Recado Rojo (Red Achiote Paste) is a traditional South American recipe for a basic spice paste that imparts a deep red colour to food due to the annatto (achiote) seeds within it. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic South American dish of: Recado Rojo.
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Annatto Seeds (also known as Achiote seeds) are the seeds of the seeds of the Achiote trees Bixa orellana which contain annatto a red colouring (also known as bixin) in the pulp surrounding them. This imparts a deep red colour to food and is an important natural food colouring. Recado Rojo is a crucial ingredient for many classic South American (and some Spanish) dishes.
Place the first six ingredients in a spice grinder or coffee grinder and render to a fine powder (this may take some time as annatto seeds are very hard). Meanwhile crush the garlic with the salt in a pestle and mortar until you have a fine paste. Add the ground spices a tablespoon at a time to the crushed garlic and mix in to combine. When the mixture starts becoming too dry moisten with a little of the vinegar until you have a smooth paste.
Form the paste into small disks and place in a sunny spot to dry. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator (they will keep for several months). To use mix with a little white wine vinegar or Seville orange juice until you have a paste.
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