Get a taste of Mexico and celebrate Day of the Dead

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WHETHER you're celebrating the Mexican festival of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) or simply riding the Mexican wave, there is much more to the country's cuisine than tortillas, corn chips and salsa.

Dia de los Muertos - Day of the Dead - is a Mexican holiday when family and friends gather to pray for and remember family members who have died. It is traditionally celebrated on October 31, November 1 and 2, with celebrations featuring feasts, sugar skulls, marigolds and more.

The festival coincides with the celebration of Halloween which also remembers the dead, but nowadays tends to focus on American-style traditions of trick-or-treating, costume parties and horror films.

Day of the Dead is just one example of the strength of Mexican culture and its links to food. Leonie Young, of gourmet food providore The Essential Ingredient, Cooks Hill, talked Food & Wine through the cuisine of Mexico, its rich cultural links and the multitude of ingredients now available to recreate both authentic and modern takes on the country's dishes.

"Very few cuisines are as connected to the culture and history of a country than that of Mexico. From the bursts of colour on the plate, the complex combinations of smoky, spicy and sweet and the inherent shared nature of the cuisine's enjoyment, Mexican food is elegant in its simplicity," Young told Food & Wine.

"When the Spanish conquered the Aztecs in the 16th century, they attempted to impose on the locals the ingredients and techniques of their empire.

"Due to the difficult South American conditions, and the existing agricultural nous of the locals, only aspects of the conquering cuisine stuck; chief among them, farmed animals such as pigs, cows, sheep and chickens."

Young said the link between the food and culture was so strong that UNESCO had added it to its Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

But the influence of Mexican cuisine has, she said, also stretched beyond the country's borders.

"South American flavours, ingredients and techniques [are] being adopted around the world. Some find contemporary riffs and culinary fusions, while others adhere strictly to the traditions of the classic dishes."

Young said whether you are a stickler for tradition or a lover of the modern twist, The Essential Ingredient has a large range of Mexican ingredients available, including an extensive range of whole dried chillies.

Just to name a few, there is the ancho chilli with a sweet and smoky flavour, reminiscent of plums and sundried tomatoes - perfect in soup, stews and salsas. The chille de arbol has a searing heat and a subtle smokiness, while the guajillo chilli is delicately mild, with delicious scents of dried berries and green tea making it perfect for sauces, salsas, stews and more. A traditional ingredient in many Mexican sauces, the pasilla chilli is a medium-hot chilli with notes of raisins, cocoa and tobacco, while the chipotle chilli is a smoke-dried jalapeno that adds a meaty depth to stews and soups.

The Essential Ingredient also stocks many of the harder-to-find Mexican ingredients that you may come across in a recipe. You can find tomatillos – known as the husk tomato or Mexican husk tomato, a nightshade related to the cape gooseberry – which have a fleshy centre and a uniquely tart flavour that is essential in a traditional Mexican salsa verde.

Young said the store also stocks a range of flour and corn tortillas, but if you prefer to make your own, they have yellow corn masa flour and tortilla presses to do it all at home.

The Essential Ingredient also stocks plenty of Mexican sauces. Chipotle chillies in adobo sauce are a staple in Mexican stews and salsas, but are also perfect added to mayonnaise and slathered over freshly grilled corn. The Cooks Hill store also has an exclusive range KI Gourmet Sauce, named for the Mayan word ‘‘Ki’’, meaning an exquisite or delightful food.

The products capture Mexican culinary traditions interpreted in modern and innovative ways. Keeping the cultural element strong, each product is named by reference to a song, figure or legend of the Mexican culture. The range includes La Doña (salsa verde, a sharp, hot classic in Mexican cuisine made with tomatillos, fresh serrano chilli, onion, garlic and coriander); Salsa La Llorona (Morita chilli salsa, a hot sauce combining roast tomatoes and morita chillies to create a flavour that adds a touch of smokiness to eggs, meat, fish and other seafood dishes) and María Bonita (tamarind and chipotle chilli salsa, gives a sweet smoky flavour to grilled meat and seafood, excellent as a marinade for grilled chicken wings and barbecued ribs).

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