Wake up your taste buds with smoky, spicy achiote

This earthy, sweet Mexican spice blend adds complexity to just about any dish

Published September 21, 2022

by Janet Blaser

I don’t usually try to make complex Mexican dishes myself; it’s just so easy (and inexpensive!) to  go out to eat somewhere and find perfectly made tacos al pastor, chiles en nogada or tamales. It  kind of feels like reinventing the wheel to take the time to do it myself.

That said, lately, I’ve found myself perusing spice blends and ready-made mixtures in the grocery  store, in search of a new cooking project. The colorful little yellow-and-red boxes of achiote  (pronounced ah-chee-oh-tay) paste caught my eye, so here we are. (El Yucateco, the most  common  Mexican brand, also makes a liquid achiote, which seems a little easier to use but is  really the same thing with some added water.) Both contain achiote seeds, salt, spices, garlic, corn  flour and water, plus two natural preservatives. Like a bouillon cube, the paste will dissolve in hot  water or broth.

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