Tired of turkey? The chef shares his method for making a slightly different festive feast in our three-part series.

Mr Martin Morales is the founder of the Ceviche and Andina Peruvian restaurants in London and the author of the bestselling Ceviche: Peruvian Kitchen – The Sunday Times Cookbook Of The Year 2013. He has also pioneered the sale of Peruvian spirit pisco in the UK. “There used to be 500 bottles sold a year – now there are about 30,000,” he says. “Most are coming out of our restaurants.” When he’s not thinking about food or pisco, he is involved in music and arts projects including running his own Peruvian soul, funk and jazz label – Tiger’s Milk Records. Here, he offers the second recipe in a three-part series, serving up Christmas dinners that aren’t all about turkey.

“A causa is a traditional layered dish made primarily of cold mashed potatoes and different toppings. I created this recipe for Christmas at Ceviche and named it after Lolo Fernández – a famous Peruvian football player, loved by the people for being skilful and charismatic. There are so many tired ways of cooking at Christmas, and turkey can dry up really quickly. Salmon is a fish eaten the world over at this time of year, and this is a different and delicious way of presenting it – so it’s the perfect starter. In Peru, we celebrate on Christmas Eve; Christmas Day is like Boxing Day for us, when we all go to the beach to cure the hangover.”

(Potato Cake Salad With Salmon Tartare)

**Serves 4

****Ingredients: ** For the chilli paste:

1 medium-strength red chilli ¼ yellow pepper Dash of olive oil ½ white onion, chopped 1 garlic clove, chopped Salt and pepper to season

De-vein and de-seed the chilli and yellow pepper. Finely chop and sauté in a dash of olive oil with the onion and garlic until soft, not caramelised. Season. Blend and keep in the fridge.

For the base:

1 tbsp chilli paste  Juice of 1 lime Pinch of salt 500g floury potatoes – peeled, boiled, mashed finely and chilled

Add the chilli paste, lime juice and salt to the potato mash. Mix thoroughly together and from the mixture make four round, flat, cold potato cakes about 2cm high. If you wish, use an 8cm cake mould and press the mash mixture into this.

For the topping:

240g fresh salmon 2 finely chopped spring onions Juice of 3 limes 4 coriander sprigs, finely chopped Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large ripe avocado, chopped and lightly mashed

Chop the salmon into small very cubes, add the spring onion, lime juice, coriander and season with salt and black pepper. Mix well.

**For the chilli mayo: ** ¼tbsp chilli paste 1tbsp home-made mayonnaise

Mix the chilli paste and home-made mayonnaise together.

Final assembly:

Place a potato cake in the middle of each small plate. Add 1tsp chilli mayo to the side of each cake. Spoon the mashed avocado on top of the cake and season with salt and pepper. Place the salmon mixture on top of the avocado, making sure that it doesn’t fall off the cake. Garnish with chopped coriander. This dish can be freshly made before serving, or prepared an hour beforehand. Once made, it should be refrigerated for 10 minutes before serving.