Mexico Cooks!

Mexico: a culinary travelogue, an adventure for the palate, mind, and spirit.

  • Hello, friends of MexicoCooks! I am Leslie Morrison, Cristina's daughter. I have shared a gofundme here on her blog today, but for more than financial reasons. I want to honor you! Her loyal followers. She loved each and every one of you, and appreciated you so much. This blog will remain active in archive forms. Obviously, my Mom cannot post anymore, but it is so important to keep her memory and blog alive. Thank you for being here. I welcome stories and/or memories if anyone could please share. There will be a future project, I promise!

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  • https://www.gofundme.com/f/celebrate-cristina-potters-legacy-donate-now

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  • To all of who love Cristi

    This is just a quick post to inform that Cristi will no longer be active in this blog. She has become ill over the past year and is not able to use her computer anymore. 

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  • In Memoriam :: Maestros Yuri de Gortari and Edmundo Escamilla, Ever in Our Hearts

    Originally published in 2011, it's time to remind ourselves of the lifelong work done by these two men: Yuri de Gortari and Edumundo Escamilla.  Their contribution to the culinary history and traditions of Mexico are not likely to be met by others in the field.  They were unique and a treasure, and I was so fortunate to call them my friends. Standing at the doors of Mexico City's Catedral Metropolitana, maestro Edmundo Escamilla offers fascinating historical background about the pre-Hispanic marketplace at Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Mexica/Aztec empire.  That enormous marketplace operated where the Zócalo (Mexico City's main square…

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  • El Niño Dios, the Christ Child on the Feast of La Candelaria :: Celebrate Candlemas Day in Mexico

    Niños Dios: one Christ Child, many colors: ideal for Mexico's range of skin tones. The sizes range from that of a child approximately two years old (at the top) to tiny infants measuring just three to four inches long.  Mercado Medellín, Colonia Roma, Mexico City.  All photos by Mexico Cooks!, unless otherwise credited. For about a month prior to Christmas each year, figures of the Niño Dios (baby Jesus) are for sale everywhere in Mexico.  Mexico Cooks! took this photograph at the annual tianguis navideño (Christmas market) in front of the Mercado Medellín, Colonia Roma, Mexico City.  These Niños Dios range in…

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  • Los Reyes Magos to La Candelaria: Three Kings, Rosca de Reyes and Tamales!

    Most Mexicans eat traditional rosca de reyes (Three Kings' Bread) on January 6.  Its usual accompaniment is chocolate caliente (hot chocolate). The Día de los Reyes Magos (the Feast of the Three Kings) falls on January 6 each year.  You might know the Christian feast day as Epiphany or as Little Christmas.  The festivities celebrate the arrival of the Three Kings at Bethlehem to visit the newborn Niño Dios (Child Jesus).  In some cultures, children receive gifts not on Christmas, but on the Feast of the Three Kings–and the Kings are the gift-givers, commemorating the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh…

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  • Mexico’s New Year’s Customs Explained :: New Underwear, Old Suitcases, Grapes?

    In Mexico and some other Latin American countries, women wear yellow underwear on New Year's Eve to bring good luck and wealth in the year to come.  Red underwear (this vendor has a lot, in every style, for sale on her tables) indicates a New Year's wish for an exciting love interest!  Just remember that the underwear has to be NEW–last year's doesn't have the same powers! Superstition or not, many people here in Mexico continue to keep the customs of ritos del Año Nuevo (New Year's rituals).  Some rituals include foods, others prescribe certain clothing, and still others warrant…

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  • The Heart of Mexico: Our Lady of Guadalupe :: El Corazón de México, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.

    Originally published on December 8, 2007, this story of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe) has been one of the most-read articles published since the inception of Mexico Cooks!.  Her feast day in 2022 is Monday, December 12.  The new Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe), built between 1974 and 1976, is the second most visited religious sites in the world.  The first is the Vatican.  Photo courtesy El Viator. My head was whirling with excitement at 7 AM last New Year's Day. I was in a taxi going to the Guadalajara airport, ready…

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  • As You Are Now, So Once Was I :: Día y Noche de Muertos, Michoacán

    Mexico Cooks!' full body bone scan, 2009. Remember me as you pass by,As you are now, so once was I.As I am now, so you will be,Prepare for death and follow me.                   …from a tombstone What is death?  We know its first symptoms: the heart stops pumping, breath and brain activity stop. We know death's look and feel: a still, cold body from which the spirit has fled.  The orphan and widow know death's sorrow, the priest knows the liturgy of the departed and the prayers to assuage the pain of those…

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  • Mid-October in Michoacán :: Wildflowers and Fresh Produce at Pátzcuaro’s Municipal Market

    The area around Lake Pátzcuaro, in the state of Michoacán, bursts into wildflower bloom in late September, just as the rainy season is ending here.  The flowers are naturalized wild cosmos, known here as mirasoles ("look-at-the-sun").  Entire fields fill with swaths of these delicate flowers, turning our green countryside into a temporary sea of pink.  Behind the mirasoles is a milpa, a field of native Michoacán corn, beans, and squash. These beautiful blossoms, selling now at the municipal market in Pátzcuaro, are called estrellas del campo (stars of the field).  From the tops of the flowers to the bottom of…

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  • Thalía Barrios García and La Cocina de Humo, Oaxaca :: A Do-Not-Miss in Oaxaca’s Capital

    Thalía Barrios García, chef and cocinera tradicional (traditional cook) and head of the kitchens at both of her restaurants: Levadura de Olla and La Cocina de Humo, both located in the Centro Historico of Oaxaca, Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico.  Thalía was born and raised in San Mateo Yucutindoó, a town of approximately 2500 inhabitants in the Sierra Sur of the state of Oaxaca.  The town is approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the capital city of Oaxaca.  Photo courtesy UTVCO Two months ago, I spent a week visiting many friends in the city of Oaxaca.  I was thrilled; I hadn't…

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  • Chiles en Nogada, Symbol of Mexico’s Independence from Spain and in Season RIGHT NOW

      It's that time of year again: time for chiles en nogada!  I was thrilled to eat the chile above at Restaurante La Conspiración de 1809 in Morelia, Michoacán–it was without question the best chile en nogada I've eaten, in my long history of eating as many as possible every season! This year's freshly harvested and peeled nuez de castilla (walnuts), an essential for seasonal chiles en nogada.  The nut meats must be perfectly white, with no pieces of the papery brown peel left at all.  This step is the fiddley-est part of the recipe.  You can do it, it…

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  • Dando la Vuelta en la Ciudad de México :: Roaming Around in Mexico City, Part Four

    Roof at Casa Luis Barragán, Calle General Francisco Ramírez 12 and 14, Col. Daniel Garza, Distrito Federal.  If you are at all interested in modern Mexican architecture, this museum is a must-see.  Arquitecto Luis Barragán changed the face of Mexican building, pioneering in the use of forms and space as joining both utility and beauty. Baby bok choy at the Mercado San Juan.  Each of these little bok choys is about six inches long, perfect for steaming.  Most of the most-used fresh Asian vegetables (long beans, bitter melon, snow peas, bok choy of two or three kinds, and more) are regularly…

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Mexico Cooks! FABULOUS FOOD TOURS Recommended By Lonely Planet since 2009

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