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630 recipes

CampechanasFlaky sweet pastries with sugar top

Campechanas take their name from the port of Campeche, but now they shatter all over the coffee tables of Mexico City and Veracruz: oval, paper-thin layers of dough with a glossy, caramelised sugar crust that cracks as you bite. Mexicans buy them in the evening from the panadería, along with conchas, to dunk in café de olla or hot chocolate. They are traditionally made with lard; this version uses vegetable shortening, which gives the same light flakiness and keeps them vegan. Butter also works but browns faster. The trap is a timid oven: below full heat the sugar stays grainy and white instead of turning to glass. Chef's tip: press the sugar firmly into the top before baking so it melts into an even shiny layer.

180 minMexicanBakingVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pejerrey arrebozadoBattered fish fillets with onion salsa

Pejerrey arrebozado is a Lima classic from the cevicherías and home kitchens of the coast, eaten at lunch on a plate with white rice, a heap of sharp salsa criolla and sometimes boiled potato. The pejerrey, a small silverside, is opened into butterflied fillets, dipped in a light egg-and-flour batter and fried golden. Outside Peru, use small fillets of whiting, sole, haddock or tilapia. The batter here uses sparkling water, not beer, so it is alcohol free. The common mistake is frying in oil that isn't hot enough: the batter drinks the oil and turns greasy, so test with a drop of batter first. Chef's tip: make the salsa criolla first and let the onion sit in lime for ten minutes; it softens its bite and turns a pretty pink.

25 minPeruvianFish
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kärntner ReindlingCinnamon raisin yeast cake

Carinthia's Easter loaf takes its name from the Reindl, the round, deep pan it is baked in, and in southern Austria no Easter basket goes to church without one. Inside the golden yeast crust is a spiral of butter, cinnamon sugar and plump raisins, so every slice shows a dark swirl. Locals eat it two ways: sweet with coffee on Easter morning, or alongside the savoury Easter platter with horseradish. Many bakers soak the raisins in rum overnight; warm water or tea works just as well and keeps it alcohol-free. A dry, crumbly Reindling usually means too much flour went in during kneading, so keep the dough soft and only lightly floured. Chef's tip: butter the pan well and dust it with sugar, which caramelises into a thin crunchy shell.

180 minAustrianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ChaplasHollow puffed Andean bread

Walk through Ayacucho's central market at seven in the morning and you will see women selling stacks of chaplas from cloth-lined baskets, still warm from the wood-fired ovens of the Andes. These round wheat breads puff up like pita in the fierce heat, leaving a hollow pocket inside a thin, soft, lightly floury crust. In Ayacucho and Huancavelica they are eaten with sweet coffee or hot emoliente for breakfast, or split and filled with queso fresco, avocado or a spoonful of rocoto sauce. Highland bakers traditionally work in a little lard; vegetable shortening gives the same tenderness and keeps the bread vegan. A cool baking tray is the reason chaplas stay flat, so preheat it thoroughly. Chef's tip: let the rolled rounds rest before baking and flip them upside down onto the tray, so the smooth, dry side meets the heat first and the pocket opens evenly.

149 minPeruvianBreads & ParathasVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pan de yemaEgg yolk bread with sesame

Sesame-flecked and burnished almost to mahogany, Oaxaca's pan de yema is made for dunking. Bakeries in the city and in the bread town of San Antonio de la Cal turn it out daily, but it is most loved around Día de Muertos, when it sits on the family altar with marigolds and a painted dough face, and is broken into bowls of frothy Oaxacan hot chocolate made with water or milk. The crumb is dense, yellow and close, with a gentle orange note. Some bakers use lard; butter and vegetable shortening are used here so it stays vegetarian. A pale loaf is the giveaway of skipping the second yolk wash: brush twice for that deep, shiny crust. Chef's tip: the dough is heavy and sticky with yolks, so knead it by machine and resist adding flour; it firms up as it develops.

240 minMexicanBreads & Parathas
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Rice atole for babies (atole de arroz)

Atole is the warm, thick drink Mexicans have sipped since before the conquest, and in many homes the first version a baby tastes is atole de arroz, ground rice cooked with a stick of true cinnamon. For grown-ups it is sweetened with piloncillo and drunk at breakfast or on cold evenings around Día de Muertos; for babies the sugar stays out and it is thickened enough to eat from a spoon. It contains milk; there is no egg, gluten, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: grind the rice yourself in a spice grinder; shop-bought rice flour works, but freshly ground rice tastes sweeter.

25 minMexicanDrinksGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Torta de jamón (Mexican ham sandwich)

The torta de jamón is the classic recreo (school break) sandwich across Mexico, sold at school gates and made at home before the morning rush: a crusty bolillo roll, toasted on the griddle, spread with refried beans, then layered with ham, fresh cheese, avocado and tomato. Grown-ups add pickled jalapeños. It contains gluten (wheat), milk and egg (mayonnaise). Chef's tip: spread the beans right to the edges of the bottom half; they act as a barrier so tomato juice doesn't soak the bread.

15 minMexicanFast Food
by KrazyBadal 0 views

TelerasSoft two-groove sandwich rolls

Without teleras there would be no torta, Mexico City's great lunchtime sandwich. These wide, flattish oval rolls, marked with two long grooves, have a thin, tender crust and a soft, close crumb that holds refried beans, avocado, queso and pickled jalapeños without falling apart. Every neighbourhood panadería piles them on metal trays next to the crustier bolillos, and street stalls toast them on a griddle before filling. Some bakers add a spoonful of lard to the dough; vegetable shortening gives the same softness and keeps these vegan. Pressing the grooves too gently is the usual mistake, because they puff closed in the oven and you lose the three-part shape. Chef's tip: for a proper torta, split the roll, pull out a little of the crumb and toast the cut sides on a hot comal with a smear of oil or butter.

160 minMexicanBreads & ParathasVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Huevo con papa toddler tacos

Huevo con papa is a breakfast and supper standby in kitchens all over Mexico: small cubes of potato fried until tender, then scrambled with egg and rolled into warm tortillas. Mild, soft and easy to hold, it is a favourite for toddlers from a year old, and the grown-ups add salsa to their own. It contains egg; made with 100% corn tortillas it has no gluten, and it has no milk, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: cut the potato into small 1 cm cubes and cover the pan for the first few minutes, so it steams tender before it browns.

20 minMexicanBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sopa de letras (Mexican alphabet soup)

Sopa de letras is the soup almost every Mexican child grows up on, served as the 'sopa aguada' course at the midday meal: tiny letter-shaped pasta, toasted golden in oil, then simmered in a broth of blended tomato, onion and garlic with soft diced carrot. For toddlers it is made with a no-salt vegetable stock, so the sweetness of the tomato comes through. It contains gluten (wheat); it has no milk, egg, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: toast the pasta until it smells nutty and turns light gold; that is where the flavour comes from.

25 minMexicanSoupsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bean and cheese burrito

In Sonora and the rest of northern Mexico, where wheat tortillas are an everyday bread, a burrito of refried beans and cheese is one of the simplest things to wrap in foil for a child's school lunch or an after-school snack. The beans are fried with a little onion and cumin until thick and creamy, then rolled up with cheese and toasted so it melts. It contains milk and gluten (wheat tortillas). Chef's tip: warm the tortillas before filling them; cold ones crack when you roll them.

20 minMexicanFast Food
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gorditas de nataSweet cream griddle cakes

In central Mexico, from Mexico City markets to kitchens in Hidalgo and Puebla, gorditas de nata were traditionally made with the thick skin of cream (nata) skimmed from boiled milk, and grandmothers still cook them on the comal for an afternoon merienda with hot chocolate or milky coffee. They are soft and cakey inside with a lightly crisp, golden face, somewhere between a scone and a pancake. Double cream stands in for nata here. They contain gluten, milk and egg. Chef's tip: keep the comal on a low-medium heat; these brown quickly because of the cream and sugar.

35 minMexicanBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bean broth for babies (caldito de frijol)

Mexican families nearly always have a pot of frijoles de la olla on the stove, and before the salt goes in a cup of caldito is set aside for the baby. Black or pinto beans are cooked slowly with a piece of onion until they collapse; the broth is offered first on its own and, a week or two later, thickened with the sieved bean flesh into a smooth, earthy purée. Families from Oaxaca to Monterrey give it at midday, the time of the main meal. It has none of the common allergens (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish). Chef's tip: soak the beans overnight and change the water; they cook more evenly and are easier on small tummies.

130 minMexicanSoupsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Espagueti blanco (creamy white spaghetti)

At Mexican children's birthday parties and family gatherings, a big tray of espagueti blanco usually sits next to the chicken and the salads: soft spaghetti in a mild, silky sauce of cream, cream cheese and butter, sometimes with a little onion and garlic blended in. Some families add diced ham; this version keeps it vegetarian with sweetcorn. It contains milk and gluten. Chef's tip: blend the sauce while it is warm so it is perfectly smooth, then toss it with the pasta off the heat so it stays creamy.

25 minMexicanPasta & Noodles
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pan chutaAniseed round bread

The small town of Oropesa, half an hour from Cusco, calls itself Peru's bread capital, and its wood-fired bakeries are famous for chuta: big, flat, round loaves as wide as a dinner plate, glossy on top, with a faint sweetness and the warmth of aniseed. Travellers on the road to Puno and Bolivia stop to buy them by the bagful, and families bring them home for All Saints' Day and for sharing with hot coca tea or coffee, fresh cheese and butter. The bakeries traditionally use lard; this version uses vegetable shortening and butter, so it is vegetarian. The make-or-break moment is the proof: chuta is large and flat, and if it goes in under-risen it bakes dense and splits at the rim. Chef's tip: toast the aniseed for a minute in a dry pan and crush it lightly before adding, for a rounder, sweeter perfume.

240 minPeruvianBreads & Parathas
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ErdäpfelstrudelSavoury potato strudel

Austrians, especially in the Mühlviertel of Upper Austria and the Waldviertel, make savoury strudels as often as sweet ones, and Erdäpfelstrudel is a farmhouse favourite for a meatless Friday or a cold evening. Thin pastry wraps a filling of potatoes, fried onion, sour cream, marjoram and parsley, baked until crisp and golden and sliced with a green salad or a dill and sour-cream dip. Bought filo makes it easy at home. The mistake to avoid is a wet filling, which turns the pastry soggy underneath. Chef's tip: cool the filling completely before rolling; warm filling makes the layers stick and tear.

90 minAustrianVegetarian
by KrazyBadal 0 views

SincronizadasHam and cheese tortilla sandwiches

Found on cafeteria menus and in school lunchboxes from Monterrey to Mérida, sincronizadas are two flour tortillas 'synchronised' around cooked ham (pork) and melting cheese, then toasted on the griddle until the cheese runs. Cut into wedges and served with guacamole or salsa, they're a ten-minute supper that children love. Chef's tip: keep the heat at medium, so the cheese melts before the tortillas scorch.

15 minMexicanFast Food
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minMexicanFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minMexicanDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tacos de nopales asadosGrilled cactus tacos

At weekend markets in Milpa Alta, the cactus-growing district on Mexico City's southern edge, whole nopal paddles are grilled until tender and folded into tortillas with charred spring onions and salsa verde. Grilling dries the natural slime the cactus is known for and leaves a lemony, green-bean flavour. It is a light, naturally vegan taco. Buy paddles with the spines already removed, or scrape them carefully with a knife. Chef's tip: score the paddles in a criss-cross before grilling so they cook evenly and stay flat.

25 minMexicanSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tejocotes en almíbarHawthorn fruit in syrup

Golden tejocotes, small tart hawthorn fruits from the highlands around Puebla and the State of Mexico, appear in market sacks for only a few weeks before Day of the Dead and Christmas. Poached whole in piloncillo syrup with cinnamon and a strip of orange, they turn soft and perfumed, a little like quince crossed with apricot, and are set on the ofrenda or eaten from a bowl with their syrup. Outside Mexico, look for them frozen or in jars at Latin grocers; small crab apples are the nearest swap. Chef's tip: blanch and peel them first, as the skins go tough and bitter in syrup.

60 minMexicanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Huevos motuleñosYucatán eggs on tostadas

The town of Motul, an hour east of Mérida, gave the Yucatán its grandest breakfast, now served in every market loncheria on the peninsula: a crisp tortilla spread with black beans, a fried egg, a blanket of mild tomato sauce, then diced ham, peas, crumbled cheese and slices of sweet fried plantain, with fiery habanero salsa on the side. It contains pork in the form of cooked ham; for a vegetarian plate, just leave the ham out. Chef's tip: fry the tortillas until fully crisp so they stay crunchy under the sauce.

35 minMexicanBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minMexicanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tortitas de coliflorCauliflower in egg batter

Cuaresma, the six weeks of Lent, is cauliflower season in the markets of Puebla and Mexico City, and cooks turn the florets into these puffy capeados: each piece stuffed with a little cheese, dipped in whisked egg, fried until golden and then bathed in a brick-red sauce of tomato and guajillo chilli. They come to the table with white rice and a stack of tortillas. Queso Oaxaca and panela are often made with animal rennet, so pick a vegetarian melting cheese if needed. Chef's tip: dust the florets with flour before the batter so it clings rather than slides off.

55 minMexicanVegetarian
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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