What to cook this January

I’m each astir the wintertime fruits close now, arsenic we caput into 2026. Guava’s saccharine perfume arsenic I participate a marketplace is similar a siren’s opus drafting maine consecutive to it. Big beauteous passionfruit, 1 of my all-time favourite fruits, are piled high. 

And this vacation season, I besides fell successful emotion with Atole de Tamarindo! The accepted seasonal atole with tamarind is simply a lucifer made successful eden connected a chill night. Join maine for a trio of recipes utilizing these delicious section fruits.

Passionfruit 

Freshly chopped successful my room for agua fresca de maracuya! (Bel Woodhouse)

I emotion that passionfruit h2o is abundant this clip of year. I can’t assistance myself; grabbing a vessel from the foodstuff guys successful the thoroughfare portion walking astir conscionable makes my day. Plus, it’s precise casual to make. About 20 minutes, 3 ingredients, and 2 casual steps, and you person an amazing, refreshing portion astatine home. 

Agua fresca de Maracuyá

Ingredients:

• 5 passionfruit (add much if you like)
• 4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Instructions:

1. Cut 4 of the passionfruit successful fractional and scoop effect into a bowl. Keep the past passionfruit for topping the drinks. Add a cupful of h2o and 2 tablespoons of sweetener to a blender and blend for 30 seconds. 
2. Add the passionfruit and pulse 2 to 3 times past strain the substance into a pitcher. Add the remaining 3 cups of h2o and disturbance well. Pour into glasses and apical with the remaining passionfruit. 

Tip — enactment the rim of the glasses with tajín, it’s delicious! Or, for an alcoholic version, passionfruit is astonishing successful margaritas arsenic well. 

Guava

A full assemblage pleaser, my guava jam has chia and lime. (Bel Woodhouse)

Nutrient-packed and incredibly precocious successful vitamin C (up to 4 times that of an orange), guavas person been a portion of Mexican cuisine since astir 200 B.C. I ever snag a container of guavas and marque jam truthful I tin bask it for weeks. Not lone is it delicious, but astatine this clip of year, our bodies could usage a boost. If you’re a jam shaper similar me, see adding a compression of lime and immoderate chia seeds, but that’s conscionable a substance of idiosyncratic taste. 

Traditional guava jam

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of guavas
• 4 cups of water
• 1 ½ cupful sugar

Pectin, which helps thicken the jam, is not needed arsenic guavas already incorporate it.

 Instructions:

1. In a medium-sized saucepan, screen the guavas with the 4 cups of h2o and navigator for 15 minutes until soft. Let chill until they tin beryllium handled, past chopped successful fractional and scoop retired the seeds carefully, leaving arsenic overmuch soma arsenic possible.
2. Place the guavas, sugar, and 1 cupful of the cooking h2o into a blender. Blend until creaseless past instrumentality to the saucepan and simmer implicit debased heat, stirring occasionally for astir fractional an hour. 
3. Jam is cooked erstwhile it has thickened capable that you tin spot the bottommost of the cookware portion stirring. Pour blistery jam into your jar, oregon jars, past fto cool. It volition past up to a period successful the fridge. Properly sterilised canning jars volition past up to a twelvemonth successful a chill pantry. 

Tamarind

Mexico’s favourite saccharine treat, tamarind is present successful season. (Germán Torreblanca)

This vacation season, I fell successful emotion with atole de tamarindo. The delicious accepted lukewarm atole with tamarind added is simply a sweet, tangy delight. The older the tamarind, the sweeter it is, truthful if yours tastes a small tart, adhd a small much sweetener due to the fact that it conscionable means the tamarind pods were younger. 

Atole de tamarindo

Allow fractional an hr soaking clip for the tamarind pods. I committedness it’s worthy it!

Ingredients:

• 4 oz, (114 grams) tamarind without the shell
• ¾ cupful sugar
• 4 ¾ cups water
• 6 tablespoons masa harina
• An further 1¼  cupful of lukewarm h2o for soaking the tamarind

Instructions:

1. Peel the tamarind and soak it successful the lukewarm h2o for fractional an hour. Then property the pods between your fingers to get the seeds retired and hitch to signifier a paste. 
2. In a mean saucepan, adhd the 4 cups of h2o and sweetener positive the tamarind paste and spot implicit mean heat. Bring to a boil.
3. While that’s heating, adhd the remaining ¾ cupful of h2o with the masa harina to signifier a paste. Add it mildly to the boiling tamarind mix. Simmer for astir 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve warm. 

Mexico Correspondent for International Living, Bel is an experienced writer, author, lensman and videographer with 500+ articles published some successful people and crossed integer platforms. Living successful the Mexican Caribbean for implicit 7 years now, she’s successful emotion with Mexico and has nary plans to spell anyplace anytime soon.