Have you heard the one about Panama hats? The joke is that these iconic woven straw hats actually originated not in Panama but in Ecuador where artisans have been weaving them from the plaited leaves of the toquilla palm plant since the early 1600s. The confusion evidently crept in during the construction of the Panama Canal when many workers wore these hats for sun protection, and Americans began incorrectly associating them with Panama rather than Ecuador. And if that did not rock your world view enough, India ink was not developed in India but in China over 2,000 years ago. When it reached Europe in the 17th century though, it came via Indian trade routes as India was a major European trading partner and was inaccurately called “India ink. Similarly, the long-haired cats that we know as Persian cats did not originate in Persia (modern day Iran) but in Turkey and parts of eastern Russia. Once again, they were mislabelled Persian when they arrived in western Europe because they came via Persian trade routes, and the name stuck.
And it’s not only hats and cats that are geographically misnamed – do a bit of digging and you will find that this trend also extends into the world of food. French fries are not French at all but originated in Belgium. German chocolate cake is not from Germany – it was named after a Mr Sam German, an American who developed a type of baking chocolate used in the cakes. You won’t find Mongolian barbecue restaurants in Mongolia – the concept was developed in Taiwan and the US, with the name chosen to sound exotic and meat focused. Hawaiian pizza (ham and pineapple) has nothing to do with Hawaii but was developed in the 1960s in Ontario, Canada. And although South Africans love ordering Shanghai beef and Hong Kong chicken when they dine at local Chinese restaurants, both of these are South African inventions, unknown in China.
Growing up in my hometown in South Africa in the 1980s, it is safe to say that our food scene was not hugely cosmopolitan. We didn’t get our first sushi restaurant until about 2000; and the Indian restaurants in town had the following variations: chicken/beef/lamb curry served hot, very hot, or thermonuclear explosion. Much loved South African chain Spur Steak Ranches was the first to introduce us to “Mexican” (more correctly Tex-Mex) cuisine in the 1990s, when it was so foreign that menus had to include a pronunciation guide – “ha-la-pen-yos” not “ja-la-pee-nose”. So when my dear friend Alison gave me a recipe entitled Mexican chicken in the late 80s, who was I to question that this was a Mexican dish?
The recipe, in summary, is for a one-pan chicken traybake in a sauce of red and green bell peppers, onions, tomato paste, raisins, olives and sherry – a lot of sherry! 2026 Jeanne would have looked at it critically and said “in what way is this even vaguely Mexican?” – but 1980s me accepted it purported pedigree unquestioningly, made it, tasted it, loved it, and made it part of her repertoire. Although it’s been in my hard copy recipe index book ever since then, it’s been many years since I last made it. But for a recent lunch at my house, I came across it and dusted it off to see if it was still as good as I remembered. The geographically incongruous name made me do a bit of skeptical Googling to see if there is anything remotely Mexican about it – spoiler alert: there isn’t. But there are recipes from southern Spain featuring chicken baked with the unusual combination of olives and raisins, thought to be a result of Moorish influences on the Spanish cuisine dating back to the 8th century. Maybe it is the Spanish colonial connection to Mexico, or the addition of peppers that made somebody call this Mexican chicken – either way, it’s not hard to see why it became a hit in my house. It is simple to make; it uses only one pan and one baking dish; it looks gorgeous; and it is oh-so-delicious, pairing the creamy tomato sauce with sweet raisins, salty olives and fall-apart tender chicken. If there happen to be any leftovers, they freeze well (and if you make extra sauce, this it delicious over chicken breasts, pork steaks or white fish).
When I started Cooksister nearly 22 years ago (!), the world of food content creation was very different. There was no AI content, no social media and no paid content: the people doing it were in it purely for the love of it. It was a warm, supportive community and one of the ways that bloggers in far flung corners of world forged connections was via what now seems a quaint and outdated idea: online blog events. A host would declare a theme, set a deadline and other bloggers would post recipes matching the theme, linking back to the host’s announcement and dropping the host an e-mail. After the deadline, the host would visit all the posts and do a roundup post on their own blog, linking to all the contributors. It was totally egalitarian (anybody from the tiniest blog with no followers to big name blogs could participate) and a community catalyst that brought people together over their shared love of food. This was how many early blog friendships were formed and in my case it was the impetus that got me to start my blog – I was desperate to take part in the OG blog event Is My Blog Burning – and the rest is history.
I have consistently said that the single best thing about bloggings is the amazing people I have met and lifelong friendships I have forged. One such friendship has been with Meeta of What’s For Lunch Honey and to celebrate her blog’s 20th birthday, she has resurrected her blog event “Meeta’s Monthly Mingle”. The theme is “celebrating friendship and connection” and this recipe certainly celebrates my friendship with Alison who gave me the recipe almost 40 years ago. Our friendship started in junior school and persisted through high school, joining the debating society together, various (unrequited!) crushes on boys, hour long phone calls to discuss which character on the TV show Riptide was cuter, floods of tears when we found out her family was moving to Joburg, numerous Joburg trips filled with shopping and laughter, my moving overseas, marriage, divorce, death of parents and the death of her brother – a lifetime connection for sure. When I sent her an uncaptioned photo of this dish a couple of weeks ago and simply asked: “Remember this?” she replied instantly with: “Mexican chicken!!!”. As they used to say on Riptide, true friendship does not have to be talked about – it just has to be felt. Or, in this case, tasted.
Looking for more easy chicken recipes? Try my
- Retro-tastic chicken a la king
- Spanish style chicken traybake with olives, chorizo and butterbeans
- Spicy Moroccan chicken tagine
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Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment and star rating below or share a picture on Instagram tagging @Cooksister and using the hashtag #cooksistereats.
An easy one-pan chicken traybake packed with the flavours of bell peppers, olives and raisins and spiked with sherry.
- 1.5 kg Bone-in chicken portions leg quarters or thighs
- salt and pepper
- 25 ml sunflower or canola oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 12.5 ml butter
- 30 ml plain flour
- 30 ml tomato paste
- 12.5 ml white wine vinegar
- 250 ml chicken stock
- 200 ml pale cream sherry
- 50 ml raisins, soaked
- 20 pitted or stuffed whole olives
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Put the raisins in a bowl of warm water and preheat the oven to 180C. Use cooking spray to lightly grease a large oven-proof dish.
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Season the chicken portions generously with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in the frying pan and brown the chicken pieces on all sides in batches in the hot oil.
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As each piece of chicken is browned, arrange in the oven-proof dish and cover with foil to keep warm.
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In the same pan, saute the onionm garlic and peppers till the onion is soft. Spoon the mix over the cicken portions.
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Add the butter to the oil in the pan, and melt - you can also scrape up an residue on the pan and mix with the butter. Once the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour gradually to make a smooth paste.
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Add the tomato paste, vinegar and chicken stock mixing continuously.
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Return the pan to the heat and stir continuously until it comes to the boil, then add the sherry and bring to the boil again.
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Drain the soaking raisins and add to the pan, then pour the mixture over the chicken portions in the oven-proof dish.
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Cover with foil and bake for about 25 minutes, then add the olives and bake uncovered for a further 5 mins or until the juices run clear when a skewer is inserted into the meatiest part of the chicken.
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Serve with rice and green vegetables or a salad.
This dish can be made a day ahead and reheated as required - the flavour improves when heated the second time.
Leftovers feeeze well, and if there is leftover sauce this can be frozen on its own as well, to serve over chicken, pork or even fish.
If you want a non-alcoholic version, substitute the sherry with a mix of 100ml water, 100ml white wine vinegar and a tsp of sugar.
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