Mole

Mole is a traditional Mexican sauce, usually made with different chili peppers and many other spices which all give mole its amazing flavour. I love it.

I have been intimidated to make mole for a very long time.  Mostly because it was a completely new subject to me, I was not familiar with preparing anything like mole. Even a Mexican person will tell you how complicated it is to make it.

Then one day I met someone who actually had made mole from scratch.  And I was told that as long as you can find all different chili peppers (quite difficult when not living in Mexico) it is not hard at all. But that it does take time to make it.
So I gave it a shot. And I am glad I did.

So I am reconfirming, it is not hard at all. It just takes time, you will need about good 3 hours. I usually roast and fry all the ingredients the night before and the next day I puree and cook. 

I use this recipe. The things I have changed from the original recipe are:

• I roast chili peppers and tortilla in a dry cast iron skillet, no oil.

• For frying the rest of the ingredients I use grape-seed oil and a bit less than a half a cup.

• I do not use the extra sugar as Mexican chocolate gives enough sweetness.

• I cook mole until is quite thick (see picture) because most of it goes to the freezer. The recipe really gives a lot and it works excellent to freeze it. When you are ready to have it just put it in the fridge the night before and then add to some hot chicken stock.

Now back to the chili peppers. In Mexico there is a huge variety of dried chili peppers and when they are dried they get a completely new name. For example chili chipotle is a dried version of a fresh jalapeño chili.

Here you can see all four chili peppers used in the recipe, from the left: mulato, ancho, pasilla and chipotle meco.

Mexican chickpea cake

I love chickpeas, in any form. So when I saw a recipe for a cake with chickpeas I had to make it. And I was not disappointed. With a touch of cinnamon and small amount of sugar (I used only 3 tbsp) it was an exceptional cake. 

The original recipe calls for nata (skin from boiled milk), which I did not have, or evaporated milk. Since I do not use canned evaporated milk (no Nestle allowed in this kitchen) I used cream instead.

Torta de garbanzo

recipe from Cooking in Mexico
2 cups cooked chickpeas (I used one 540 ml can)

3 tbsp cane sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup cream
1 egg
1/2 oz almonds ( I used ground almonds)
1/4 cup raisins
extra cinnamon to sprinkle the cake

Preheat oven to 175 C. Butter a 20 cm round cake dish, line the bottom with parchment paper.
Put all ingredients, except for the raisins, in a blender and blend until smooth. Add raisins and pour into the cake dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake for about 30 minutes. Cool for couple of hours before cutting.

Enchiladas

When you order enchiladas in Mexico you will get tortillas covered in chili sauce, filled with chicken (or beef, or beans...) and topped with some cream and cheese. There are tons of varieties.

But traditionally, enchiladas had no filling. Tortillas were simply dipped in the chili sauce and served. That is how I like enchiladas the best as well. Fillings are good, but a good corn tortilla with a chili sauce is awesome.

It has to be corn tortillas though, they are a perfect match for a simple chili salsa. Wheat tortillas do not have much taste so they are more suitable for filled enchiladas.

I also top enchiladas with goats sour cream and goats fresh cheese. Not very traditional but oh so delicious.

Enchiladas

serves 2
8 corn tortillas, warm

500 gr fresh tomatoes
1 small coarsely chopped onion
1 garlic clove
5 serrano chilies (or more)
salt and pepper
fresh chopped coriander

2 tbsp goats sour cream mixed with some milk
2 tbsp goats fresh cheese
some fresh coriander

Put the whole tomatoes, chopped onion, peeled garlic clove, and whole chilies in a sauce pan. Cover with water and cook for about 15 minutes. When done drain the water, take away the tomato skin, clean chilies and chop everything (or use food processor). Add coriander, salt and pepper.

Dip warm tortillas in the chili salsa, fold each tortilla in half, put a spoon of salsa inside and place on a plate. Spoon some more salsa over and top with sour cream, fresh cheese and coriander. Serve immediately.

Mexican Oaxaca cheese

Oaxaca cheese is the cheese used when making quesadillas. It is named after Mexican state of Oaxaca which is famous for its very rich and amazing gastronomy.

This semi-soft cheese becomes soft and stringy when melted, it is less salty than your average cheese and it has a very mild flavor. And that is exactly what you need when making quesadillas, a cheese that gives you the texture but does not take over the flavor. Mozzarella is its European cousin.

Make some corn tortillas, fill with cheese and melt in a pan. Open and fill with a spoon of pico de gallo. Too delicious.

Fish tacos

Fish tacos can be made with any type of white flaky fish. And fish it self can be prepared any way you like it fried, baked, steamed. Add some fresh tomato salsa (pico de gallo), tortillas and all together gives more than perfect fish tacos...pure addiction!

Fish tacos
serves 2

400 gr white flaky fish (I used cod)
2 limes
some chili
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
10 tortillas (10 cm in diameter)
pico de gallo

2 avocados
1 lime

Marinate the fish with limes, chili, mince garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside. Make tortillas or if you have them already done heat them in the oven until you prepare the salsa. Make pico de gallo and set aside.
Heat some oil in a frying pan and cook the fish for couple of minutes on both sides. Fish is done when it nicely flakes without being dry.

Take a tortilla, put some fish in the middle, top with pico de gallo and a slice or two of avocado.

Beef tacos

There are many many different types of tacos in Mexico and this is one of them, beef tacos. The key to these tacos is to use chuck-cut of beef, because it is marbled with tissues and fat which melt during the braising (about 2 hours) and give the meat its strong beef-flavour. The meat is amazingly soft and juicy as well.

And the salsa is as important as the meat (if not more). With meat tacos usually smooth red or green salsas are served. There are many different types of both, but in general red one is made with red tomatoes and dried red chillies, and green one is made with tomatillo and green chillies.

As it is hard to find tomatillos in Europe I stick to the red salsa. Any kind of dried/smoked red chillies can be used but if you do not have substitute with a bit of smoked paprika.

In Mexico corn tortillas for tacos are small, about 10 cm in diameter, so usually two tortillas are served. And tortillas have to be warm, they are never eaten cold, even when they are made of wheat.

Beef tacos

serves 2

400 gr beef (chuck cut)

some oil

salt and pepper

250 gr tomatoes (the more ripe the better, I sometimes use cherry tomatoes)
2 jalapeños
1 onion
2 small garlic cloves, unpeeled

2 guajillo chillies (ancho, chipotle or a pinch of smoked paprika works fine as well)

16 warm corn tortillas (10 cm in diameter)
onion
fresh coriander
lime

Heat some oil in a saucepan, cut the meat in large cubes, salt and pepper and brown in batches. Put back all the meat in the sauce pan and pour in so much water that it covers the bottom, it should not cover the meat. Put the lid on and braise for about 2 hours. Add water from time to time but just so much that it covers the bottom. When done it looks like this:

In the meantime make the salsa. Half the tomatoes (quarter if big), quarter the onions, clean the jalapeño and together with garlic cloves (unpeeled) roast in the oven, 180 C, for about 40 minutes. When done let cool.

Clean dried chillies and soak in hot water until soft (30 minutes). When roasted vegetables are done, squeeze out the garlic, add the soaked chillies and blend everything until smooth. Salt and pepper, add some water if the salsa is too thick.

Chop the onion and coriander. Cut the meat in small cubes. To serve, put some some meat in the middle of a warm tortilla, top with onion, coriander, salsa and a squeeze of lime. Fold in half, open side up and eat!

Flautas

Flautas are Mexican rolled, deep-fried tacos and they are beyond delicious! They can be made with various fillings and one of the classical is potato and chorizo.

Mexican chorizo is a raw pork sausage that is spiced with dried chilies, cumin, paprika and as it is hard to find it here in Munich, I made flautas with Spanish chorizo. They can also be made with wheat tortillas.

As I mentioned flautas are traditionally deep-fried until very crispy but I refuse to deep-fry corn tortillas, they are perfect as they are. Instead I use my cast iron pan and just couple of spoons of fat....über delicious!

Flautas
serves 2
80 gr chorizo
about 2 dl waxy potatoes, cut in small cubes (0,5 cm)
salt and pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper
8 corn tortillas, about 11 cm in diameter and warm (when cold they break)
3 tbsp clarified butter, or fat you prefer for pan frying the flautas
3 tbsp crème fraîche (or sour cream) mixed with 1-2 tbsp milk
salad, thinly slices

Cook potatoes in water until done and drain. Cut the chorizo in small cubes as well and cook in a dry pan just until fragrant, 2 minutes. Add cooked potato, season and mix well. The potatoes should partially fell a part and get very well mixed with chorizo, they should not turn into mash.

Put some filling on one end of tortilla and roll, set aside with the seam down. Heat the cast iron pan, add clarified butter and let melt. Put the flautas in the pan, seam down, and cook turning until the tortilla gets some colour and crisp.
Put on a plate, top with sliced salad and drizzle the crème fraîche over.

Red peppers with capers

This is another, very delicious and easy to make, tapas that we had in Spain: roasted red peppers with capers. I am not quite sure how the one we tasted was prepared so this is my try on it. I used lime juice but I believe in original one vinegar was used.

Red peppers with capers

serves 24 red peppers
2 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, finely minced

1 tbsp capers in oil
juice of 1/2 lime

salt

Preheat the oven, 180C. Wash and clean the red peppers. Put them in a baking dish and roast in the oven until soft, about 45 minutes. When done put in a small bowl, cover with plastic foil and let sit for about 15 minutes. This makes it easier to peal the thin skin of the peppers. After 15 minutes peal and cut the peppers in thick stripes.

Heat the olive oil, add minced garlic and capers. Fry for bout 2 minutes. Pour over the peppers. Add lime juice and season with salt.

Oven tomatoes and garlic

This is the most simple and the most amazing way of preparing tomatoes. It is the Spanish way, and Spanish know their tomatoes.

They were served to us as tapas at one of the many tapas bars we visited in Spain this summer.
After some 45 minutes in the oven the taste of the tomato gets concentrated and the garlic transfers into a roasted mushy divine.

Oven tomatoes and garlic

serves 2
4 small tomatoes
6 garlic cloves in their skin
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven, 180C. Cut tomatoes in halves and drop some olive oil on each half. Season with salt and pepper. Put in the oven together with the garlic and roast for about 45 minutes. Time depends on how big the tomatoes and garlic are. The garlic should be soft and mushy when squeezed.
When done, squeeze some of the garlic on each half of the tomato, season more if necessary, drop some more olive oil if you like. I also sprinkled some dried oregano.

Mango Mexican way

Mango seasoned with salt, chili and lime is typical street food in Mexico. Whole mango is peeled and often cut to look like a flower, seasoned and sold on a stick.
Incredibly delicious, but as it is a bit tricky to eat whole mango on a stick I decided to cut it in cubes for this homemade version.

Cut each side around the mango bone so that you have two nice mango halves. Now cut cubes in each side, try not to cut through the skin. Flip the mango inside out, and you will have cubes out.

Peel of the cubes and put them in a bowl. Cut the mango flesh around the bone and add it to the mango cubes. Squeeze some lime juice over, sprinkle with some salt and chili powder.

Mexican chocolate pudding

When I saw the recipe for Mexican chocolate pudding in Gourmet I had to make it. I love everything about Mexican chocolate, it is too perfect. And this pudding recipe is using almond milk so I was very curious about how it will influence the flavour. And what can I say, excellent influence.

I have changed the recipe just a bit, I used muscovado sugar and less of it, I added more cornstarch and left out the butter completely. I also cooked the pudding the way I always do.

One important thing when it comes to the cinnamon. There are two different cinnamon types, Ceylon and Cassia. I learned this when I went to Mexico for the first time. In Mexico Ceylon cinnamon (right) is used, but in Sweden Cassia (left) is used.

The taste is really different so when you make Swedish cinnamon buns you have to use Cassia and when you make Mexican chocolate you have to use Ceylon. Otherwise they don´t taste as they should.

Mexican chocolate pudding
adapted from Gourmet serves 2
4+1 dl almond milk
3,5 tbsp cornstarch
3 tbsp muscovado sugar
4 tbsp cocoa powder (I used one with 10-12% cocoa butter)
1/2 tsp Ceylon cinnamon powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 vanilla bean

Put 4 dl almond milk in a saucepan. Scrape the vanilla bean and add to the milk together with the pod. Put the milk to boil.
In a small bowl mix all dry ingredients, slowly add 1 dl cold almond milk, whisk until everything is smooth. When the almond milk is boiling, take out vanilla pod and remove from heat. Add the cornstarch mixture, whisking all the time. Put back on the heat and and let it boil on low heat until it thickens, couple of minutes. Do not whisk that much as the cornstarch might go thin. Divide between two bowls and let chill.

Atole

This week it looks like the summer has disappeared for a while. Temperatures have dropped down to 15 degrees and it is really cold for June (well, almost July). Not good at all. But the cold summer days would feel even colder if it wasn't for a Mexican drink called atole that can cure any cold summer day!

Atole is warm drink that is made with water, thickened with Mexican corn flour and flavoured with fresh fruits, chocolate, beans. Some atoles are made with milk and thickened with oats or cornstarch, there are quite few variations. This atole is made with pineapple and is perfect for a cold summer day.

Atole de piña

serves 2
4 dl water
2 dl fresh pineapple, puréed
4 tbsp corn flour for tortillas
sugar

Mix the water and the corn flour in a saucepan. Sieve the puréed pineapples into the sauce pan, if pineapple is not sweet enough put some sugar. Cook everything on low heat until thickened, about 10-15 minutes. Serve hot.

Mexican refried beans

Refried beans have the most confusing name a dish can have, ever. The first time I heard " frijoles refritos", as they are called in Mexico, I got a picture of beans that have been fried twice, with lots of oil (deep-frying amount of oil) involved. Makes no sense, I know.

And their English translation, refried beans, did not make it any easier neither. But one day after watching how they were being prepared everything became more clear. In short, refried beans are not re-fried and have nothing to do with deep-frying. Their name is just a result of another linguistic mess up.

Beans are first cooked in water until soft, like you would usually do with beans, then they are mashed, and then fried in a small amount of corn oil or lard (2-3 tbsp) with some onion and garlic. And when done you have the most delicious Mexican refried beans.

Frijoles refritos
serves 2
2 dl pinto beans, soaked overnight
1 small onion
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp corn oil

Drain and rinse the soaked beans. Cover with water and and simmer until soft. Do not add salt as salt hinders beans from becoming soft. Takes about 1 hour.
When done drain, but save about 2 dl liquid. In a pan fry the onion and garlic on a low heat until soft and translucent, add beans, bit of the liquid and mash everything until you have a paste. Add more of bean-liquid if necessary. Serve with totopos (corn tortillas wedges).

Sweet corn cake

This is an amazing cake, it is definitely in my top 3 favourite cakes. In Mexico it is called "Pastel de elote", and it is made of sweet corn.
It is a very delicious, moist cake and the best part is that because of the natural sugar of the sweet corn the cake is made with only 3 tbsp of sugar. If you are not on the sweet-side then you can use even less than 3 tbsp.

The trick is to use fresh or frozen sweet corn. Canned or already boiled corn doesn't work as you need the starch and sweetness of the fresh corn. I have used frozen sweet corn this time but as soon as the season for German sweet corn starts, August/September, I will use the fresh corn...cannot wait!

It took me a while to find a recipe that did not include the condensed milk. Somehow condensed milk has find a way into this cake, which is a bit strange considering how ancient the tradition of corn in Mexico is, and how short it has been since Nestlé conquered the continent with its condensed milk (La Lechera).

Anyway, I have found the recipe at Epicurious and have made some small changes. I did not use milk, I did not use food processor and to be able to bake the cake in my 1,3 litre baking pan I have reduced all ingredients by a fourth.

Pastel de elote serves 8

450 gr frozen or fresh sweet corn
3 eggs
1,5 dl + 2 tbsp cream
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp butter, soft
2 tbsp flour

1,5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 175 C. Butter and flour a baking dish, mine holds 1,3 litres. If you have a food processor blend everything until almost smooth. Pour in the baking dish and bake for about 40 minutes. Let cool for about 30 minutes, cut and serve.

If you do not have a food processor, start with chopping the corn (see the picture). Beat the sugar and butter until pale and creamy, add eggs one by one, blend well, add cream, blend. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Blend everything, add corn, blend and bake.

Chilaquiles

And this is what Mexican people do when they have some old tortillas at home, they make chilaquiles, for breakfast.
Chilaquiles are made of old tortilla wedges that are simmered in a tomato-chili salsa until soft and topped with chicken, Cotija cheese and Mexican crema....perfection.

Traditionally tortilla wedges are deep fried but I simply do not do it, instead I dry them in the oven until hard. I have tried both versions and think that deep frying tortillas is not necessary.

I also couldn't find Cotija cheese and Mexican cream here in Munich so I replaced the cheese with parmesan and cream with crème fraîche mixed with a tiny bit of milk.

Chilaquiles

serves 2

8 tortillas (day old), cut in wedges
6 tomatoes
2 jalapeños
2 small onions
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
3 guajillo chillies

2 ancho chilies
about 1-2 dl chicken stock

200 gr chicken meat

1 onion, carrot and garlic clove

4 tbsp crème fraîche mixed with a bit of milk
coarsely grated parmesan

Put the tortilla wedges on a baking sheet and bake on 160 C until hard, takes about 20 minutes. Boil the chicken with the onion, carrot and garlic clove until done. Take out on a plate and let cool. Keep the stock.

Core the tomatoes, clean jalapeños and onions, cut in half. You do not need to peel the garlic. Put all the vegetables on a baking sheet, toss with some olive oil and put in the oven until everything is roasted, about 25 minutes on 180 C.

In the mean time soak the guajillo and ancho chillies in hot water, and let sit for about 20 minutes.

When vegetables are done, squeeze out the garlic and put all the vegetables in a food processor together with soft guajillo and ancho chillies and mix until smooth. Add chopped cilantro. I do not have a food processor so I chop everything, which gives the salsa quite nice texture with some pieces here and there.

Put the tortilla wedges in a pan, pour over the salsa and some chicken stock. Let simmer for couple of minutes, tortillas should become completely soft and the salsa should not be watery.


Shred the chicken meat and put on the top of tortilla wedges in salsa. Spread the crème fraîche and parmesan over and serve.

Pico de gallo

Pico de gallo is a Mexican salsa eaten with tacos, but to be honest I could eat it all the time.
This salsa convinces me every time that fresh coriander is one of the greatest herbs ever! You just cannot leave the coriander out in this recipe, or in any other Mexican recipe.

Pico de gallo

serves 2

2 tomatoes, without seeds, diced

1 small shallot, diced

1 chili serrano, chopped

juice of 1/2 lime

juice of 1/2 orange

1 tbsp chopped coriander

some oil

salt

Pozole

Here it is, my favourite dish ever, pozole. Pozole is one of the most authentic Mexican dishes and it has everything a dish should have, if you ask me. The base is made of corn, same type as corn flour for tortillas is made of, and the rest of the ingredients vary.

In Mexico corn for pozole is sold either dried or vacuum packed (picture). Outside Mexico it is usually sold canned. Vacuum packed corn does not need to be soaked over night but it still has to be cooked for 2-3 hours until the kernels open.

After the corn is cooked, meat is added. Pozole can be made with beef, pork, chicken, seafood, or meatless. And depending on which chillies are used pozole can be red, green or white (no chili). My favourite is red pozole made with a mixture of ancho (left) and guajillo (right) chilies.

There are so many different types of pozole that in Mexico there are restaurants who only serve pozole, they are called pozolerias. A must when visiting Mexico.

Pozole

serves 4

500 gr pozole corn

400 gr chicken, mixture legs and breasts

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

2 chilies anchos

2 chilies guajillos

salt and pepper

finely chopped radish, avocado, onion, salad (4 tbsp of each)

dried oregano

lime

tostadas (oven dried or fried corn tortillas)

or

totopos (oven dried or fried corn tortilla chips)

Wash corn couple of times, put in a casserole and cook in water until it opens. Do not add any salt as that prevents corn from opening. This takes 2-3 hours. Water needs to be added from time to time. Add the meat, garlic, onion, salt and pepper. When the meat is cooked take it out, let it cool and shred it in small pieces.

Clean the chilies, soak in hot water for about 15 minutes and when soft blend in a food processor. I don't have a food processor or mortar so instead I scrape the flesh, chop it very finely and press through a strainer. Chilies are sometimes very spicy but sometimes not so much, so add them to the corn spoon by spoon.

Serve pozole in bowls, top with fresh vegetables, chicken meat and sprinkle some dried oregano. Totopos and a piece of lime on the side. Lime is squeezed over pozole just before eating.

Argentine empanadas

Empanadas are made of pastry filled with meat. They can be found in Spanish speaking countries and in Argentina they are considered a national speciality. I have tried empanadas from Spain, Argentina and Mexico. Argentinian are definitely my favourite.

Every region in Argentina has its own version of the filling but the base is made of equal parts of ground beef and onion, that has been seasoned with ground paprika and cumin. All other ingredients like, potatoes, eggs, olives, raisins...differ from region to region and basically you can add them to your liking.

Another great thing about these empanadas is that they can also be baked in the oven. Usually empanadas are fried in oil but Argentinian can be baked without making them un-authentic. I was not that much interested in the pastry this time so I just bought frozen in a Latino food store here in Munich. But here is a recipe for homemade empanada pastry.

Empanadas
16 empanadas
150 gr ground beef
150 gr onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp ground paprika (sweet)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 hard boiled egg, chopped
1/2 dl green olives, chopped
2 tbsp raisins
1/2 dl red pepper, chopped
olive oil

16 empanada pastry discs (12 cm)

Fry onion and garlic in some oil on low temperature until glossy and transparent, takes about 10 minutes. Add ground paprika and cumin, fry 2-3 minutes. Add olives, raisins and pepper, fry 5 minutes more. Switch off the cooker, add meat, fry just shortly, as soon as it is not red anymore take off the cooker. The meat should not be cooked completely as it will cook again in the oven for another 15-20 minutes. Add egg, season with salt and pepper,and let the filling cool down a bit. If it is too hot it might melt the butter-based pastry.

To fill empanadas take one pastry disc, place one tablespoon of filling in the middle. Carefully close empanada, this is probably the hardest part. Press two edges of emapanada well so that nothing comes out. Empanada should look like a half moon and have an dough edge of about 2cm. To make a nice spiral edge, start by folding a corner of empanada inwards, press firmly, and continue folding the dough until you reach the other corner.

Place empanadas on a baking sheet, paint with a beaten egg and bake in preheated oven, 200C, for 15-20 minutes.

Mushroom tacos

This is the best recipe for non-meat tacos. I would normally say vegetarian but I cannot call tacos vegetarian, no no, it just doesn't feel right. I do love vegetables, a lot, but tacos are all about meat. Just not these tacos.

Anyway, I found the recipe in this book and have only changed the way of cooking the mushroom filling. Just to make sure that all flavours develop nicely I added other ingredients to the mushrooms one at the time and not all at once as the book suggests.

Mushroom tacos
500 gr mushrooms, any type you like, cut in smaller pieces
1\2 dl olive oil
4 garlic cloves, finely diced
3 small onions (mild type, I used shallot), finely diced
2 tbsp dry white wine
2 medium tomatoes, diced
2 jalapeños, discard white pith, core, seeds and dice finely
1 dl coriander, chopped
salt
corn tortillas

Heat the oil and add mushrooms. Fry until they loose their water, add garlic, onion and chili. Cook until mushroom and onions get bit of colour. Add tomatoes and wine. Cook another 2-3 minutes. Add coriander and salt. Serve in hot corn tortillas.

Corn flour for tortillas

Corn (maize) is native to Mexico and tortillas made of corn flour have been eaten as bread since ancient times. The flour for tortillas can be made of white, yellow or blue corn. It is probably the most colourful flour ever, just like Mexico is.

Before corn is ground it is soaked in lime water, which gives it a special character and taste, so it is completely different from European type of corn flour (polenta & Co.). I get my corn flour from Mexico and this is how white, yellow and blue corn flour looks like:

It was just recently I found out about yellow corn flour for tortillas (the white and blue tortillas are the most common one). To make tortillas you only need to add water and salt, mix and voilà:

To make beautiful round tortillas it is best to use tortilla machine, but of course rolling pin works as well. And after couple of minutes in a cast iron pan tortillas are ready!

There is a small difference in taste between the colors; blue and yellow one are a bit stronger in taste and white ones are milder. My favourite are blue ones, taste is great and they look so cool.
The tortilla basket is called tortillero and it keeps tortillas warm. The one I have doesn't only look cute but it is also isolated with styropor, keeps tortillas warm perfectly.