Every year for the past few years, Latin American food has been hailed as the next big thing.
Certainly we have seen the coming of countless Mexican fast-food restaurants, a few Brazilian rodizios, the Gaucho Grill with its famous Argentinian beef, and now we have a few Peruvian restaurants purveying ceviche and tiraditos. But I will stick with Mexican, because Cinco de Mayo, Mexico’s national day falls next Saturday, a perfect excuse for a party.
The chilli underpins much of this cooking, but it is subtly done, in such a way to enhance other flavours, rather than flatten them with a sledgehammer.
In Europe we do not have quite the same wide array of chillies to choose from as in a Mexican market, so use what is available.
Chillies are very easy to grow in the Maltese climate and make decorative plants for a sunny terrace.
I have selected a few of my favourite recipes, but you will probably not want to serve them all at the same meal. The cornbread, for example, is very good to serve with roast chicken. And miniature versions of the muffins make an appetising bite to serve with margaritas, the cocktail of choice. At the moment, we are enjoying grapefruit margaritas.
I make these with a lime or lemon, a couple of measures of Mandarine Napoleon liqueur or Grand Marnier and the same of tequila. All the ingredients are best ice-cold. Take off two thin curls of lime zest, and squeeze the juice into a shaker. Add the spirits and 100ml grapefruit juice, and shake with ice until frosty. Pour into two chilled glasses, salted if you wish and decorated with lime zest.
One of the simplest desserts to serve with Mexican food is a fruit sundae with chilli syrup, which could not be easier to make. For each serving, you need, in a suitable glass dish, one scoop of ice-cream, or sorbet, which might be vanilla, fig, coconut, mango, passion fruit or rum and raisin and on top of the ice-cream two or three tablespoons of prepared fruit, peeled and diced or sliced; mango, pineapple, peach, pear, strawberries or apricot, or a mixture of several would all be excellent in the sundae.
A generous helping of chilli syrup and a scattering of toasted flaked almonds or coconut finishes off the sundaes nicely, without further adornment.
To make the chilli syrup, put 300g sugar and 300ml water in a heavy saucepan and slowly bring to the boil. Meanwhile, split a couple of hot red chillies lengthways and with a knife point, remove as many seeds as possible – these are the hottest part of the plant – and slice the chilli.
When the syrup is boiling, add the chillies, simmer for five minutes and removed from the heat. Allow to cool, then bottle and refrigerate until required. A drop or two of this syrup can add a hidden dimension to a cocktail, and also to a chocolate mousse or ice cream.
It is worth making in quantity, as it keeps well, and you will discover many uses for it. But if you prefer a chilli-free dessert, then the ubiquitous flan is a classic of the Latin- American table.
Another satisfying appetiser is the quesadilla, very easy to make, very moreish. But if you are planning to serve the fajitas, which also require tortillas, then you might prefer to serve the cornmeal and chorizo muffins as an appetiser.