For chef and cookbook author Ixta Belfrage, “fusion food” isn’t a bad thing.
Ixta Belfrage seems like she ’s from everywhere all at once . She was acquit in London , but spent much of her puerility in Tuscany and often chew the fat Mexico , where her grandparents inhabit . after she ’d move to Brazil , her mother ’s home base country . And all along the agency , Belfrage ate and helped cook , plucking solid food and flavors that would eventually inform her roof of the mouth and culinary vocation .
Belfrage ’s global experience often throw people . “ No , I ’m not Mexican , but I roll in the hay it . No , I ’m not Italian , but I love Italy . Yes , I am half Brazilian . ” But it ’s this multicultural melange that ’s mull over in Belfrage ’s cookbookMezcla , which translate to , “ desegregate , ” “ mixture , ” “ blend , ” or “ fusion ” in Spanish .
In her first solo cookery book — a former chef at Yotam Ottenghi ’s test kitchen for four years , Belfrage co - authoredOttolenghi Flavor — she pulls from a life of eating . In Mexico , she remembers watch cook hammer chilly and press tortillas in her grandparent ’ kitchen . You see this inspiration in stunner like her Cheesy Roasted Eggplant with Salsa Roja and Torta Ahogada with Shrimp Miso Bisque .
Cannelloni Enchiladas|Photo by Yuki Sugiura
Ilha Grande , a Brazilian island three hour from Rio de Janeiro , is a comparatively quiet paradise where she ’s spent time with her parents and friends . “ There are so many of these little Pisces the Fishes shanty eating house around the island where you may eat meals with the body of water swoosh up around your feet , ” she recall . Specifically a stadium of seafood stew called moqueca is one of Belfrage ’s favorites . In her account book , find a recipe for Caldo de Feijão with Spicy Pine Nut Oil , a dish she loved order with her former best acquaintance , Roma , with whom she would frequent Bar do Mineiro in Santa Teresa on showery day , Belfrage recalls inMezcla .
“ When hoi polloi are unconvinced by fusion food and think that it lacks focus or is all over the billet , I care to give moqueca as an example because moqueca is a classic Brazilian sweetheart , ” state Belfrage . “ [ It ’s ] a mix of autochthonic Brazilian cooking , Portuguese cooking , and West African cooking by mode of enslaved people who were forcibly taken to Brazil by the Portuguese . ”
Another example Belfrage points out is , of course , tomato and alimentary paste in Italian cooking ; the former a fruit indigenous to South America and the latter influenced by Chinese noodles . Her Cannelloni Chicken Enchiladas formula is one of Belfrage ’s favorite mezclas : béchamel , mozzarella , and alimentary paste join with cumin seed , chipotle , and cilantro . Use up remnant roast chicken or snag a rotisserie chicken . For a vegetarian version , use marinated bean curd , recommends Belfrage .
For Belfrage , “ fusion ” is n’t a pejorative . As she exemplify inMezcla , it is n’t a cliche cuisine or outdated musical genre , but the freedom to move between culinary art and element . “ I do n’t think it ’s something that ’s looked down upon anymore , ” she say . “ I do retrieve that the populace would be a very boring office if we were only earmark to misrepresent from our own culture . ”
Cannelloni Enchiladas
Yield : assist 4
Ingredients:• 12 ounces ( 350 g ) leftover roast chicken , delicately chopped ( see intro)• 2 tablespoon basswood juice• ½ teaspoons o.k. salt• 8 fresh lasagne sheets lime poor boy , for service
Cumin béchamel:• 2½ tablespoon ( 40 g ) unsalted butter• 5 tablespoons ( 40 g ) plain flour• 1¾ cups ( 450 g ) whole milk• 1 Syzygium aromaticum of garlic , exquisitely grated / crushed• 1½ teaspoons grind cumin• ½ teaspoonful chipotle flakes• 3½ ounces ( 100 g ) mozzarella , drained and chopped• 1 teaspoonful fine salt
Salsa roja:• 1 cup ( 250 one thousand ) Gallus gallus stock ( or water)• ¾ cup ( 200 GB ) love apple purée ( passata)• 2 tablespoonful ( 30 g ) tomato paste• 2 cloves of garlic , fine grated / crushed• 1 tablespoon ( 15 constant of gravitation ) unsalted butter , melted• 1 teaspoonful ground cumin• ½ teaspoon dried Mexican ( or regular ) oregano• 1 teaspoon chipotle flakes• ½ teaspoon okay salt
Salsa fresca:• 1 medium , right tomato , fine chop ( 3½ oz/100g)•1 red chile , finely chopped• ¼ onion , finely chopped ( 3 tbsp/30g)• 1½ tablespoons olive crude , plus more for serving• 4 teaspoon ( 20 g ) calcium oxide juice• ¼ teaspoon amercement salt• 2 tbsp ( 5 g ) fine chopped fresh cilantro
Notes : Use marinated tofu instead of chicken for a vegetarian edition . To make this vegan , use dairy - barren alternative and dry out lasagne sheets ( which will call for to be boiled before using ) .
Directions:1 . Mix the Gallus gallus with the lime tree succus and common salt and set aside.2 . For the béchamel , unfreeze the butter in a average saucepan over intermediate heat . Once mellow , whip in the flour to get a smooth , slurred paste . make for 1 bit , whisk ceaselessly , then tardily pour in the Milk River , whisking vigorously to get rid of any lumps . Cook for 1½ minutes ( keep whisking ! ) or until the intermixture has thickened to a smooth béchamel.3 . Remove from the warmth and tally the Allium sativum , cumin seed , chipotle , mozzarella , and fine saltiness . conjure until the mozzarella has melted with the residual heat . transplant half the béchamel to a separate container and set up aside to use later . Stir the Gallus gallus into the remaining béchamel in the genus Pan . Set aside.4 . Put all the ingredients for the salsa roja into a bowl and whisk off until combine . Pour two - thirds of the salsa into a 9 x 13 - column inch ( 23 x 33 cm ) baking dish.5 . Preheat the oven to 400 ° F ( 180 ° C fan/200 ° C).6 . Place the lasagne bed sheet in a large heatproof container , cover with boiling water , and let soften for a few minutes.7 . One sheet at a clock time , take the lasagne out of the urine and piazza on a oeuvre surface . If your lasagne tabloid are around 6 x 8 inches ( 15 x 20 cm ) , have a shorter side confront you . If they ’re much smaller , have a longer side present you.8 . coiffe about ½ cup ( 75 g ) of the chicken mix along the side closest to you , then tightly roll up and place in the pan , line side down . extend with the rest until you ’ve satisfy the pan . Pour on the eternal rest of the salsa roja , follow by the remaining béchamel . Drizzle with some olive oil , then broil for 30 minutes.9 . Meanwhile , for the salsa fresca , mix together the tomatoes , chile , onion , oil , lime juice , and salt.10 . When you ’re ready to function , stir the cilantro into the salsa fresca . Top the hot cannelloni with the salsa fresca , drizzle with some more olive oil , and serve with additional lime wedges on the side .
“ Mezcla”Copyright © 2022 by Ixta Belfrage . photo right of first publication © 2022 by Yuki Sugiura . Published by Ten Speed Press , an depression of Random House .
