• Griddled calamari with chickpeas and spinach pasta
• Polenta encrusted calamari with warm caponata
• Seared calamari steaks in a coconut-and-peanut sauce served with sugar-snap peas
• Charred sweet pepper topped with seared coriander-and-garlic calamari tubes and tzatziki
• Summer slaw with stir-fried calamari

Use tortillas

While Mexico’s traditional flatbreads are more commonly made from corn, the Spanish colonists preferred flour tortillas, made in the north where wheat grows well.

A freshly made soft flour tortilla, hot off a tortilla press, is soft and supple – a gentle warming will revive "older" ones though. 

Alternatively, deep-fry day-old tortillas until crisp and golden, then use to make tostadas or taco shells. Cut into triangles, they are fried – or baked for a healthier option – to make tortilla crisps – perfect for dunking into chilli-spiked tomato salsa, the ketchup of the Mexican table.

For a toasted cheese "sandwich", or quesadilla, two tortillas are sandwiched with cheese then grilled, or baked.

As always, a dollop of fresh Mexican salsa or guacamole – tomato salsa simply mixed with mashed avocado – serves as the requisite accompaniment.