Why buy it?
Forget what you know about Mexican cuisine. Often oversimplified for fast food consumerism, real Mexican food is as complex as it is addictive, and our addiction shows no signs of abating, especially with chef Paul Wilson toting the cuisine’s explosive, spicy, sweet, robust flavours. Wilson, who shaped Melbourne’s dining scene with Botanical, opened Acland St Cantina in 2013; he has since moved on to helm Sydney’s Icebergs, and has also taken his Latin love with him to the soon-to-be-opened Paladar Dining Room in Surry Hills.
His take on crowd-pleasing Latin food (Anthony Bourdain is a fan) is underpinned by cheffy technique (which is immediately obvious as you flick through the 300-plus pages of Cantina), but not so cheffy to dissuade you from trying the dishes at home. You won’t find a burrito within Cantina’s pages, though. (A puffy taco with tomatillo verde? Yes). What you will find, and revel in, is the breadth of the country and Latin continent (from Peru to Argentina and Brazil) that Wilson has travelled to document regional cuisine, enlivening the dishes to suit today’s lighter eating habits, but never straying so far as not to remain authentic.
His piscatorial versions of well-loved Mexican classics are rule breakers, but in a welcome way, and form part of his sustainable eating ethos. Carne asada (meat and chorizo cooked street-side over wooden barbecues) is made with dory instead, and tacos al pastor (the ubiquitous cult street food of Mexico City, made with pork shoulder marinated in pineapple juice, is rendered with soft shell crab).
And if you squint sideways at Cantina, it taps into the eating well zeitgeist: Latin food is, after all, typically gluten-free, with corn and nutrient-packed ancient grains the stars. Cue chia and amaranth breakfast pudding with agave and vanilla, and chipotle quinoa porridge.
Cookability
“There are no shortcuts to great complex flavours,” advises Wilson. Read: be prepared for a session at the stove. Beyond time spent cooking and sourcing essential Mexican ingredients (dried chillies, masa harina flour, achiote), instructions are comprehensive and achievable for cooks with only un poco kitchen nous. The in-depth yet succinct recipe introductions offer insights into a dish’s origins and context, and you find yourself learning the building blocks of Mexican cooking rather than a recipe by rote.
Must-cook recipes
Salted caramel ice-cream churros tacos: churros piped into a disc acts a like a saucer for the ice-cream; corn bread served up like French toast with pancetta and avocado.
Most genius dish
Tamales, a Mexican staple, made from masa harina flour steamed in corn husks, can be stodgy and bland, but Wilson lightens his with fresh pureed corn for a lighter, creamier version.
Kitchen wisdom
“As with all noteworthy cuisines of the world, the flavour of the traditional soups can often set the stage for understanding the remaining food of that culture … I firmly believe you can judge a cook by their use of stocks and sauces. Unfortunately this skill is becoming a dying art, but I am happy to try and keep it alive.”
Ideal for ...
Latin food enthusiasts who want to recreate authentic flavours at home; fans of Diana Kennedy’s Mexican bibles who are looking for a contemporary take; those who take smug satisfaction in smuggling dried chillies through customs; and those who know how to pronounce huitlacoche (weet-la-koh-chay). That's Mexican corn truffle, for those wondering.
Cook the book
1. Sweetcorn French toast with pancetta and avocado
2. Puffy tacos, Napa chicken salad and tomatillo verde
3. Black and blue corn tortilla soup with bacon and pumpkin
4. Black mole with duck, caramelised figs and farro and pistachio pilaf
5. Salted caramel ice-cream churros tacos
Cantina by Paul Wilson, with photographs by Chris Middleton (Hardie Grant, $49.95, hbk).
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