A D D ITIO N A L IN PU TS: R ADH IKA BHATIA

The Ne

Mexican

Kitchen

Joanne Weir—cookbook author and teacher—gl i des you

through the fresh flavours of Mexican cooking." “I ^ n o

purist, I take chances, speed things up, and add my own

twists to traditional-dishes.”

“In M exico th ey ’re

called

em pan adas

,”

says Joanne, “an d th e y ’re

filled w ith everything and

anything. I call th e m h an d

p ie s—a snack to enjoy before

m eals, o r as a light lunch.

In M exico, th e dough is

h an d m ad e, b u t to save

tim e, m ake th e m w ith

sto re-b o u g h t p u ff pastry.”

g rew u p th in k in g th a t ta co s h ad c ru n c h y h ard -fo ld ed shells, an d

th e sauce an d cheese cam e in a box, an d I loved th e m . B ut w h en

I w as an ad u lt, I m ade a trip to M exico th a t ch an g ed everything.

I re m e m b e r th e v ery first tim e I saw a ta c o tru c k hugging th e

sidew alk in P u e rto V allarta. I co u ld n ’t pass it by. T he m en u p o ste d

o n th e side o f th e tru c k w as co m p letely fo reig n to m e. I’d n ev er h ea rd

o f

cam itas, al pastor

, o r

cam e asada,

b u t I d ecid ed to go fo r it anyw ay

an d p o in te d as I o rd e re d all th ree .

I w as h a n d e d a w h ite p ap e r p la te filled w ith ta co s th a t w ere

d iffe ren t fro m an y th in g I h ad seen before. T h e to rtilla s w ere soft,

w arm , an d sm elled o f fresh sw eet co m . T h e filling w as ch u n k s o f b e e f

o r p ork sim m ered in spices a n d h erb s. O n to p , th e re w ere b rig h t green

sprigs o f c o ria n d er an d ju icy -red

pico degallo

salsa w ith big w edges o f

lim e. I to o k m y first b ite .

...

I c o u ld n ’t g e t o v er th e flavours o f cum in, lim e, o reg an o , jalap en o ,

a n d coriander. I ta ste d sw eet, sour, an d spicy all in o n e b ite, an d th e

flavours balan ced so perfectly.

I trav el th e w orld te ac h in g cooking an d w ritin g ab o u t food. I w rite

m o stly a b o u t th e M e d ite rran e an an d in g red ien ts like olive oil, garlic,

to m a to e s, lem on, eggplant, figs, rosem ary, a n d lavender. B ut w h en I g o t

to M exico an d th a t ta c o tru ck , so m e th in g stru c k a ch o rd in m e. W h a t I

d isco v ered a b o u t M exican cuisine, an d w h a t I love m o st ab o u t it, is th e

sim p licity o f in g red ien ts an d th e bold, b rig h t flavours.

B Y JO A N N E W E IR

PRO DUCED B Y N A N C Y W A LL H O PK IN S | PH O TO GRAPH S AN DY LYO NS

FOOD ST Y L IN G JI L L LU ST | PRO P ST Y LIN G SU E M TTCHELL