These crispy fried tortillas are schmeared with refried black beans and topped with slaw and pickled red onions. They originated in Yucatecan markets sometime in the early 1900s, where vendors would make use of day-old beans by puréeing them and slathering them on fried tortillas with hard-boiled egg and some onions.
While vegetarian versions exist, traditional preparations of pozole rojo, especially in the state of Jalisco, include pork bones in some form to give the stew its rich texture and flavour.
While the Pambazo (Mexican Potato and Chorizo Sandwich, is dipped and fried in extremely spicy chilli sauce, the torta ahogada soaks in a pool of it. Hailing from Guadalajara and found throughout the state of Jalisco, it is said to have been created in the early 1900s by a street vendor who accidentally dropped the sandwich into a container full of salsa, which the customer loved.
As long as humans have been eating avocados, there has likely been guacamole. In its basic form it is just mashed with a molcajete y tejolote (Mexican mortar and pestle).
“I always loved food, a lot,” beams multi-award-winning, London-based Kiwi chef and restauranteur, Chantelle Nicholson. “I think I got into cooking pretty young for a few reasons. I had an aunt in Central Otago that was an amazing cook and baker, and then had another aunt who spent some time travelling and living in America, so had very different influences from her."









