This dish is a delicious vegan version of a pasta sauce that- legend has it - was invented by Italian prostitutes. The dish would be prepared, then left by the windowsill to lure customers (usually fishermen, as legend has it) in to sample other wares. In any case, it certainly is enticing. Traditionally bolstered with about 8 chopped anchovies, I have omitted them for lack of availability and popularity. Love ‘em myself.

(Almost) Classic Puttanesca Sauce

Ingredients
250g packet spaghetti or linguine
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
8 ripe tomatoes, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
half cup of green olives, chopped
Quetzal worth of parsley, chopped
8 anchovies, chopped (optional)

Directions
1. Gently fry onion and garlic in olive oil for 2 minutes. Take care not to color them.
2. Add chopped tomato and a pinch of salt, then turn up the heat. Cook sauce until the tomatoes fall apart, then thicken a touch. This will take approximately 20 minutes.
3. Add olives, cook 2 minutes and then check seasoning. Add parsley, and more salt and olive oil if desired.
4. Mix gently with your al dente pasta you have already cooked in lots of salty water. Enjoy.

PAST RECIPES...

Vegetarian fare in Xela is far from difficult to find, though it can prove bland, poorly prepared, expensive or monotonous. This Indian style soup has the option of extra spice if you feel future experiments can warrant the purchase of turmeric and curry spice mix (garam marsala is preferable). When finished, it should have enough salt to open up the palate, earthy cumin flavors carried by the onion and garlic base, a slight tang from the yogurt mellowed by the sweetness of carrot, with cilantro and ginger as the finishing and lingering flavor. I know this sounds horribly pretentious, but it’s a good and basic guide of what all cooks are tasting for: balance on the palate.

And so it was that we staged a chile night last month, at the behest of my homesick American friends who felt like a bit of mom’s down home (not really) Mexican cookin'. So American is this dish in fact, it only appears on gringo menus in Mexico. I experimented with various cooking techniques and spices to make it good, and I really do think it is. Serve with a side of Christian fundamentalism, apple pie and a bud light, dude. Just kidding. The fact that it’s an faux “ethnic” American dish doesn’t make it bad.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 pounds of ground beef
3 onions, diced
½  head of garlic, chopped
2 red peppers, sliced
1 cup raw red beans
3 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bunch thyme, diced
1 inch cinnamon quill
2 pounds of tomato
1 chile guajillo
2 chile pasa
1 small tin of tomato paste (100g)

Directions
1. Boil beans with bay leaves if you have them. Reserve.

2. Place tomatoes and chiles in a pot with water. Cover and boil for 20minutes then liquefy. Reserve.

3. Heat oil in a large, hot pan. Add beef, salt and pepper. Break up the meat and cook until nicely browned. This should take approximately 10 minutes.

4. Add onion, garlic, peppers and spices. Continue to stir and cook for another 5 minutes.

5. Add tomato mixture and paste and reduce heat. Simmer for at least an hour and serve with rice or potato. Add a pinch of chopped cilantro to finish it off.

Ingredients
1/3 cup lentils (any type)
2 large onions, finely diced
2 large carrots, grated
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup natural yogurt (Xelac is good)
6 tomatoes, diced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1 quetzal worth of cilantro, chopped

Directions
1. Boil the lentils.

2. Fry the carrot, onion and ginger for 10 minutes or until soft but un-colored on a low heat.

3. Add garlic, cumin, turmeric, salt and pepper. Turn up the heat and fry for 2 minutes. Add yogurt and tomato and cook for 8 minutes more, stirring frequently.

4. Add lentils and 2 cups water or chicken stock. Bring to boil then simmer for 15 minutes. Check seasoning, add curry powder and cilantro and serve.

FEBRUARY 2008

It may seem odd to offer up a recipe for a common dish that can be easily bought at the local comedor, but if you’re anything like most gringos around Xela, you're living on a pretty strict budget, not real hot in the kitchen, possibly eating out more than said budget allows or otherwise finding sustenance in tinned beans. Though cooking beans is not the most difficult task, making them taste good is a little harder, and the use of a few local methods and ingredients can render them decidedly delicious. This simple recipe requires only a minimal amount of effort, a liquadora and two pots. Chicken has been included for flavor and textural variation, but can easily be omitted for a cheap and hearty vegetarian meal. Half a pound of dried red beans (white or black beans are also fine)

Ingredients
Half a chicken, cut into pieces
2 large white onions, diced
6 cloves of garlic, diced
1 bunch of thyme, whole
1 pound of tomato
3 bay leaves
2 chile pasa aka chile ancho (the large dark wrinkled one in the market)
Salt

Directions
1. Wash and soak the beans overnight to reduce cooking time.

2. Remove the stems from the chile and place them in a small pot with tomato and garlic and water. Cover and boil for twenty minutes. Drain off the water and blend with a liquadora and reserve.

3. Boil the beans with onion, thyme (leave bunch whole for easy removal later) and bay leaves until soft. This will take from an hour to two, depending on the beans. When ready, strain off most of the water and add the tomato mix, chicken, and a fair amount of salt. I tend to overseason, as beans take salt well, but remember that it will become saltier as it reduces down.

4. Simmer the stew for about an hour, stirring occasionally, until the chicken pieces are tender and the stew has thickened considerably. Taste for seasoning and serve with, well, tortillas and rice. Meat lovers may choose to add a chopped and fried chorizo or two to the stew with the chicken and chile devotees can add a fresh chile to the tomato mix when boiling. Two points to note though: adding salt before the beans are tender will inhibit then from softening further and certain inconsistencies in ingredients mean that you may need to modify the amount of liquid used in stage three. ¡Buen Provecho!