Plus a genius tip for skewering corn on the cob this summer.
Daniella Guevara Muñoz
In Mexico City, ¡Provecho! (enjoy your meal) is a common greeting directed toward anyone you see eating, be it strangers, family or friends. Daniella Guevara Muñoz’s debut cookbook of the same name is a collection of home-style recipes where enjoyment is guaranteed.
The Mexican cook behind Adelaide’s deservedly popular La Popular Taqueria shares three summery party snacks, plus how to make a Michelada, a saucy beer-based cocktail, to chase them with.
Chicharron de queso (cheese crackling)
This dish has the shortest list of ingredients – just cheddar. It is not the easiest dish to make, though – it took me a couple of tries to get it right. It’s commonly served as a starter at a taqueria with some salsa or pico de gallo (see recipe below).
I made this a single-serve recipe, but you can easily make more if you need to. The goal is for a crispy cheese crust – it shouldn’t be oily. Try some of your local cheeses to see which one works best. In Adelaide, I have found that sharp cheddar gives the best result. I suggest buying packaged cheese slices, which will be easier to cook because they are even in thickness.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 slices of packed sliced sharp cheddar
To serve (optional)
- pico de gallo (see recipe below)
METHOD
- Heat a large non-stick frying pan over low heat. Arrange the four slices of cheese in the pan to form one large square. The edges of the slices need to touch but not overlap. Cook for about 5 minutes until the cheese starts to split (releasing oil). If there is an excess of oil, tip it out of the pan.
- Turn up the heat to medium and keep cooking for about 5 minutes more until the cheese turns golden brown. With a thin spatula, try to get under the crust so you can flip it – it should not be melted cheese but a crispy crust approximately 1mm thick and 20cm in diameter. Flip the cheese crust and cook for a minute to make sure it is all crispy. Flip it back onto the other side.
- With the spatula, take the cheese crust out of the pan and place on a chopping board. The next step should happen immediately (before the cheese becomes hard). Take a round object – I use my narrow rolling pin – and roll the crust into a tube. Use an oven mitt or tea towel to do this, as the cheese is very hot. Don’t worry if you can’t get the crust into a tube form – it took me a couple of goes. If you have a fail, simply break the cheese into shards and serve in a bowl instead.
- Chicharron de queso makes a great sharing dish, so cook a few, then serve on a nice plate. Serve with a bowl of pico de gallo or guacamole. Break into pieces and enjoy!
Serves 1
Tip: You can make chicharron de queso a couple of hours in advance; just let it cool down, then store in a sealed container.
Elotes (grilled corn on the cob)
Walk around any plaza or market in Mexico and you will find a corn stall or puesto de elotes. Elotes are fresh cobs of corn roasted on a little barbecue or boiled on a street cart – hence callejero, which means “from the street”. At high school, my friends and I would walk to the nearby Plaza Coyoacan just to have one of these while we loitered around or sat on a park bench to people-watch and gossip.
These aren’t too dissimilar to the corn on the cob you’ll find in other parts of the world, but Mexicans like to go a bit extra and bold with the flavours. We cover the cooked cob with mayonnaise and sprinkle it with crumbled cheese, chilli and lime. A messy but delicious business.
I don’t know why, but the only fresh corn you find in Australia is sweet, while in Mexico this type of corn is not common. The flavour of Mexican fresh corn is more starchy and not so sweet; the kernels are also less juicy. If you can’t find non-sweet corn or fresh maize, use sweet corn. Usually, the corn is boiled, and some places sell them charred, which I prefer for sweet corn.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 corn cobs with husks on
- 4 wooden skewers (see tip)
- 150g whole-egg mayonnaise
- 200g grated queso cotija or ricotta salata
- chilli powder, to sprinkle
- 2 limes, halved
METHOD
- Place the corn cobs on a hot barbecue and grill for 30 minutes, turning regularly. The husk will protect the corn from burning. After 20 minutes, remove the burnt husks and fibres and char the cob until the kernels get some colour, about 10 more minutes.
- Remove from the fire and stick the wooden skewers into the cobs.
- Cover the warm cobs with mayonnaise and sprinkle with cheese until fully covered. Sprinkle with chilli powder. Squeeze a little lime over the corn and enjoy.
Serves 4
Tip: It is hard to find solid skewers that will hold the cob, so I use bamboo chopsticks from my takeaway sushi and sharpen them with a pencil sharpener.
Mexican prawn cocktail
Once you’ve tried this Mexican prawn cocktail, which is enjoyed all over Mexico, you won’t go back to the creamy seafood sauce-dunked prawn cocktails of years gone by! You can add oysters, clams or cooked octopus to make it a true seafood cocktail. It’s a perfect hangover cure as well. The only other thing you need is some Salada crackers (original only!) and you’re set.
INGREDIENTS
- ½ brown onion, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 small thyme sprig
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 750g small/medium raw whole prawns, unpeeled
- 1 small white onion, finely chopped
- 2 tomatoes, deseeded and finely diced
- ¼ bunch coriander, chopped, plus extra leaves to garnish
- 1 avocado, diced (optional)
- 8 large Salada (Original) crackers (or other saltine-style crackers)
- 2 limes, cut into wedges
For the sauce
- 250ml (1 cup) tomato juice
- 125ml (½ cup) tomato ketchup
- 125ml (½ cup) freshly squeezed orange juice
- 60ml (¼ cup) freshly squeezed lime juice (from 2 limes)
- 110ml (3½ fl oz) of the prawn cooking broth (see method)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- hot sauce, such as 1 tablespoon Tabasco, plus extra to garnish
- salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
METHOD
- Fill a medium saucepan over medium–low heat with 1.5 litres of water. Add the brown onion, garlic, thyme, salt and bay leaf and bring to the boil. Add the prawns and cook for 3 minutes.
- Take the prawns out of the saucepan with a mesh strainer, reserving the broth in the pan as you will need it later. Set aside.
- Let the prawns cool, then peel and devein, reserving the shells.
- Place the prawn shells into the reserved broth, bring to the boil again and cook for another 10 minutes before turning the heat off and letting it cool. Strain the broth and reserve for the sauce.
- For the sauce, in a bowl, whisk together the tomato juice, ketchup, orange juice, lime juice, reserved prawn broth, olive oil and hot sauce until well combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Fill four cups or bowls with three layers of prawn, white onion, tomato and a little coriander. Pour the sauce over but don’t fully cover the prawns.
- Garnish with diced avocado (if using) and extra coriander leaves. Add the hot sauce.
- Place the cups on small plates and serve each portion with two whole Salada crackers and lime wedges.
Serves 4
Michelada
If you’re partial to a bloody Mary or two, you will love this michelada. In essence, it’s a tomato juice-based cocktail served with a cold beer. Win win. There is some debate around the name, though, as michelada is sometimes called chelada in Mexico City, but elsewhere chelada generally refers to a beer with lime juice and salt. Whatever you call it, this is a summer classic.
Normally this drink is made with clamato – a blend of tomato juice and clam broth, with some spices blended in – but it is hard to get in Australia, so I use plain tomato juice. However, you could top the drink with a shucked oyster to get a similar effect! It is also fun to rim the glass with Chamoy and Tajin, which will make the drink spicier.
INGREDIENTS
- lime wedge
- flaky salt, for rimming the glass
- Chamoy or Tajin, for rimming the glass (optional)
- ice cubes (optional)
- 2 dashes Maggi sauce
- 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
- 2 dashes Tabasco sauce (add more if you like it spicy)
- 60ml (¼ cup) tomato juice
- 45ml freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 cold Mexican lager
METHOD
- Rim a tall beer glass with salt flakes by rubbing a lime wedge around the rim, then dipping the rim of the glass in salt spread on a small plate (plus a little Chamoy or Tajin if you like).
- Fill one-third of the glass with ice cubes (if using).
- Add all the sauces and juices.
- Serve with a cold beer. Pour the beer into the glass and enjoy.
Serves 1
Tip: For a chelada, just rim the glass with salt, and add ice and lime juice.
Pico de gallo
Pico de gallo is super easy to make. Sometimes called salsa bandera (‘Mexican flag salsa’) in northern Mexico, it packs a punch and lifts a dish. You could add a bit of green chilli, such as jalapeno or serrano, for that extra kick of heat. Serve pico de gallo as a starter or a snack with corn chips or chicharron de queso.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 ripe roma tomatoes, finely chopped
- 2 small white onions, finely chopped
- ½ bunch roughly chopped coriander (cilantro)
- salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
METHOD
- Combine the tomato, onion and coriander in a medium bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. That’s it! You don’t need to do anything else.
Makes 500g
Note: Pico de gallo is best eaten fresh, but at a pinch it could be stored in the fridge for 24 hours.
This is an edited extract from Provecho: Real Mexican Food at Home by Daniella Guevara Muñoz, photography by Simon Bajada, Murdoch Books, RRP $45.
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