Corn (maize) is the culinary common denominator of much of Latin America. Ground into meal, it is used in Mexico to prepare the corn pancakes known as tortillas. Tortillas provide a variety of other Mexican specialties. Enchiladas are tortillas dipped in sauce, then rolled up with a filling of pork or chicken and baked or broiled. Tostadas are tortillas fried crisp and sprinkled with onion, chili peppers, grated cheese, or meat. Quesadillas are tortillas folded over a filling of meat, beans, cheese, or vegetables. Corn is also used in tamales, which are steamed, filled corn husks.

Chili peppers are widely used to season Latin American dishes. Brazil's national dish, the feijoada completa, consists of a bed of rice with black beans, sausages, beef tongue, spareribs, and dried beef, sprinkled with toasted manioc meal, and garnished with orange slices. In Argentina, empanadas are beef-filled turnovers. A favourite Latin American dessert is flan, or caramel custard.

Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz                                

Forget the mass-produced tortilla chips and E-flavoured salsa dips. Discover the taste of real Latin American food, as diverse as its beautiful landscapes, drawing on age-old indigenous recipes with influences from Spain, Portugal and Africa. From the snow-capped mountains of the Andes there is drunken chicken, potatoes with walnut, cheese, and chilli sauce and corn arepas stuffed with cream cheese; from the palm-fringed Caribbean, avocado and codfish appetizer, and Trinidadian callaloo; from the dusky hills of Mexico, red chicken with almonds, chopped courgettes and cream. The recipes are interspersed with stories about the origins of Latin American foods and the cooks who introduced the author to this cuisine. Poems, diaries and extracts from Latin American novels are also included.