Norteña: Authentic Family Recipes from Northern Mexico

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 north 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.