Ceviche: Peruvian Kitchen

Ceviche: Peruvian Kitchen

Tiradito de Caballa 
Mackerel Tiradito with Gooseberry Tiger’s Milk This tiradito combines Peruvian techniques with the best of British ingredients. It’s a wonderful recipe to try in the early summer when both gooseberries and mackerel are at their best. Gooseberries, small fruits closely related to the currant, are relatively rare in the United States. They like cool weather and are grown commercially along the coast of northern California and of Oregon and in the Northeast for a spring harvest. 

Serves 4
4 mackerel fillets, skinned, and trimmed
1 tsp sea salt
Juice of 2 limes
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
1 tbsp crumbled pecans
1 dried panca chile, seeded and ground
or finely chopped (see Note)
2 tsp capers
For the gooseberry tiger’s milk
Juice of 2 limes
31/2 oz / 100 g gooseberries
Juice of 1/2 orange
1 tbsp amarillo chile paste
A pinch of fine sea salt

Cut the mackerel fillets in half lengthwise and put them in a bowl with the salt and the lime juice. Leave to “cook” for about 5 minutes.

Put all the tiger’s milk ingredients in a food processor or blender and blitz until smooth. Strain the liquid through a sieve to remove any gooseberry seeds.

Remove the mackerel from the salt and lime juice mixture, reserving the marinade. Cut the mackerel on the diagonal across the grain, ending up with very thin, wide slices. Divide among 4 serving plates.

Drizzle the tiger’s milk over the fish and then top with the onion, pecans, panca chile, and capers. Season with salt before serving.

Note
Panca chiles can be ground very easily in a mortar with a pestle or in a spice or coffee bean grinder. Remember to discard the seeds first.