Darina Allen: Mexican recipes to try, including refried beans and a super delicious burrata

Mexico City is a really hot food city with some of the very best food I’ve eaten anywhere

A tempting wedding invitation gave us the excuse we needed to spend a very enjoyable interlude in Mexico recently.

Over a year ago, two of our friends upped sticks and moved lock, stock and barrel from the UK and Denmark to Mexico City, now considered to be one of the coolest places to live anywhere in the world, there and Margate on the south coast of England.

Richard is a baker of some considerable renown.

Having started the now world famous mecca of sourdough, Tartine in San Francisco with Chad Robertson, he was later invited by René Redzepi of Noma to Copenhagen where he established his own Hart Bageri in Frederiksberg.

Plans are underway to establish yet another artisan bakery to introduce his deeply flavourful natural sourdoughs and viennoiserie to the eager emigrant hipsters in the leafy La Condesa and Roma area of Mexico City.

His paramour, Henrietta Lovell, aka The Rare Tea Lady plans to run her exquisite, rare tea business sourced from tiny tea gardens around the world from Mexico City and the original headquarters in London.

The wedding in a beautiful venue called Salón Barcelona was further embellished with brightly coloured pinatas. The bride wore a flowing handprinted silk dress in shades of whisper pink with a pale yellow ruff on the hem and carried a bouquet of heritage wheat tied with a pink velvet bow.

This was carried all the way from Italy by the farmer, who grows the wheat for Richard’s slowly fermented sourdough loaves. How romantic was that?

Flamboyantly dressed friends travelled from all over the world to celebrate the joyous occasion. Tea cocktails laced with mescal and tequila flowed, Mexican street food, quesadillas, tacos, elotes, esquites and tamales were served at intervals throughout the evening. With live music and dance and a selection of refreshing icecreams - homemade in small batches from ripe mangoes, sapote, and other seasonal fruits - what a fun party.

Mexico City has so much more. It’s a really hot food city with some of the very best food I’ve eaten anywhere and markets to make you swoon. Before I start to wax lyrical about the food I must mention that Mexico City has more museums than any other city in the world apart from London.

The National Museum of Anthropology located within Chapultepec Park is not to be missed and I would also say that Museo de Arte Popular and Museo de Arte Contempóraneo also be on your absolutely ‘must see’ list.

Most intriguing of all is the area where they sell the staple of the pre-Hispanic diet, a vast selection of insects: crickets, grasshoppers, ants, spiders, tarantulas, grubs, maguey cactus worms and scorpions, can now be found not just in markets and street stalls but also on virtually every high-end restaurant menu.

They are super high in protein, the Aztecs, Mixtecs and other civilisations flourished for millennia on a diet rich in crickets, grubs, grasshoppers and other edible invertebrates. They have been rediscovered and mark my word; they will be coming our way soon.

They are already being farmed by ‘sustainable entrepreneurs’ and the UN describes them as a ‘promising source of sustainable protein.’

A favourite way to eat crunchy chapulines in Oaxaca is on tacos with a dollop of guacamole, a sprinkling of finely diced white onion, crumbled queso fresco, chopped coriander and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Insects, worms and ant eggs are frequently added to omelettes or sprinkled over frittatas and snacks. I greatly enjoyed an ant egg omelette at Cardenal in Mexico City: they are crunchy like popcorn!

Burrata with Kumquats & Extra Virgin Olive Oil

recipe by:Darina Allen

This simple combination served at Lardo in Mexico City was super delicious with flat bread straight from the oven.

Servings

1

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 35 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 1 burrata (cut in half if too large)

• 235g kumquats

• 200ml water

• 110g sugar

• extra virgin olive oil

• sea salt

• freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. First poach the kumquats.

2. Slice the kumquats thinly into four or five round slices depending on size.

3. Remove the seeds. Put the kumquats into a saucepan with the water and sugar and let them cook very gently, covered, for half an hour or until tender when pierced with a knife. Time may vary depending on the batch of citrus.

4. Cool and store until needed.

5. To Serve: Place a ball of burrata on aplate, slice almost in half perpendicularly.

6. Spoon a generous tablespoon of poached kumquats into the centre so it spills out on either side.

7. Season with freshly cracked pepper, a sprinkle of sea salt then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately with flatbread.

Frijoles de Olla - Mexican Beans

recipe by:Darina Allen

Beans cooked simply like this are virtually a staple in Mexico, served at almost every meal including breakfast.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 2 hours 0 mins

Total Time

 2 hours 15 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 450g dried or canned black beans

• or red kidney or pinto beans

• 1-2 tbsp good quality lard or butter

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 1 tsp salt (may take more

• depending on the beans)

• 1-2 sprigs of epazote (optional)

• To make Frijoles Refritos (Refried Beans)

• 50-75g best quality pork lard or butter

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

• 225g Frijoles de Olla

Method

1. The day before: Cover the beans generously with cold water and soak overnight. Alternatively, if you are in a hurry, bring the beans to the boil for 3 or 4 minutes, then take off the heat and leave aside for an hour or so.

2. Either way, drain the beans, cover with fresh water, about 1.4 litres, add the lard or butter and onion but not the salt. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 1-2 hours depending on the beans. About 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time add the salt and the sprig of epazote if you have it.

3. Keep an eye on the beans while they cook, they should always be covered with liquid. If you see the beans peeping through cover with boiling water by about 1cm. When they are cooked,the beans should be completely softand the liquid slightly thickish and soupy (reserve the cooking liquid if making frijoles refritos, refried beans) .

4. To make Frijoles Refritos (Refried Beans): Heat the lard or butter in a heavy frying pan, cook the onion until soft and brown, increase the heat and add about a third of the beans and their broth to the pan and cook over a high heat mashing them as you stir with a wooden spoon, or you could even use a potato masher, gradually add the rest of the beans little by little until you have a thick coarse purée.

5. Taste and season with salt if necessary. Although this sounds as though it might be a lengthy business, it only takes about 8 or 9 minutes. The beans are ready when the thick purée begins to dry out and sizzle at the edges.

6. Frijoles refritos keep well and may be reheated many times.

Seasonal Journal

Tour of Hederman’s Belvelly Smokehouse

The only smokehouse in Ireland where salmon is hung for smoking is ready to reopen its doors for immersive tours this March.

Frank and Caroline Hederman’s Belvelly Smokehouse near Cobh has been perfecting the art of smoking — salmon, mackerel, mussels, and butter for over 40 years, supplying markets in Cork and restaurants far and wide. From March, people can see the inner workings of the business and the secret behind their mouth-watering creations.

The tours will be 30 minutes in length and will also include samples.

Their Tasting Room is currently open as a shop Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm. Keep an eye on their social media for more details in the coming weeks: On Instagram follow@hedermansmokedfish 

Support your local farmers’ market 

Don’t forget to support your local farmers’ market which are all back in full operation after the Christmas/new year break.

January often tends to have been a quiet month so it’s more important than ever to support the producers who are there week in, week out, regardless of the weather. Plus, it’s a wonderfully convivial experience and you get to talk to the heroes who grow, rear, bake, cure, smoke, and pickle your food…