M is for Mexico (via Mongolia)

M is for Mexico (via Mongolia)

Blimey, we’ve reached the halfway point! Luckily for you, the countdown to the end begins now, and you can look forward to a life without my ramblings (unless I have your phone number, then that’s just your bad luck). And how fitting that the halfway point is also the letter that my very own name starts with: M. Oh M, how you spoil me with your tremendous choice of countries. This letter includes some of the most dazzling stars on the culinary stage, plus a number of excellent back up dancers who are probably seething with silent rage that said stars are hogging the limelight, but one day…ONE DAY! Grabbing the mic and unapologetically taking centre stage are countries such as Morocco, Mexico and Malaysia, with their hit parade of flavours, backed up by slightly more modest spots like Myanmar, Macedonia, Monaco and Malta. In total, I had 19 places to choose from – quite the predicament. Technically, I should have rummaged around in Malaysia’s kitchen cupboards, as I’ve had the absolute joy of visiting several times and absolutely decimating any snack store I came across. However, as I was at home for my beloved sister’s wedding, I let her choose the country, meaning I ended up whisking my family and friends off to the sunny climes of Mexicooooooooooooo. Arriba arriba!!

Beautiful toms

Before I get to that, a very special honorary mention must go to some absolute tip-top friends of mine, Dan and Liz, who invited me over for dinner to their swanky new abode while I was home. They know about this little project and have asked before about the application process to be a guinea pig (there isn’t one, fyi – you just have to be able to put up with kitchen chaos and potentially terrible food), but I didn’t think anything of it upon receiving the invite. However, to my absolute delight, they had prepared a downright champion meal of Mongolian beef (for M) for myself and two other pals. Mongolia is not exactly famed for its food, given the chilly temperatures and rather harsh terrain BUT it does have the good fortune of being heavily influenced by Chinese and Russian cuisine. The Mongolian beef that was whipped up for us lucky guests definitely had more than a pinch of Chinese-style flavours about it, but man ALIVE, it was tasty. I’ll be damned if I can tell you what was in it, but all I know was that it was a mighty fine meal, so MASSIVE kudos and THAAAANKS to Dan and Liz. I can say with 100% confidence that it was the best Mongolian food I’ve ever had.

The beginnings of arroz rojo

Back to Mexico. Although the above-mentioned dinner was incredible, part of this challenge is that I have to cook the food myself, so I got down to business by trawling through the overwhelming amount of information on Mexican cuisine. Our understanding of Mexican food has suffered greatly from the influence of Tex-Mex, which is a whole other kettle of fish (or chicken, or pork, or beef…): delicious it is, but traditional? Not so much. Mexican food is basically fusion food, bringing together elements of indigenous Mesoamerican cooking and European ingredients and methods, especially from Spain. Yep, those conquistadors of days of yore decided that the Aztec diet of the 16^th century could do with a bit of jazzing up, so they started adding meats from typical European domesticated animals (like beef, chicken, goat and pork), a whole load of dairy products, plus a few herbs and spices for that extra kick. Up to that point, the traditional ingredients of the area were those that we still associate with Mexican food today – corn, avocados, beans, tomatoes, chili peppers – but, as they were apparently wont to do back then, those pesky Europeans came and made it a whole lot unhealthier. Not only that, but African and Asian cuisines also made their way to Mexico’s shores by way of the slave trade and the so-called Manila-Acapulco Galleons (Spanish trading ships that sailed across the Pacific from Acapulco to Manila and back a couple of times a year). So basically, there’s something in there for everyone.

One foodstuff in traditional Mexican cuisine that certainly deserves a mention is the mythical and revered mole, which helped traditional Mexican cuisine become inscribed in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010. Mole is a generic term that covers an absolutely massive range of sauces, and any dishes based on these sauces, in traditional Mexican cuisine. The origins of the sauce are contested, which the states of Puebla, Oaxaca and Tlaxcala all laying claim to it. However, whoever it was that came up with it, one thing is for sure: the Mexicans gave it the big thumbs-up and well-and-truly ran with it. Mole, by the way, is an ancient word for ‘mix’, a great example of something doing exactly what it says on the tin, because that is essentially what it is – a big ol’ bowl of mixed up stuff. Rumour has it that the original mole was the invention of a couple of panic-stricken nuns (what a sentence) when they found out that they were to be descended on by the archbishop. I think we can all relate to the feeling: someone announces they’ll be dropping by for a chinwag and, oh if you happen to be cooking, well that would be just swell. You look in your cupboards and find nothing but a tin of tuna, a suspiciously soft onion, half a bottle of ketchup and some old bicarbonate of soda from your one and only foray into the world of baking. This is pretty much what happened to the nuns, except they had some chilis, spices, some old bread, a few nuts and a bit of chocolate lying around. They chucked it all into a pan and hoped for the best (again, a feeling we all know too well), smothering a freshly killed turkey in the stuff before serving it up to the ‘bish. And by Jove, he loved it! As mentioned, this is only one version of the beginnings of mole, but whichever tale you choose to believe, the fact remains: mole contains a whole lotta ingredients and is damn tasty for it.

The Mexican-ish feast

While mole would have been a very interesting dish to make, I had some practical limitations when it came to selecting what to cook, meaning I opted for food which probably involved more ‘Tex’ than should really be allowed. That said, I did make sure that I made a couple of things which are credited to Mexico, including pico de gallo. Literally translated, the name means ‘beak of rooster’ but mercifully, the dish itself contains not a single clucking beak. Instead, it’s more or less what we know as salsa, with tomatoes, onions, coriander (if you’re American and WRONG), fresh chilis and lime juice. I also made a pan of arroz rojo – or red rice – which was an absolute revelation! Rather than being simply cooked in water, this arroz gets a nice little bath in a mix of tomatoes, onions and garlic, which have been blitzed to create a liquid. Seriously, it has changed the more rice-y parts of my life forever. The rest of the dinner consisted of nachos, refried beans (also a Mexican staple), tacos, tortillas, guacamole (courtesy of best pal, Nikki), salad and Mexican-style chicken, marinated in chili, lime, coriander and cumin. Not the most authentic of spreads, but it fed the 10 hungry mouths around the table and, more importantly, kicked off what was an absolute smash of a weekend in celebratory style. Olé!