Latin American food - Las Igunas, one of its kind.

There are too many cuisines unheard of and there is so much in depth to do in the field of culinary. To most of us who have a little inclination towards the field anything that is not Indian and Chinese was continental. Continental was just a comfortable word and it included Mexican, Italian and anything else that couldn't be classified by laymen. Lots of other genre's just went lost due to lack of awareness and communication. But i must appreciate the fact that people have become much adventurous these days and have an idea of cuisines like Italian. It sure is popularity among the upper middle and the diet conscious for being fresh, light and healthy.

Speaking about the title now, have you ever wondered what a Latin American restaurant would serve? Though its very common in the west and here in UK, there are extremely few competitors for this cuisine.Here is an effort to take you trough what i would now call a rough guided tour!

When i first landed here, i was given a company handbook called the Rough Guide. This book talked about the regions which come in Latin America. Brazil, Dominican Republic, Mexico , Spain, Cuba and lots of other small countries fall under this category. The eating and drinking habits in these countries are quiet unique and very interesting for a someone new.

They produce something called as Cachaca (native liquor produced and distilled from sugarcane and aged in oak casks) which still is an all time favourite among them. With this a cocktail called Caprinha (basically this liquor is mixed with lot of lemon and flaked ice and caster sugar) is made, which tastes absolutely fabulous. Latin Food is more influenced with Spanish cooking as they commonly have the habit of eating lot of nibbles called TAPAS or more commonly known as starters. TAPAS are not very elaborate like you would find here in India, but will be as simple as freshly baked breads and olives (The peruvian olives is a favorite which is soaked in olive oil and paprika and lot of herbs).

They also eat of lot of fish in all kinds of preparations. Fish is cooked in a sauce, grilled or roasted. These dishes are called PESCE. The latin american favourites are MOQUECAS (a coconut milk, fresh chillies and peppers based sauce) andXIMXIM( pronounced shimshim). The main ingredients in these dishes are onions, peanut butter and cream and loads of lemon juice.

And of course, if you are to taste Latin American any time, please dont forget PERI (a spicy punjent sauce made with vinegar and chillies and lemon boiled and blended) and for the passionate sweet lovers they have a classical coconut pudding called MANJAR , and figs stuffed with condensed milk called BREVAS.

That was a little peek into kitchen on the other side of the world. This was just a brief introduction. I hope to dwell you all into more of the intricate Latin American dishes and slowly move on to recipes that could jus keep your lips smacking!

Happy Cooking!

Chef Vijay