Part of the fun of living and cooking in another country is the challenge of trying to make food from home while using the “substitutes” you can find. Last weekend we decided to bring a little warmth into Casa Raia. We were sick of the cold, grey, gloomy days and wanted to have some fun. So we decided to make some serious Tex-Mex fare! We invited the Canadian neighbors and had a party. The menu was Mojitos, 7-Layer Dip, Guacamole, and Fish Tacos. Sounds easy enough. Ha! It took me nearly 3 hours to prepare this! Here are the funny things that we had to do to make this Mexican food extravaganza come to fruition…
Mojitos…
Fresh mint is difficult to find in the middle of winter. In the summer is grows like a weed here. I went on a hunt in the grassy fields around the house and at the neighbors and came back with nothing. I did find a lot of stinging nettles though. Boo. The Canadian neighbors have a plant that grows under their stairs and always produces so they came to the rescue!
Chips & Guacamole…
Tortilla chips are very difficult to find here, and they are rarely without seasoning. I found one choice in Montepulciano last weekend and bought 3 bags! Cilantro does not exist here. It is not grown or sold. Luckily Kalyna grows it in her garden and stashed a small bag in the freezer. Jalapenos are not produced here either. There are some kind of peppers in a jar but they taste like vinegar so we decided to go without.
7-Layer Dip…
Refried beans do not exist. Luckily Kalyna’s family had a stash of some canned kidney beans. I cooked those up and smashed them with a potato masher and added cumin, coriander, taco seasoning and cayenne. They were pretty tasty- and a little sweet which was actually nice. Kalyna’s brother likes junk food and stashed a few “Old ElPaso Soft Taco” kits so that’s where the taco seasoning came from! And by the way, I had to grind the cumin and coriander by hand with a mortor and pestle since we only have them in the whole form. That’s some love there!
Despite a daily selection that will send you into a food coma, here sour cream also does not exist in Italy. We got crafty and made ours from Fiorella cheese and Greek yogurt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Perfect! I added some lime zest, lime juice and pressed garlic to make a nice “sauce” for the tacos too.
Neither cheddar cheese nor Monterey Jack are available here either. Kalyna grated some kind of white hard cheese that was similar but had a little more of a bite and was really good.
Fish Tacos…
We used my marinade (minced garlic, lime juice, lime zest, EVOO) on white fish and broiled it. Had the soft tacos from the kit and then added red bell pepper, avocado, scallions, mango and the sour cream mix I made. It was fabulous!
The funniest thing to me was that everyone loved it! I couldn’t believe these sophisticated foodies loved my “superbowl-esque” food! You can’t get a lot of Tex-Mex comfort food here so it was a welcomed change. It was a fun way to celebrate a Sunday with friends and family.
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