Embassy of Mexico’s Chef Raùl Guerrero shares this traditional red snapper recipe.
Chef Raùl Guerrero has been cooking at the embassy of Mexico for the past 11 years. Though himself a native of Mexico City, chef Guerrero aims to highlight cuisines from around the country: fish from Veracruz, for instance; a cactus salad from the Mexico City area; chiles en nogada from Puebla; and sopa de lima from the Yucatán. When dignitaries from Mexico are at the table, Guerrero goes with a Canadian theme, serving salmon seasoned with maple. He finds some Mexican specialties — canned cactus, for example — at Video Latino on Somerset Street and heads to Herb and Spice on Wellington to source fresh ingredients such as chilies serranos, tomatillos, and guanabana.
Fish à la Veracruzana
INGREDIENTS
1.5 kg tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 bay leaves
300 g small potatoes, peeled
1 bag pearl onions
3 carrots cut into 1 cm-thick diagonal slices
5 fillets red snapper
3 tbsp olives
3 tbsp capers
DIRECTIONS
1. Finely chop half the tomatoes and purée remainder with the garlic.
2. Put olive oil in pot. Add chopped tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook five minutes over medium heat.
3. Add puréed tomatoes and bay leaves. Lower heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
4. Put separate pot of water on to boil and boil potatoes until half-cooked, then add onions and, lastly, carrots.
5. Arrange fillets in large glass casserole dish, and season with salt and pepper.
6. When vegetables are ready, add them to sauce along with olives and capers and pour over fish.
7. Bake 40 minutes at 350˚F. Serve with white rice.