The mother of two children said she “grew up surrounded by a family that loved cooking,” including her father, who was a chef.
So when her sons grew up and no longer needed a playroom, she converted the garage into a classroom kitchen.
Carla came to the UK on an educational exchange programme and worked as a Spanish teacher, so when she wanted a career change, combining her passion for teaching with cooking was the perfect fit.
“My dad loved to cook. He worked as a chef in a restaurant and loved cooking for us,” she says.
“We’re from a beautiful port city in Baja California, about an hour south of San Diego, and we grew up eating a lot of classic Mexican dishes like mussels, seafood, barbecued meats, and of course mole and guacamole.”
Corn, she said, is crucial to the Mexican diet, and some of her recipes that have been passed down through generations include Baja fish tacos, piggy pinto beans, crab tostadas, sopes (corn patties) loaded with fresh vegetables, California-style empanadas with shredded beef, spicy salsas and zesty salads.
“I always explain in my classes that the Mexican food we eat here is different from the food we eat at home. The food we usually eat isn’t spicy at all. It’s the salsa that’s spicy, but of course you can make it as spicy as you like.”
Carla was thrilled to be asked to share 90 recipes in her new book, “Norteña.”
“I was so lucky, grateful, flattered and happy to receive the request,” she said. “It took a lot of writing and testing, but it was a fun experience and I learned a lot.”
Guacamole (6 servings)
Carla says, “Good guacamole is an essential ingredient in making delicious carne asada tacos. This fantastic salsa is a Mexican staple. It was originally named ahuacamolli, a combination of the Nahuatl words ahuacatl (avocado) and molli (sauce). Avocados had erotic meanings for the Aztecs and symbolized the testicles, so women were not allowed to pick them.”
“There are many ways to make guacamole — in Sonora, we add charred slivered peppers, in other states we add chopped tomatoes — but this is the way we make it. My mom doesn’t like the taste of raw onion, so we soften it with lime juice and add it to mashed avocado. We always finish our guacamole with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.”
material:
5 ripe Hass avocados
1 small onion
2 limes
20g fresh coriander
1 jalapeno
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Method:
Open the avocado and scoop out the flesh with a tablespoon. Mash it with a potato masher to leave some texture. Finely chop the onion.
Drizzle the lime juice over the top and let sit for a few minutes while you finely chop the cilantro and jalapeño.
Add the onion, cilantro, and jalapeño to the mashed avocado, squeeze in the remaining lime juice, and add salt and olive oil. Taste to check seasoning. Serve in bowls with totopos (tortilla chips).
Tacos Gobernador Shrimp and Cheese Tacos (12 tacos)
Carla says, “This taco recipe comes from Mazatlan, Sinaloa. The story goes that Francisco Labastida, owner of Los Arcos restaurant, came up with the idea to impress the governor when he was visiting, so he named it the Governor Taco!”
material:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
15g salted butter
1/2 onion (finely chopped)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 stick of celery, finely chopped
1 charred, seeded, and chopped poblano or bell pepper
1 tomato, finely chopped
400g shrimp, peeled, washed and chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
A pinch of black pepper
Juice of 1/2 lime
serve
12 corn tortillas
500g grated mozzarella and cheddar cheese mix
Method:
Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan over low to medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the onion and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes or until translucent.
Add the celery and poblano and continue to cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
Once the vegetables are done cooking, add the shrimp. Season with salt and pepper and sauté over low-medium heat for 10 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and cooked through. Squeeze in the lime juice and set aside while you warm the tortillas.
Place the tortillas in a frying pan over medium heat, add the cheese and let it melt. Serve with a little of the shrimp stew.
Excerpted from Norteña: Authentic Home-Cooked Recipes from Northern Mexico by Carla Sazueta (Pavilion Books)
