Norteña: Authentic Family Recipes from the North of Mexico

by Karla Zazueta

Passed down through the generations of Karla Zazueta’s family, she explores cooking techniques and ingredients brought in from lesser explored regions. This is a true taste of northern Mexico using fresh produce, bursting with flavour, colour and – crucially – history.

The Mexican cuisine that most people are familiar with is from the centre or the south of the country, but in Norteña, Karla Zazueta shares the dishes and ways of cooking that she grew up with. Norteña – meaning ‘northerner’ – tells the tale of the northern states of Mexico – of the coastlines and fresh seafood, the cattle ranches, sun-ripened fruit and vegetables and the family gatherings around the table.

The recipes in the book include the world-famous Baja fish tacos, ‘piggy’ pinto beans, vegan chorizo, crab tostadas, sopes (corn patties) served in a tomato broth and empanadas californianas (shredded beef empanadas), all accompanied by mouth-watering spicy salsas, fresh queso and zingy salads.

There are recipes para la sed (for the thirst), which includes the best margaritas. The book ends on something sweet, with recipes such as Mexican flan and camotes (sweet potato poached until tender in a sweet, spiced syrup). The recipes are accompanied by longer texts that describe the different cultural events and influences that play such a huge part in the cuisine, such as the tamales estilo Sinaloa, wrapped with special care at Christmas time.

Karla’s understanding of flavour shines through in her recipes and she suggests substitutes throughout so you can recreate the authentic taste using ingredients from the supermarket. In addition, many of the meat and fish dishes are given a vegetarian alternative so that you can adapt the recipes for everyone to enjoy.

By sharing her family recipes, taking influence from her travels and tastes, Karla makes sure that each dish is packed with flavour but also cooked with love. Let yourself be transported to the Baja peninsula, rolling corn tortillas in the sun, sipping on a refreshing michelada and cooled by the breeze coming in from the sea.

Contents

Buenos Dias/Good Morning

Esenciales Norteñas/Northern Essentials

Algo Picosito/Something Spicy

Del Huerto/From the Garden

Del Mar/From the Sea

Del Rancho/From the Ranch

Final Dulce/Sweet Ending

Para la Sed/For the Thirst

Carne Asada/Mexican Feast

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking

192 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 25, 2024

Reviews

[Miss✧Pickypants ᓚᘏᗢ · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title indicates, this is a terrific collection of authentic northern Mexican dishes. Recipes are well-written and easy to follow making this an especially good option for less experienced cooks and anyone who enjoys Mexican cuisine. With colourful full page photos for many, but not all, of the finished dishes, I did wish there were more.

The author provides the back-story for many dishes in the head notes as well as some history of the foods of the northern Mexican states, like how soy sauce appears in a dish thanks to the influence Chinese settlers. The book ends reminding us of the symbiotic relationship that has existed between the U.S. and Mexico since 1848 when Mexico ceded 55% of its territory to the U.S. after the Mexican-American War ended.

[Andrianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this but it just didn't do it for me. I did enjoy the recipes for tortillas, but she lost me when she said a green bell pepper was an appropriate substitute for a poblano in a Chile relleno. I think the main audience for this book might be Brits.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those cookbooks that is a great read as well as including lots of wonderful sounding recipes. I had to return it to the library before I got to try to make any of them.