Latin American dishes

[blades]

[Mod.edit: This post and following few have been moved to form a new topic (MG)]

Oddly, Latin American food is nearly unknown in the U.S. except for Mexican dishes and Cuban dishes in Florida despite the millions of Latins living here. Yet there is a rich heritage of cooking and a plethora of excellent foods available. I don't have any personal recipes for these but I recommend you find recipies for pupusas from El Salvador and Arepas from Venezuela and Colombia. they are masa (cornmeal) flat breads with all kinds of different ingredients. Feijoada is the national dish of Brazil and maybe Portugal . It is a bean and sausage stew that is outstanding. The king of Spanish dishes is Paella which is also made all over Latin America. You need to have good seafood availability for this one. I could go on but I'll leave you with those. Any other Latina American food recommendations?

Carribbean and South American cuisines are something I know very little about, but I am interested to learn. Seems they use plantains very differently than I am used to, but I am sure if it's so common it must be good.

 

[JAS_OH1]

Oddly, Latin American food is nearly unknown in the U.S. except for Mexican dishes and Cuban dishes in Florida despite the millions of Latins living here. Yet there is a rich heritage of cooking and a plethora of excellent foods available. I don't have any personal recipes for these but I recommend you find recipies for pupusas from El Salvador and Arepas from Venezuela and Colombia. they are masa (cornmeal) flat breads with all kinds of different ingredients. Feijoada is the national dish of Brazil and maybe Portugal . It is a bean and sausage stew that is outstanding. The king of Spanish dishes is Paella which is also made all over Latin America. You need to have good seafood availability for this one. I could go on but I'll leave you with those. Any other Latina American food recommendations?

Windigo is not in the US, she's from the Netherlands but has some indonesian roots. But you are right, we In North America have little knowledge overall of Latin American cuisine. I do think paella is well-known all over the world, however. Since it's so popular in Spain I'm sure many Europeans are very familiar.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Any other Latina American food recommendations?

Obviously I know quite a bit about Venezuelan food, having lived here for 40 years. The influences are not just Spanish: there are French, Italian and even African elements , given the 1,000 km coast on the Caribbean.
Peruvian cuisine is a really exciting and seems to have pushed its way to the forefront over the past few years. Astrid & Gaston appeared over 10 years ago with first class Peruvian dishes served up by Gaston Acurio - without a doubt, a world class chef. There are dozens of excellent, high class restaurants in Lima now. Peru is not just ceviche; there are hundreds of delightful recipes available incorporating classic Peruvian ingredients (which include over 3,000 varieties of potato), local fish and shellfish, hot peppers and a tantalising Japanese influence.
Brazilian food is dominated by meat dishes, so the Churrasqueria will offer carnivores a mind boggling array of grilled beef. Argentina and Uruguay are similar, in that BEEF is a prime ingredient in everything. Chile certainly offers some interesting seafood options, but I've only ever eaten Chilean food once.

 

[blades]

Obviously I know quite a bit about Venezuelan food, having lived here for 40 years. The influences are not just Spanish: there are French, Italian and even African elements , given the 1,000 km coast on the Caribbean.
Peruvian cuisine is a really exciting and seems to have pushed its way to the forefront over the past few years. Astrid & Gaston appeared over 10 years ago with first class Peruvian dishes served up by Gaston Acurio - without a doubt, a world class chef. There are dozens of excellent, high class restaurants in Lima now. Peru is not just ceviche; there are hundreds of delightful recipes available incorporating classic Peruvian ingredients (which include over 3,000 varieties of potato), local fish and shellfish, hot peppers and a tantalising Japanese influence.
Brazilian food is dominated by meat dishes, so the Churrasqueria will offer carnivores a mind boggling array of grilled beef. Argentina and Uruguay are similar, in that BEEF is a prime ingredient in everything. Chile certainly offers some interesting seafood options, but I've only ever eaten Chilean food once.

I haven't looked into Peruvian cuisine but I will with your tip. A lot of people don't know that corn, potatoes and chocolate all originated in Latin America. They have become staples all over the world.

 

[blades]

I've only been to Venezuela once in the 1980's for a business trip to Caracas. My host treated me to a lunch in a very nice outdoor restaurant. I don't remember the name of the place or even all the things they served but it was one of the most memorable lunches in my life. Add a tropical climate with some altitude to cool things to some great food and you have a memorable event.

 

[badjak]

I'm not too familiar with Latin American food, except that I know Uruguay, Brazil & Argentina are big on meat.

The only type I'm a little familiar with is Surinam food. It is heavily influenced by Javanese food.
I have no idea of the food of the bordering Guyana's (Guyana and French Guyana)

 

[PabloLerntKochen]

You can't find a proper guinea pig around here.

 

[karadekoolaid]

You can't find a proper guinea pig around here.

You can in Ecuador!

 

[rascal]

Post a few recipes we can try.

Russ

 

[PabloLerntKochen]

I'm still amazed about how big Mexican cuisine actually is. With all these different Sauces and seasonings
Did anybody try some pre Columbus food?

 

[karadekoolaid]

Did anybody try some pre Columbus food?

I probably did while I was over there. We had a blue corn tostada covered with nopales (cactus paddles) and Oaxaca cheese in the park one day, and many places served us grasshoppers as a bar snack.

I'm still amazed about how big Mexican cuisine actually is

It's not just big: it's HUGE. It's way, way more complex than just tacos and tortillas which is, unfortunately, what many of us have been exposed to. The judicious use of chiles, both fresh and dried, produces some wonderfully subtle and complex dishes, especially the wonderful variety of moles, dishes which rarely appear on menus outside Mexico because people have a ridiculous fear of "hot" dishes. Below there are two photos of real Mexican food. The first is "aguachile de camarones": a ceviche type dish with fresh chiles and shrimp. The second is huevos rancheros but with a subtle difference. The brown salsa is prepared in a very traditional way by being roasted on a flat metal plate, then pulverised in a molcajete. The technique is called "tatemado". The eggs were very close to raw, but delicious with the beans (frijoles) and the sauce.

 

[blades]

Mexican food is so popular in the U.S. that we have some of the best Mexican restaurants on the planet. A popular one I can recommend personally is Ninfa's in Houston, TX. They serve not only Tex-Mex but traditional high end Mexican cuisine. One in Chicago I like is called Takito. It is known for a modern gourmet twist on traditional things like tacos and enchiladas. I like to call it Amerimex food.

 

[karadekoolaid]

we have some of the best Mexican restaurants on the planet

..and, might I add, some of the most dedicated chefs. Aaron Sanchez, Mary Sue Milliken, Rick Bayless, Enrique Olvera and Gabriela Camara, to mention but a few. Unfortunately, TacoBell ruined it for everyone a long time ago, so now it's a question of re-educating palates!

 

[JAS_OH1]

..and, might I add, some of the most dedicated chefs. Aaron Sanchez, Mary Sue Milliken, Rick Bayless, Enrique Olvera and Gabriela Camara, to mention but a few. Unfortunately, TacoBell ruined it for everyone a long time ago, so now it's a question of re-educating palates!

I never considered Taco Bell Mexican food, even though back when I ate there (late 1970s in high school) I hadn't ever had Mexican food. In the past several decades I have been to Mexico multiple times and was fortunate enough to find the real deal on my trips, though granted a lot of the resorts tend to serve Americanized versions.

 

[caseydog]

Mexican food is so popular in the U.S. that we have some of the best Mexican restaurants on the planet. A popular one I can recommend personally is Ninfa's in Houston, TX. They serve not only Tex-Mex but traditional high end Mexican cuisine. One in Chicago I like is called Takito. It is known for a modern gourmet twist on traditional things like tacos and enchiladas. I like to call it Amerimex food.

Chef Rick Bayless has some restaurants in Chicago that I would like to try. He specializes very traditional Mexican dishes. He apparently takes his staff to Mexico from time to time so they can eat the food there? His YouTube videos are rather long-winded, but he gets into the details of Mexican cooking.

CD