Back from Mexico with taste of Veracruz
They dance on the streets in Veracruz City. A couple of nights a week, locals and visitors dress up in their Sunday best and assemble in the town square to enjoy Veracruz’s famous dance, the danzon. Set to live music, the spectacle of young and old dancing together proves unforgettable. We did our best to keep in step; mostly, we just worked up an appetite.
Good thing, as there’s much food to love in Mexico’s state of Veracruz, especially the seafood from the Gulf. In the morning, we stroll along the waterfront on the lookout for the bicycle vendors selling warm fish empanadas from baskets. Flaky pastry stuffed with shredded fish, tomatoes, olives, capers and, sometimes, hot chile, these empanadas fill our dreams. Later, a walk along Veracruz’s beaches justifies our supper of stunningly fresh fish smothered in salsa Veracruzana.
Luckily, salsa Veracruzana ranks as one of the easiest sauces to make at home. Ideally, the chunky sauce starts with ripe, fresh tomatoes. In the offseason, canned tomatoes make an adequate stand-in for garden-fresh.
Olives and briny capers, peppered throughout the sauce, confirm the Spanish influence on Mexico’s food. Jalapenos, the ubiquitous fresh chiles named after the state’s capital, Jalapa (aka Xalapa), spice the sauce just perfectly. Pickled jalapenos pair deliciously with the tangy character of the olives and capers.
Be sure to use pickled jalapenos made without added sugar. Nacho slices, for example, would be too sweet. For the olives, I like manzanilla, with or without pimento. Capers prove more palatable when rinsed before using.
I always make a large batch of this salsa to use over grilled fish, to eat on chips, to season crab for an empanada, to dollop over scrambled eggs or to tuck into tacos.
Snapper a la Veracruzana is beloved throughout Mexico. Back home, I use a variety of fish, always on the lookout for local, sustainable, wild-caught or responsibly farmed. Thick, meaty white fish pairs beautifully with the briny sauce. So does rich, flaky salmon, especially when grilled. When thin fillets, such as tilapia, are on the menu, I use a hot, nonstick skillet or the broiler instead of the grill. Sauteed shrimp, smothered in the Veracruz sauce and served over white rice, makes a gorgeous dinner.