MEZCLA: Recipes to Excite

Product Information

When I started working in restaurant kitchens, I was one of only 2 women in a team of 15 men, and the other woman soon left. I hated that imbalance and whilst there's definite improvement in that department, I’d love to see more women getting into the industry and making it a 50/50 environment. Put the passion fruit pulp into a large bowl with the condensed milk, whole milk, tangerine zest, chilli flakes, eggs, yolk, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Gently whisk until combined. Don’t whisk too vigorously, as you want to avoid creating air bubbles. Although if you can get your hands on queso Oaxaca/quesillo, please use this instead of feta and mozzarella. First make sure to soak the rice for at least 2 hours, or overnight. When you’re ready to start cooking, turn the oven broiler to the highest setting.

I’ve been thinking about food since I had conscious thought, and cooking since I could hold a knife. Food is always on my mind but for some reason it never seemed like a career option until I was in my mid twenties, hating the design degree I was doing and with no other prospects. My sister asked me bluntly ‘Why the f* aren’t you a chef?’. After that I sort of just fell into it. I ran my own market stall for a while selling tacos, then ran a little catering company, then worked at NOPI (Yotam's restaurant in Soho) before moving to the Ottolenghi test kitchen. I’m self-taught and my mantra is that there are absolutely no rules when it comes to cooking.Grill for 7–9 minutes near the top of the oven, until the cheese is bubbling and browned in patches. Set aside to cool for a few minutes (but not for too long, as the melted cheese will begin to harden). You are an extremely creative cook and, in your search for the most scintillating flavours, you draw on a huge range of cuisines and styles. What have been your major culinary influences and how have those influences shaped the recipes in FLAVOUR? Heat the oven to 240C (220C fan)/475F/gas 9. Put the cherry tomatoes in a 26cm round ovenproof pan or baking dish in which they’ll all fit snugly in a single layer. Add the coriander, garlic, oil, maple syrup, salt and plenty of pepper, and stir to coat. Roast near the top of the oven for 25-30 minutes, until softened and slightly charred. And while, as mentioned, it’s Belfrage's first solo title, she co-authored Flavour along with the great Ottolenghi and is at her most contagiously confident with big, bold bright flavours. Some recipes, to be sure, include ingredients you might not have in your kitchen cupboards already, but there’s generous room for manoeuvre and plenty of recipes that provide adventure more accessibly. The maple curried corn bread was amazing, as was the fish in charred tomato broth.. which was deemed by my husband the best thing I have *ever* cooked The other two recipes were met by a audible “wow” after the first bite from the hubs.

Second, I also know that this is not risotto – it is not made with arborio rice, and it is not cooked in the traditional manner. However, the texture of the end result is very much like that of a good risotto. It would be remiss of me to call this dish something like … oh, I don’t know, ‘Stuffed peppers with spicy rice’. Not only does that sound really boring, it also takes away from that crucial inspiration. What’s it about? Having spent her youth absorbing the diverse culinary traditions of Italy, Mexico, and Brazil, Ixta Belfrage’s style of cooking has always been defined by her inventive ingredient combinations and her bold approach to flavour fusions. In MEZCLA, her first solo cookbook, she draws on her many influences to create a truly exciting and unique set of recipes. The Spanish word mezcla translates as mix, blend, or fusion, and that’s exactly what this book is; expect classic Italian dishes infused with vibrant Mexican flavours, traditional Mediterranean ingredients sitting side-by-side with Brazilian spices, and thoroughly idiosyncratic twists on familiar favourites.JAMES BEARD AWARD NOMINEE • 100 recipes for everyday eating with built-in wow factor, from the Ottolenghi protégé and co-author of Ottolenghi Flavor shaking up the food world. Working in the Ottolenghi test kitchen is pretty much the dream job for an aspiring chef. What’s it like to be part of such a dynamic team? Cook the rice. Drain the soaked rice and put into a medium saucepan with 450g of water. Bring to a simmer over a medium-high heat. Once simmering, lower the heat to low, cover the pan with a lid, and cook for 25 minutes. Ixta is what we all long for in a cook. Innovative, passionate, exciting and accessible.' Andi Oliver Scotch bonnet chillies are very hot. If you prefer less heat, use one or two mild red chillies instead, or leave out the chilli altogether; there’s plenty of flavour coming from other directions here. The coconut milk is all but undetectable – it just helps create a creamy base for the sweet squash.

Drizzle the cream into the sauce. Toss the coriander and the remaining sliced onions together with a tiny bit of oil and salt and arrange on top. Serve from the pan, with the lime wedges alongside.

In FLAVOUR we shine a light on lots of processes, the most important of which, I think, are infusing and charring. Charring vegetables teases out inner flavours that really make vegetables pop, flavours that you might not have known lay dormant in that vegetable; smokiness, sweetness, bitterness, for example. Infusing is a double whammy, because when you’re infusing, you not only get a wonderfully aromatic oil, but the aromatics used can then serve as crunchy and crispy toppings to that dish. We use this combination of infused oil and crunchy aromatics countless times in the book and it doesn’t get old. Try the Pappa al pomodoro with lime and mustard seeds, for example, where an infused curry leaf and mustard seed oil forms the base of the sauce, whilst the crispy curry leaves and mustard seeds are used to top the dish, adding lightness and crunch. While the butternut is roasting, put the orzo in a bowl, pour over just-boiled water to cover and leave to soak for 10 minutes. Drain, then rinse under cold running water to separate the grains.