We sell the best corn tortillas that make amazing Mexican tacos, but what do you do with any that are left over? In Mexico, they make tortilla soup. Tortilla soup in Mexico is as common and well-loved as French onion soup is in France. With a base of pasilla chillies and a touch of smoky chipotle, it's warming, comforting and certainly lifts the spirits on a cold day.
An Indonesian street food classic and one of the tastiest dishes on the planet. Chunks of beef gently simmered in coconut milk with lemongrass, galangal, cardamom, cinnamon and lime leaves, the flavour combination is sensational. Unlike many other 'wet' curries, Rendang is cooked until most of the liquid has reduced, concentrating the flavours and making it super tasty.
This is a true storecupboard dish that's a real family favourite. It's effectively 'home-made' baked beans with proper flavours that will knock the socks off any canned version.
Chermoula is a Middle Eastern paste that's also popular in North Africa, the recipes for this vary across the regions. Our paste is packed full of herbs and spices, with a touch of chilli. It's also awesome when used with fish or prawns.
I like to think of chicken as a blank canvas, it's brilliant at taking on flavours, especially if you allow time for a marinade to work it's magic. Za'atar is a wonderful blend of Middle Eastern herbs and spices that will transform a humble chicken into a thing of beauty.
This Cuban Mojo marinade is one of my favourite Somerset Foodie sauces. It raises the BBQ bar from dried out old meat to something spectacular. It's spiced with chipotle, garlic and orange which makes for mouthwatering chicken...
Classic Mexican Chicken Tinga is a slow cooked chicken dish made with tomatoes and chipotle chillies. This particular recipe has the addition of dried Ancho and Cascabel Chillies too. I love layering different chilli flavours and if you want a ticket to the most heavenly tasting shredded chicken, then keep on reading...
I just love the fresh vibrant flavours of a noodle salad, a riot of textures and flavours - brought together with a zingy, aromatic dressing. Year-round versatility, you can incorporate whatever fresh veg or salad happens to be in season at the time, or lurking in your fridge and needs using up.
As Spring is upon us with longer days, this lamb dish helps bring out the tastes of a sunny Mediterranean summer - sun dried tomatoes, olives, herbs and olive oil all are reminiscent of lazy summer holidays, heady aromas and with it, amazing flavours...
Vietnamese cuisine is a real melting pot of flavours. It's heavily influenced by the French who occupied the country during the 19th Century so you'll see ingredients like French baguettes and pate commonly being eaten. Mix those up with more traditional South East Asian ingredients like noodles, chilli and coconut, add in wonderfully fragrant herbs and you have something remarkable. Vietnamese food is about fine-tuning your tasting skills to balance out sweet, sour, salty, umami, bitter and hot flavours. It's also about combining perfect textures, crunchy vegetables and silky meat or fish to create the perfect harmony of taste.
The idea of a dressing is to enhance the flavour of the food you are eating. The acid from the vinegar contrasts with the sugar, salt and oil to heighten the pleasure we get from eating. Dressing hot, cooked vegetables is just as gratifying as dressing cold salad leaves, almost more so.
The tacos that you find on every Mexican street corner are often cooked really quickly - it's street food, you can't hang about. We have a recipe that will allow you to make really quick authentic tacos, that are so tasty, it will become your 'go to' meal.
Unless you are an aficionado on Mexican food, some of the different dishes can be a little confusing - enchiladas, chilapitas, quesadillas, gorditas, chilaquiles, sopes, tamales, tostadas, empanadas. One thing is for sure, each and every one of them will be packing a serious amount of flavour, I guess that's why traditional Mexican cuisine is protected by UNESCO.
Everybody loves a good curry and our centuries old love affair with Indian food is as strong as ever. I've met quite a few Western trained Indian chefs who have all told me how tricky it is the master the art of great Indian food. Balancing out the flavours requires such skill.
Discovering Achiote Paste for me was an epiphany moment in Mexican cooking. It's deep red in colour and actually more of a solid block than a loose paste. The key ingredient is annatto seeds, which are extracted from an evergreen shrub native to Latin America. It has a slightly smoky, earthy flavour that is popular in Mexican cuisine as a marinade for meat and fish. You have to dilute the block to use it and Mexicans often use a particular bitter orange for this. Getting hold of this special variety can be a challenge but you can recreate a similar effect by using regular oranges with some added vinegar.
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I received a Japanese cookbook for Christmas and found ALL the ingredients required at The Somerset Foodie which were then delivered to my door free the next day! I checked the prices and they were all very competitive. I have been using everything for a week now and am loving learning a new cuisine. Thanks for making the experience so easy!
It is an excellent gift, and has been gratefully received by family moving into the area. Not only does it offer a source of fine and rarer foods, but also connects to local businesses. All very positive. Thank you!
I bought the chilli lovers gift pack along with a jar of momoya rayu as a Christmas present for my husband. All the sauces are delicious and Ben wasn’t wrong when he said we would become addicted to the momoya rayu - a bulk order will be needed in the new year!
