Happy New Year everybody! 2016 was certainly a busy and weird year for me. It saw loads of ups and downs and a trip to Mexico after a long absence. It was great to see my family, to get a rest and to reconnect with friends. I came back all fired up and full of beans (literally!) so I am determined to make 2017 a good year. Loads of projects in the pipeline, some real work on my book - been putting it off for far too long- but mainly I want to write regularly in the blog again....
The last ten days have been crazy. I hadn't been feeling entirely well and it all came to a halt on Saturday morning when I was admitted to hospital with a suspected appendicitis.
Pozole is perhaps the one dish I miss the most from home. A spoonful of it is enough to bring me right back to my mother's kitchen table. I particularly crave it this time of year, as many Mexicans enjoy it as a celebratory meal to see the old year out and ring in the new one. It's substancial, nutricious and as ancient as Aztec times. Amazing cure for hangovers too!
This post is the first in a series of 'how to' posts. I've been observing a few of our customers in the market and getting e-mails asking how to use some of the most basic Mexican ingredients. I guess I take for granted some of the knowledge that comes natural over the years by just eating, cooking or watching others handle Mexican ingredients and I now need to take a step back and answer things like...
It doesn't matter who you are, where you are from or what type of cook you are: we all have what I call a "guilty cupboard" in our kitchens. The guilty cupboard is that one which is eternally jammers with ingredients that were bought out of impulse and never used; these ingredients generally include pastas, grains, flours, flavoured teas, cereals, three types of healthy granola, tins of exotic fruits, sugars, noodles, different types of rice, marinating sauces, jars of exotic pastes, etc. Go on, admit it; you do have one, don't you?
