Veracruz, situated on the Gulf of Mexico, is one of my favourite Mexican cities. The zocalo is ringed with restaurants, closed off to cars and has a large stage. Something is happening there almost every night. And a short bus ride away is Mocambo beach.
Mapa de Veracruz
We started our comida veracruzana with thirst-quenching agua de tamarindo (tamarind water) and picaditas del puerto. The picaditas are rumoured to be an excellent cure for a hangover, but even if you don’t have a hangover you will still want to try these bocadillas (nibbles).
two types of picaditas, one with salsa verde and one with salsa roja
The picaditas are hand-made ‘pinched’ tortillas of masa (corn dough), topped with either a salsa verde (green salsa) or salsa roja (red salsa), then shredded chicken, crema fresca (crème fraiche) and queso fresco (fresh cheese, mild cow’s milk feta makes an okay substitute). Like the salbutes (https://blogs.ubc.ca/
Agua de Tamarindo
The tamarind water was both sweet and sour, an excellent accompaniment to the spicy picadas.
For the entrée we had Huatape Veracruzana con Camarones. Special large sweet prawns are traditionally used in this dish, and Chef Rossana felt that the BC spot prawns would be a perfect substitute. They were cooked in a light ‘mole’, which means there were only 10 chiles in the sauce, as opposed to 50! Served with a Mexican-style white rice (fried before adding the seasoned chicken broth), topped with fried plantain chips, this was a satisfying main course.
Veracruz-style Prawns in a Light Mole
Desert was a treat, a frozen mango concoction.
Mango Postre
To drink, Torito de Cacahuate, which translates as ‘little bull made of peanuts’. It was a unusual creamy drink made of chunky peanut butter and aguardiente (we substituted white rum). I love tasting entirely new things, especially if they’re good, and this rum drink was certainly a great way to finish off a great meal!
peanut & rum drink
¡Qué rico!