Warm corn salsa

This recipe comes from Thomasina Miers' Mexican Food Made Simple. It is a really fantastic book and this former Masterchef winner and owner of the chain Wahaca really does know what she is talking about. The TV series accompanying the book is fantastic also, from her beautiful gappy smile, stunning Mexican locations, history and evocative food. Ever since I learnt about how Aztecs used to cut people’s hearts out while they were still alive (I was probably around 8) I have been obsessed with all aspects of Mexican culture. I love the silly movies set in Mexico like ‘From Dusk till Dawn’ and ‘Desperado’, Frida Kahlo, Like Water for Chocolate, songs with Mexico in the title (Down in Mexico, Mexican Radio) and the food, most of all. I distinctly remember rolling my eyes at my grandparents trying to eat fajitas with a knife and fork at the age of 10. Somehow if you don’t have salsa dribbling down your wrist, it doesn’t really count.

Apologies for the lack of photos on this one, I made it last night for dinner and was so impressed that I wanted to get it up here as soon as possible. If I make it again I will add some photos in. it really is a delicious salad, sweet, warm and spicy, smoky and fragrant with lime and coriander. Serve it with sour cream and some tortilla chips.

Ingredients

Approx.. 4 cups of fresh or defrosted frozen corn (not tinned)

1 onion, finely diced

1 or 2 green chillies, deseeded and finely diced

Cooking oil

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Juice of 1 lime (sadly my limes had absolutely no juice in them so I had to use lemon, it still tasted great though)

Handful of fresh coriander, roughly shredded

½ teaspoon of ground allspice

Salt and pepper

Heat oil in a large frying pan and when its hot add the onion, chilli and corn. Sauté over a medium heat for about 5 minutes until the onion starts getting a little translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another 5-10 minutes until the onion looks cooked and the corn has taken on some colour. Add the allspice, salt and pepper, lime and coriander and cook for a minute or two more until the coriander has wilted slightly.