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Mexican pastes, sauces and basics recipes

28 Mexican pastes, sauces and basics recipes, each written for this site and each saying what its method turns on.

• Bolillos, sourced from Mexico. A lean roll slashed deep down its length and baked with steam, which is what opens the slash into a ridge. vegan.
• Cajeta, sourced from Mexico. The bicarbonate goes in at the start, because goat's milk curdles as it reduces and will not brown without it. vegetarian.
• Cajeta de Celaya, sourced from Mexico. Taken past the pourable stage to where a drop holds its shape on a cold plate, so it sets firm enough to spread. vegetarian.
• Cajeta de Piña y Plátano, sourced from Mexico. The fruit goes in only once the milk has already reduced, because pineapple acid and plantain water both split the pan. vegetarian.
• Chamoy, sourced from Mexico. The dried fruit simmered in its own soaking water until it falls apart, so nothing is thrown away and nothing needs thickening. vegan.
• Chicharrón, sourced from Mexico. Dried a day and then fried twice at two temperatures — low to render, hot to puff. Pork.
• Chochoyotes, sourced from Mexico. Each dumpling dimpled with a fingertip, so broth gets inside it instead of running off a smooth ball.
• Chorizo, sourced from Mexico. A fresh sausage, not a cured one — and the meat and fat are kept cold enough that the fat never smears. Pork.
• Conchas, sourced from Mexico. A separate paste of sugar, flour and fat pressed on and scored, which cracks into a shell as the bun rises beneath it. Egg, vegetarian.
• Corn Tortillas, sourced from Mexico. Masa pressed thin and cooked on a dry griddle, turned three times, the third turn being the one that makes it puff. vegan.
• Flour Tortillas, sourced from Mexico. A wheat dough made with fat and water hot from the kettle, rested, then rolled thin — nothing like the pressed masa it sits beside.
• Frijoles Negros, sourced from Mexico. The plain pot — nothing goes in but onion and epazote, and the salt waits until they are soft. vegan.
• Guacamole, sourced from Mexico. The onion, chilli and salt ground to a wet paste before the avocado goes anywhere near them. vegan.
• Jocoque, sourced from Mexico. Left to sour at room temperature before it is strained, because the souring and the draining are two separate jobs. vegetarian.
• Jumiles, sourced from Mexico. Ground into the salsa raw in a molcajete, because heat destroys the only thing they contribute.
• Machaca, sourced from Mexico. Beef salted, dried hard, and then pounded until the fibres separate into fluff. Beef.
• Nixtamalised Masa, sourced from Mexico. Dried corn simmered with a little lime, steeped overnight and ground wet, which is what turns hard grain into a dough that holds together. vegan.
• Nopalitos, sourced from Mexico. Cactus paddles diced, salted to draw the slime out, rinsed and then griddled dry — three separate goes at the same problem. vegan.
• Pan de Muerto, sourced from Mexico. No topping paste at all — the bone strips are rolled from the same dough with a knuckled finger, and the scent is in the crumb. Egg, vegetarian.
• Pico de Gallo, sourced from Mexico. Everything cut to the same small dice by hand, because a processor bruises it into a wet purée in four seconds. vegan.
• Recado Rojo, sourced from Mexico. Annatto seeds soaked overnight before grinding, because nothing will break them down dry, then pressed into a brick. vegan.
• Refried Beans, sourced from Mexico. Cooked beans tipped into hot fat and crushed in the pan as they fry, never mashed beforehand.
• Rosca de Reyes, sourced from Mexico. The hole made far wider than looks right, because a ring closes as it proves and bakes into an oval loaf. Egg, vegetarian.
• Salsa, sourced from Mexico. Tomatoes, chillies and garlic charred dry on the griddle until blackened in patches, then blended with their skins on. vegan.
• Salsa Macha, sourced from Mexico. The oil taken off the heat before the chillies go in, so they steep rather than fry. vegan.
• Salsa Verde, sourced from Mexico. Tomatillos boiled only until their colour turns from bright green to olive, which is the signal and the whole timing of the sauce. vegan.
• Tortilla Chips, sourced from Mexico. Yesterday's tortillas cut in wedges and fried — and they have to be yesterday's, because a fresh one fries limp. vegan.
• Totopos, sourced from Mexico. Thick masa discs pierced all over and baked twice, which is why they keep for weeks when a fried chip does not. vegan.

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