New York’s Favorite Mexican Cook

There’s as much for the serious reader in Zarela Martinez’s book, “Food From My Heart” (Macmillan: $25; 354 pp.) as for the serious cook. Martinez’s memoirs of growing up in Mexico, her insider portrayal of Mexican customs and her regional explorations make great armchair reading for travelers and students of anthropology. The story of her rise from caterer in Texas to owner of Zarela, a popular Mexican restaurant in New York, will interest budding restaurateurs or all those grinding their way toward success.

Martinez is frank about her goals. “I want to make money, lots of money,” she says. And who wouldn’t, with twin teen-age sons facing college. Her financial schemes include a new restaurant venture, based on an idea that is under wraps at present, and another book.

Born in the northern Mexican state of Sonora, Martinez studied mass communication in Guadalajara and eventually settled in El Paso, where she worked as a secretary and then as a medical social worker. Married and expecting twins, she sought some way to earn much-needed money. Her sister’s suggestion that she cook and cater started an upward spiral.

Martinez began by baking Christmas cookies, then opened a catering business in El Paso while continuing to work full-time. Several years later, she was able to leave social work and concentrate on catering. Then came a chance meeting with the man who became her “good angel,” chef Paul Prudhomme.

On a visit to New Orleans, Martinez and her mother went to Prudhomme’s restaurant, K-Paul’s. The chef and the caterer wound up cooking together, and when Prudhomme undertook a dinner for a French chefs’ organization in New York City, he summoned Martinez to participate. Her job was to prepare Mexican food for an American regional buffet.

More catering and top-level exposure followed. Then Martinez took what she calls “a crazy gamble.” By then divorced, she moved to New York with no job and minuscule savings. An assignment to design the recipes and menu for Cafe Marimba, a Mexican restaurant, exposed her to the restaurant business. In 1987, Martinez took the plunge and opened Zarela, where she could cook in her own style.

“My philosophy of cooking is a layering of flavors. Everything hits your mouth at a different time,” she says. Her signature dish is Salpicon de Huachinango (Red Snapper Hash), a lively combination of shredded fish with spices (cinnamon, cloves and cumin) and salsa ingredients (tomatoes, onions, garlic, cilantro and chiles). “It’s hot,” she says. “It’s aromatic. And it’s easy to eat in a tortilla.”

Martinez served an even more complex dish, a rolled pork loin seasoned with chipotle paste and stuffed with dried fruit, at her restaurant on Christmas Eve. There were also other holiday favorites such as tamales and bunuelos.

These recipes are in her book, along with basic preparations that she calls “the building blocks” of her cuisine, sections on Mexican holidays and their foods, and a regional chapter that covers dishes of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Yucatan and Veracruz. A glossary explains ingredients.

Recipes are not in soup-to-dessert order but scattered among autobiographical passages and sections on chiles and other topics. Thus salsas appear in a number of locations rather than grouped together. To find things, you have to consult the index.

Salpicon de Huachinango is located in a chapter on “Experiments and Surprises,” and the stuffed pork loin is in the last chapter, “Zarela,” which describes the founding of the restaurant.

For holidays, the book supplies recipes for sweet and red chile tamales, cookies and a startling pavo borracho (drunken turkey), created by the same sister who nudged Martinez into her career in food. In this recipe, the turkey is stuffed with fruit marinated in Grand Marnier and tequila and injected with a quart of the two spirits as it cooks in a roasting bag.

This dish was adapted from a crab appetizer served in a bar in Tampico. Accompany the salpicon with corn tortillas or tortilla chips as a first course or use it as taco filling.

SALPICON DE HUACHINANGO (Red Snapper Hash) 1/2 cup unsalted butter 6 large cloves garlic, finely minced 6 to 7 green onions including some of green tops, minced 3 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped 3 jalapeno or serrano chiles, finely chopped with seeds 1/4 cup chopped cilantro 1 1/2 teaspoons ground Ceylon cinnamon or 1/2 teaspoon regular cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste 2 1/2 pounds red snapper fillets

Melt 1/4 cup butter in heavy skillet large enough to hold fish in single layer. When foam subsides, add half garlic and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add green onions and cook 1 minute longer, stirring often. Add tomatoes, chiles, cilantro, cinnamon, cloves, cumin and small amount salt. Stir well to combine. Cook, stirring often, until sauce is slightly concentrated, about 5 minutes.

Skin fish fillets and remove small bones with tweezers. Cut into halves or several large pieces, depending on size. Place in skillet. Adjust heat to low simmer and poach fish, uncovered, just until flesh begins to turn opaque, about 1 minute. Carefully turn with spatula and poach on other side about 1 minute longer. Flesh should still be slightly undercooked. Allow fish to cool in sauce.

When cool enough to handle, pull fish into shreds with fingers. Carefully remove any remaining bones. If sauce seems watery, drain off some of juice. Heat remaining 1/4 cup butter in second large skillet over medium heat until hot and bubbling. Add remaining garlic and cook 1 minute, stirring. Add fish and sauce. Adjust salt to taste. Cook just until heated through. Makes 12 small first-course servings.

Each serving contains about: 178 calories; 263 mg sodium; 111 mg cholesterol; 9 grams fat; 4 grams carbohydrates; 20 grams protein; 1 gram fiber.

Martinez says chipotle paste is one of her favorite seasonings. She rubs it on fish or chicken that is to be grilled and combines it with sour cream or mayonnaise for a cold sauce. Here it coats both sides of a butterflied pork loin.

LOMO DE PUERCO RELLENO DE FRUTAS (Rolled Pork Loin Stuffed With Fruit) 1 (3-pound) boneless pork loin Salt Freshly ground black pepper 1/4 to 1/3 cup Pasta de Chipotle Fruit Stuffing 2 tablespoons oil 2 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces 2 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped 4 cloves garlic, chopped 2 bay leaves 1 1/2 cups homemade chicken stock 1 1/2 cups whipping cream 3/4 cup dry Sherry

Have pork trimmed and butterflied so it can be opened flat to roll around stuffing. Sprinkle lightly on both sides with salt and pepper to taste. Rub Pasta de Chipotle over both sides. Spread Fruit Stuffing over inside. Roll up like jellyroll and tie securely with butcher’s twine.

Heat oil over high heat in heavy skillet large enough to hold meat and vegetables without crowding. Brown roast on all sides 5 to 7 minutes, adjusting heat as needed. When roast is almost brown, push to 1 side and add carrots, celery, onion, garlic and bay leaves. Cook, stirring, over high heat until well colored, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer meat and vegetables to roasting pan and set aside.

Pour chicken stock into skillet and scrape with wooden spoon to deglaze pan drippings. Add cream and Sherry. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Cook until sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour sauce into roasting pan.

Bake at 325 degrees 50 minutes to 1 hour or until thermometer inserted in thickest part of meat reads 160 degrees.

Transfer pork to serving platter and let stand 20 minutes.

To finish sauce, puree contents of roasting sauce through sieve or in food mill. Pour into medium saucepan and bring just to simmer. Cook over very low heat 5 minutes, using heat diffuser if necessary. Cut roast into 1-inch slices and pass sauce separately. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about: 791 calories; 433 mg sodium; 154 mg cholesterol; 42 grams fat; 42 grams carbohydrates; 33 grams protein; 2.08 grams fiber.

Pasta de Chipotle (Chipotle Paste) 1 (8-ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo 4 to 5 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil

Puree chiles with adobo sauce in food processor or blender. Add garlic, oregano and oil and pulse on and off until combined but still slightly chunky.

Store, tightly covered, in refrigerator. Do not freeze. Makes about 1 cup.

Fruit Stuffing 1/2 cup golden raisins 1 cup dry Sherry, heated 1/4 cup unsalted butter or corn oil 1 medium-large onion, finely chopped 4 to 5 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup dried apricots, sliced 1 cup pitted prunes, sliced 1 cup pimiento-stuffed green olives, sliced 1/2 cup toasted slivered blanched almonds

Combine raisins and Sherry in small bowl and let stand 20 minutes, until plumped.

Heat butter in large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not quite scorching. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Add raisins, any remaining Sherry, apricots, prunes and olives.

Cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes, or until fruit is slightly tender. Add almonds and cook 1 minute longer. Let cool 15 minutes before using. Makes about 5 cups.