Your Guide to Latin American Ingredients
Latin American cuisine is extremely diverse, with ingredients, techniques, and traditions varying from country to country, and even region to region.
From Mexican dried chiles and masa to Peruvian aji amarillo and Latin American piloncillo, understanding a few essential ingredients can make it easier to explore new recipes and cook with confidence.
As Latin Heritage Month is celebrated in September, it’s a great time to discover the ingredients behind some of Latin America’s most loved dishes.
At Global Foods Market in Kirkwood, you can explore international ingredients and specialty foods from around the world, including products sourced from countries such as Peru and the Dominican Republic.
Dried Chiles: Building Heat And Flavor
Dried chiles are a staple in many Latin American kitchens, especially when handling Mexican cuisine. Different varieties bring different combinations of sweetness, smokiness, fruitiness, and heat to a dish, changing the flavor profile entirely.
Ancho chiles, for example, are dried poblano peppers with a pretty mild heat, and a rich but slightly sweet flavor. On the other hand, Guajillo chiles are commonly used for sauces and marinades, as they have a more moderate heat and bring more of a fruity tone to the meal.
If you want to go one step further, Chipotle peppers are smoked and dried jalapenos, so they are a go-to when you want smokiness and heat.
Aji Amarillo: An Essential In Peru
In Peru, there are a completely different set of flavors to a large portion of the rest of Latin America. Aji amarillo is one of the country’s signature chile peppers, with its distinctive yellow-orange color, fruity flavor, and moderate heat.
It’s used for a number of things including making sauces, marinades, and other traditional Peruvian dishes. This is an ingredient worth seeking out if you’re trying out new flavors, especially if you want a Peruvian twist on your meal.
Masa: Tortilla Foundation And More
If you’re trying to make authentic Mexican food, one of the things that you need is masa. This is traditionally made from corn that has gone through a process called nixtamalization, which changes the texture and the flavor of the corn to make it suitable for grinding.
Masa harina, which is a dried corn flour made from the corn after this process, can be mixed with water to form a dough for tamales, tortillas, and more.
Explore More Latin American Ingredients
These staples are only the beginning of what Latin American food has to offer though. Latin American cooking hinges on a huge range of beans, grains, spices, peppers, sauces, cheeses, herbs, and so many more you wouldn’t believe.
Shopping at an international grocery store can make that learning process easier by putting those ingredients that aren’t familiar to you, right under your nose. A new ingredient could be the starting point for discovering something completely different than you’ve ever known, and Global Food Market is the perfect place to start when looking for one.
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