When the Farmers Hand you Sweet Limes and Meyer Lemons...
Despite the cold weather, citrus is abundant in the winter months, which means that your local Farmer's Market will be rife with a large variety of juicy citrus. The flavor will hold the perfect blend of sweet and tart, something you can't compare to the types you will find at the grocery store. Citrus adds flavor to countless dishes and provides you with invaluable vitamins through the winter months, none of which is more crucial to surviving cold and flu season than the Vitamin C citrus is best known for.
One of the most delicious dishes you can make with citrus is ceviche (one of my all-time favorites), but it can be very intimidating due to the unusual methods involved. The seafood in ceviche is actually "cooked" by marinating it for a long period of time in the acidic juices of citrus. While it can be easy to shy away from trying this technique, for fear of failure, if you follow a few simple rules and utilize the resources afforded you, a delicious seafood dish will await your dining pleasure.
The more simplistic a dish, the higher the need to use quality ingredients, which makes the Farmer's Market the ideal place to get the ingredients you need. Traditionally ceviche is made with limes, but I think the best ceviche highlights several types of citrus. For this dish I am using sweet limes (which are actually yellow, not green and can be eaten like an orange), conventional green limes, and Meyer Lemons (which are usually only available during the months of December and January and are sweeter than the average lemon, reminding one of Grandma's lemon meringue pie).
The other key component in ceviche is, of course, the seafood. While pretty much any kind of seafood can be used in a ceviche, from crab to squid, even octopus, the classic form of the dish (and the best to start with) will highlight fish. Many Farmer's Markets feature a fish monger who will be able to help you find the perfect fish for your ceviche. You will want to use a high quality, fresh fish, but that doesn't necessarily mean it has to be an expensive fish. In fact, do to the transformative nature of ceviche's "cooking" process, you wouldn't want to use something like salmon or halibut. My fish monger suggested Striped Pangasius based off of what they had that week. It was a little over $7 a pound, the two fillets I bought ended up costing $9. Ceviche can be prepared as a starter to a meal or a main course, I prefer to serve mine as a starter, with the below recipe serving 3-4 people.
The Recipe
Ceviche originates from the coastal areas of Mexico, Central, and South America, so what better movie to watch while enjoying it than one set in one of those areas. 1948's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is set in Mexico during the 1920s and features three prospectors searching for gold in the state of Tamaulipas on the gulf coast and in the Sierra Madre mountains. A classic mediation on greed, it mixes western and psychological thriller and should provide you with no end of entertainment to go with your delicious ceviche. -Z
One of the most delicious dishes you can make with citrus is ceviche (one of my all-time favorites), but it can be very intimidating due to the unusual methods involved. The seafood in ceviche is actually "cooked" by marinating it for a long period of time in the acidic juices of citrus. While it can be easy to shy away from trying this technique, for fear of failure, if you follow a few simple rules and utilize the resources afforded you, a delicious seafood dish will await your dining pleasure.
The more simplistic a dish, the higher the need to use quality ingredients, which makes the Farmer's Market the ideal place to get the ingredients you need. Traditionally ceviche is made with limes, but I think the best ceviche highlights several types of citrus. For this dish I am using sweet limes (which are actually yellow, not green and can be eaten like an orange), conventional green limes, and Meyer Lemons (which are usually only available during the months of December and January and are sweeter than the average lemon, reminding one of Grandma's lemon meringue pie).
The other key component in ceviche is, of course, the seafood. While pretty much any kind of seafood can be used in a ceviche, from crab to squid, even octopus, the classic form of the dish (and the best to start with) will highlight fish. Many Farmer's Markets feature a fish monger who will be able to help you find the perfect fish for your ceviche. You will want to use a high quality, fresh fish, but that doesn't necessarily mean it has to be an expensive fish. In fact, do to the transformative nature of ceviche's "cooking" process, you wouldn't want to use something like salmon or halibut. My fish monger suggested Striped Pangasius based off of what they had that week. It was a little over $7 a pound, the two fillets I bought ended up costing $9. Ceviche can be prepared as a starter to a meal or a main course, I prefer to serve mine as a starter, with the below recipe serving 3-4 people.
2 fillet good quality white fish, slice as evenly as possible into about 1/4 inch pieces
2 yellow sweet limes+
2 Meyer lemons+
2 green limes
1/2 medium red onion finely diced
5 cloves garlic grated
2 Tbsp. Hot sauce
Tortilla chips for serving
Optional toppings
Diced tomatoes
Avocado
Cilantro
Hot sauce
In a glass bowl combine zest and juice of 2 sweet limes, 1 lemon and 1 green lime, then red onion, garlic and hot sauce. Next add in the fish. If the fish isn't completely covered in the marinade add additional citrus juice until it is. This will ensure that the fish marinates evenly. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for 3-4 hours until the fish becomes solid white in color and firm in texture.
Once the fish is done marinating, remove it from the marinade into a new glass bowl. Add a few tablespoons of the marinade over the fish and squeeze in a few wedges of lemon and lime to taste.
Serve with chips and additional toppings.
The Pairing
Ceviche originates from the coastal areas of Mexico, Central, and South America, so what better movie to watch while enjoying it than one set in one of those areas. 1948's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is set in Mexico during the 1920s and features three prospectors searching for gold in the state of Tamaulipas on the gulf coast and in the Sierra Madre mountains. A classic mediation on greed, it mixes western and psychological thriller and should provide you with no end of entertainment to go with your delicious ceviche. -Z
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