ cups / 480 to 600ml water (as directed on this page)
¼ cup / 50g lard
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp sea salt
½ cup / 10g parsley leaves, minced
Zest of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 leek, trimmed, cut in half lengthwise and thoroughly washed
36 large mussels or 50 smaller ones, well scrubbed so that no grit or beards remain
Cut your banana leaves into 24 place mat–size rectangles. Then run each one swiftly over the flame of your burner. You’re not looking to toast them, but the heat of the fire loosens the fibers and makes the leaves more pliable.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the masa, lard, butter, and 1 tsp of the salt and beat on medium-high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until it gets much fluffier. The more air you can whip into the masa, the better, since this keeps the tamales light-tasting. Fold in the parsley and lemon zest.
Oil a comal or skillet and heat it over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tsp of salt on the cut side of the leek and place it cut-side down on the hot comal or skillet. Once it begins to soften, flip it over and cook the other side. When it has cooked through and looks translucent, take it off the stove and cut it into 1-inch / 2.5cm pieces.
Spread 2 heaping Tbsp of the masa mixture in the center of one of your prepped banana leaves, using the back of a spoon or a spatula to paint a rectangle about 3 inches / 7.5cm wide by 4 inches / 10cm long and ½ inch / 12mm thick.
Place as many mussels as fit over the strip of masa, followed by a few pieces of grilled leek. (Divide your leek so that each tamal gets an equal amount.)
Now it’s time to fold the banana leaf. Don’t worry that there isn’t masa on top of the mussels and leeks. Once you fold it and it steams, it will all mix up. You just want to make sure that the mussels are well embedded in the masa. Fold the leaf around the mussels as if you were making an envelope or wrapping a package. Once it’s wrapped, place the whole package facedown on top of another cut banana leaf and wrap that around the original package. Again, it isn’t important exactly how you wrap it, just that it is completely wrapped up so that the masa doesn’t ooze out in the steaming process. Repeat this process until you have packaged 10 to 12 tamales.
Place a few inches of water in the bottom of a steamer. Put all of the tamal packages in the steamer basket, not stacked in a single tower but arranged in layers of three or so, as flat as possible, with room for a little steam to rise in between them. Turn on the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and bring the water to a boil, then decrease it to a simmer. Steam the tamales for 20 to 25 minutes, monitoring about halfway through the process to make sure that there is still a good inch or two of water at the bottom of the pan and adding more water if necessary.
To check if the tamales are thoroughly cooked, open the top parcel and see if the masa is firm to the touch. It shouldn’t be wet and soupy anymore. Try cutting into the center with a knife to ensure that the masa has the consistency of firm polenta and doesn’t ooze at all. As soon as the tamales are ready, remove them from the heat and serve them while they’re still hot. If you’re not quite ready to eat them, you can keep them warm in the pot with the heat off and a lid on for up to 30 minutes.
While most tamales can be steamed, then refrigerated, and then steamed again, these are an exception, because the mussels should be eaten hot, shortly after they first open.
PIBIPOLLO HUGE PORK AND CHICKEN TAMAL
A traditional Mayan dish, pibipollo translates to “buried chicken,” because the chicken is essentially buried in what amounts to one giant tamal, the masa seasoned with achiote so that it looks bright red, the whole thing steamed inside a package of folded-up banana leaves. It’s made with both chicken and pork, the two meats stewed to a savory, shredded goodness, so even though you can’t tell what you’re getting in any bite, you just know it’s delicious. This is a great dish to feed a crowd. It’s filling, amply seasoned but not spicy, and the presentation is neat, like a giant present that you unwrap at the table. Served with black beans and salsa, this makes a memorable meal.
For shredded pork and chicken of the consistency you want at the center of a pibipollo, a slow cooker is best (though you can approximate a slow cooker using a stockpot filled with water at a very low temperature). You can cook them together, leaving them both in for 6 to 8 hours to ensure that the pork cooks thoroughly, or you can start with the pork and then add the chicken in the last hour if you want to make sure that it doesn’t get too mushy.
The last step in the process, once you’ve steamed your pibipollo, is to remove the banana leaf in which it steamed and bake it in the oven to brown the masa slightly. After steaming it, you can refrigerate it until you’re ready to bake and serve. (You just increase the baking time slightly.)
MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS
½ lb / 230g chicken breasts or thighs
½ lb / 230g boneless pork shoulder
2½ Tbsp sea salt
2 white onions, 1 left whole and 1 minced
1 bay leaf (preferably fresh)
2 cloves
1 avocado leaf
¼ cup / 5g epazote leaves, 1 large leaf left whole and the remainder minced
1 box achiote (annatto) seeds
2 Tbsp white vinegar
1 garlic clove
3 Roma tomatoes, 2 left whole and 1 cored and minced
1 cup / 240ml reserved pork/chicken cooking liquid
4 cups / 1kg fresh masa or 4 cups / 520g masa harina, mixed with 2 to 2½ cups / 480 to 600ml water (as directed on this page)
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp / 250g lard
1 package banana leaves, plus kitchen twine for binding
1 recipe Cebollas Rojas Encurtidas (this page)
To cook the meat: Place both meats in a slow cooker if you have one, and cover with at least 6 cups / 1.4L water plus 1 Tbsp of the salt, the whole onion, bay leaf, cloves, and avocado leaf. Cook at a very low simmer for 5 to 6 hours, until the meat is soft and stringy. If you are doing this in a heavy-bottom stockpot on the stove, I suggest beginning with the pork plus the water, salt, onion, and aromatics, simmering it for about 20 minutes, then adding the chicken for another 20 minutes. Once the meat is completely tender and falls apart when you prod it with a fork, turn off the stove and let the meat cool until you can handle it. Strain the meat from the cooking liquid, reserving the liquid and discarding the onion and aromatics.
In the jar of a blender, liquefy the whole epazote leaf, achiote, vinegar, garlic, the 2 whole Roma tomatoes, 1 Tbsp of the salt, and 1 cup / 240ml of the reserved liquid in which the meat cooked.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a very large bowl, using your hands), combine the liquid from the blender with the masa, the remaining ½ Tbsp salt, the minced onion, the minced tomato, the minced epazote, and 1 cup / 220g of the lard and mix on low speed. It will be a very liquidy, sticky mixture.
To prepare your banana leaves, run each one swiftly over the flame of your burner. You’re not looking to toast them, but the heat of the fire loosens the fibers and makes the leaves more pliable. Spread a leaf with a 9-inch / 23cm pie-size circle of the masa mixture. Place the shredded meat in the center and then distribute an equal amount of the masa mixture on top of the meat to cover it. Wrap the large tamal with a banana leaf, then wrap it in another one and continue until the parcel is tightly enveloped. Use your string to bind the parcel.
In order to steam your pibipollo, place a large steamer basket at the bottom of a heavy-bottom stockpot and add a few inches of water. Place the parcel in the basket, cover, and bring the water at the bottom of the pot to a slow boil over medium heat. Leave the lid on and steam for about 40 minutes. In the last 10 minutes of this steaming time, preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.
Once the tamal has steamed and the masa is no longer falling apart, place it on a baking sheet or in a casserole dish it can fit in. Partially unwrap the parcel so the top of the pibipollo is exposed. Dab the top with the remaining 2 Tbsp of the lard and put it in the oven for 10 minutes if it is still hot from being steamed, 20 minutes if it was cold. It’s perfectly fine to steam the pibipollo ahead of time and do this last baking step right before serving.
Slice into your pibipollo as you would a pie and serve hot, with the pickled onions.
PULPO A LAS BRASAS CON SALSA NEGRA GRILLED OCTOPUS WITH BLACK SALSA
If you’ve made the delicious Salsa Negra (this page), then you have some (or a lot) left over. The truth is, you can’t really make a small quantity of salsa negra. It requires a lot of garlic, fried at such low heat that it’s really caramelized. And because it’s such a rich salsa with an intense taste, a little goes a long way. That means that once you’ve made a batch, you’ll want to multipurpose it. The good news is that it keeps for up to three months in the refrigerator, so you can use it in lots of dishes. This is an incredible (and incredibly easy) way to enjoy it: rubbed over a whole cooked octopus that is very briefly grilled, just to give the sauce the chance to cook into the meat. If you have your salsa negra ready and a cooked octopus (which only takes 20 minutes in a pressure cooker), you can grill this in 10 minutes and serve a real feast. I would serve the grilled octopus with mashed potatoes or with slices of oven-roasted sweet potato, because I love octopus with potato, and both nicely offset the boldness of the salsa.
You can also prepare grilled octopus using either the green or red sauces from the Pescado a la Talla (this page) or the charred chile adobo that I use on the pork tenderloin for Costillar de Cerdo en Recado Negro (this page). In other words, if you have a cup of good salsa left over from one of these other fuertes, why not get a second life out of it and use it as the coating for this delicious grilled octopus?
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
1 cooked octopus (see this page)
2 to 4 Tbsp Salsa Negra (2 Tbsp per 1 lb / 455g of octopus; this page)
Coat the octopus in the salsa negra, rubbing it all over. Oil your grill and heat it to high or oil a grill pan and place it over high heat. Place the octopus on the heated grill or grill pan and let it cook on each side for a few minutes. You are not cooking the meat, just heating it through and giving it a chance to absorb and cook the sauce a little more.
When the octopus has nice grill marks and the heat of the grill has fused the sauce with the octopus, transfer it to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Chop into pieces and serve warm. It’s best eaten on the day it’s cooked.
TINGA DE POLLO SHREDDED CHICKEN IN TOMATO-CHIPOTLE SAUCE
Tinga de pollo taco at TACOS HOLA, Amsterdam 135, Hipódromo Condesa
This is a really classic and easy guiso, served at many taquerias. The ratio of onions to chicken is high in this dish, because traditionally a tinga is a way of extending chicken, using the less expensive onion to stretch out the meat. In addition to being economical, stewed onion also adds texture to this dish. Instead of stewing the chicken in the tomato and chipotle sauce, you add the shredded meat at the very end. It tastes as complex as if you had braised it for a long time, but it comes together really fast if you already have the poached chicken. (In a pinch, you could even use rotisserie chicken.) Using your fingers, shred the chicken breasts as finely as possible to create a soft contrast to the crunch of the fried onions. You don’t even have to use chicken. They serve a delicious tinga vegetariana in the Polanco district in Mexico City at a certified kosher taqueria, and it’s nothing but onions stewed in the red chipotle sauce.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
6 Roma tomatoes, cored and cut in half
4 garlic cloves
1 cup / 240ml Caldo de Pollo (this page; or use the chicken-poaching water plus a few aromatics and vegetables)
2 canned chipotles in adobo, plus more if desired
2 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed
¼ cup / 60ml safflower oil
3 large white onions, slivered
2 poached boneless, skinless chicken breasts (see this page), finely shredded
In the jar of a blender, combine the tomatoes, garlic, stock, chipotles, and 1 tsp of the salt and liquefy.
Over high heat, warm the oil in a large heavy-bottom skillet or medium saucepan. Add the onions, making sure they sizzle when they hit the pan. You want them to cook at a high enough heat that they are frying and not caramelizing, so they retain a slight crunch rather than becoming soft and sweet. Add the remaining 1 tsp salt and cook until the onions are golden brown.
Pour the contents of the blender into the pan of onions and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. Add the chicken and cook briefly, just until the chicken has absorbed some of the sauce and heated through. Taste and add more salt if needed.
Tinga de pollo tastes great as a taco topping, an enchilada filling, or served on its own with rice and beans. It can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, and in fact, it tastes even better reheated than when it’s first made.
POLLO EN SALSA VERDE CON CILANTRO CHICKEN IN TOMATILLO SALSA WITH CILANTRO
This chicken, stewed in salsa verde, was one of the staple weekday dishes cooked by Victoria, the lady who helped around our house when I was a child. It was always a favorite of mine, but I couldn’t get her recipe because she never used one—or measured anything that went into her pot, for that matter. I loved to watch her spear a garlic clove on the prongs of a fork, swivel it through the scalding oil at the base of her pot, and then remove it, using that oil to brown the chicken. I watched her enough times to be able to re-create this dish. I like to make a big pot on a Sunday when I don’t have much going on and then I reheat it on weeknights when I get home too tired to cook. I always eat it with white rice. The perfume of jasmine rice mixes well with the aroma of the fresh cilantro that you add to the chicken at the end.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
¼ cup / 60ml safflower oil, plus more if needed
1 garlic clove
1 whole chicken, cut into 6 pieces
3 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled or not, cut into large (1- to 2-inch / 2.5 to 5cm) chunks
½ white onion, finely diced
2 cups / 480ml Salsa Verde (this page)
1 cup / 20g cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1 recipe Arroz (this page)
Warm the oil in a 4 qt / 3.8L Dutch oven or heavy-bottom stockpot over medium-high heat. Skewer the garlic clove on the tines of a fork and swivel it through the hot oil. The oil should be hot enough that the garlic sizzles and turns golden. Once this happens, remove the garlic and set it aside (don’t throw it away).
Add 2 or 3 chicken pieces, skin-side down, to the hot oil. Don’t overcrowd the pan. You are not cooking the chicken through, just searing it, allowing the skin to brown slightly, which brings out the flavor when it stews. The chicken skin will stick at first, but will release fairly easily once it’s done searing. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, flip each piece of chicken to sear the other side. Then remove the seared chicken and set aside on a plate while you continue to sear the rest of the pieces on each side. Set it all aside while you cook the potatoes.
Using the hot oil in the bottom of the pan (add a bit more, if needed), brown the potato chunks just as you did the chicken, adding them in a single layer and allowing them to turn golden on each side before flipping them. You are not cooking the potatoes through, just searing them; this also helps bring out their flavor and keeps them from falling apart in the stew. Once they’re a light golden color, remove them and set them on a plate.
Now take that clove of garlic that you used to swivel in the oil before you cooked your chicken and slice it fairly thinly. Add the sliced garlic to the oil in the pan, along with the onion, and sauté until soft and lightly browned. Strictly speaking, you could skip this step, since the salsa has plenty of flavor, but I really like the texture of the minced onion.
Add the salsa to the pot, along with the chicken pieces and potatoes. Bring it to a boil, cover, decrease the heat, and simmer for about 30 minutes. Cut into a thick piece of chicken and chunk of potato to confirm they’re cooked through.
Sprinkle the cilantro over the stew. To serve, scoop the rice into bowls and spoon the stew over the rice. The tinga can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
LENGUA CON SALSA CHILE MORITA BEEF TONGUE IN MORITA CHILE SALSA
Taco at TACOS DON JUAN, Calle Juan Escuita 35, Condesa
If you’re feeling a little more adventuresome than chicken, here’s a great dish. Anyone with an aversion to tongue just because of what it is should overcome their squeamishness and try it, because once you’ve tasted this meltingly rich and tender meat, it’s impossible to imagine why you resisted to begin with. It also couldn’t be easier to cook. You just let it simmer for a few hours, then slice or shred it, and serve it with hot Salsa de Chile Morita or another salsa of your choice.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 (3 to 4 lb / 1.4 to 1.8kg) beef tongue
1 bay leaf (preferably fresh)
1 Tbsp coriander seeds
1 Tbsp black peppercorns
2 chiles de árbol, stemmed, seeded, and torn in half
2 or 3 sprigs thyme or 1 Tbsp dried
2 or 3 sprigs oregano or 1 Tbsp dried
2 Tbsp sea salt
4 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp safflower oil
½ white onion, minced
1 recipe Salsa de Chile Morita (this page)
To cook the tongue: Preheat the oven to 325°F / 165°C. Place the tongue in a small to medium heavy-bottom stockpot, in which it just fits snugly. Add the bay leaf, coriander, peppercorns, chiles, thyme, oregano, salt, and garlic, then cover with water. Bring to a boil and then place aluminum foil or an oven-safe lid on the pot and put it in the oven for 3 to 4 hours. After 2 hours, check the temperature of the cooked tongue with a meat thermometer; when the meat is done the temperature should be 160°F / 70°C. You can also test for doneness by seeing if the light skinlike covering on the tongue peels away easily. You want it to be tender but retain its shape rather than shredding when you slice it. Keep cooking until it reaches this temperature and consistency. Alternatively, if you have a slow cooker, it’s a great way to cook a tongue. You can cook it on the low setting overnight, and in the morning (after 8 to 10 hours), it will be perfect.
When the tongue is done, remove it from the cooking water and let it cool on a plate or baking sheet. Reserve the liquid in which the tongue has cooked, since it makes a rich and savory base for picadillo (this page). Once cool, freeze to use later.
Peel away the tongue’s skinlike covering and the rough patch beneath the tongue, where it was attached. Slice the tongue crosswise into ¼-inch / 6mm-wide slices.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until it’s shimmering. Add the onion and sauté until it’s translucent but not browned. Add the salsa and bring it to a simmer. Add the sliced tongue and stir until it’s coated and hot. If you didn’t overcook the tongue, it won’t fall apart. (Even if you did, it will still taste great.)
Serve over rice or use as a filling for tacos or tortas. Store leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To reheat, warm in a saucepan over low heat.
MOLE
The word mole comes from the Nahuatl word molli, which means “sauce” or “paste” and refers to dishes that combine a variety of roasted chiles, nuts, seeds, tomatoes, broth, and other ingredients, all ground to a smooth and unctuous paste that goes into a sauce served over protein or vegetables. In the old days, and in rural villages still, this grinding was done by hand in a metate (a rough stone mill), which is probably one of the reasons many people think making mole is laborious. But now with great blenders, the most difficult part of mole making has been reduced to the push of a button.
While moles are not hard to make, most do have a lot of ingredients that have to be handled in a variety of ways. The trick is not to skip any of these ingredients—because each matters—and to go through the steps of coaxing the maximum flavor out of everything. You toast and soak chiles. You roast and grind spices, tomatoes, onion, and garlic. You fry raisins or prunes and sometimes bread or crackers, too. But in the end, everything gets blended together, and as the concoction simmers, all of those flavors meld into a sauce that tastes as rich and nuanced as its many components. In a good mole, you can’t really pick out particular flavors anymore, although your mouth can tell how much is going on.
A mole can serve as the base for just about any kind of meat or vegetable. And while the sauce will taste good right after you make it, it’ll be even better the next day, when the flavors have fully emerged. They can be served as a stew over rice or used to make enchiladas. Whichever way you go, they’re bound to be a hit at parties, which is when I remember eating mole as a child. In Tepoztlán, women from town would always make mole for occasions when a crowd needed to be fed. To me, red mole made by our late neighbor Estela forms the standard against which I judge other moles (and they never quite measure up).
There are so many ingredients in this dish that when I set out to re-create it, I couldn’t remember them all, and my first guess tasted off. I knew that Herlinda and Laura, the women who help out at my parents’ house, still make the mole in the traditional Tepoztecan way. So I called Laura and she gave me her list of ingredients, which included Ritz crackers and Abuelita chocolate—the round disks of chocolate sold at Mexican markets. I don’t like to cook with processed foods, but I trusted these ladies, and as soon as this sauce started simmering, I could smell that my trust had paid off.
This mole also has no fewer than seven kinds of nuts and seeds, plus raisins, plantains, and a variety of spices in small quantities that are nonetheless important for what they bring to the finished product: a refined sauce in which you can taste the complexity but nothing overwhelms the balance of the flavors as they meld together into something velvety, and unmistakably special.
People in Mexico use different kinds of chiles and nuts for their moles. Mine uses only the chile mulato. Like the ancho, it’s a smoked poblano but darker, not especially spicy, and delicately smoky. This is part of what makes my mole a great party food. When serving a crowd, you don’t want something so spicy that it could turn off guests who can’t handle heat.
Unlike the other recipes in this book, for the Mole Rojo (this page) I’ve written the recipe to serve 10 to 12. You can certainly cut it in half, but I really think that if you’re going to take the time to make this dish, then you should do it for a party. This sauce is rich enough that you could eat a cup ladled onto rice and be quite satisfied. It needs no other garnish or accompaniment, though hot tortillas are always welcome on the side.
I’ve asked you to sear your chicken and then add it to the sauce to finish cooking. If you make it this way, I recommend serving each piece of chicken over white rice. Another option is to use poached chicken and shred it as you would for a tinga (see this page), so that it’s thoroughly incorporated into the sauce. This is what I’d recommend if you intend to use this as a filling for tacos or enchiladas.
Before you tackle this dish, read through the steps and prepare your ingredients. Nothing you’ll be doing is difficult; there are just a lot of steps. Your goal is to get maximum flavor out of the ingredients by toasting the ones that need toasting, soaking the ones that need soaking, frying the ones that need frying, and eventually blending everything together. Have a big bowl ready to hold the components as you toast and fry them. Making the mole is no more difficult than making a smoothie, which certainly wasn’t true back when people had to do all of the grinding by hand!
POLLO O PUERCO EN MOLE VERDE CHICKEN OR PORK IN GREEN MOLE
Growing up in Italy, my mom never learned to love spicy food the way the rest of us do. That’s why this is her favorite mole, because it’s so mild. Unlike the red mole on this page, which contains seven kinds of nuts and seeds, this one has only pumpkin seeds, which have a less pronounced flavor than some other nuts but make the sauce thick and rich. The green color comes from an abundance of cilantro as well as from a few serrano chiles. The leftovers from this green mole are outstanding served on fettuccine, as the sauce clings perfectly to the noodles. This is a tradition that we began in my house because my dad makes the best fresh pasta, and has done so ever since I can remember. In fact, this recipe turns out so well that I’ve made mole verde to use as pasta sauce. It’s not that crazy, especially since it’s a relatively quick and easy sauce to make (at least compared to the red mole).
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
2 Tbsp olive oil
1½ lb / 650g skin-on chicken thighs or boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1- to 2-inch / 2.5 to 5cm cubes
2½ cups / 300g pumpkin seeds
1 white onion, quartered
2 garlic cloves
4 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be)
6 cups / 1.4L Caldo de Pollo (this page)
2 cups / 40g cilantro stems and leaves
2 lb / 910g green beans, cut into 1-inch / 2.5cm pieces
2 Tbsp sea salt, plus more as needed
1 recipe Arroz (this page) or cooked egg noodles
Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, sear the chicken or pork in batches, being careful not to crowd the pan. (Normally you salt meat when you sear it, but you don’t want to salt a green mole until the last minute because salt can cause it to turn watery.) Sear the meat on all sides, until it is noticeably browned but not cooked through. Transfer the seared meat to a plate and set it aside while you make the sauce.
In a dry skillet over medium-high heat, toast the pumpkin seeds until they turn golden brown, being careful to stir them regularly so they don’t burn.
In the jar of a blender, grind the pumpkin seeds. Add the onion, garlic, and chiles and pulse to puree. Add 3 cups / 720ml of the stock with the cilantro, and pulse to liquefy. Pour the contents of the blender into a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottom pot and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring, until the sauce is simmering, about 15 minutes. Add the chicken or pork, cover the pot, and cook over low heat for about 45 minutes, until the sauce is thick and the meat is tender and beginning to fall apart. Add the green beans and the salt and cook for 10 to 15 minutes more. Taste and add more salt if needed.
Serve with the rice or over the egg noodles. The mole can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
MOLE ROJO DE TEPOZTLÁN RED MOLE FROM TEPOZTLÁN
The night before a big party in Tepoztlán, our late neighbor Estela would be assisted by a bunch of other ladies in making a humongous vat of this mole and a towering stack of tortillas. The parties in Tepoztlán go on and on. People just come to the house whenever and stay for hours, and there’s a bottomless pot of mole for everyone to enjoy. Just as there are so many components in a mole, each adding its own unique flavor to the finished sauce, every person who comes to one of these parties brings their unique personality to the mix. Although the finished sauce is flavorful, it won’t burn anyone’s mouth and will appeal to guests regardless of whether or not they like spicy food.
MAKES 10 TO 12 SERVINGS
9 oz / 255g mulato chiles, stemmed and seeded
Pinch of aniseeds
Pinch of cumin seeds
2 black peppercorns
2 allspice berries
2 cloves
½ cinnamon stick
4 to 6 Tbsp / 50 to 75g lard
2 whole chickens, cut into serving-size pieces
¼ cup / 30g pine nuts
3 Tbsp / 30 g pumpkin seeds
Scant ¼ cup / 30g black raisins
3 Tbsp / 30 g almonds
¼ cup / 30g hazelnuts
3 Tbsp / 30 g peanuts
¼ cup / 30g pecans
3 Tbsp / 30 g sesame seeds
6 Ritz or other rich-tasting crackers
1 corn tortilla
2 slices fluffy white bread (dinner roll or ciabatta)
½ white onion, coarsely chopped
2 Roma tomatoes, cored and quartered
1 very ripe (black) plantain, peeled and cut into chunks
1 large garlic clove
5 oz / 140g semisweet chocolate
¼ cup / 60ml water
6 cups / 1.4L Caldo de Pollo (this page)
First, lightly toast the chiles by placing them on a hot, ungreased comal or in a skillet over medium heat, turning them constantly as they heat up and begin to release their fragrance. Before they turn brown, remove them from the heat and submerge them in a bowl of water to let them soak and soften while you prepare everything else.
Next, you are going to toast all of the spices on your hot, dry comal or in an ungreased skillet. You should do this in batches because they have different toasting times, beginning with the ones that will toast the fastest: the anise and cumin. As soon as you can smell these toasted seeds, take them off the comal or skillet and place them in a spice grinder. Now do the same with the peppercorns, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon stick. After they’re toasted, add them to your spice grinder and grind the spices together. Dump the ground spices into a large bowl. You will be frying things in batches that you will be adding to this bowl. Eventually, all of this will go into the blender, but for now, you need a place to store the mole ingredients as you prepare them to be blended together.
Now sear the chicken that you are going to cook in the sauce. Melt 4 Tbsp / 50g of the lard in a Dutch oven or large heavy-bottom skillet over medium-high heat. When the lard has melted completely and is shimmering, place as many pieces of the chicken in the pot as you can fit without crowding. The goal here is to brown each piece, so be sure they’re not overlapping. Sprinkle them lightly with salt and flip them over so that both sides get seared. When they look golden, using tongs, transfer them to a platter and repeat with the rest of the chicken pieces, adding more lard to the pan as needed. The chicken should be just seared and not be cooked though at this stage because it will continue cooking in the mole sauce.
Once you’re finished searing the chicken, keep whatever grease and drippings remain in the Dutch oven or skillet to fry other things. You want about ½ inch / 12mm of shimmering oil in the bottom of the pan, and you will have to add more lard as needed. You are going to be frying the nuts and seeds in batches because, depending on their sizes, they will cook at different rates. You are looking for each thing to turn golden but not dark brown.
Begin with the pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, and raisins. Once you can smell the fragrance of these nuts and seeds and they look golden, remove them with a slotted spoon and place them in the big bowl with the spices. Now fry the almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, and pecans until they are fragrant and golden and then add them to the big bowl. Fry the sesame seeds by themselves, being extra careful to monitor them the whole time and moving them around with a wooden spoon or spatula as they fry because they can burn quickly. Add the sesame seeds to the big bowl.
Remember to add more lard to the pan when you need it, since the nuts and seeds will likely have soaked it up. Once the added lard has melted and is shimmering, fry the Ritz crackers very briefly, because they burn fast, then the tortilla, and finally the bread, placing it all in the big bowl with all of the previously toasted and fried ingredients. Add more lard if needed and fry the onion, tomatoes, plantain, and garlic until everything is golden and a bit stewy, then add it all to the big bowl.
In a small saucepot, combine the chocolate with the water and heat until the chocolate melts. Turn off the heat while you blend your sauce ingredients.
Due to the amount of volume here, you are going to need to blend your sauce in batches. Know that from this point on, everything is getting blended together and then simmered, so the order in which you blend things doesn’t much matter. You want a ratio of about 1:1 of stock to solid ingredients. I would suggest blending a couple of cups of solids at a time (4 cups / 960ml total, including the stock). When the contents of the blender are liquefied, dump it into your largest stockpot and then repeat the process. Finally, blend the soaked chiles with the remaining stock and add this to your pot, along with the melted chocolate, and stir well to combine.
Bring the mole to a simmer over medium-low heat. Drop the chicken into the pot and cover. Let it simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, then serve. The mole can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
ENCHILADAS DE POLLO EN MOLE ROJO CHICKEN ENCHILADAS IN RED MOLE
Red mole makes an excellent enchilada filling, which is my favorite way to use the leftovers. Take whatever pieces of chicken remain, remove the meat from the bone, and shred it finely. If you happen to have a lot of sauce but less chicken in your mole, you can add more chicken by poaching and shredding a couple of chicken breasts (see this page) or even by shredding a chicken breast from a store-bought roasted chicken. What really matters is the sauce.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
3 cups / 720ml leftover Mole Rojo de Tepoztlán (this page)
¼ cup / 60ml safflower oil
12 to 18 Tortillas de Maiz (this page)
1 cup / 80g shredded queso Oaxaca, queso Chihuahua, or whole-milk mozzarella (optional)
1 recipe Cebollas Rojas Encurtidas (this page)
1 avocado, cut in half, pitted, peeled, and sliced
¼ cup / 5g minced cilantro leaves
Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.
Remove the cooked chicken from the mole. Take the meat off the bone and shred it finely.
Coat the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch / 23 x 33cm baking dish with mole about ⅜ inch / 1cm deep. Pour off about 1 cup / 240ml of the mole into a shallow bowl.
In a skillet over medium heat, heat the oil until it’s shimmering. Fry one tortilla at a time, flipping after about 1 minute so that both sides are golden. Once heated, use tongs to dip both sides of the tortilla in the bowl of mole.
Lay the tortilla on a plate and fill with about 2 Tbsp of the shredded chicken. Roll it into a cigar shape and place in the pan. Repeat with each tortilla until the pan is full. Cover with the remaining mole and sprinkle with the cheese.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes, until the top is bubbling and lightly browned. Serve with the pickled onions, avocado, and cilantro.
MOLE AMARILLO CON CHOCHOYOTES YELLOW MOLE WITH MASA DUMPLINGS
This is one mole that’s quite speedy to put together. It’s called a yellow mole because it was traditionally made with the yellow chilhuacle chile, which grows in one region of Oaxaca. This chile is expensive to produce and difficult to find even in most parts of Mexico, so people have found different hacks to approximate the yellow color, such as using saffron or a pinch of achiote. I don’t think this cosmetic fix is necessary. Guajillo chile works well in this sauce instead of the chilhuacle, although expect the mole to look more orange than yellow. I have made this recipe vegetarian, since the masa balls that cook in the sauce give it substance, so instead of making them with lard I use butter. But feel free to add meat if you’d like. It would be delicious with shrimp or shellfish, in which case I’d use seafood stock instead of vegetable stock, and I’d let the seafood simmer in the mole for just a few minutes at the end. You can also adapt this recipe to use other vegetables that are in season. In the winter, butternut squash and mushrooms would be delicious instead of the summer squash and green beans.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
6 guajillo chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into strips
1 cup / 240ml water, plus more if needed
1 cinnamon stick
2 allspice berries
½ tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp dried oregano
2 Roma tomatoes, cored and cut in half
2 tomatillos, papery husks removed and discarded, rinsed
1 white onion, cut in half
2 garlic cloves
1 hoja santa leaf, torn into pieces, or packed ¼ cup / 5g cilantro leaves and ¼ cup / 5g minced parsley
3 Tbsp / 45ml safflower oil
5 cups / 1.2L vegetable stock (see this page)
1 cup plus 3 Tbsp / 310g fresh masa or 1 cup plus 3 Tbsp / 155g masa harina
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp sea salt
2 Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch / 2.5cm cubes
2 small yellow squash, cut into 1-inch / 2.5cm rings
1 lb / 455g green beans, cut into 1-inch / 2.5cm pieces on the diagonal
1 recipe Arroz (this page)
Place your chile strips in an ungreased comal or skillet over medium-high heat and toast them lightly to bring out their flavor. Remember that you just want to heat them up, not brown them, so move them around and take them off the comal as soon as you can smell them, before they smoke or smell burnt. This should take only 1 to 2 minutes. Once the strips are lightly toasted, place them in the jar of a blender together with the water and let them soak and soften while you toast the rest of the spices.
Add the cinnamon, allspice, and cumin seeds to the hot comal and move them around as they toast. After 1 to 2 minutes, when you can smell them, remove the cinnamon stick and set it aside. Grind the toasted allspice and cumin seeds in a spice grinder and add them to the blender, or, if your blender is strong enough to pulverize them, skip the spice grinder and add them whole. Add the oregano.
Now roast the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, and garlic on the comal or in the skillet over medium-high heat, flipping them over every minute or so until they are lightly charred all over and the tomatoes are slumping and releasing their juices. This should take about 5 minutes. Then add them to the blender. Toss in the hoja santa leaf or cilantro and parsley and liquefy.
In a 4- to 6-qt / 3.8 to 5.7L Dutch oven or heavy-bottom pot, warm the oil over medium-high heat until it’s shimmering but not smoking. Holding a strainer over the pot, pour the contents of the blender through the strainer into the hot oil. Fry the contents of the blender, stirring constantly, until your sauce has turned a darker red and absorbed the oil. Then add the stock and the 3 Tbsp / 50g of the fresh masa or 3 Tbsp / 25g of the masa harina and the reserved cinnamon stick. Whisk the sauce while it comes to a boil and begins to thicken slightly. Then decrease the heat slightly and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring the sauce with your whisk every 5 minutes or so to make sure it doesn’t clump or stick to the bottom.
Meanwhile, place the remaining 1 cup / 260g fresh masa in a bowl. Alternatively, place the remaining 1 cup / 130g masa harina in a bowl, add ¾ cup / 180ml water, and knead until the masa harina has the consistency of stiff cookie dough. Add the butter and salt and continue kneading for another few minutes, until the butter is well incorporated. Divide the dough into 1-inch / 2.5cm pieces, rolling them into balls and pressing each ball between your thumb and finger so that it’s lightly dimpled. Set these dumplings aside.
Add the potatoes to the simmering sauce and cook for 10 minutes. Then add the squash, beans, and masa dumplings and cook for 10 minutes more, until the dumplings are set.
Serve hot, spooned over rice.
PASTEL AZTECA TORTILLA AND CHICKEN CASSEROLE
Pastel Azteca is a cross between lasagna and enchiladas. Instead of noodles, we use tortillas, layered with shredded chicken, cheese, and sauce and then baked until bubbly and golden. This tends to be a universal crowd-pleaser because, frankly, what’s not to like? The following recipe should be treated as a template. You can make it as is—using poached chicken and a chipotle sauce—but really this is a great way to use up things in your fridge. I call for toma cheese, but if you have a different cheese that melts well, such as a whole-milk mozzarella or even a Cheddar that you could mix it with, that will work perfectly, too. Instead of chicken, you could make a vegetarian version with sautéed mushrooms or braised greens. It’s a delicious vehicle for Papas con Rajas y Crema (this page). Instead of red sauce, a salsa verde or salsa de chile morita would also be delicious in a pastel azteca. Serve with soupy black beans on the side.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
2 poached chicken breasts (see this page)
1 qt / 960ml Caldo de Pollo (this page)
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, plus 2 Tbsp of the sauce
2 garlic cloves
4 Roma tomatoes, cored
2 Tbsp tomato paste
½ white onion, chopped
2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
12 Tortillas de Maiz (this page)
1½ cups / 120g shredded toma, a blend of sharp Cheddar and whole-milk mozzarella, or another good melting cheese
½ cup / 120g Crema Ácida (this page) or crème fraîche
Minced cilantro
Using two forks, finely shred the chicken.
Oil a lasagna pan or similar low-sided casserole dish and preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.
In the jar of a blender, combine the stock, chiles and adobo sauce, garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, onion, and 1 tsp of the salt and liquefy.
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, heat the oil until it’s shimmering but not smoking. Pour the contents of the blender over the hot oil and bring to a boil, then turn off the heat.
Ladle about one-quarter of the sauce over the bottom of the prepared lasagna pan or casserole dish. Add 4 tortillas to the bottom of the pan, arranging them in one layer. Distribute one-quarter of the chicken over the tortillas. Top with one-quarter of the cheese. Repeat to make two more layers of sauce, tortillas, chicken, and cheese, until you have used up all of your ingredients, being sure to finish with cheese as your top layer.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes. As soon as it’s bubbling on the sides and the cheese is golden brown, it’s ready to eat. Place a spoonful of crema ácida or crème fraîche and a scattering of minced cilantro on each helping.
Pastel azteca can be eaten immediately while hot, or it can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days and tastes great as leftovers.
POZOLE BLANCO HOMINY AND PORK SOUP
Pozole, in Tepoztlán
In Tepoztlán, there’s a popular street food stall that people go to late at night for steaming bowls of pozole blanco, a slow-cooked stew made from pork and hominy. It’s another typical party food in Mexico, because it’s festive, feeds a crowd, and everything is ready ahead of time. Mexican pozole blanco is typically made with the head of a pig. The cartilage makes the broth deliciously gelatinous, and people are given crunchy bits of the ears to enjoy. This isn’t such a popular taste in the United States, so here I use stew meat from the pork shoulder or butt. You can tell a good pozole blanco by the clarity of the broth. The key is to skim the foam that rises to the top of the pot when the pork comes to a simmer. If you don’t skim, the broth will turn brown. (It’ll still taste good, but it will look muddy.)
You’ll need a few hours for the whole corn kernels to “flower,” or soften and expand in boiling water with a little “cal,” or calcium oxide, which is the same lime that nixtamalizes the corn to make masa. (If you’re not familiar with powdered lime, its real name is calcium oxide, and it’s a fine white powder sold in Mexican markets with the dried spices.) While that’s happening, your pork will be simmering in another pot, and eventually you’ll combine the two. Not much else goes into this soup, but at the table, diners pick and choose from bowls of minced onion, radishes, shredded cabbage, and sliced avocado to garnish their individual servings. Most people go for a generous squeeze of lime, but it’s up to you if you want to add a pinch (or more) of ground chile.
Often in Mexico, pozole is left to simmer softly overnight in a pot with a lid on. The longer it slow-cooks, the better it will taste. Once your guests arrive, you’ll have nothing to do but enjoy eating with them.
MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS
1 lb / 455g (about 2 cups) dried pozole corn, preferably white and not red
1 Tbsp powdered lime (calcium oxide)
2 lb / 910g bone-in pork shoulder, cut into several large pieces
3 Tbsp / 45g sea salt, plus more to taste
1 white onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, halved
8 radishes, thinly sliced
¼ head white cabbage, shredded
1 or 2 avocados, cut in half, pitted, peeled, and thinly sliced
3 or 4 limes, cut into wedges
12 Tortillas de Maiz (see this page), fried and broken into pieces, or good quality tortilla chips
Ground chiles de árbol
Place the corn in a large stockpot and fill it with water to cover the corn by 3 inches / 7.5cm. In a separate cup, stir the powdered lime with a few tablespoons of water until it dissolves.
Add the dissolved lime to the pot with the corn kernels, bring the water to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat, and simmer, covered, for 20 to 30 minutes. The corn should be yellow, and the outer skins will now slough off, though they tend to dissolve, so you may not notice them. Drain the hominy in a colander and rinse under cold water until it’s cool enough to handle. Now it’s up to you if you want to remove the pedicel—the darker-colored nub that connected the kernel to the cob. To do so, you need to use a paring knife or your fingernail to nick off each one. This takes time, but it will result in a more refined pozole with a more uniform texture. Rinse out your large soup pot. Refill the pot with water and return the hominy to the pot. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 2 hours.
While the hominy is cooking, place the pork in another stockpot and cover with 10 to 12 cups / 2.4 to 2.8L water, or enough to cover the pork by at least 5 to 6 inches / 13 to 15cm. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Within a few minutes, you will notice a lot of gray foam rising to the surface of the roiling water. You want to skim this off, using a slotted spoon, as soon as you can. If you leave it in, it will tint the soup so that it’s no longer blanco, or white. You may need to skim the foam off a few times before the pork stops releasing it. Once the broth is clear and foam free, add the salt, half the onion, and the garlic. Decrease the heat to low, cover, and simmer very gently for 3 to 4 hours, until the meat is visibly falling apart.
Check to make sure that the corn is soft enough and simmer for up to 30 minutes longer, if needed. Taste and add more salt if needed. Drain the hominy and add the cooked kernels to the pork soup.
At this point, you can serve the soup right away or chill it overnight, which will lead to a more complex flavor when you reheat it the next day.
Ladle the pozole into big bowls, leaving enough room for guests to add the remaining onion and the radishes, cabbage, avocados, limes, tortilla chips, and ground chile as they wish.
Pozole can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
COSTILLAR DE CERDO EN RECADO NEGRO GRILLED PORK TENDERLOIN IN CHARRED-CHILE ADOBO
A recado negro is a black mole. In the recipes before this one, you’ve been asked to pay close and careful attention while roasting your dried chiles to make sure they never get blistered or burned. To make a recado negro, however, you do just the opposite, and char them until they’re nearly crumbling to ash. That’s where the flavor in this dish comes from. The good news is, you can’t ruin it as a result of inattention. The blacker and more pungent your paste, the better. But just be sure to open your windows before you let your spices char, or you’ll set off your smoke alarm!
MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS
8 cascabel chiles, stemmed and seeded
3 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
3 guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
3 pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded
6 Fresno chiles, stemmed, cut in half, seeded, and veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be)
6 garlic cloves
4 Tortillas de Maiz (this page), plus more, warmed
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp cumin seeds
3 cloves
1 tsp allspice berries
2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
½ cup / 130g sea salt
2 (1 lb / 455g) pork tenderloins, trimmed and silver skin removed
1 recipe Guacamole (this page)
1 recipe Salsa Roja Asada (this page), Salsa Verde (this page), or another salsa of your choosing
Lime wedges
Preheat the oven to 500°F / 260°C.
On a rimmed baking sheet, toast the cascabel, ancho, guajillo, and pasilla chiles until completely blackened—about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and cover with cold water. Let them soak and soften for about 30 minutes, then drain.
While the chiles are soaking, toast the Fresno chiles, garlic, and tortillas on the same rimmed baking sheet that you used to roast the dried chiles for 12 to 15 minutes, until blackened and charred.
On an ungreased comal or in a small skillet over medium-high heat, toast the oregano and cumin seeds, agitating constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes. When you can smell their toasted fragrance, transfer them to a small bowl. In the same comal or skillet, char the cloves and allspice for about 4 minutes, until black and ashy.
In the jar of a blender, puree the softened dried chiles, fresno chiles, garlic, toasted tortillas, oregano, cumin seeds, cloves, allspice, orange juice, and salt. Place the tenderloins in a large bowl and pour the contents of the blender over the meat, submerging it completely. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to 12 hours.
Heat a grill to medium or a grill pan over medium-low heat. Grill the pork, turning it once after the first 20 minutes, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat reads 145°F / 63°C; this should take 35 to 45 minutes total.
Let the meat rest on a cutting board for 15 minutes before slicing thinly. Serve with the warmed tortillas, guacamole, salsa, and lime.
COCHINITA PIBIL SLOW-COOKED PORK IN ACHIOTE
Cochinita Pibil is a very Yucatecan way of slow-cooking pork after marinating it in orange juice and achiote paste and wrapping it in banana leaves. In the Yucatán they use naranja agria—a species of orange that is more bitter than the common Valencia oranges, but the sweetness of regular oranges is fine. After it slow-cooks, the pork should be falling apart and shreddy. It’s a very popular dish that gets eaten every which way, including served with beans and tortillas, used in tamales and tacos, and as a main dish with rice. Feel free to cook this and use it as you’d like. My favorite is to put the leftovers on a torta (sandwich) with refried beans, avocado, and pickled onions. In fact, I often make cochinita pibil just so that I have enough to use in this way for days to come.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
3 or 4 large banana leaves
3 Tbsp / 40g achiote (annatto) seeds
Juice of 2 oranges
2 Tbsp sea salt
1 (2 lb / 910g) bone-in pork shoulder or butt
Prepare the banana leaves by running them swiftly over the flame of your burner. You’re not looking to toast them, but the heat of the fire loosens the fibers and makes the leaves more pliable.
Grind the achiote seeds in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder. Add the orange juice and salt. It should make a very liquidy paste. Rub the pork shoulder all over with it and marinate it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour but preferably overnight.
When you are ready to cook it, preheat the oven to 200°F / 95°C.
Wrap the marinated pork in the banana leaves, enveloping it entirely like a parcel, and place in a baking dish. Bake for 6 hours. Then remove the banana leaves, increase the oven temperature to 350°F / 180°C, and bake for an additional 30 minutes so that it develops a nice crust.
Leftover cochinita pibil can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
PUERCO O POLLO AL PASTOR MEXICO CITY’S UBIQUITOUS ACHIOTE-MARINATED PORK OR CHICKEN
If there is one dish associated with Mexico City, it would have to be tacos al pastor. These are to Mexico City what cheesesteaks are to Philadelphia and poutine is to Montreal. If you’ve ever walked around Mexico City, no doubt you’ve noticed people making and selling tacos al pastor. The bright red–tinted meat (usually pork but also chicken) rotates around and around on a gas-fueled grill, topped by a big chunk of roasting pineapple. Thin slices of this grilled meat get hacked off and served on tortillas with bits of the pineapple. If it reminds you of gyros and kebabs, there’s a good reason. The story goes that we incorporated this dish into Mexican cuisine after an early wave of Arab immigration. Of course we had to Mexicanize it by making it more spicy and tropical.
While this is definitely street food, and few people have the equipment to rotate pork on a spit, you can get the basic taste of this dish by marinating and sautéing chopped pork or chicken. It’s also a delicious marinade for vegetables such as eggplant or zucchini. Just be sure to serve it with caramelized pineapple—that completes the dish.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
2 to 3 lb / 910g to 1.4kg pork tenderloin, cut into thin (almost bite-size) slices, or 2 to 3 lb / 910g to 1.4kg boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin slices
2 Tbsp sea salt
1 cup / 240ml Adobo de Chiles Rojos (this page)
1 cup / 100g small chunks pineapple
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 Tbsp safflower oil
8 to 12 Tortillas de Maiz (this page)
1 small white onion, finely minced
½ cup / 10g cilantro leaves, minced
1 recipe Salsa Verde (this page)
Rub the slices of meat with the salt and then place them in a bowl, cover with the adobo sauce, and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or preferably overnight.
When you’re ready to continue, begin by making the caramelized pineapple chunks. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the pineapple with the sugar, stirring constantly so that it doesn’t burn, for about 5 minutes, until the chunks are translucent but not falling apart. Remove from the heat and let them cool slightly while you cook the pork.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it’s shimmering. Add the pork in its marinade and cook at a low simmer for 5 to 7 minutes. You want some of the marinade to cook off so that it’s not too wet.
On an ungreased comal or in a small skillet, warm the tortillas and place in a basket or a box with a lid to keep warm.
Serve the pork and pineapple with the tortillas and bowls of the onion, cilantro, and salsa to spoon on as garnishes.
ALBÓNDIGAS EN SALSA DE CHILE MORITA MEATBALLS WITH MORITA CHILE SAUCE
Instead of spaghetti and meatballs, try these Mexican meatballs with rice. Traditionally, albóndigas are often served in a soup, but I love them simmered in this sauce, made smoky by morita chiles, which are dried and smoked jalapeños. This dish is not that spicy, however, and goes perfectly with rice and avocado. In addition to ground beef and pork, these meatballs include pulverized chicharrónes, which are fried pork rinds. I’m able to find them behind the meat counter at Mexican markets near me, but if you can’t find them, feel free to use the chicharrónes that come in bags like potato chips. Crushed and added to the ground meat, they will work just fine. Serve these with rice, black beans, tortillas, and avocado.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
Meatballs
1 lb / 455g ground beef
1 lb / 455g ground pork
5 oz / 140g chicharrónes, ground with a mortar and pestle or finely chopped
¾ cup / 90g minced onions
2 eggs
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ cup / 10g parsley leaves, chopped
½ tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salsa de Chile Morita for Meatballs
1½ cups / 360ml vegetable oil
2 dried moritas chiles
8 Roma tomatoes, cored
1 white onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 Tbsp sea salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
½ cup / 120ml olive oil
To make the meatballs: In a large bowl, combine the ground beef and pork, chicharrónes, onion, eggs, garlic, parsley, and salt until well combined. Form the mixture into 2½-inch / 6cm balls.
Line a plate with a brown paper bag. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once it’s shimmering, gently drop the meatballs into the skillet and sear them on all sides, just to get them browned (but not cooked all the way through). If needed, do this in batches. Once seared, remove them from the oil and place them on the plate while you prepare the salsa.
To make the salsa: Pour the vegetable oil into a Dutch oven or other heavy-bottom pot over high heat. Fry the chiles, with their stems still on, for 1 to 2 minutes. As soon as they puff up, remove them from the oil (but keep the oil in the pan and turn off the heat). Once they’re cool enough to handle, remove their stems and shake out and discard their seeds. Place the fried chiles in the jar of a blender.
Place the tomatoes in the same pot with the oil in which you fried the chiles and cook over medium-high heat, until their skins brown and they slump. Carefully transfer them with the slotted spoon to the jar of the blender with the chiles.
Add the onion and garlic to the pot and sauté until translucent, pour them and the remaining oil from the pot into the blender. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, and olive oil and puree everything together.
Pour the blended sauce into your Dutch oven or pot. Bring it to a boil over medium-high heat, then decrease to a simmer. Add the seared meatballs and simmer for about 20 minutes.
The meatballs can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
PICADILLO GROUND BEEF HASH
Nearly every culture seems to have a staple dish made from seasoned and stewed ground beef. In Italy, there’s the Bolognese. In Mexico, we have picadillo. This is no doubt the origin of the “seasoned ground beef” that went into the first incarnation of US tacos. For extra richness, I start by searing chunks of ground beef in lard, then simmer the meat with minced carrot and onion in a tongue broth. Beef broth works, too, but tongue stock imparts an added depth. If you happen to have any salsa adobo (see this page) or salsa negra (this page) in your refrigerator, adding a spoonful of one (or both) at the end will bring more layers of flavor.
Picadillo makes a great guiso for tacos, and it’s also a wonderful filling for Chiles Rellenos (this page).
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
2 Tbsp lard
½ lb / 230g ground beef
2 tsp sea salt
½ white onion, minced
1 carrot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Pinch of ground cumin
1 cup / 240ml beef stock (see this page) or tongue broth (reserved from braised tongue, this page)
1 Tbsp Adobo de Chiles Rojos (this page; optional)
1 Tbsp Salsa Negra (this page; optional)
In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, heat the lard until it’s bubbling. Drop quarter-size pieces of ground beef into the pan and let them sear, turning the chunks over with a spatula so they brown on all sides. Add 1 tsp of the salt. Once the chunks of beef are browned (but not thoroughly cooked), use a slotted spoon to transfer them from the pan to a plate. Don’t rinse out the pan.
In the same pan used to sear the beef, fry the onion and carrot. Once the onion is golden and the carrot has softened, add the remaining 1 tsp salt, the garlic, and cumin and cook while stirring for about 1 minute, until you can smell the spices toasting. Return the meat to the pan. Add the stock and use a large wooden spoon or potato masher to break the meat into smaller pieces. Cover the pan and let it simmer for about 10 minutes so that the flavors meld together. Remove the lid and cook for another 2 minutes, until most of the liquid has been absorbed and/or has evaporated.
As a final step, stir in the salsa for added flavor, if desired.
Store in the refrigerator for up 3 days. To reheat, warm in a skillet over low heat.
COSTRADA DE ARROZ BAKED RICE AND GROUND BEEF CASSEROLE
This savory rice casserole is something that my father’s sisters always made for big family get-togethers. This is a recipe from Campeche, in the south of Mexico, where the Cámara family comes from. Beating sugar into eggs, which you blend together with saffron-infused rice, gives the casserole a crispy crust that also lends the dish its name. A savory picadillo gets nestled between two layers of rice.
MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS
¼ cup / 55g unsalted butter
Rice
1 qt / 960ml water
½ white onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves
2 jalapeños
1½ tsp saffron
1 tsp sea salt
2 cups / 400g white rice (preferably medium grain)
Picadillo
2 Tbsp safflower oil
½ white onion, chopped
½ large red bell pepper, chopped
1 lb / 455g ground beef or pork or a combination of the two
Healthy pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of ground cloves
Pinch of ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp raisins, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp slivered almonds
1 garlic clove, chopped
4 or 5 Roma tomatoes, cored and chopped
1 Tbsp coarsely chopped parsley leaves
⅓ cup / 40g chopped olives (preferably Castelvetrano)
1 Tbsp capers, chopped
2 Tbsp sweet sherry
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed
½ cup / 100g granulated sugar
7 eggs
Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C.
Use the full ¼ cup / 55g of butter to thoroughly coat the base and sides of a 9 x 13-inch / 23 x 33cm baking dish. This will help form the crust.
To make the rice: In a 4- to 6-qt / 3.8 to 5.7L Dutch oven or other heavy-bottom pot, combine the water, onion, garlic, jalapeños, saffron, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, add the rice, and cover. When the water returns to a boil, decrease the heat so that it barely simmers. Cover and cook for 18 to 20 minutes. Then remove the lid and discard the jalapeños, onion, garlic, and whatever saffron threads may have settled on top of the rice, so that only the rice remains. Gently fluff the rice with a fork and set aside to cool.
While the rice is cooling, make the picadillo: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it’s hot but not smoking. Add the onion and bell pepper and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the ground meat and break it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Once it has browned, add the black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, raisins, almonds, garlic, tomatoes, parsley, olives, capers, sherry, vinegar, and salt. Keep cooking, stirring frequently, until all of the liquid has been absorbed, 10 to 12 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed.
In a large bowl, combine ¼ cup / 50g of the sugar and the eggs and whisk well. Pour the cooled rice into the bowl and combine with the eggs and sugar. Spoon half of this rice-egg mixture into the buttered casserole dish and press down. Bake for 15 minutes, until the top is set. Remove from the oven and spread the picadillo mixture over the crust of rice. Pour the remaining rice-egg mixture on top of the picadillo and spread evenly, using a spatula. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup / 50g sugar on top.
Return to the oven and bake for 7 to 9 minutes, until the top is just turning golden brown. If you want it darker, you can broil it for the final 1 to 2 minutes. Let it cool for 5 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.
Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
CAMOTE A LAS BRASAS CON SALSA NEGRA Y TUÉTANO CHARRED SWEET POTATOES WITH BLACK SALSA AND ROASTED BONE MARROW
At Cala, we roast bones and emulsify the marrow into our salsa negra to serve with these charred sweet potatoes. We were inspired by the restaurant El Bajío’s black sauce, but we’ve made our adaptations of this unctuous and unique dish that has become a customer favorite. That’s why I didn’t want to leave it out of this cookbook, although I recognize that the process of scraping out the roasted bone marrow, clarifying, and emulsifying it into the salsa is a bit of a headache and is not something that most people would want to tackle. Roasting bone marrow, however, is incredibly easy. Make sure to ask your butcher to give you grass-fed beef bones cut canoe style (lengthwise) rather than crosswise, since they are often cut to use in soups, and be sure to salt them a lot before you roast them to bring out the flavor. The marrow is then as soft as butter and can be spread on a warm tortilla before you load it up with roasted sweet potato and salsa negra. If I have adventuresome guests coming over, I like to serve this as a kind of cavemen’s dinner party, placing one or two roasted bones on each plate alongside half a potato and passing the warm tortillas for people to assemble their own tacos.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
½ cup / 130g sea salt
2 or 3 large orange-fleshed sweet potatoes
4 pasture-raised beef femur bones, split lengthwise
1 recipe Salsa Negra (this page)
1 recipe Salsa Brava (this page)
1 recipe Tortillas de Maiz (this page), warmed
Lime wedges
Preheat the oven to 425°F / 220°C.
Sprinkle ¼ cup / 65g of the sea salt on a plate. Wash the sweet potatoes well. While their skins are wet, roll them in the sea salt so they are as encrusted with salt as possible. Place them on a baking sheet, prick each one a few times with a fork, and bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until tender. Remove from the oven and let them cool while you roast your bones.
Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup / 65g salt across the cut surfaces of the bones. It may seem like a lot, but this salt is what will bring out the meaty flavor of the roasting marrow. Roast the bones in the oven for 20 minutes, until well browned.
In the last 5 minutes before the bones come out of the oven, char the skin of each of your roasted sweet potatoes, holding them with tongs directly over the flame of your stove top burner and rotating them to char as much of the surface area as possible. You could also do this by placing the sweet potatoes directly on the coals of a grill. The goal is for the skins to get really blackened, but if you can’t do this at home (if you have an electric stove, for example), this dish will still taste great even without the char.
Split the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and place half on each plate, along with one roasted bone half. Place bowls of salsa negra and salsa brava on the table and pass a basket of warm tortillas so guests can scoop out the bone marrow, spread some on their tortilla, and top with a dollop of sweet potato and salsa. A few slivers of onion from the salsa brava add a delightful crunch and tang, in contrast to the potato’s sweetness, and a squeeze of lime unites the flavors.
SALPICÓN DE RES SHREDDED STEAK SALAD
Many different cultures seem to have their own version of a steak salad. Salpicón de res is Mexico’s. Flank steak has a lot of flavor, but as a lean meat, it can be tough. But simmering it for a long time as you do here really tenderizes the steak so that it can be shredded, and it absorbs the vinaigrette together with the romaine lettuce, tomato, and avocado. If you want your salad spicy, feel free to add minced serrano chiles.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
2 lb / 910g flank steak
2 qt / 2L water
2 bay leaves (preferably fresh)
2 garlic cloves
2 Tbsp sea salt
2 heads romaine lettuce, washed and finely chopped
1 large or 2 small tomatoes, cored and finely chopped
6 radishes, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp minced white onion
½ cup / 120ml extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup / 60ml champagne vinegar or sherry vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp Maldon sea salt or another finishing salt, plus more as needed
2 avocados, cut in half, pitted, peeled, and cut into ½-inch / 12mm chunks
I don’t begin by salting the water in which I simmer my beef, since I believe that salt leaches the juices of the meat, which I want to retain. Less of the flavor stays in the steak this way. Instead, I add the salt near the end of the process, as I do when cooking beans.
In a Dutch oven or a stockpot, cover the flank steak with the water and add the bay leaves and garlic. Bring to a boil, then decrease the heat and let it simmer for 1½ hours. Add the salt and cook 30 minutes more, until the meat is tender enough to shred easily. Once the steak is tender, let it cool in the water until you can handle it. Then remove the meat from the broth (cool and freeze this broth for another purpose) and shred it.
In a large salad bowl, toss the shredded steak with the romaine, tomato, radishes, and onion.
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, oregano, and lime juice. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and season with the finishing salt. Toss to coat everything well. Taste and add more finishing salt if needed. Add the avocados and toss gently, so that they don’t get mashed. Serve immediately.