When Cultures Collide

The search for pepper brought the Spaniards to the New World. They didn’t find it. They returned to the Old World with a lot of other things, though--tomatoes, potatoes, turkey, chocolate, vanilla and chiles.

They had encountered among the great civilizations of Central and South America a cuisine quite unlike their own: one based on corn and beans, with birds, insects, seafood and iguana thrown in. Meat was rare, though people did eat the occasional deer, dog or wild pig. Although some of these food-ways survive unchanged in Mexico--people in Oaxaca are still fond of grasshoppers, and others consider ant larvae and grubs to be delicacies--today’s Mexican cuisine is the result of the collision of the European and Aztec civilizations.

Today when most North Americans talk about Mexican food, we think of enchiladas and burritos--Mexican street food, or snacks, basically corn tortillas filled with a little cheese or meat and moistened with some sauce. Somehow this simple food has been transformed into platters of mysterious meat and pureed beans covered with canned tomato products and bubbling cheese toppings. But it’s not surprising when one realizes that ethnic cuisines always seem to be introduced into America with cheese toppings. (Remember when Italian food used to consist of veal or eggplant Parmigiana and mozzarella marinara?) Well, that’s what’s happened to Mexican cuisine in America, although it has become more honest as we have grown more comfortable with it.

Mexican dinners are based on simple, fresh ingredients that are prepared in a straightforward way. The most common cooking techniques are braising and grilling. Since most Mexican meat and poultry are tougher and stringier than their U.S. counterparts, braising is the method of choice.

Basically a peasant cuisine, it is richer in stews than in roasts. Grilling is also popular, especially for seafood. Indeed, the cooking of Mexico consists of basic, easy techniques. Learning to wrap a tamale or make tortillas by hand is about as difficult as it gets.

And, despite our unfortunate familiarity with its greasy side, Mexican cooking is basically a healthful cuisine employing plenty of corn, beans and vegetables. Salsas are often chopped fresh tomatoes or tomatillos mixed with some chiles and onion. Other sauces are simply flavorful liquids from the braise thickened with tomato, tomatillo or dried or fresh chiles. There is abundant use of herbs and spices, for this is a boldly flavored cuisine.

But there is also subtlety to Mexican cooking. Of course, this cuisine seems overly spicy to many of us, but that’s because we’re not accustomed to using chile peppers in everyday cooking. But if the hottest condiments are served on the side, people can choose the amount of heat they want in a dish.

Beans are flavored with epazote , perhaps a hint of cumin (please, not the deadly amount that most Mexican restaurants use) and just a taste of chile--they’re meant to be mild. In fact, the beans and corn that are the core of this cuisine are meant to foil the more highly spiced ingredients--the fringe of meat, poultry or seafood.

The amount of dairy products used in this cooking is mostly meager and only accents the presentation of a dish. A dollop of sour cream, for example, smoothes the heat of certain fiery salsas and is an American substitution. Most Mexican cheeses tend to be dry, salty and mild. They’re served in quesadillas or with eggs. Remember, dairy products became part of the culinary picture only after livestock was introduced by the first Europeans.

These two dishes are not authentically Mexican, but rather are my interpretations of the basic Mexican flavors. The collision continues.

SEAFOOD POSOLE STEW

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

3 tablespoons finely minced garlic

Dash ground cloves

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 jalapeno chiles, seeded and diced

2 cups fish stock, bottled clam juice or fresh or canned low-sodium chicken broth

3 tablespoons Pernod, optional

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained

1 (15-ounce) can posole (hominy), undrained

10 ounces fish fillet such as snapper, cut into chunks

8 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

8 clams

8 mussels

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

8 sprigs cilantro

Combine olive oil, onion and garlic in large pan and cook 2 minutes over medium heat. Add cloves, cocoa powder, cumin and jalapenos and cook another minute. Add fish stock and Pernod. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 25 minutes.

Strain broth into clean pan. Add undrained stewed tomatoes and posole to broth. Cook over medium heat 10 minutes. Add fish, shrimp, clams, mussels and corn. Cover and cook until shells are opened, about 7 minutes. Discard any that have not opened. When ready to serve, pour stew into large tureen and garnish with sprigs of cilantro. Makes 4 servings.

Carnitas are cubes of meat that are browned in oil, then cooked until falling apart. Pork is the usual choice for carnitas, but they can be made with any kind of flavorful meat--just use a stewing cut that’s full of flavor and that’s going to result in a juicy, falling-apart dish. Milk is the secret ingredient that helps the resulting juices develop their proper texture. The meat and gravy melt into each other and it’s hard to tell them apart. But, this is not Sloppy Joe. The meat remains in chunks, but only until you put them in your mouth and they fall apart. Eat them in warm tortillas.

LAMB CARNITAS, BUTTERED LIMAS, GRILLED TOMATOES AND ONIONS

1 cup dried lima beans or 2 cups drained canned limas

2 teaspoons salt or to taste

1/4 cup olive oil

1 3/4 pounds cubed lamb stew meat

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

3 bay leaves

1 teaspoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons dried savory

1 cup milk

2 medium onions

2 vine-ripened tomatoes

Freshly ground pepper

Tortillas

Sour cream

Green Salsa

If using dried lima beans, soak in water overnight before preparing dinner. Place limas in oven-proof casserole and cover barely with water. Bake at 350 degrees 2 hours, adding 1 teaspoon salt after 1 hour. Check occasionally, adding water as necessary if beans dry out. If using canned lima beans, drain off liquid.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large, heavy skillet over high heat on stove. Add some lamb without crowding and brown well in batches on all sides, adding extra oil as necessary.

When all lamb is browned, transfer meat to Dutch oven along with 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, bay leaves, coriander, savory and 1/2 cup milk. Cover and bake at 350 degrees 30 minutes. Remove cover. Add remaining 1/2 cup milk and continue to cook until meat is falling apart and tender, another 45 minutes. Remove from oven. Cover and keep warm.

Meanwhile, peel onions and halve from tip to root. Place cut surface down on work surface and sliver each half from tip to root. Toss with 1 teaspoon oil and set aside. Halve tomatoes crosswise. Season to taste with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil.

At serving time, place onions in heat-resistant dish and place under broiler. As tops begin to color, toss onions and place in oven. Continue, stirring, until onions are tender, about 7 minutes. Place tomato halves on top of onions and return to boiler 3 minutes.

Arrange onions and tomatoes on plate. Serve lamb and lima beans in separate casseroles. Scoop up some meat and onions and wrap in tortilla. Serve with sour cream and Green Salsa and lima beans as side dish. Makes 4 servings.

Green Salsa

10 tomatillos, husks removed

1 serrano or 2 jalapeno chiles, cut lengthwise and seeds removed

Boiling salted water

1/2 onion, finely diced

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt

Drop tomatillos and serrano chiles in pot of boiling salted water. Cover and cook 2 minutes. Drain. Place tomatillos and chiles in food processor and puree. Strain mixture into bowl and discard skins. Add onion, cilantro, lemon juice and olive oil. Season to taste with salt. Chill before serving. Makes 6 servings.