Tart London: How to make sea bass and tahini tostadas

Jemima Jones and Lucy Carr-Ellison bring the taste of Mexico home with sea bass and tahini tostadas
Lucy Carr-Ellison9 August 2018

The very word ‘Mexico’ conjures up bright colours, vast blue skies — and, of course, food in a league of its own.

After a week spent exploring the forests of the Yucatan Peninsula on the east coast, we arrived in Mexico City, a place that positively hums with creativity. The city sits in a basin that was once an enormous lake. When the Spanish general Hernán Cortés arrived in 1519 he found an Aztec city, ruled by Moctezuma II, intricately constructed and divided by canals — a kind of New World Venice. The lake was later drained and the modern city appeared, but ruins of the huge Aztec temple and the main square remain, now known as El Zócalo.

The food is just magical. Markets are piled with fresh fruit and coffee beans; brilliant, unique restaurants abound. How could any cook experiencing all this not be inspired? A late lunch of crispy, zingy tostadas and delicious tacos on a roof terrace among the treetops of the Condesa district, served by a waiter whose first language was Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, was idyllic.

This dish is a bit of Mexico brought back with us (along with some beautiful embroidered cushion covers and blankets), and that first taste was one of those moments when so many flavours really come together and everything feels well rounded. Sitting there under the canopy of trees, we analysed this dish to recreate it. You can either make this as a starter or light lunch, or make it smaller by stamping out the tortilla rounds with an espresso cup rather than a side plate. The mixture of tahini with mayonnaise, lime, chilli and sesame oil goes superbly with the fresh sea bass and creamy avocado.

Heading for summer: the Tart girls keep cool in customised straw hats

Sea bass and tahini tostadas

Ingredients

For the tahini mayonnaise

1 tbsp tahini

1 tbsp mayonnaise

Zest of 1 lime

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tsp honey

1 small garlic clove, crushed

For the salsa

¼ cucumber, cut in half lengthways, deseeded and finely chopped

3 radishes, very finely chopped

2 spring onions, very finely sliced

1 tbsp mixed nuts, roasted and chopped

2 tsp black sesame seeds

1 tbsp sesame oil

4 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped

1 avocado, cut into small cubes

1 jalapeño, finely chopped

Small bunch of coriander, finely chopped

Small bunch of mint, finely chopped

Juice of ½ lime

4 corn tortillas, stamped into side plate-sized rounds

Juice of 1 lime

350g sea bass, filleted and thinly sliced

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Mix the mayonnaise ingredients together and set aside. Mix the salsa ingredients together, set aside. Mix the avocado with the jalapeño, coriander, mint and lime juice. Season generously. Place the tortilla wraps in the oven and bake for 5 minutes until golden and crisp. Leave to cool slightly then spread over a tablespoon of the mayo followed by the avocado. Squeeze the lime over the sea bass, then arrange the fish on top and finish with a dollop of salsa, a sprinkle of coriander and a little salt.

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