Pan de Cazon

From 'The Road to Mexico' by Rick Stein

Pan de Cazon literally translates to Bread with Dogfish. However, Rick Stein has substituted the dogfish with tinned sardines to make the recipe more accessible, as the tastes are extremely similar.

Ingredients:

• 250g sardines in olive oil, drained
• 250ml corn oil, for frying
• 12 x 10cm corn tortillas
• 200g refried beans, black or pinto, warmed
• 1 avocado, stoned, peeled, and sliced
  • For the Tomato Sauce
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp dried epazote or Mexican oregano
• ½-1 habanero chilli, stem and seeds removed, roughly chopped
• 600ml passata (sieved tomatoes)
• 12 turns black peppermill
• Salt, to taste

Recipe:

1. To make the Sauce:
   1. Heat the oil in a pan and sweat the onion, garlic, epazote, and chilli until very soft.
   2. Add the passata and cook for 15-20 minutes.
   3. Liquidise the sauce in a blender and season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Reserve one-third of the tomato sauce for finishing the dish, then put the rest back in the pan and add the sardines. Cook for about 15 minutes, until the fish has broken up and combined with the tomato sauce (the sauce should be quite thick and most of the liquid evaporated).
3. Heat the corn oil in a frying pan and fry the tortillas for 1-2 minutes until crisp, then drain them on kitchen paper.
4. Spread 8 of the tortillas with refried beans. Place one on each of the 4 plates and spoon on some of the sardine stew. Top with a second bean-covered tortilla, bean side up, and then add a bit more of the sardine stew.
5. Finish with a third tortilla, then divide the reserved tomato sauce between the tortilla stacks. Garnish with a few slices of avocado before serving immediately.