The Latin American Kitchen

(Kyle Cathie. 2002)
A Book of Essential Ingredients with Over 200 Authentic Recipes




www.amazon.co.uk/Latin-American-Kitchen-Essential-Ingredients/dp/1904920462/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241612298&sr=1-8

“Add spice to your life with this sun-filled book... an all encompassing
introduction to Latin American food.” Sainsbury's Magazine, Dec 2006

“Explains and celebrates seasonal colours and flavours in the cookbook,
packed with exciting, easy recipes.” Health & Fitness Magazine January 2007


A continent famed for its colour, feistiness and general happy-go-lucky population also has one of the tastiest, but oft ignored, multinational cuisines in the world. An eclectic mix of Spanish, Portuguese, American and Caribbean, the dishes reflect each country's best traits. Chillis, tamarillos, mangoes, bananas, cassava, prickly pears: mixed with fish, meat or on their own, they are transformed into colourful, feisty dishes guaranteed to warm the heart. Celebrated cookery writer, Elisabeth Luard, was brought up in South America and Spain and came to know the minds and methods of Spanish cooks. She offers an informative insight into the ingredients accompanied by anecdotes and advice on where and how to buy these exotic items. Beautifully illustrated, the colour photographs of Francine Lawrence emphasise the colour and joy of this vast Latin American continent and offer a visual feast of the recipes to be discovered within.
Lucy Watson

Recipes include:
* Pico de Gallo, a Mexican dish, combining sweet green oranges in segments, pine nuts and chile flakes tossed with juliened jicama.
* From Puerto Rico comes Chancletas a dish using cooked chayotes with cream, white cheese, raisins, vanilla, sugar and hard cheese.
* From Brazil, their famed Acaraje, a mixture of onion, dried shrimp and black-eyed peas made into small cakes and deep fried in dende oil.
* From Mexico, Huevos Rancheros, tortillas, eggs, onion, garlic, green chile, tomatoes and grated cheese.
* From Guatemala, their Seviche de Ostras, made with oysters. Green chiles, scallions and lime juice,
* The Caribbeans’s LaBelle Josephine, using ricotta cheese, cream, strong coffee, rum, grated black chocolate, walnuts and cinnamon.
* From Mexico Guiso de Chivo con Papaya, a lamb dish with papaya, bitter orange, chili powder, cinnamon, sugar, oil, onions and garlic.

SAMPLE RECIPE:

Okra in tomato and chilli sauce

Okra, a membepyr of the hibiscus family, is a pod-vegetable high in protein and well-endowed with vitamin C. Cultivated by the Ancient Egyptians and on the menu in Africa, throughout the Middle East and India ever since, it was imported to the Caribbean and Brazil as part of the slave-culture. The plant itself is tree-like annual with pretty yellow trumpet-shaped flowers, and the family includes the cotton-plant and the roselle, the raw material of sorrel, a refreshment popular in the West Indies at Christmas. The gloopy – mucilagenous - juices are liked by some and not by others others.

Serves 6 as a starter or side-dish

700g (1 1/2 lb) fresh okra pods
2 tablespoons oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 large tomatoes, chopped
1 malagueta pepper, de-seeded and chopped
1 tspn sugar
Salt and pepper

Prepare the okra by trimming the stalks close to the pod. If you don’t enjoy their glueiness - and lots of people do - don’t hull, just trim off the stems, toss the pods with salt and a little vinegar and leave in a colander for an hour or two, when they will have yielded up their gloop, then rinse well before using.
Warm the oil in a heavy pan or casserole and gently fry the onion and garlic till soft - down let it brown. Add the tomato and chilli and bubble up, squashing with a wooden spoon to encourage a rich little sauce. Stir in the okra, add a glass of water, and bubble up. Turn down the heat, lid loosely and simmer for 30-40 minutes, till the pods are perfectly tender and the sauce deliciously rich and sticky. Or bake in the oven at 300F/160C/Gas2. Serve at room temperature, with quartered limes and malagueta-pepper sauce on the side.

For more recipes and stories, order The Latin American Kitchen:

www.amazon.co.uk/Latin-American-Kitchen-Essential-Ingredients/dp/1904920462/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241612298&sr=1-8