10/03/2007

Vera Cruz Halibut & Mango Salsa

Veracruz, a State in Mexico and home to a simple style of cooking seafood.

Simply, a sauce of tomato, onion, garlic, chillies and olives. Oregano perfumes the dish, although over here in Britain, marjoram is closer to Mexican oregano.

So, two pans ...

In the first pan, soften some onions in lard, add in chopped garlic and a carton of chopped tomatoes. Enhanced the tomato flavour with some tomato purée and toss in chopped jalapeño chillies. Sprinkle over some oregano or marjoram and toss in some green olives, perhaps halved.

That's the sauce ... reduce gently.

In the other pan, gently fry off your fish. Again, lard is good. I went with halibut, a North Atlantic fish, which has a firm yet delicate texture and flavour. Perfect for this sauce.

Meanwhile, make up a simple salsa ...

Chopped mango and red chillies.

Plate up ...

Fish down first, sauce over, salsa alongside ... with a couple of slices of avocado.