Every country should have a Diana Kennedy, someone steeped in its culture and cooking who cruises around recording all the local recipes and sharing them with the world. My Mexico is Kennedy's rambling record of forays in pursuit of dishes that might be of interest. Based on the recipes she found, such as Posole de Camarone, a brothy shrimp and dried-corn stew, sweet Green Mango Roll, and tiny new potatoes cooked Shepherd style, Kennedy's travels have been quite fruitful.
In the dry winter months in the markets of Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, and some points farther south, you can sometimes find the tiniest - some less than i inch (2.5 cm) long - potatoes with light brown skins. They have several names, depending on the area: gueros (blondes), locos (mad), or silvestres and cimarrónes (both meaning wild). They do grow wild. The recipe I was given calls for the potatoes to be cooked in a pressure cooker; however, a heavy pot with a tight lid will do equally well.
Cooked in this way. they are generally eaten as a botana (snack) but are excellent with broiled meats or fish, The smallest new potatoes should be used, the waxier the better.
Of all the recipes for cooking these potatoes I collected traveling through the Bajio and north, this is my out-and-out favorite. In the original recipe the ingredients were ground together, but I think the texture is more interesting this way.
Serves 4 as a side dish, 6 to 8 as a snack
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound (450 g) very small new potatoes, rinsed and dried
salt to taste
1/3 cup (83 ml) finely chopped white onion
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
3 serrano chiles (or to taste) finely chopped
1/2 cup (125 ml) loosely packed roughly chopped cilantro
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 cup (250 ml) water (1/2 cup/125 ml if using pressure cooker)
Heat the oil in a heavy pan, add the whole potatoes, sprinkle with salt, and fry. stirring them from time to time until the skins begin to wrinkle and brown.
Add the onion, garlic, and chiles and fry for 3 minutes longer.
Add the cilantro and lime juice and continue frying for 1 minute more.
Add the water, cover the pan, and cook over low heat until the liquid has almost all been absorbed, the flavors concentrated, and the potatoes tender.
If using the pressure cooker, cook the potatoes at low pressure for about 6 minutes with all the ingredients. Cool the pressure cooker quickly in a bowl of cold water, remove the lid, and continue cooking over high heat until the liquid has been absorbed.
