Jane Pikett enjoys lunch with artist Enrique Azocar
I pick up the phone to invite myself to lunch with Enrique Azocar, artist on canvas and in the kitchen.
Enrique is a perfectionist in all areas, which I guess is why his paintings are so intricately, exquisitely executed, perfected with precision brushwork and finished with flashes of marble dust, gold or charcoal created by the artist in the clay oven outside, where we cook Chilean empanadas the day appetite arrives for lunch.
Enrique – Chilean and therefore a believer that food is best served sociably – invites a group of friends for the occasion and lights the clay oven for the first time this year on a glorious early spring day – a rare opportunity to cook and eat outside. And what a feast!
Enrique was taught to cook by his mother. “We all love to cook together at home,” he says, “so when we have a party, we all come early and cook together. My passion for home cooking also has motivated me to ‘cook’ in my paintings. I am always testing new media, such as my favourite beeswax for oil painting. The process takes a bit of time, but in doing so you get to know the materials you are working with. Another ‘cooking’ process is simply making my own paint using pigments, so I can create the colours I really need. If I need charcoal to draw, I cut twigs from my willow tree in the garden and smoke them in my clay oven.”
Today, the clay oven, built by Enrique, his wife Ann and friends last summer, is warming the back garden and cooking the wonderful empanadas – tender pastry pockets filled with spiced meat, raisins (only two – this is very precisely stated), an olive (just the one) and a quarter of hard-boiled egg. The precise balance is close to our artist’s heart and so-much emphasised it becomes the running joke of the day. The amazing empanadas are followed by cod ceviche; a triumph of cod, lime and coriander which zings with zest and freshness.
And then, the piece de resistance, pastel de choclo (corn pie) – spiced chicken for some, fish for others, treated to garlic, spices, herbs, another olive, two more raisins, another piece of egg and topped with a divine sweetcorn, simply creamed on the oven top with a little butter, milk and basil, stirred and stirred until it becomes creamy and delicious and a wonderful topping to anything, it seems. The trick – a pinch of sugar (yes, sugar!) scattered over the top before baking, and we are in heaven. Enrique, who has travelled the world a few times over, painting here, cooking and eating there, is an enthusiast for food, for travel, and for life.
“Food is the embrace of eating, cooking together,” he says, all Latin passion. “At home, a family lunch can go on till 7pm, and then we start again with dinner. It is wonderful!” It is, and our lunch carries on for many hours, refreshed by wine, by Pisco Sours, by the wonderful company. As the light fades, we leave the open air and move into the studio, to eat and talk surrounded by paintings which are at once vibrant and mythical, joyful and deeply thoughtful, and so very vivid; which goes to show, in the studio and the kitchen, Enrique is truly an artist of many media.”
ww.enriqueazocar.com
Enrique’s Empanadas
In Chile, the most traditional empanada filling is called “pino”, a seasoned mixture of ground beef, (topside), onions, raisins, black olives, and hard boiled eggs. The pino tastes best if made the day before.
Ingredients
• 1lb shortcrust or egg pastry
• 3 large onions, chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 500g ground beef
• 2 tsps cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp paprika
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup chopped olives
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
• 1 egg yolk & 2 tbsp milk
Method
Prepare pastry and chill. Soften onion and garlic in oil and butter, add beef, spices, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until browned. Continue to cook for 5-10 mins more. Remove and let cool. Separate dough and roll into15cm diameter circles. Add 1tbsp of beef filling, a couple of raisins and chopped olives, a slice of hard-boiled egg, brush edges with water, fold into semi-circles. Brush with milk and egg. Bake at 220C for 25-30 mins.
Enrique’s COD Ceviche
Latinos love ceviche and have created dozens of varieties. This is cod (note that dark fish like salmon won’t work).
Ingredients
Serves 8
• 900g sea bass or cod fillet
• juice of 10 limes
• ½ onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 hot red chili, de-seeded and cut into thin strips
• ½ tspn pepper
• 1 small chilli
• 3 tbsps fresh cilantro, minced
Method
Cut fish into chunks, place in a bowl with all the ingredients, covering with the juice of the limes. Leave for 20 mins to marinade and serve with tomato and onion salad.
Enrique’s Pollo enterrado
Ingredients
• 3 cups sweetcorn
• 1 cup whole milk
• ¼ cup butter
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp finely chopped basil
• ½ cup raisins
• ¹/³ cup black olives
• 500g chicken breast/thigh
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tsps cumin
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
Method
Marinate chicken in garlic, salt, a little olive oil and the cumin the day before.
Whiz corn in a blender with basil and milk. Melt butter in a pan, add corn mix and sugar, stir on a low heat for 10-15 mins. Seal chicken in a hot pan and put in individual dishes, add small pieces of boiled egg, raisins, and chopped olives, cover with corn mix, sprinkle over a little sugar and bake for 20 mins at 200C, until the sugar on top has browned slightly.
