The process of shaping raw ingredients into something palatable — and the events that surround this endeavour — can lead to all kinds of unforgettable moments: kitchen disasters, severed digits, epic struggles with newfangled culinary gadgets and, sometimes, personal triumphs. So why not ask some of the city’s top chefs for their most memorable recipes? Why not, indeed? No, really — that’s what we did, and will continue to do weekly.
Agave y Aguacate may be a bare bones stall in Kensington Market, but owner-chef Francisco Alejandri is putting out some of the best Mexican food in the city. It’s not surprising, considering his resume: he trained at the Stratford Chefs School and worked at Splendido, Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar and Torito. We asked him for the dish that helped spark his passion for cooking.
Says Alejandri:
“My breakthrough dish would have to be guacamole. Why? Because of the simplicity in the amount of ingredients required to prepare this wonderful sauce. This ‘dish’ is important to me because it was one of the first things that I learned from my mother and also one of the first things that she would allow me to do, as simple as this sauce is.
It took me some time to do it right: it would be too limey sometimes or too spicy (nothing wrong with that) or too garlicky, so I learned that other than gorgeous avocados, balance is of utter importance. Without it, a dish just won’t work, no matter how simple it is.
My mother would explain that in cooking, nothing should overpower anything. You have to be able to savour everything, and that is something that I still do in a fervent way. Thanks to this, I learned what I think is the most important thing in cooking, other than love and passion: balance. I still make guacamole the way she showed me and I think it is wonderful.
Guacamole
Ingredients
1 avocado
¼ habanero pepper
1 clove of garlic
2 teaspoons chopped white onion
2 tablespoons chopped tomato
1 tablespoon chopped coriander
½ a lime, juiced to taste
Sea salt, to taste
Directions
- If possible, use a molcajete (a traditional Mexican mortar and pestle). Grind the onions, garlic, chiles and cilantro to a rough paste.
- Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit and scoop out the flesh with a spoon.
- Mash the flesh roughly into the mortar, turning it so that the seasoning is well distributed.
- Mix with the chopped tomato and season with salt and lime to taste.
- Serve within 15 minutes, otherwise the avocado will oxidize and ruin the delicate taste of the avocado.
