I’m a little late in posting this recipe for humitas. Though I read about them weeks ago and made my first batch a couple of days ago, a lot of have-tos (and a few want-tos) have gotten in the the way. Initially, I didn’t recognize them as the tamales I’d grown up with. They were of course and they weren’t. Depending on whether you’re in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela or the Caribbean, they’re known as humitas, humintas, tamales, tamalli, tamalitos verdes, chapanas, bollos, choclotanda, chumales, cachapas, chapanas, chiguiles, envueltos de mazorca, ayacas, hallacas, juanes, pamonhas. The filling can be sweet or savory, made with fresh or dried corn, plantains or potatoes, wrapped corn husks, banana leaves or parchment paper, steamed or baked, served as a snack, side dish, casserole or heavy stew. Continue reading ‘Humitas Ecuatorianas’
Archive for the 'Appetizers' Category
Humitas Ecuatorianas
Published 18 July 2010 Appetizers , Basic Techniques , Breakfast/Brunch , Ecuador , General , Latin America-General , Light Lunch , Vegetarian 3 CommentsTags: Tamales, Maria Baez Kijac, The South American Table, humitas, corn, humitas Ecuatorianas, Ecaudorian humitas
Mariquitas de Platános
Published 11 July 2010 Appetizers , Cuba , General 4 CommentsTags: Plantains, Mazatlan, Memories of a Cuban Kitchen: More Than 200 Classic Recipes, Mary Urrutia Randelman, Joan Schwartz, mariquitas, mariquitas de platanos con mojo vinegreta, plantain chips, garlic dip
Feeling restless, I decided to make a batch of mariquitas. Not the hard, round plantain chips sold in grocery stores, but the ribbon like crisps served with garlic mojo for dipping. Though simple enough to make at home, I could only remember having them in family style Cuban restaurants, where they’d appear ready to eat in baskets. The starter no one remembers ordering but everyone is happy to see. Continue reading ‘Mariquitas de Platános’
A Grilling Alternative
Published 3 July 2010 Appetizers , General , Light Lunch , Mexico , Vegetarian 3 CommentsTags: steamed corn, Mexican crema, corn with chili, summer recipes, esquite, elote en vaso, Steamed Corn with Crema, Chile, and Cheese, Elote con crema
I was looking for grilling recipes when I heard about a great non-grilling suggestion from my Tio Raul. After giving me instructions on how to make grilled elotes slathered in crema and covered with cheese, he mentioned this version he’d had at the end of a long Mexican wedding where the reception ended with a second meal. Continue reading ‘A Grilling Alternative’
Vaca Frita
Published 9 June 2010 Appetizers , Cuba , General , Light Lunch , Soups/Stews 7 CommentsTags: arroz blanco, Crispy Beef, flank steak, Food & Wine, Fried Cow, Lourdes Castro, Vaca Frita, white rice
I’ve wanted to make vaca frita for awhile. Literally translated as “Fried Cow”, I hesitate to order it at Cuban restaurants. While I love the combination of crispy beef and caramelized onions sprinkled with lime, too often it’s more fry than cow. Continue reading ‘Vaca Frita’
Gourmet Latino Festival
Published 8 June 2010 Appetizers , Beverages , Events , General , Latin America-General 2 CommentsTags: Authentic Dining Week, Batida de maracuja, Beleza Pura, Cachaça, Caipirinha, Fazenda Soledade, Gourmet Latino Festival, Leblon, Leticia Moreinos Schwartz, Olie Berlic, The Brazilian Kitchen, Ypioca
This past Sunday I was invited to “Feel the Spirit of Brazil” at the Gourmet Latino Festival’s cachaça tasting seminar led by The Brazilian Kitchen’s Leticia Moreinos Schwartz and Olie Berlic. I have to admit that I was mostly looking forward to the petiscos: pão de queijo (cheese rolls), biscoito povilho (yucca sticks), croquette de carne (meat croquettes), and brigadeiros (chocolate fudge truffles) but there was more. Continue reading ‘Gourmet Latino Festival’
Carne Fria
Published 25 May 2010 Appetizers , Cuba , General , Light Lunch 2 CommentsTags: Carne Fria, Cold Beef Rolls, Cuban appetizers, Joan Schwartz, Mary Urrutia Randelman, Mayonesa Rosada, Memories of a Cuban Kitchen: More Than 200 Classic Recipes, Picnic recipes, Pimiento Mayonnaise
I was at an event last week when a full tray of sliders slid right past me. While the waiter eluded me, it reminded me of a recipe I’ve wanted to try for awhile – carne fria. A combination of ground sirloin, pork, and sometimes fois-gras, it’s baked or poached then served cold with sweet preserves or sharp mustard. A favorite at family luncheons, it would sit next to the pastelitos, cangrejitos, and bocaditos, proud but ugly, the only adult at the buffet table. I’d wanted to make it last summer for a party but only had a vague idea of how to go about it. It was one of the those second nature recipes that everyone makes but no one writes down. With picnic season starting, I decided to try again and finally found it in Memories of a Cuban Kitchen: More Than 200 Classic Recipes by Mary Urrutia Randelman and Joan Schwartz. There in black and white, wasn’t getting away this time. Continue reading ‘Carne Fria’
A Panimanian Afternoon
Published 6 April 2010 Appetizers , Breakfast/Brunch , Light Lunch , Panama Leave a CommentTags: Barefoot Contessa, Carimañolas, Croquetas de Yuca, Ina Garten, Meat filled Yuca Fritters, Picadillo, Yuca
I was talking with someone about cooking the other day, and we both agreed that we did not like having people in the kitchen with us when we cooked. I realized as I was nodding sympathetically that I had made a plan with my friend Valerie to do exactly that the very next day. Rather than grab a coffee somewhere, I thought it would be fun if we got together and made something that I could write about here. I hadn’t included any Panamanian recipes until now so Val was supposed to consult her aunts for suggestions, and I was going to get everything ready so that when she got here we could whip something up quickly. We decided to make carimañolas, mashed yuca formed into a roll then stuffed with picadillo and deep fried, a popular breakfast and afternoon snack in Panama similar to the croquetas de yuca that I have when I’m home. An easy afternoon of catching-up, photographing my food, and turning Panamanian street food into an appetizers-for-lunch meal. Continue reading ‘A Panimanian Afternoon’
Frida’s Fiestas
Published 25 March 2010 Appetizers , Basic Techniques , Light Lunch , Main Course , Mexico 3 CommentsTags: Fijoles Refritos, Frida Kahlo, Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo, Guadalupe Rivera, Marie-Pierre Colle, Papas en Salsa Verde, Potatoes in Green Sauce, Tomatillos
A few months ago a friend recommended Frida’s Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo. Written by her step-daughter Guadalupe Rivera and Marie-Pierre Colle, it’s part cookbook and part food memoir. Organized by month, each chapter centers on the holidays and seasons as they were celebrated in the Blue House in Coyoacán. Describing a trip with Frida to the pyramids of San Juan Teotihuacán, the author writes:
After offering us the traditional refreshment of agua de chía, doña Rosa invited us to eat. She had prepared a number of Lenten dishes typically served throughout the central Mexican plain, where the gods that Frida invoked in her paintings had once upon a time resided. As it turned out, doña Rosa and don Tomas extended their hospitality to us for three more days, days in which reality was inseparable from magic. Continue reading ‘Frida’s Fiestas’
Frituras de Malanga
Published 19 February 2010 Appetizers , Cuba , Light Lunch , Vegetarian 2 CommentsTags: A Taste of Old Cuba, Fritters, Frituras, Malanga, Maria Josefa Lluria de O'Higgins, yautia
I bought the malanga by mistake. I’d considered adding it to my garbanzos last week but left it out at the last minute. Not wanting to let it go to waste, I decided to try making fritters instead. I’d stopped by a friends house unexpectedly when he was finishing a batch for salt cod fritters, and it looked so easy and simple that I wanted to try this variation. They’re the kind of last minute side dish that could be whipped up in a few minutes. I looked through a few different recipes that were very similar – malanga, eggs, a little garlic, maybe parsley. Reading A Taste of Old Cuba, I was reminded that frying 0f any kind was always left for last so that the fritters, plantains or croquetas could be served hot and crisp, never greasy . I hadn’t thought about it before but realized that I do associate the crackle and sizzle of frying with a great meal about to be had – a little music drawing everyone to the table. Continue reading ‘Frituras de Malanga’
Tostones on the Fly
Published 20 January 2010 Appetizers , Basic Techniques , Cuba , Fruits/Vegetables , Miami , Vegetarian 6 CommentsTags: Bunuelos, chatinos, Churros, Deep fryer, Empanadas, maduros, Plantains, tostonera, tostones
Until recently, I rarely fried anything at home. I hated the smell, the splatter, the guilt. When I started writing about Latin American food, I knew I couldn’t avoid it much longer and finally bought a deep fryer. While it produces perfect batches of churros, empanadas and buñuelos, it’s the SUV of fryers requiring such a massive amount of oil that I keep it parked most of the time. It wasn’t practical for smaller, any-night batches of plantains. Maduros I can handle. Overly ripe, they caramelize Continue reading ‘Tostones on the Fly’
