Celebrate Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo literally ‘Five of May’ is a celebration commemorating the Mexican Army’s surprise victory over a French force in 1862. This was an important military encounter; Napoleon III was looking to secure a base to support the Confederates in the American Civil War. President Lincoln did not want to get involved and end up fighting the French and the Confederates at the same time. The much larger and better equipped French Army, unbeaten for almost fifty years was defeated by the outnumbered Mexicans. The French did return a year later, overran ran the country and Napoleon installed a puppet monarchy. But enough history you want some authentic Mexican cooking to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and I am going to give you my recipe for Nachos.

Nachos is a Mexican dish of fried corn tortillas covered with cheese or cheese-based sauce and pickled Jalapeño peppers, often served as a snack. They were first made by Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya, around 1943 in the city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, just over the border from Eagle Pass, Texas. The story goes that the wives of America soldiers stationed at nearby Fort Duncan were in Piedras Negras on a shopping trip, and arrived at the restaurant after it had already closed for the day. Ignacio, the maître d’hôtel, invented a new snack for them with what little he had available in the kitchen. There always seems to be just enough available in the cupboard in these stories such as Caesar Cardini and his celebrated salad, maybe they are just more inventive than the rest of us.

Nachos have since developed and many versions exist now, including large ‘loaded’ platters of Nachos ‘Grande’ or ‘Supreme’ consisting of tortilla chips smothered with layers of refried beans, Chilli con Carne, grated cheese and topped with Pico de gallo or Mexican Tomato Salsa, sour cream, Guacamole and garnished with Jalapeños, coriander (cilantro) and chopped chives or spring onions.

So we are going to need a fantastic Chilli con Carne, with lots of flavour and heat and then a pile of crisp tortilla chips, some delicious ewe’s milk Queso Manchego cheese, fresh tomato salsa and some sour cream, Guacamole and we are ready. The classic Mexican tomato salsa is called Pico de Gallo and here is my simple, authentic recipe.

Pico de Gallo / Mexican Tomato Salsa

6 Tomatoes, cored, de-seeded and chopped

1 small Red Onion, peeled and very finely chopped

1 tablespoon of Jalapeño Peppers from a jar, drained and finely chopped

1 clove of Garlic, peeled and crushed

1 small handful of Coriander, roughly chopped

Juice of 1 freshly squeezed Lime

Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper

 

Stir all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Chill.

For some more detail on Chilli con Carne and a very tasty recipe please click on the link and visit Beignets and Barbecues .