Highlight: Chef Tania is a famous chef from Mexico, twice she has travelled to India for promoting Mexican food in leading hotels
Mexican Recipe: Pulpo A la Diabla: (Spicy Octopus with Cauliflower Puree)
- INGREDIENTS
Octopus
- 2 Kilograms of octopus
- 1 large onion
- 6 units of garlic
- A sprig of scent herbs
- Salt to taste
Spicy sauce
- 10 units of Kashmiri dry (chili) peppers
- 1 large onion
- 3 units of garlic
- 2 oranges (the juice)
- Butter (or oil)
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree
- Salt to taste
Cauliflower puree
- 1 cauliflower cut into small pieces
- 1 liter of water
- ½ tablespoon of sea salt
- ½ onion
- 2 units of garlic
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method Octopus
- First thing you have to wash the octopus with water and salt to remove the smell, do not forget to remove the needle and eyes.
- Bring to a boil a large pot with water.
- When the water is boiling, grab the octopus by the head so that the tentacles hang. Put the octopus in the boiling water and take it out three times in a row. By doing this, the octopus will be smooth, and will prevent it from peeling when cooked.
- Now, put the octopus inside the water with the large onion, the garlic head, the herbs and a little salt. Let it cook in the uncovered pot for 17-18 minutes for each kilo of octopus. If the octopus is weighing about 2 kg, you have to leave it for about 35 minutes.
- After this, check if the octopus is ready by sticking a toothpick in the junction of one of the tentacles and if it does not resist, it is ready.
- At the end of the cooking time, remove the pot from the heat and let it rest in the water for 15-20 minutes.
Method Spicy sauce
- Once the octopus is well cooked, drain it and chop the tentacles in individual pieces. Roast the chilis, onion and garlic. Once well roasted, blend them together with the juice of the oranges and a little salt.
- In a saucepan put a little butter to fry the octopus tentacles for a few minutes, since it is fried, add the mixture that we liquefy and the tomato puree, stir and cook for 5 to 10 more minutes over low heat.
- Try the dish and add salt if necessary. When serving the octopus, A la Diabla it is recommended to accompany it with cauliflower puree.
Method cauliflower puree
- Heat the water until it boils, add the salt, onion, garlic and the pieces of cauliflower; cook for 12 minutes over high heat or until easily melted.
- Place cauliflower, butter, salt, garlic onion and pepper in a blender; Blend until you have the consistency of puree.
About Chef Tania Tovar
Tania Tovar is a leading chef from Mexico, known for teaching and promoting Mexican cuisine. Twice she has travelled to India to promote Mexico’s famous Corralejo Tequila and Mexican food. Her full name is Tania de la Torre Tovar, but popularly known as Chef Tania Tovar. Born in Tampico city of Tamaulipas state located in the Gulf of Mexico, it collides with the North to the United States. It is a small and quiet city, where the food is based a lot on seafood and cuts of meat. Tania graduated from Mexico’s best gastronomy university.
Chef Tania has worked with a famous restaurant namely “Fonda Fina” in Mexico. It serves contemporary Mexican cuisine. Here, she worked from a line cook to becoming the Executive Chef. She learnt making classic Mexican delicacies, food presentation, elaborate desserts, food costs and managing a team of chefs. In 2019, she travelled through different states of Mexico to learn recipes, flavors and traditional ingredients of each region. In her opinion, the most important state is “Oaxaca”. There she worked in a restaurant of the best Chefs in Mexico. In this restaurant and especially in this state, the best “Moles” are made, which are typical and recognized dishes of Mexico. They are sauces based on different dried chilies and multiple spices.
She got an opportunity to travel to India in 2015 to showcase and promote Mexican food. The tour was organized to promote Mexico’s famous Corralejo Tequila and Mexican food. In her maiden trip to India she promoted Mexican cuisines in 5 Star hotels of Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Pune and Punjab. During the festival, her job consisted of teaching Mexican cuisine to the staff members, interacting with guests, spreading information and promoting Corralejo tequila, one of the most famous alcoholic beverages of Mexico. Her second trip to India began in early 2020. She promoted Mexican delicacies in Hilton Mumbai, Renaissance Mumbai, Intercontinental Marine Drive, Hyatt Pune, The Park Chennai, Radisson New Delhi, Westin New Delhi and Setz in New Delhi (Vasant Kunj). Her journey curtailed prematurely due to Pandemic.
Now, instead of sitting idle at home during a pandemic; she started her own company from her home. She is making exclusive food and desserts and selling it. Her product prices are very affordable, so even common people also can buy. She is planning to establish it in a bigger way as a future opportunity and planning to establish formally.
Chef Tania Tovar, speaking to Mumbai Messenger Newspaper from Mexico said “I always hope to be able to continue traveling and continue to share my knowledge to young minds. Teaching is my passion and teaching my native cuisine is a way of expressing what I like to do the most: cooking. Traveling to India is something that I am passionate about and I hope I can continue doing it for a long time”.
Editor in Chief : Mewati SItaram
