This month's Kitchen Trotter box (or rather last month's - it only arrived this week but they've got out of synch so this is the March box) has just arrived and it will be taking us to Mexico. I was moderately enthusiastic as most people already have a fair number of Mexican recipes in their culinary repertoire, but hopefully the kit will provide some lesser known dishes. Scanning through the enclosed guide book, we will be focusing on the cuisine of the Yucatan region, whose foodie heritage lies in Mayan culture.
The first things to come out of the box were a pack of Mexican tortilla flour and a pouch of salsa verde (green sauce), made from tomatillos (green tomatoes). Apparently, this goes very well with camembert, if there is any left over. Whistle Stop Cafe, eat your heart out !
On to some popular Mexican sweet treats, which sound decidedly strange to me ! Pulparindo are made with tamarind pulp, which gives them a sweet, sharp and spicy flavour, and the packaging also says salty. I'll give them a try but I'm not really expecting to like them ! On the right, Mexican chocolate - well, Mexico is the birthplace of chocolate after all. This apparently has a rich, intense and spicy flavour - I've heard of chilli-chocolate sauces but have yet to try that particular combination so it will be interesting to see what we think.
On to the spices - epazote en hojuela or chopped pazote, also known as Mexican tea, which is used in cookery and has flavours of mint, lemon and eucalyptus. Also a tin of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Funnily enough, I have a recipe for adobo chicken bookmarked. This is apparently quite spicy so should be used sparingly.
The bonus goodies are three little seasoning sachets - chile & limon, ranchero and fajita - as well as this month's magnet and a palm tree-topped blown glass cocktail stirrer.
On to the recipes.
Sopa de Lima - lime soup, which sounds intriguing. It also contains chicken, onions and tomatoes so it sounds like a great way of using up the leftovers after the Sunday roast.
Cazuela de camarones - a dish made with spicy prawns.
Chalupas de salsa verde - homemade corn tortillas topped with green sauce.
And for dessert, churros with Mexican hot chocolate.
They all sound like light snacky suppers rather than a main meal, but I'm pleased to see that they are original recipes that I'd never heard of (apart from the churros). I'll be sharing the recipes and the finished dishes with you once I've had a chance to try them out.
*** Don't miss my country-by-country globecooking recipe index ! ***
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