Notes about Recipes in this book

• Tucumán-style empanadas (Tucumana)

  • meggan on January 31, 2023

    My 8 year old loved making these and because she loved kneading them, the dough was a little over-handled. The recipe is a little vague in parts - for instance, it never tells you when to add the meat back into the filling. It's easy enough to figure out and I haven't made enough stuff from this book to know whether that's the way all of the recipes are.

• Painted fish stew (Mojica de pintado)

  • Acarroll on December 28, 2025

    Substituted cornmeal for the cassava flour and habanero for the pepper. This was delicious, lime juice was absolutely essential. It was a great way to use an undesirable piece of fish (a very freezer-burned filet of catfish). Served on top of couscous cooked in broth. Would work well with any tinned fish.

• Nicaraguan pork tenderloin (Lomo de cerdo pinchado)

  • Fyretigger on February 15, 2024

    Good flavor, but not a “must make again” dish. Vegetables are twice what will fit in a typical stovetop sauté pan. With 2 tenderloins (package was mislabeled) and no modification of the vegetables, this filled a 6 quart stock pot.

• Yucatán-style barbecued pork (Cochinita pibil)

  • Fyretigger on October 09, 2023

    I had to substitute for the sour orange juice (orange juice, lime juice and cider vinegar), and I cooked it in the oven and not on a grill. This was still very consistent with what I had in Mexico. This was my first time working with banana leaves and it was interesting. It was a good thing I cooked it in the oven and not on a grill, as I didn't get a good seal. I need to watch some videos (which I should have in the first place) and see how it's done.

• Annatto paste (Recado rojo; Pasta de achiote)

  • Fyretigger on February 15, 2024

    More trouble to make your own than it is worth. If you can find Annatto Seeds, you can probably find Achiote Paste. I made my own since I had the Annatto Seeds from another recipe, but I won't make my own again.