Lily Ramirez shares the secret to the ultimate summer feast and all things Tacos 

Lily Ramirez is the authority on Mexican cooking in Ireland and Nigella Lawson has declared herself an official fan. She shares her recipes for her ultimate summer feast and talks about writing a bestselling cookbook during lockdown

Salsa for Tacos de Carne Asada by Lily Ramirez at Picado. Photograph Moya Nolan

When Nigella Lawson says that she has fallen in love with your cookbook you know you are onto a good thing. Lily Ramirez was having tea with the Mexican ambassador to Ireland when her phone started hopping around her handbag, alerting her to something urgent. Lily, having adopted the Irish assumption that this kind of activity bears bad news during her 21 years here, rushed to finish her tea and find her phone, bracing herself for what was to come.

The first message she saw was from her publisher Kristin Jensen of Nine Bean Books. “NIGELLA.” The excitement was thanks to an article published on Nigella’s website, citing Lily’s book Tacos to be one of the finds of the year. “This is the simple, undeniable state of affairs right now: I have fallen in love with Lily Ramirez-Foran’s beautiful little book, Tacos, and I can’t wait for you to as well! It’s a real shout-it-from-the-rooftops moment.” Shook by such an accolade by one of her heroes, Lily dissolved into tears. It had been a long journey to get here. As well as confirmation that Ramirez’ book was actually really very good, this accolade signified something else to the Mexican cook. “It was validation for me, but also it was healing.” 

Ramirez arrived to Ireland in 1999 when avocados were merely a glimmer in the eyes of toastmakers around the country and tortillas just simply didn’t exist. Before Old El Paso declared their brand of Tex Mex to be authentic Mexican food and before Choula hot sauce had a spot on the breakfast tables of Irish families, she was an outlier. She documented her love of food in her blog ‘A Mexican Cook,’ showing us how she was making the food of her homeland with Irish produce.

Of course, there were lots of key ingredients that were simply not available on our shores, and Lily began to order Mexican ingredients online to see how they would fare in their travels over here. It was in this experiment that the idea for Picado was born. First an online store selling authentic ingredients and equipment like tortilla presses, it grew into a brick and mortar store in Dublin in 2014. Since then, Ramirez has been hosting cooking classes onsite, teaching how to make simple but delicious Mexican cuisine using her own family recipes handed down through the generations.

The global pandemic took a life-changing toll on Ramirez. She lost her beloved father to cancer while the world was locked down, and her heart was torn in two. “I went through a lot of those months just existing,” she says. “I remember at the time thinking I need something to hold on to because otherwise I was gonna go crazy. We're very close family. Even though I've only been here for 21 years now, there wasn't a day where we wouldn't speak to each other and you know, we're very, very close. And it was really, really tough knowing that dad was going to die and I wasn't going to be there.” When Kristin Jensen rang her and asked if she’d be interested in writing a book, she grabbed the idea with both hands. “I think writing this book was what saved my bacon over the last two years. And because it is a nod to family, and I was writing about the food of my country and the recipes of my own family, it helped me in many ways.” 

 Despite being written during such heartbreaking circumstances, Tacos is a riotous celebration of the food of her homeland. Focusing on tacos as a theme was a clever idea, because Mexican cuisine has so many facets and nuances it would be easy for a new reader to be overwhelmed. For Lily, it is an opportunity to show off the food of her heritage.

Her mother and her sisters are thrilled with the book, but Lily says she definitely received a few dirty looks when it came to the salsa recipes she has shared. “it's a weird cultural thing with Mexicans. We don't tend to share salsa recipes. If you marry into a family that is well known for its salsas it could take you two grandchildren before they let you know the recipe.”

Tacos Carne Asada

In my hometown of Monterrey, in the north-east of Mexico, families gather around the asador (the charcoal BBQ) every weekend to take part in a tradition that is almost sacred: making carne asada.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 1 hours 20 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 50 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Mexican

Ingredients

• FOR THE CARNE:

• 850g sirloin steak (about 3 large steaks)

• 2 limes

• ¾ tsp garlic powder

• ¾ tsp freshly ground black pepper

• flaky sea salt

• ½ small onion

• FOR THE TACOS:

• 16 corn tortillas, warmed

• 1 small onion, finely diced

• 1 small bunch of fresh coriander, chopped (leaves and stems)

• taquera salsa verde

• 2 limes, quartered

Method

1. Start by laying the steaks in a glass or non-reactive baking dish. Cut the limes in half and squeeze their juice over the steaks, then sprinkle over half the garlic powder, half the pepper and some salt to taste. Turn the steaks over and sprinkle the rest of the garlic powder, the remaining pepper and a little more salt on the other side.

2. Let the meat marinate for at least 30 minutes but no more than 1 hour max, otherwise the lime will start cooking the meat. Leave it out at room temperature while it marinates to relax the muscle, giving you a more tender steak.

3. I’m not an expert griller by any stretch of the imagination, so I consulted my mate Alfie McCaffrey from Old Farm, who lives and breathes all things BBQ at his North Tipperary smallholding, and he gave me some great tips. If you are using all new charcoal, light it up and within roughly 30 minutes, the BBQ will be ready to start cooking your meat. If you are using a mixture of old and new charcoal, then it might take 40–45 minutes for it to reach a proper temperature to start cooking.

4. For hard-core grillers, Alfie suggests that you carefully hold your hand about an inch over the grill of your BBQ – if you can hold it there for 3–4 seconds before you need to remove it because it’s too hot, that’s a proper temperature to cook your meat. He did mention that this hand test MUST be done VERY carefully and that the distance of the charcoal to the grill does have a say in this too, but it’s a tip I would use myself.

5. So once the BBQ has reached the correct temperature, rub the grill a few times with the cut side of the onion half using tongs. This will season the grill with a lovely oniony flavour and it will impart aroma to your meat.

6. As soon as you finish with the onion, remove the steaks form the marinade and place them directly on the grill of your BBQ. I like my steak medium-rare and the ones I used are usually about 5cm thick, so I cook them for 3–3½ minutes on each side to get perfect results. Cooking times depend on how thick your steak is and how done you like it, but roughly, for a rare stake you need 2 minutes on each side, 3 minutes on each side for medium or 5 minutes per side for well done.

7. Remove the steak to a chopping board and cover loosely with foil. Let it rest for 5 minutes. This will allow the meat to relax again, release some of its juices and reabsorb them, giving you a tender, juicy steak. Reserve any cooking juices left on the board.

8. While the steak rests, warm up a serving plate so that you can place the meat on it after you cut it. Get all the trimmings for the tacos ready at the table and start heating your tortillas. I love heating tortillas directly on the BBQ if I have the time and space to do it. Heat them up for about 40 seconds on each side and wrap them into a clean, thick tea towel to keep them warm.

9. Slice the rested steak, always against the grain of the meat, and place the cut pieces on the warm plate. Pour any cooking juices from the board over the meat, then bring the plate to the table and call in the troops.

10. Make a carne asada taco by putting a couple of slices of steak in a warmed corn tortilla, add some chopped onion and coriander and drizzle everything with a generous spoonful of salsa. Finish it off with a squeeze of lime juice.

Tacquera Salsa Verde

This salsa is a favourite of many taco stands in my hometown of Monterrey. It’s lusciously creamy, tangy and has a good level of heat, perfect for any grilled meats, especially the carne asada tacos.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 55 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 5 mins

Course

 Side

Cuisine

 Mexican

Ingredients

• 300g courgettes, thickly sliced

• 800g tinned tomatillos, drained

• 100ml water

• 2 tbsp sunflower oil

• fresh green jalapeño chillies, cut into thick slices (with seeds)

• 1 large garlic clove, peeled

• 1 small bunch of fresh coriander (optional)

• flaky sea salt

Method

1. Place the courgettes, tomatillos and water in a medium-sized saucepan. I always put the courgettes at the bottom of the pot first to cook them better.

2. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat to medium-high and cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid. Simmer for 20–25 minutes, until the courgettes are fully cooked.

3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a small frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the chilli slices and the whole garlic clove, then lower the heat to medium.

4. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, until the chillies have blistered and changed to a lighter shade of green and the garlic is golden. The oil will become a light shade of green as it infuses with the lovely flavours of the chillies and garlic.

5. Transfer the contents of both the saucepan and the frying pan to a blender or food processor, making sure you scrape in every bit of oil from the pan as there is a lot of flavour in it.

6. Follow with the coriander (if using), stems and all, and salt to taste. Blend until you have a completely smooth, creamy salsa.

7. I love the leftovers of this salsa on everything, but drizzled over baked potatoes is my absolute favourite way to use it. Keep it in the fridge in a sealed jar for about a week, but I dare you to make it last that long!

Frozen Strawberry Margaritas

This margarita recipe will change the way you approach your summer parties. You can prep everything the day before and be the margarita queen or king for the day.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 30 mins

Course

 Dessert

Cuisine

 Mexican

Ingredients

• FOR THE SOUR MIX:

• 1 egg white

• 225g caster sugar 500ml water

• 500ml freshly squeezed lime juice (see the note)

• FOR THE GLASSES:

• ½ lime, cut into wedges

• Tajín chilli and lime powder

• fresh strawberries, to decorate

• paper umbrellas, to decorate

• FOR THE MARGARITAS:

• 10 fresh strawberries

• 60ml sour mix

• 2 tbsp good-quality tequila

• 1 tbsp Triple Sec

• 1 tbsp grenadine ice cubes (optional if you haven’t frozen the strawberries)

Method

1. If you’re organised, prep the fruit the day before so that it will have time to freeze and you won’t need any ice. Wash your strawberries well. Cut off and discard the stems, leaves and white parts, then place the strawberries in a container in the freezer. By freezing the fruit, you will get the best consistency for your margaritas and you avoid using ice and diluting the flavours when making the cocktail.

2. Move on to making your sour mix. The ingredients here will give you a litre of sour mix, good for a few rounds of margaritas. It’s dead simple. Whisk the egg white in a large bowl with a fork or a little whisk until it’s frothy. Stir in the sugar, then add the water and lime juice and mix well. Store in a glass bottle with a cap and keep it refrigerated until you need to use it (but it will only keep for a couple of days, max, in the fridge as it contains raw egg). Shake well before using.

3. On the day, prep the margarita glasses. Rub a lime wedge all around the rim of each glass. Put the Tajín on a plate (or even better, get a Tajín rimmer) and dip the glass in it so that the wet rim is covered in Tajín. Set aside.

4. Put the strawberries, sour mix, tequila, Triple Sec, grenadine and ice cubes (if using) in a blender or food processor and blitz until it’s all a smooth, slushy consistency. Pour into the prepped margarita glasses and decorate with a strawberry and a paper umbrella (the amounts given for the margaritas will serve 2).
   NOTE ON LIME JUICE
   Squeezing a lime for juice is hard work, let alone squeezing enough limes for 500ml of juice! I discovered a company called the Raw Juice Company that sells freshly squeezed juices and delivers all over Ireland. I buy the catering size of lime juice, which is 2 litres, but if I don’t use it all, I freeze it for the next party. It saves a lot of time and effort.