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Mexican Recipes Index

Cooking Mexican Food

In March 2002, I indulged in temporary retirement to live in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for awhile with a friend. Eventually, I decided that eating out seemed to be more economical than cooking in for the two of us, but I enjoyed shopping at the local supermarket and working with the local ingredients to create favorites from home as well as trying to re-create new dishes that I discovered at restaurants and street vendors.

When I was living in Mexico, I fell in love with the crispy-skinned pescado huachinango, whole red snapper hoisted on a stick and barbecued, not to be confused with the veracruz style, where the fish is baked in saucy tomatoes and onions. The fish-on-a-stick barbecue stands, which also feature fish kebabs, are as common on the beaches around Puerto Vallarta as hot dog stands are on the street corners of Toronto. Whenever I cook whole red snapper or rainbow trout, I aim for that nice crispy skin and moist, flavourful, colourful flesh.

Until I discovered the huge variety of chili peppers used in Mexican cooking, I thought I had almost perfected salsa and guacamole several years prior to this while cooking for my friends in Australia (I served them chips, salsa and guac while they watched their Mexican soap opera before dinner a few nights a week). Learning to distinguish the different types of chillies was part of the adventure in buying, cooking and eating Mexican food! You'll find 'chile tips' throughout these Mexican recipes.

Mexican Recipes