Zarela Martínez, chef, restaurateur and food writer, is highly skilled at bringing to life the spirit and magic of her native land. She writes about Mexico itself and its people with love, passion and boundless enthusiasm – and herein, for me, lie the great appeal and power of her cookery books.

Once in a blue moon, as I browse through the cookbook section of a bookshop, I strike gold. I pull a book from a shelf and when I start to leaf through it, I feel a thrill, a sense of excitement. Roberto Santibañez’ latest book, Truly Mexican, fits into this category with the greatest of ease.

Thomasina Miers was the Masterchef champion in 2005, and her personal mission since then has been to educate the British public about the glories of Mexican food. Mexican Food Made Simple, her first Mexican cookery book, aims to make this cuisine more accessible and user-friendly.

“La Casa Azul" was the home of Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, and her husband, Diego Rivera. Diego's daughter, Guadalupe, once lived with them and Frida’s Fiestas is Guadalupe’s account of her life there – a time when she “learned to see the world through the way Frida and Diego lived”.

The Mexican "posada" season is tremendous fun, raucous and jolly, and the street cooks and vendors do a roaring trade. Mugs of hot chocolate are downed and “buñuelos”, a fabulously crisp sweet fritter, are one of the most popular treats during the Christmas festivities.

Christmas in Mexico means posadas, piñatas and a sweet, fruity punch known as “Ponche Navideño” or Christmas punch, which is served to posada guests in Mexican homes, as well as on the street corners, where it scents the night air with its sweet, plummy steam.

The “posada” season is in full swing, and in Mexican kitchens, the fragrant aroma of the festive drink called “rompope” hangs in the air like a velvet cloud. Spicy, rich and decidedly boozy, it is one of the essential components of a Mexican Christmas.

The run-up to Christmas in Mexico is one long series of parties – in fact a very specific type of party which takes place over the nine days prior to Christmas, and goes by the name of “posada". It involves much singing and a piñata filled with fruit, nuts, chocolate and delicious "polvorones".

Christmas Eve in Mexico is an occasion for a family dinner, served before everybody goes off to Midnight Mass, known as “Misa de Gallo”, cockerel’s mass. The meal starts off with a special Christmas Eve salad, Ensalada de Noche Buena, which is a rather peculiar concoction.

The crescendo of the Christmas revelry, including the very Mexican “posadas” or Christmas parties, has reached its climax and Christmas Day has finally arrived. The day gets off to a very pre-Hispanic start with a mug of steaming champurrado, traditionally accompanied by tamales.