We tend to think of the organic traffic from the new world to the European continent as a one way street. Without the bounty of the Americas " potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, vanilla, avocado, chocolate, squash and, of course, tobacco " our lives would be pretty dreary. In return, we gave them wheat and smallpox.
But this is to forget that the greatest of all South American dishes " ceviche " would never have been invented if the Spanish settlers hadn't brought citrus fruit with them. Granted, the indigenous Peruvians made some early attempts at a marinated fish dish. In Inca days, fresh fish used to be brought in every day from the coast to the mountain-top capital of Cusco, 3,400m above sea level. A team of athletes would sprint, carrying the precious cargo, from hut to hut, passing the fish to each other like a relay baton until it reached the city.
After all that, the Inca chefs would marinate it in salt, chilli, and the vile chicha " a low-alcohol beer brewed from corn. Chewed, spat-out corn. What rejoicing there must have been when the first lime landed in Peru, probably in the stores of a Moorish chef working for the Spanish nobility. Lime juice is the central element of this actually very simple dish: it both flavours and "cooks" the fish, its acid turning the flesh opaque before your eyes.
There are four simple rules to making great ceviche:
Use very fresh fish.
Don't leave the fish in the juice for too long. It will "over-cook", losing its texture and becoming too acidic. With a delicate white fish, such as the one we are using, 10 minutes is plenty.
Seasoning is everything. And by seasoning, we mean salting. Taste the fish after 5 minutes in the juice and salt again if necessary.
Serve it with something sweet to balance the citrus. In the typical Peruvian lunch, or almuerzo, this would be a robust chunk of roast sweet potato. But sweetcorn, avocado, olive oil, and even sweet fruit such as mango can be used. I once served an autumnal ceviche as a canape at a party on rounds of roasted pumpkin.
Once you have mastered the basics, you can play with the formula; all you need is a sharp fishy element and a sweet element. I've had success with finely sliced scallops and pea shoots; finely sliced shrimp with mango and avocado; and even wild salmon with very finely sliced fennel.
Ceviche also produces a bonus gift. Save the marinating juices and use them to make leche de tigre (literally "tiger's milk"), by mixing them with ice-cold vodka and serving them as shooters at the start of the meal. It's much better than smallpox.
Ceviche
We have served our ceviche with watercress, turning it into something of a salad. Omit the leaves if you want something that looks more traditional.
Serves 6
500g megrim sole fillets, skinned and trimmed
1 tsp salt
Juice of 6-8 limes
For the dressing
1 beefsteak tomato skinned, de-seeded and finely chopped
½ red pepper, finely chopped
½ yellow pepper, finely chopped
½ red onion, finely chopped
2-3 red chillies, finely chopped
2 tbsp coriander, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and black pepper
2 avocados, peeled, stoned and cut into wedges or chunks
1 bunch watercress
1 Remove any bones from the fish fillets and cut into 1cm-thick slices.
2 Place in a shallow glass (or other non-reactive) dish, sprinkle with the salt and cover with lime juice. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes.
3 Combine all the other ingredients, except the avocado and watercress, in a large bowl and season well.
4 Drain the lime juice from the fish by placing in a sieve (reserve the juice in the fridge to make leche de tigre). Mix with the other ingredients in the bowl.
5 To serve, arrange the avocado and watercress on a large serving platter. Top with the ceviche and serve.
Corn fritters
3 cobs of corn, cooked
1 egg
2 egg yolks
125ml milk
2 tbsp creme fraiche
125g plain flour
3 tbsp polenta
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp chives, chopped
1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped
Salt and black pepper
Butter and oil, for frying
1 Remove the corn kernels from the cobs with a knife and set to one side.
2 Combine the egg, yolks, milk and creme fraiche. Whisk until combined.
3 Sieve the dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Pour in the egg and milk mix and whisk till you have a thick batter. Add the corn, chives and spring onions, then season well. (For a nutty flavour, heat 1 tbsp of butter until brown, then add to the batter).
4 Heat a knob of butter with a little olive oil in a nonstick pan until hot. Drop tablespoons of the mix into the pan and fry for 2 minutes on either side until golden brown. Do it in batches. Keep the cooked fritters warm in an oven set to 100C/225F/gas mark ¼.
Baked sweet potato
4"6 sweet potatoes
1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated
Salt and black pepper
2 tbsp chilli sauce
3 tbsp creme fraiche
1 Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork. Roast on a baking tray for about 45 minutes, or until tender. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Split each potato in half lengthways, then fluff up the flesh with a fork.
2 Arrange on a serving plate and sprinkle with grated ginger. Season and drizzle with chilli sauce and creme fraiche.
- Henry Dimbleby is co-founder of the natural fast-food restaurant chain Leon@henry_leon. Jane Baxter is a chef and food writer based in Devon @baxcooka
