Guacamole – Onion Free, Garlic Free, Tomato Free.

I am Going all out for Mexican Inspired Food this Month. November is officially Mexican Inspired Food Month!!! What do I love about Mexican food? The beans, the spice, the deceptively simple ingredients, the complex flavours and the colours.

What is Mexican Food Exactly???

I would describe Mexican food as simple, flavourful, fresh and complex. However, the Mexican food we get in the UK (and anywhere outside of Mexico) is a watered-down, localised version of the real thing. Mexican food is as complex and diverse as any region you can imagine.

Mexican food as we might recognise it started to develop about 9000 years ago, when agricultural communities such as the Maya formed, domesticated maize, created the standard process of corn nixtamalization, and established their foodways. Successive waves of other Mesoamerican groups (e.g. the Olmec, Teotihuacanos, Toltec, Huastec, Zapotec, Mixtec, Otomi, and Purépecha) brought with them their own cooking methods.

Mexican staples include native foods, such as corn, beans, squash, amaranth, avocados, tomatoes, tomatillos, chocolate, vanilla, agave, turkey, sweet potato, and chilli pepper.

After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in the 16th century, Europeans introduced a number of other foods, including meat from domesticated animals (beef, pork, chicken, goat, and sheep), dairy products (especially cheese), and rice. This accounts for the liberal use of lard which is very common in Mexican food that might appear to be vegan. Watch out for the lard! African and Asian influences were also introduced into the indigenous cuisine during this era.

Over the centuries, distinct regional cuisines developed based on local conditions, such as those in Oaxaca, Veracruz and the Yucatán Peninsula. Mexican cuisine is a very important aspect of the culture, social structure and popular traditions of Mexico.

So, what you and I would consider Mexican food probably isn’t really Mexican food – hence when I’m all about Mexican Inspired Food!

Keep an eye out for Gluten-Free, Vegan Mexican Inspired Food recipes I will publish on FriFran throughout this month.

My Favourite Gluten-Free, Vegan Mexican Inspired Food????

I LOVE beans and spice, if you do too you will love these recipe ideas. These are a few of my favourites. All totally Gluten-Free | Vegan | Allergy-Friendly | Seasonal …and… onion-free, garlic-free and coconut-free.

Guacamole

You cannot talk about, or eat, Mexican food without Guacamole – Onion-Free,
Garlic -Free, Tomato-Free. I LOVE this stuff. It is not possible to grow avocados in the UK so this is not sustainable or seasonal produce. I’m not perfect. Guacamole goes with so many things it’s hard to narrow it down. Keep it simple and serve with gluten-free, vegan tortilla chips. Yum!

Chilli Sin Carne

Chilli Sin Carne is great when you have lots of people round for an informal night of films, cards or chatting. It gets better with time so put a huge pot on the stove and turn the heat down for a never ending pot of goodness.

Mexican Black Bean Casserole

When it is cold outside and you are hankering for something hot from the oven (and want to put the oven on the warm up the house!) Mexican Black Bean Casserole is a winner! Rich, comforting, warming, deeply flavoured and super easy to make. Perfect for cold winter nights.