Ingredients

Jicama: If none is available, you can make a nice salad (though one that lacks the gentle sweetness and open crunchy texture) by substituting small fresh turnips and/or daikon radish.

Powdered Dried Chile: Jicama gets sprinkled with the fiery-hot powdered chile seco in Yucatán and chile de árbol most everywhere else. I like to use the less-hot powdered New Mexico or California chiles, then add a little cayenne to bring, up the heat level.

Tirning and Advance Preparation

The dish should be started 1½ hours before serving, though you will spend only about ½ hour actively working on it.

Traditional Variations

Pico de Gallo: This West-Central version of jicama salad is named “rooster’s beak” because everything is chopped up. Marinate the jicama in ¼ cup lime juice and a little salt. Toss with 2 small seedless oranges (segmented and cubed), fresh coriander and powdered chile. I’ve also had an elegant version of sliced jicama laid out on a platter, alternating and overlapping with rounds of orange and cucumber; the whole assemblage was sprinkled with lime, coriander and chile.

Contemporary Ideas

Cress and Jicama salad: Cut ½ small jicama and an equal portion daikon radish into matchsticks, and marinate in the bitter orange juice. Drain reserving the juice. Blend to gether half the juice, an equal portion of olive oil and ½ chile serrano. Toss with jicama mixture, a large bunch of cress (large stems removed) and a little chopped fresh coriander.

Mock Bitter Orange Juice

YIELD: 1 generous cup

6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

12 tablespoons freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

½ teaspoon finely minced orange zest (colored part only)

Mix all the ingredients in a noncorrosive bowl and let stand 2 to 3 hours; strain to remove the zest. Use within 24 hours.