MISSION: Anchiote Paste

Today my friend Valentine is roasting a turkey. It's not your everyday roasted turkey, but Anchiote Butter-Basted Turkey with Ancho Chili Gravy, an Epicurious.com recipe test-driven by her step-daughter, Erika, in California. The key ingredient for the anchiote butter is anchiote paste, which is apparently (according to a number of websites I've visited) available in many grocery (or specialty) stores in the U.S. Internet recipes make that claim regularly, but I don't think the writers are actually thinking about every backwater place in America when they say that.

Anchiote paste is probably available here, in Ohio's Mahoning Valley. I say this because we have a good-sized, vibrant Latino community here. But where to start looking for anchiote paste on a day's notice . . . . . . I have no idea where to begin. Because I tend to have a wide variety of spices  in my kitchen, Valentine gave me the task of creating the anchiote paste from scratch. And I did exactly that yesterday morning.

Using the annato powder Erika sent Valentine, Erika's printouts and written suggestions, and my own research of anchiote paste recipes on the Internet, I came up with the following list of ingredients.  Some versions omit the oregano; some versions omit the coriander. I decided to use both. The paste usually includes orange juice, because of the Yucatan chicken dish it is associated with. I left that out and replaced it with canola oil.

My friend later blasted me for the canola oil decision, but I stand by it. Vinegar (another option) is not only chemically problematic (since it will "cook" fish and poultry without the aid of heat), but it also has a definite, sharp, flavor. Canola oil seemed the most unobtrusive choice. Yes, my 1/4 cup of canola oil did indeed add 2 tablespoons of oil to her share of the paste, and a whopping 166 calories to her entire turkey. (Of course, she could have side-stepped this disaster by cutting back on the 1 1/2 sticks of butter also required by the recipe.) But nevermind that! My best advice, if you are making the Epicurious Anchiote Butter-Basted Turkey, is simply to combine the dry ingredients into the butter directly. Skip the "evil" oil calories and go directly to the butter!) 

• 1/4 cup annato powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cracked black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
• 6 garlic cloves, minced or crushed
• 1/4 cup canola oil

All the spices and the garlic went into a container and were whizzed together with my handy-dandy hand mixer. Then I drizzled in the oil, little by little while continuing to blend, until the ingredients came together as a paste.

Our "deal" was that I would make the paste and keep half for my own use. So, after running her half of the paste to Val's house and doing my usual Saturday errands, I came back home to try something totally different with about 1/4 cup of deep red paste, lemon juice, and fish.

Tilapia with Anchiote Paste

• 1/4 cup anchiote paste (including its 2 tablespoons of canola oil)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 4 tilapia fillets

Mix the paste with the juice. Rub the concoction all over the fish, both sides. Place the fillets on a greased baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees (Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes.

Last night, I had this fish with plain rice and a big, simple salad of romaine, grape tomatoes and kalamata olives. It was wonderful. The intense red of the fish makes you think it will be spicy-hot, but there is no chili in the paste, so it's not. Instead, the flavor is very earthy and comforting, and the fish came out moist and flaky.

Simple as it is, this recipe is definitely on my must-make-again list.