Viva Vegan!: 200 Authentic and Fabulous Recipes for Latin Food Lovers (58 page)

Latin American Stuff

 

Dried Chiles

❑ For moles and sauces, earthy sweet flavors, and mild-to-medium heat, dark reddish-brown: ancho, pasilla, morada

❑ Hot and bright sharp flavors, red: costeño, piquín, chile de arbol

❑ South American chiles (ají): mild to medium: amarillo, panca, mirasol; hot to very hot: rocoto

Dried Beans

❑ Black, pinto

❑ White

❑ Cargamanto

❑ Central American/Salvadorian red

❑ Bola roja

❑ Canary

❑ Garbanzo

❑ Pigeon peas

Spices

❑ Achiote, a.k.a. annatto seeds

❑ Aniseeds or star anise

❑ Bay leaves

❑ Cinnamon sticks and ground cinnamon

❑ Cloves

❑ Cumin, ground

❑ Epazote, dried

❑ Mexican oregano, dried

❑ Oregano, dried

Grains and Flours

❑ Mexican masa harina

❑ Masa harina for tamales

❑ Masarepa, a.k.a. Harina PAN (Colombian/Venezuelan harina) for arepas

❑ Long-grain white or brown rice

❑ Quinoa, white, red, or black

❑ Amaranth (for polenta or soup)

❑ Toasted manioc flour for farofa (Brazilian specialty item)

Prepared Jarred/Canned Items

❑ Peruvian ají paste (crema): amarillo, panca, and rocoto

❑ Assorted hot sauces, Mexican: Tapatío, Yucatán, Valentina ; Ecuadorean: La Cholla ; and so on

❑ Costa Rican Salsa Lizano

❑ Canned black, pinto, kidney, and garbanzo beans

❑ Canned Latin specialty beans (see dried list) such as bola roja, cargamanto, and pigeon peas

❑ Achiote paste

❑ Coconut milk and cream of coconut

❑ Guava paste (canned or in a plastic container)

❑ Pickled jalapeños

❑ Pickled nopales (cactus paddles)

❑ Olives: green pimiento-stuffed, black kalamata

❑ Capers or alcaparrado (mixed olives, capers, and pimientos)

❑ Chipotles in adobo sauce

Fresh Produce

❑ Cilantro

❑ Other Latin herbs such as culantro, yerba buena, papalo, and epazote

❑ Yuca (cassava, manioc) root

❑ Other Latin root veggies: yautia, ñame, etc.

❑ Green onions

❑ Garlic

❑ Onions: yellow, red, Spanish, sweet/Vidalia

❑ Leeks

❑ Plantains, green or ripe

❑ Fresh chiles: Anaheim, jalapeño, serrano, poblano, chilaques, and so on

❑ Bell peppers, green and red

❑ Avocado (buy 2 to 3 days prior to using)

❑ Potato, waxy yellow, red, and purple

❑ Papaya

❑ Limes, lemons, oranges

❑ Tomatillos

❑ Ripe red tomatoes

❑ Calabaza (Latin pumpkin)

❑ Fresh nopales, spines removed (cactus paddles)

Frozen

❑ Tropical fruit purees: guava, passion fruit (maracujá), soursop (guanábana), pineapple

❑ Frozen pigeon peas

❑ Frozen fava beans

❑ Vegan empanada dough rounds (read ingredients carefully . . . lard may lurk here!)

❑ Frozen peeled yuca chunks

❑ Choclo corn kernels

❑ Frozen whole ají amarillo, rocoto

❑ Frozen banana leaves

Miscellaneous

❑ Beer (most Mexican beer is vegan)

❑ Vegan dry white wine and red wine for cooking

❑ Dried corn husks

❑ Panela brown sugar, any cone or cake shape

❑ Latin chocolate for drinking (Ibarra, Sol, Luker, etc.)

❑ Corn or flour (read labels to check for lard) tortillas

❑ Cotton kitchen twine for tamales (cheaper in Latin markets!)

❑ Parchment paper for wrapping tamales (ditto)

 

Vegan Ingredients

 

❑ Vegetable broth or bouillon (avoid very “green” cabbagy-tasting brands)

❑ “Chicken”-flavored vegetable broth, cubes, or concentrated pastes

❑ Vital wheat gluten flour

❑ Tofu, Chinese (firm) for savory, Japanese silken (soft) for desserts or crema

❑ Soy sauce; use lighter Chinese-style sauce over strong tamari or shoyu varieties

❑ Nutritional yeast flakes

❑ Vegetarian Worcestershire sauce

❑ Tempeh

❑ Vegan mayonnaise

❑ Nonhydrogenated shortening and margarine

 

General Ingredients

 

Most any supermarket should have these groceries in stock.

❑ Tomato paste

❑ Canned diced tomatoes, preferably organic

❑ Canned crushed tomatoes or plain tomato sauce

❑ Red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar

❑ Olive oil, and vegetable oil for frying and baking

❑ Almonds, peanuts

❑ Pine nuts

❑ Raisins

❑ Fresh produce: corn, kale, radishes, green or red cabbage, lettuce, summer squash (zucchini, yellow squash), garlic, Italian parsley, carrot, eggplant, and so on