All recipes

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Bistec a la mexicanaBeef in tomato and chile

Red tomato, white onion and green chile give this dish the colours of the Mexican flag, which is why anything 'a la mexicana' is so loved. Fondas across the country make it every day from thin-cut beef, browned hard and then stewed until tender in a quick, juicy sauce. Serve it with arroz rojo, refried beans and a stack of hot tortillas. Chef's tip: ask the butcher for 'bistec' cut thin from top round, or freeze a piece for 30 minutes so you can slice it thinly yourself.

45 min

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ManchamantelesPork and chicken fruit stew

Its name means 'tablecloth stainer', and the deep red ancho sauce lives up to it at Sunday lunches in Mexico City, Puebla and Oaxaca, where it has been made in convent kitchens since colonial times. This version uses pork shoulder and chicken thighs, simmered in a sauce thickened with almonds and sesame, then sweetened with chunks of pineapple, ripe plantain and sweet potato. It tastes fruity, mildly hot and rich. Serve with white rice and tortillas. Chef's tip: add the fruit near the end so it holds its shape and keeps its tang.

120 min

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Tacos de carne asadaGrilled steak tacos

In Monterrey, Hermosillo and across the north, a Sunday carne asada means friends around the grill, thin skirt or flank steak seasoned simply with citrus, garlic and salt, cooked over hot coals and chopped straight onto tortillas. Grilled spring onions, guacamole and a smoky salsa go alongside. Use corn tortillas, or the soft flour tortillas of Sonora if gluten is no concern. Chef's tip: keep the marinade to 1–4 hours in the fridge; the citrus starts to toughen the meat after that.

35 min

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Ponche navideñoHot Christmas fruit punch

During the nine nights of posadas from 16 to 24 December, neighbours in central Mexico walk the streets singing for shelter, and the reward at the last door is a cup of steaming ponche ladled from a clay pot. Whole fruits, tejocotes, guavas, apple, prunes, sticks of sugarcane, simmer with hibiscus, cinnamon and piloncillo until the punch is fragrant and amber, and everyone fishes the soft fruit out with a spoon. This recipe is alcohol-free and good for all ages; some adults add a splash of rum to their own cup, but none is used here. Chef's tip: add the guavas late, as they collapse if cooked too long.

70 min

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Agua de pepino con limónCucumber lime drink

Pale green and very refreshing, agua de pepino is the cooler sold from market juice stands in Mexico City and Oaxaca when the afternoon heat builds, and families blend a jug for comida on hot days. Cucumber, lime and a few mint leaves give a clean, light taste with very little sugar. Chef's tip: leave some of the peel on the cucumber for colour, but strain the drink so it stays silky.

10 min

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Bacalao navideñoSalt cod stew

Mexican families inherited bacalao from Spain, but the version on the Christmas Eve table in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Puebla has gone its own way. Instead of the Basque sauce of dried choricero peppers with whole cod pieces, the cod here is soaked, finely shredded and cooked down for an hour with a lot of fresh tomato, olive oil, almonds, green olives, capers and pickled güero chiles until thick enough to pile into bolillo rolls. It tastes even better the next day, which is when the leftover tortas are eaten. Chef's tip: soak the cod in the fridge for 36–48 hours, changing the water four times a day, and taste a flake before cooking; it should be pleasantly salty, not briny.

130 min

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Agua de tamarindoTamarind drink

Brown, cloudy and gloriously tart, agua de tamarindo fills the big glass vitroleros at taquerías and fondas across Mexico, especially in hot Guerrero, Colima and the Yucatán, and it is the drink most people reach for with a plate of tacos de guisado. The pods are peeled, simmered and rubbed through a sieve, so it tastes far fresher than paste or concentrate. Chef's tip: soak the pulp in the hot cooking water before you rub it, which loosens every bit from the seeds.

40 min

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Barbacoa de borregoSlow-cooked lamb

In Actopan and the towns of Hidalgo, Sunday starts with barbacoa: lamb wrapped in maguey leaves and cooked overnight in an earth pit, with a pot underneath catching the juices for a rich consommé of chickpeas, rice and guajillo. This home version wraps lamb shoulder in banana leaves and cooks it low and slow in the oven over the consommé. The meat is pulled into tacos with onion, cilantro and salsa, and the broth is sipped alongside. Chef's tip: seal the pot well with foil under the lid so no steam escapes; the lamb should cook in its own vapour.

450 min

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MucbipolloChicken and pork tamal pie

Across the Yucatán Peninsula, the Maya feast of Hanal Pixán, 'food for the souls', at the end of October is marked by mucbipollo: a huge tamal pie, traditionally buried in a pit oven (pib) to bake, then set on the altar and shared the next day. A thick lard-enriched masa shell holds chicken and pork shoulder stewed in achiote, tomato and epazote, bound with a thickened broth called kol. This version uses a home oven and a deep tin lined with banana leaves. It contains pork. Chef's tip: make the kol thick enough to coat a spoon, or the filling floods the masa and the crust turns gummy.

240 min

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Atole de guayabaGuava masa drink

In the cold months, when guavas from Aguascalientes and Michoacán perfume the markets, street vendors in Mexico City ladle atole de guayaba from big steaming pots beside the tamal cart. Ripe guava is blended with milk, strained and thickened with cornflour into a pink, creamy, fragrant drink. It contains dairy. Chef's tip: add the blended guava only once the milk is thickened and off the boil, so the milk doesn't curdle.

35 min

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Atole de fresaStrawberry masa drink

Pink, warm and sweet, atole de fresa is a children's favourite in Mexico City and Irapuato, the strawberry capital of Guanajuato, sold in polystyrene cups alongside tamales for breakfast. Fresh strawberries are blended with milk and thickened with a little masa, which gives a gentle corn flavour under the fruit. It contains dairy. Chef's tip: blend the strawberries raw and add them at the end, so the drink keeps its bright colour.

30 min

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Tortitas de camarónShrimp fritters

Friday lunch during Lent in Mexico City, Puebla and Oaxaca often means tortitas de camarón: airy fritters of beaten egg and ground dried shrimp, fried golden and then simmered in a guajillo-ancho sauce with tender nopales. The dried shrimp gives a deep, briny savouriness that a little goes a long way with. Buy them at Mexican or Asian grocers; they should smell of the sea, not of ammonia, and be pink-orange, not grey. Chef's tip: grind the shrimp with heads and legs removed, then sieve the powder, so no sharp bits end up in the batter.

60 min

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Agua de melónCantaloupe drink

Mexican market juice stalls make agua de melón with the ripest, most fragrant cantaloupes, and many cooks blend in the seeds and the soft pulp around them, which adds a creamy body and a nutty flavour. It's served in tall glasses on hot afternoons from Guanajuato to Veracruz and is a favourite with kids. Chef's tip: smell the stalk end of the melon before you buy it; if it smells sweet, the drink will too.

10 min

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Puerco con verdolagasPork with purslane

Purslane grows wild between the maize rows of Central Mexico, and in the rainy season markets sell it in big damp bunches, mostly for this pork dish. Cubes of pork shoulder are simmered until tender, browned in their own fat and finished in green tomatillo salsa with the juicy, slightly lemony leaves. Eat it with white rice and corn tortillas. Chef's tip: keep the pork broth; a ladle of it in the salsa gives the stew its body.

95 min

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Agua de sandíaWatermelon drink

When watermelons are piled high in the markets of Jalisco and Sonora in summer, almost every taquería has a jar of bright pink agua de sandía next to the horchata. It needs only ripe watermelon, water, a squeeze of lime and a touch of sugar, and children love it. Chef's tip: a very ripe melon may need no sugar at all, so taste before you sweeten.

10 min

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Agua de mangoMango drink

In April and May, when Ataulfo mangoes from Chiapas and Manila mangoes from Veracruz flood the markets, agua de mango becomes the drink of every comida corrida. It is thick, golden and very fruity, sharpened with lime. Chef's tip: use soft, fully ripe yellow mangoes with wrinkled skin; they need far less sugar and give a smooth, fibre-free drink.

10 min

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Pierna adobadaAdobo roast pork leg

From Puebla to Monterrey, a dark red leg of pork comes out of the oven on 24 or 31 December, its adobo of ancho and guajillo chiles, garlic, vinegar and orange caramelised into a sticky crust. It is sliced at the table with apple salad and Christmas rice, and the leftovers fill tortas for days. This recipe uses a smaller boneless leg or shoulder joint of pork that fits a home oven; it marinates overnight in the fridge and roasts low and slow. Chef's tip: baste with the pan juices every half hour once the foil comes off, so the adobo glazes rather than burns.

300 min

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Tacos gobernadorShrimp and cheese tacos

Mazatlán's seafood restaurants claim the 'governor's taco' was created in the 1980s for a visiting state governor, and it is now a fixture along the Sinaloa coast: shrimp sautéed with onion, poblano and tomato, folded into a griddled tortilla with plenty of melted cheese until crisp and gooey. Serve with avocado, lime and a hot sauce. Chef's tip: buy shrimp that smell of the sea, never of ammonia, and cook them the same day.

30 min

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Tacos de suaderoBeef brisket tacos

Suadero is the soul of late-night taquerías in Mexico City, from Coyoacán to the Centro, where thin beef from between the belly and leg bubbles for hours in fat on a domed griddle called a choricera. It turns silky inside and crisp at the edges, then is chopped into tiny doubled tortillas with onion, cilantro and fiery salsa. At home, beef brisket or flank works well, slowly simmered then crisped; the fat is traditionally pork lard, or use beef dripping. Chef's tip: chop the meat small and crisp it in a hot pan just before serving, as taqueros do.

180 min

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Tacos árabesSpit-roast pork tacos

Lebanese and Iraqi immigrants who settled in Puebla in the early twentieth century brought the shawarma spit, and Puebla answered with tacos árabes: thin slices of pork marinated in lime, vinegar, herbs and cumin, roasted on a vertical spit and wrapped in soft pan árabe, a thick pitta-like flatbread. This home version stacks the pork on a skewer in the oven. It is served with a smoky chipotle salsa and lime. Chef's tip: marinate the pork overnight in the fridge for the most tender, tangy result.

135 min

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Tacos de lenguaBeef tongue tacos

Tongue tacos are prized in the taquerías of Mexico City, Puebla and Guadalajara for their melting, rich texture, and they are a classic Saturday treat. The tongue is simmered for hours with onion, garlic and bay, peeled while warm, diced and seared until golden, then served in small tortillas with sharp salsa verde, onion and cilantro. Chef's tip: peel the skin while the tongue is still hot; once cold it sticks stubbornly.

210 min

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Atole blancoWarm masa drink

Long before coffee arrived, atole was the morning drink of central and southern Mexico, and in villages of Oaxaca, Puebla and Tlaxcala plain atole blanco is still drunk hot with tamales at breakfast or on cold evenings. Fresh masa is whisked into water and cooked until it thickens to a silky, gently sweet drink with a toasty corn taste. Made with water it is vegan. Chef's tip: strain the masa before cooking, so the atole is smooth with no lumps.

25 min

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Coctel de camarónPrawn cocktail

Beach stands from Veracruz to Mazatlán serve this cocktail in tall sundae glasses, the prawns swimming in a cold, tangy tomato-lime juice with onion, cucumber, coriander and avocado. It's eaten with a spoon and crisp tostadas, often with a splash of hot sauce, on a hot day by the sea. The prawns are cooked first; it isn't a ceviche. Chef's tip: save the poaching liquid, chill it and add a few spoonfuls to the sauce for a deeper seafood flavour.

20 min