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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 travelled anywhere since early 2019. Pre-COVID, I was accustomed to travel to Oaxaca as many as six times a year, taking tour groups, attending culinary events, and generally taking my Michoacán-based, Oaxaca-related life for granted. In March 2020, boom! COVID's impact on Mexico–and everywhere else in the world–shut down tours, culinary events, and travel. This June, I was way beyond eager to see old friends, enjoy long comidas (comida is the afternoon main meal of the day in Mexico) with them, and have the time to visit Thalía Barrios García, the young Oaxaca culinary phenomenon, in one of her two restaurants. She asked me to have desayuno (breakfast) with her at Cocina de Humo (the smoke kitchen) and I jumped at the chance.

La Cocina de Humo is an offshoot of her larger restaurant, Levadura de Olla (literally 'yeast for a clay pot'; in Thalía's native San Mateo Yucutindoó, bread is baked in clay pots). At La Cocina de Humo, I was privileged to sit in the kitchen for breakfast, next to the comal (in this case, a flat handmade clay griddle seated above a wood fire). The tiny restaurant space is specifically designed to be a copy of the home kitchens of Yucutindoó. The photo above is the view from my seat; the comal is just to the left of the vegetables. All photos by Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.

Thalía left her hometown when she was 18 years old, to attend culinary school. Her parents were 100% behind her decision. Thalía says, "My parents were always behind us kids, they wanted only the best for each of us and dreamed that we would be able to leave our town to achieve something in the wider world. My parents said, "The only condition is that you do something chingona." Loosely translated, that means 'badass', and in my opinion, Thalía's middle name should be chingona.

My first course included café de olla (coffee with cinnamon and other spices, middle left), atole de plátano (a thick corn-based drink, in this case including banana, right), and pastel de elote (a delicious semi-sweet cake made with fresh, early-season corn). At the back of the photo, the cup is made to resemble the pochote tree trunk–pochote, endemic to Oaxaca and Puebla, is known in English as kapok.

The trunk of a pochote tree. I took the photo in the Biósfera Tehuacán-Cuicatlán, in the state of Puebla (just north of the Oaxaca state border). You can easily see the resemblance the trunk, with its soft protuberances (they look like sharp thorns, but they're not), has to the cups used at La Cocina de Humo. Every aspect of the pochote tree is sacred to the Maya–including to the contemporary Maya. From its curative bark to its medicinal roots, from its profound shade to its life-giving energy, it is easy to understand why the handmade clay cups at La Cocina de Humo have the shape that they do.

Caldo de ejote de milpa (broth with green beans from the milpa). The wooden serving spoons for each of these dishes were large, and the handmade bowls themselves were small, thank goodness. I'm pretty sure that Thalía sent me everything on the menu to taste!

Calabacitas criollas (diced little squash, similar to zucchini) with jitomate riñón (kidney-shaped tomatoes particular to Oaxaca), seasoned with d
elicious spices. All of the dishware at La Cocina de Humo is handmade clay, designed by Thalía and some women potters in San Mateo Yucutindoó.

Barbacoa de olla (pot-style barbacoa) made of pork, chicken, the leaf of avocado criollo, chile guajillo and chile ancho.

After finishing the equivalent to a bachelor's degree at the culinary school that is part of Oaxaca's Universidad Tecnológica de los Valles Centrales, Thalía worked in various restaurants until she realized that her strongest point was the traditional kitchen, and not just any traditional kitchen, but the dishes she originally learned from her grandmother, her mother, and her aunts. I first met Thalía several years ago, when she was cooking under the baton of my beloved friend Celia Florián, the cocinera tradicional who is head of the kitchen at Oaxaca's internationally renowned Restaurante Las 15 Letras. In 2019, Thalía opened her first restaurant, Levadura de Olla. By 2021, she was considered to be the most outstanding participant in the awards of the 50 Best Restaurants of Latin America, given that year in the city of Oaxaca. And since then, the reviews have been pure praise, pure delight, for her cooking, her restaurants' style, and her own chingona self since the beginning.

A newly made taco filled with house-style mole negro (black mole) and deliciously fried sweet plátano macho–super-ripe plantain. This was course number three or four–nothing was large, nothing was overpowering, and every single taste of every single thing was marvelous.

Stove-side still life with jitomate riñón, at La Cocina de Humo.

On reflection, I think this was my favorite of the many separate platillos (prepared dishes) that I ate (at least some of) for breakfast. This is simplicity itself: a freshly-made salsa de molcajete (a table salsa in which all the comal-roasted ingredients are ground together in a volcanic stone mortar, with a volcanic stone pestle). While the salsa is hot from the roasting, raw eggs are scrambled into it. The ingredients were that old cliché: much more than the sum of their parts. I'd have it again tomorrow, and the next day. And oh joy, I've been invited back to Oaxaca this coming October. Can you guess where I'll be having breakfast?

Don't miss the store (Tienda Piedra de Río) in the front of the building where La Cocina de Humo is located. The pottery is the same as that used in the restaurant, those wonderful pochote cups are available there, and lots of other beautiful Oaxaca kitchen and household things are there as well.

I recently read a quote that I love, dedicated to La Cocina de Humo. I hope you'll love it too, and I hope you'll go to eat there as soon as you possibly can.

"Si dios (el qué sea de su confianza) bajara al mundo de los mortales, sería para comer aquí."
"If god (whichever god you might trust) were to come from Heaven to this mortal world, it would be to eat here."
________________________________________

La Cocina de Humo
Calle Murguía 304
Near the corner of Calle Juárez
Centro Histórico
Oaxaca 68000
Oaxaca de Juárez
Tel: +52 951 169 8076
Hours: Monday through Saturday 9:00AM – 9:00PM
Closed Sundays
Reservation necessary

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

27 de August de 2022
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 just takes patience. If you have school-age children, get them to help you.

Mexico celebrates its independence the entire month of September with parades, parties, and traditional food and drink, served in restaurants and at home. The traditional festive dish during the weeks just before and after the Independence Day holiday is chiles en nogada, a magnificent tribute to the seasonal availability of a certain kind of peach, a particular kind of pear (the pera lechera), the locally grown panochera apple, newly in-season granadas (pomegranates) and nuez de castilla (freshly harvested walnuts). From mid-July until early October, seasonal local fruits, fresh pomegranates, and newly harvested walnuts make chiles en nogada possible. Mildly spicy chiles poblano, stuffed with a special kind of picadillo and topped with richly creamy walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds, flaunt the brilliant green, white and red of the Mexican flag.

The panochera apple, grown in the Mexican state of Puebla, and pera lechera (milky pear), also grown in the area, are two must-have ingredients for making chiles en nogada in Mexico. If you live outside central Mexico, a small crisp apple and a very crisp pear (Bosc or d'Anjou) would substitute.

This festive dish is traditionally served beginning in late July, right on through September 15 or 16 in honor of Mexico's Independence Day, and then as long as the seasonal ingredients hold out–usually ending in October. During August and September in the highlands of Mexico, particularly in Mexico City and Puebla, vendors wander through tianguis (street markets) and other markets, selling the clean, white meats of nuez de castilla (walnuts, grown in Mexico). It is important to use the freshest walnuts possible, as they produce such a creamy, rich sauce that it is worth the effort to buy them peeled or peel them oneself. Yes, the recipe is time-consuming (not difficult, just takes time)…but you and your guests will jump up and shout "VIVA MÉXICO!" when they've licked the platters clean.

Ingredients

For the meat:
- 2 pounds beef brisket or other stew meat or 1 pound beef and 1 pound pork butt*
- 1 small white onion, quartered
- 2 large cloves garlic
- about 1 Tbsp sea salt
  *You can, if you are in a pinch for time, use equal quantities of coarsely ground beef and pork. Brown them before adding other ingredients.
For the picadillo (filling):
- 4 Tbsp safflower or canola oil
- the shredded meat (or the ground meat)
- 1/3 cup chopped white onion
- 3 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- pinch pimienta gorda (allspice)
- 1 or 2 chiles serrano, finely minced
- 4 Tbsp chopped fresh walnuts
- 4 Tbsp slivered blanched almonds
- 2 Tbsp finely diced crystalized pineapple (in place of acitrón, candied biznaga cactus). See note below.
- 1 fresh pear, peeled and chopped. I like to use very ripe, soft Bosc pears.
- 1 apple, peeled and chopped. I prefer to use a sweet apple rather than a tart apple.
- 4 very ripe yellow peaches, peeled and diced
- 3 Tbsp Mexican pink pine nuts. You can substitute white if you aren't able to find pink, but white pine nuts aren't sweet.
- 3 ripe Roma tomatoes, roasted, peeled and chopped
- sea salt to taste
Fully mature chiles poblano, picked fresh and sold on the street in Tehuacán, Puebla, very close to where the chiles are grown.

Deep green chiles poblano are normally used for chiles en nogada. These measure as much as seven inches long. If you click on the photo to make it larger, you can see that these chiles have deep, long grooves running down their sides. When I'm buying them, I choose chiles poblano that are as smooth and flat as possible on their broad flat sides. The flat smoothness makes them easier to roast easily.

For the chiles:

–6 fresh chiles poblanos, roasted, peeled, slit open, and seeds removed, leaving the stem intact

For the nogada (walnut sauce):
- 1 cup freshly harvested nuez de castilla (walnuts), peeled of all brown membrane**
- 6 ounces queso de cabra (goat cheese), queso doble crema or standard cream cheese (not fat free), at room temperature
- 1-1/2 cups crema mexicana or 1-1/4 cups sour cream thinned with milk
- about 1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup dry sherry (optional)
**Please note that this recipe is correctly made with walnuts, not almonds and not pecans. Using pecans will give your sauce a non-traditional flavor and a beige color, rather than pure white.

Remove the arils (seeds) from a pomegranate.

We who live in Mexico are fortunate to find pomegranate seeds ready to use, sold in plastic cups. Can you see them at the top of the photo, with the pink plastic spoons stuck into the cups?

For the garnish:

–1 Tbsp coarse-chopped flat-leaf parsley
–1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds

Preparation:

Cut the meat into large chunks, removing any excess fat. Place the meat into a large Dutch oven with the onion, garlic, and salt. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Skim off any foam that collects on the surface. Lower the heat and allow the water to simmer about 45 minutes, until the meat is just tender. Take the pot off the stove and let the meat cool in the broth. Remove the pieces of meat and finely shred them. If you're using ground beef/pork, simply brown the ground meats in a big-enough pot, in a small amount of oil (see below).

Candied biznaga (aka acitrón) cactus. Because the biznaga cactus is on the endangered species list, it's recommended that we either leave this out of the chile en nogada filling entirely or that we substitute finely diced crystallized pineapple.

Mexican pink pine nuts. Their taste is sweeter than the standard white ones, and they leave no bitter aftertaste in your dish. If you can't find these pink pine nuts, you can substitute the white ones.

Warm the oil in a large, heavy skillet and sauté the onion and garlic over medium heat until they turn a pale gold. Stir in the shredded or ground meats and cook, stirring, for five minutes. Add the cinnamon, pepper, and cloves, then, stir in the two tablespoons of chopped walnuts. Add the chopped pear, apple, pine nuts, and finely diced biznaga cactus, and mix well. Add the tomatoes and salt to taste, and continue cooking over medium-high heat until most of the moisture has evaporated. Stir often so that the mixture doesn't stick. Let cool, cover, and set aside. The picadillo may be made and refrigerated a day or two in advance of final preparations.

Roasted chiles poblano, ready to peel, seed, and stuff. Photo courtesy Delicious Mexican Recipes.

Roast and peel the chiles and make a slit down the side of each chile, just long enough to remove the seeds and veins. Keep the stem end intact. Drain the chiles, cut side down, on paper towels until completely dry. Cover and set aside. The chiles may be prepared a day in advance.

At least three hours in advance, put the walnuts in a small pan of water. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat and let the nuts sit for five minutes. Drain the nuts and, when cool, rub off as much of the dark skin as possible. Your goal is pure white nutmeats without peel. Chop the nuts into small pieces. Place the nuts, cream cheese, crema, and salt in a blender and purée thoroughly. Stir in the sugar, cinnamon, and sherry until thoroughly combined. The sauce should be velvety smooth. Chill for several hours.

Preheat the oven to 250ºF. When ready to serve, reheat the meat filling and stuff the chiles until they are plump and just barely closed. Put the filled chiles, covered, to warm slightly in the oven. When they are just barely warm, place the chiles (cut side down) on a serving platter or on individual plates, cover with the room temperature or chilled walnut sauce, and sprinkle with the chopped parsley and pomegranate seeds.

Chile en nogada as served at Restaurante Azul Histórico, Mexico City. It's the Mexican flag on your plate!

Chile en nogada as served at Restaurante Las Quince Letras, Centro Histórico, Oaxaca.

This dish may be served at room temperature, or it may be served slightly chilled. It is rarely if ever served hot.

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6 de August de 2022
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 available at this downtown Mexico City market.

One of my favorite market stall signs: Bacon Shop "La Guadalupana", a Mercado de Jamaica pork butcher puesto (booth) that sells far more than bacon. And the happy little pigs are mariachis.

Just around the corner from Mexico Cooks!' former Mexico City headquarters, this tree wears a multi-colored and textured knit jacket.

A wheelbarrow full of mamey (pouteria sapota), perfectly ripe, beautifully cut, creamy sweetness. The mamey looks like a small fuzzy football and tastes like a baked sweet potato. Sunday market, Tlacolula, Oaxaca.

Metates (the rectangular grinding stone) and their metlapiles (the rolling pin), used for grinding everything from chocolate to chiles, beans to edible bugs. One doesn't use the same metate for everything; separate metates keep the flavors of each of your ingredients pure.

Pink graffiti on a window. The little sign reads, "Fresh paint". Click on any image to make it bigger, for a better view.

Tomatoes for salsa, roasting directly on the red-hot embers. Private home, Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca. "Sí, siempre los asamos así. Agarran más sabor." ('Yes, we always roast them this way. They take on more flavor.')

Tortillas freshly toasted on the comal (griddle). These tortillas, prepared in Puebla by traditional cooks from Querétaro, bear a "Q" stamp indicating their place of origin. In long-ago years, tortillas were often stamped with similar carved wooden stamps. The stamps were carved with pictures or letters that identified the owners. The dye, based on the wild plant called muictle, is steeped in water to bring out the color used to stamp tortillas.

Fresh morel mushrooms, Mercado de San Juan, Mexico City. Morels are available at this market fresh during the rainy season, and dried all year long.

A pre-Hispanic waterspout in the shape of a monkey's head. Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City.

Jícaras (hand-carved or painted drinking cups from the tecomate tree), Mercado Benito Juárez, Oaxaca.

Misitu, the Purépecha word for cat. Mural detail, Santa Fe de la Laguna, Michoacán.

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25 de June de 2022
Dando la Vuelta por México :: Roaming Around in Mexico, Part Three!

In February 2019, Mexico Cooks! returned to live once again in Morelia, Michoacán. It's been a joyful return, to the welcome of wonderful old friends, well-remembered streets and markets, and the beautiful colonial city itself. I found a terrific house in Morelia's Centro Histórico, walking distance to most anywhere I need to go. You can expect to hear a lot more from me in the months to come about the cuisines, customs, and creativity of the people of Michoacán. The photo above is Morelia's Cathedral by the light of the full moon.

Workshop for creating a flavored salt. In a volcanic stone molcajete (that's part of it, in the photo), I ground roasted maguey worms, dehydrated pineapple, sea salt, and a chile de árbol or two. The flavor of mine was just so-so; a fellow behind me made a fantastic salt, flavored with a roasted scorpion. Who knew! Each of us participants got to bring our salt home in a test tube.

Late this spring, a friend and I traveled to San Miguel de Allende, where we saw friends and tried some of San Miguel's many restaurants. My personal favorite meal was brunch at Marsala: Cocina con Acentos, a truly innovative and delicious Mediterranean niche in the center of the city. The photo shows my plate of Marsala-style eggs Benedict, accompanied by a so-good mimosa. In addition to a full menu of brunch choices, one is also invited to partake of the buffet of freshly baked scones, cheese biscuits, marmalades, a magnificent house-made terrine, and a number of other take-what-you want items. I can't wait to go back!

One of the highlights of the trip to San Miguel de Allende was the opportunity to meet in person a man I have long admired from afar. Charles Hall manages Rose Anne Hall Designs, a highly successful family business which produces mouth-blown glass items for the home, as well as the most beautiful hand-made candles in Mexico. Under Charlie's direction, the business dedicates itself to hiring people with disabilities–or what would appear to be disabilities–but who are enabled by the opportunity to create. Charlie is a businessman, a philosopher, and a humorist, and a wonderful human being.

In the lovely traditional kitchen at the home of good friends in Santa Fe de la Laguna. It's always a privilege to be with them.

Cocido, or caldo de res, in my own kitchen and ready to serve. So simple, and so delicious.

Embarcadero San Pedro near twilight, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.

If you've been reading Mexico Cooks! for very long, you know that I have a strange fascination with pig heads. The staff at this market booth are all great people and love showing off their wares. This handsome fellow has a mouthful of alfalfa. They are also a bunch of goofballs: they always encourage my market tour clients to kiss the snout–and I must say that in the spirit of fun, quite a few do!

These miniature chairs–about the size to seat a one-year-old baby–were all but viral on Facebook when I uploaded the photo. Turned upside down with potted plants on the bottoms of the straw seats, the chairs make a charming entrance into my home.

Last–but definitely not least–was my outrageously wonderful end-of-June birthday party, with the crowning touch of this spectacular cake. A huge shout-out to the Colegio Culinario de Morelia, to chef Joaquín Bonilla, to chef Juan Carlos Montaño, and to the crew who brought and served this marvelous creation. Between the delicious cake, the just-right frosting, the assortment of cookies and candies–and gold leaf!–that decorated the masterpiece, party guests were thrilled and so was the birthday girl. Such a wonderful birthday gift! Mil gracias a todos ustedes del Colegio!

Come back next week for a look at the rest of Mexico Cooks!' year 2021.

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18 de June de 2022
Dando la Vuelta en la Ciudad de México :: Roaming Around in Mexico City, Part Two

This white pozole from Mexico's state of Guerrero ranks close to the top of Mexico Cooks!' list of best pozoles in Mexico. The pozolería (pozole place) is right here in Mexico City–come with us next time, we go as often as we can.

A selection of beautiful crystallized fruits at Mercado Medellín, one of the several Mexico City markets where Mexico Cooks! takes tours. In the photo from nine o'clock: sweet potato, pineapple, whole orange, more sweet potato, squash, and at six o'clock, chilacayote squash and another orange. The inner group consists of squash, a limón, and a fig.

Sangre de cora, a drink prepared with tequila, sweet agua de jamaica, and frothy egg white. It's adorned with jamaica blossoms. Jamaica is a cousin of Mexico's hibiscus; in English, it's called roselle. The drink takes its name from the Cora indigenous group, which is native to western Jalisco and the coastal state of Nayarit; the delicious drink was served to me in Mexico City at a press event for the Riviera Nayarit.

They look like gears, don't they? Actually, these are molinillos (chocolate frothers), stacked up for sale at a market. There's nothing else like this market in all of Mexico– Mexico Cooks! would be delighted to take you along for a tour!

Oaxaca is filled with culinary delicacies not seen elsewhere in Mexico. Here, a platter of Oaxaca quesillo (think string cheese, but a million times better) stuffed with tiny chapulines (grasshoppers) and rolled jelly-roll fashion in anise-flavored hoja santa (holy leaf). This is one of the most delicious things Mexico Cooks! has eaten in 2015. Thank you, Restaurante Las 15 Letras!

Carmelite nuns buying carnations by the armload at Mexico City's wholesale flower market. An entire bundle of these flowers, the size of the paper-wrapped flowers standing on the floor, will set you back about 70 pesos–less than $4.50 USD.

And now for something completely different–gai lan (Chinese broccoli), stir-fried with garlic, as served at our favorite Chinese restaurant: Jing Teng.

These exotic fruits from South America are curuba–banana passionfruit. Each fruit is approximately 3" long and an inch in diameter. The sweet pulpy seeds are reminiscent of normal passionfruit, but less acidic. The skin isn't eaten. We recently saw these at one of our favorite downtown markets.

Look at the color of the flesh of these ruby red grapefruits! Mexico Cooks! was particularly taken with the extraordinary cut made by the vendor to display (and give tastes of) the fruit.

Mexico's own tuna–aka the prickly pear cactus fruit. The market vendor who offered these for sale had brought along the entire cactus paddle to show clients how the fruit grows.

The tuna has a zipper-skin that's so simple to peel. Just cut off each end of the tuna, make a lengthwise slit in the skin, and peel the skin away from the flesh. Easy-peasy! The tuna's texture is similar to that of watermelon, the flesh is sweet and refreshing, and the seeds are swallowed. Served chilled, they're even more thirst-quenching.

From a small restaurant in the state of Jalisco, this flan napolitano con queso (flan made with cheese) is one of the best I've eaten. My comida (main meal of the day) companion assured me that he isn't a flan fan, but one taste of this one and he said, "We should have ordered two." More the texture of cheesecake than custard, one slice of this rich, creamy dessert was plenty for the two of us.

And finally–Frida! This portrait of Mexico's iconic painter Frida Kahlo is actually a tattoo on the inner forearm of a young woman I saw on the sidewalk outside a market. Claudia very graciously allowed me to photograph just her arm. Here's yet another reason to spend some time with Mexico Cooks!: you never, never know what you'll see next in this enormous and enormously diversified city!

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

11 de June de 2022
Dando la Vuelta en la Ciudad de México :: Roaming around in Mexico City, Part One

Mexico's summer always gives us an abundance of flor de calabaza (squash flowers) to be used in the kitchen. Prepared as sopa de guias (squash vine soup), quesadillas, or stuffed with cheese, these flowers are delicious and are readily available in many Mexican markets. Did you know that only the male flowers are harvested? The female flowers are left to develop squash.

You might like to try this Mexico Cooks! recipe in your own kitchen.

Flor de Calabaza Estilo Cristina
Squash Flowers, Cristina's Style

Ingredients

2 large bunches flor de calabaza, washed and patted dry
1 medium white onion
4 chiles poblano
1 chile serrano
2 large russet or other large white potatoes
Flour
Sea salt to taste
Vegetable oil, freshly rendered pork lard, or half vegetable oil, half bacon grease for frying.

Procedure

Peel and dice potatoes into 1/2" cubes. Boil until just fork-tender. Drain, allow to dry, and reserve.

Roast chiles according to your preferred method until the skin is blistered and they are well-blackened. Sweat for 10 minutes in a closed plastic bag. Remove skin. Slice each chile lengthwise to remove seeds. Dice peppers in 1/2” squares.

Rough-chop flor de calabaza into 1 1/2" pieces.

Dice onion into 1/2" squares.

Mince chile serrano.

In a large sauté pan, heat the vegetable oil until it shimmers. While the oil is heating, shake the reserved potatoes in flour and salt in a plastic bag.

Sauté onions and chile serrano in oil or oil/bacon grease mixture. Add the floured potatoes and sauté until crisp and pale golden, adding more fat if needed. Add the diced chiles poblano and continue to sauté for about 1 minute.

Add the flor de calabaza and sauté just until tender.

Add sea salt to taste.

Serves 2-3 as a side dish.

Late in the spring, we were invited to attend the opening of El Rebozo: Made in Mexico at Mexico City's extraordinary Museo Franz Mayer. The exhibition, which was originally mounted in London, featured both old and new rebozos (long rectangular shawls) as well as some other typical Mexican garments. One of the many rebozos in the exhibit was an exquisitely embroidered shawl from Oaxaca. This is a detail of that Oaxacan rebozo.

This photograph of Evita Perón, wife of Argentina's Juan Domingo Perón during his first term as president of that country, was part of an exhibit at Mexico City's Museum of Modern Art (MAM) during the spring and summer. The photograph formed part of an exhibition of the works of Giselle Freund, a self-taught photographer who worked in Argentina and Mexico in the 1940s and 1950s.

This tiny ironwood mortar and pestle (the mortar is only about 2" high) comes from the state of Sonora, in northern Mexico. It is made specifically for use at the table, for an individual diner to grind one or two chiles chiltepín, which are highly spicy and famously used to season certain dishes from the cuisine of that state. The grinder is passed from person to person at the table, along with a dish of whole chile chiltepín.

Chile chiltepín from Sonora. Each chile is tiny but extremely picante. Photo courtesy Hunter Angler Gardener Cook.

Beautiful ceremonial tortillas from the state of Guanajuato. The tortillas are made in the usual way and are then stamped prior to baking with a wooden stamp dipped in vegetable dye. Mexico Cooks! was privileged to see these twice in one summer, first at an event at the Escuela de Gastronomía Mexicana in Mexico City and again at the Primer Encuentro Nacional de Cocineras Tradicionales (First National Meeting of Traditional Cooks) in Morelia, Michoacán.

This is the tamarillo or tomate del árbol (tree tomato), a native of the South American Andes. Each fruit is approximately 2.5" long. The flesh is fairly firm and deeply flavorful, both sweet and earthy. You never know what you'll see when you take a Mexico Cooks! tour–our group found these delicious fruits at a downtown Mexico City market.

Come back next week for more summertime wanderings with Mexico Cooks!. Our summer was far too interesting for just one article!

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4 de June de 2022
Not The Usual Tourist Path :: A Stroll Along Calle Uruguay in Mexico City’s Centro Histórico

A large portion of Mexico City's Templo de Nuestra Señora de la Valvanera, Calle República de Uruguay #36, is given over to the veneration of San Charbel Makhlouf, a 19th century Lebanese Maronite hermit whom Roman Catholic Pope Paul VI canonized in 1927. During the last ten to fifteen years, San Charbel has acquired quite a large following in Mexico. The church features any number of images of the saint, some professionally made and others, like this one, made by the devout. Mexico Cooks! is particularly fond of this home-made image of him, with its cotton batting beard and jiggly plastic eyes like those found on some stuffed animals.

Calle República de Uruguay, just south of the Zócalo, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and the National Palace, is one of Mexico City's most interesting and varied streets. Mexico Cooks! loves to walk it block by block, discovering hidden and not-so-hidden treasures nearly every step of the way. The last time I took this walk, I noticed for the first time that one block was lined on both sides with mercerías (button and sewing notion shops) filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of different styles of buttons. AHA! A single button from one of my favorite dresses had recently gone missing in the washing machine. I found a similar button among the countless displays and asked the clerk the cost of just one. "Señora…," she hesitated, "solo se venden por cien." ('We only sell buttons by the hundred.') We both laughed.

The ornately tiled dome of the Templo de Nuestra Señora de la Valvanera. All of these talavera tiles were made in Puebla. This beautiful church is also known as the Cathedal of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of the Martyrs of Lebanon. It is one of only two churches in Mexico City that are decorated with Puebla's talavera tile. The church, built in the 17th century and dedicated in 1671, is open daily for all who care to spend a few minutes away from the bustle of the street.

This rolling contraption belongs to an old-time camote (sweet potato) and plátano (banana) vendor. At the back of the three-wheeled cart is the steering wheel and a supply of plates and bags. In the center are the vendor's other supplies. The baked sweet potatoes and bananas are carefully lined up on top of the firebox and oven of the cart, where they stay hot until purchased. The firebox is stoked with carbón (Mexican real-wood charcoal). At the very front of the cart is the smokestack, with its traditional ear-shattering steam powered whistle. If you listen during the evenings in some of Mexico City's far-from-Centro neighborhoods, you'll still hear the sound of that whistle–the camotero's call for you to run out to the street to buy a hot baked camote for your cena (supper). Click on any photograph to enlarge it and see the details.

Detail, camotes y plátanos–with the ubiquitous can of La Lechera (sweetened condensed milk) that is poured generously over your purchase of either a delicious newly baked sweet potato or a freshly baked banana. Little by little, these wonderfully fragrant carts are disappearing from Mexico City's streets. As I chatted with the camotero, I mentioned that quite late many nights–as late as one o'clock in the morning–I've heard a vendor passing by on a far-flung street and blowing his whistle. The camotero on Calle República de Uruguay scoffed and said that the vendor in that neighborhood was probably selling something other than camotes. "Quién va a querer un camote a estas horas?" (Who would want a sweet potato at that hour!)

Gorras (caps, these with bills) for sale on the street. The embroidered purple cap featuring Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe particularly caught my attention. There is simply nowhere that her image is not.

I peeped into an open door and saw the interior of a seriously deteriorated vecindad (essentially, a tenement house) on Calle República de Uruguay. Restoration work is underway, as you can see from the heavily braced walls.

Package tied up with string from the famous Pastelería La Ideal, which has a branch located at República de Uruguay #74. It's almost guaranteed that as you stroll along this street, especially in the early morning or in the evening, you will see hordes of people carrying boxes and packages with this design. Everyone wants pan dulce (sweet bread) from La Ideal! The extraordinary pan from the bakery is (pardon me) ideal for breakfast or supper. Pastelería La Ideal, with its three branches, is arguably the most famous bakery in Mexico City.

Almond-topped coffee cake from Pastelería La Ideal. It tastes even better than it looks.

Hanging menu outside Los Tacos, Calle República de Uruguay #117. This partial menu only serves as an enticement to step inside: the full menu is enormous, running from the simplest quesadilla (a tortilla folded over cheese and toasted or fried) to delicious chiles en nogada (stuffed chiles in walnut sauce). It's a dandy place to stop for an energy boost while strolling down this street.

The trompo (vertical spit) for tacos al pastor (shepherd-style roast pork) is just outside the door at Los Tacos. Thinly sliced pork is marinated in an adobo sauce, then stacked onto the spit–with a pineapple at the top. The pineapple juices run steadily into the meat as it cooks. The meat spins around and is roasted to order using the gas grate just behind it. The pastorero (specialized cook for tacos al pastor) receives your order (seis de pastor, por favor–six tacos al pastor, please) from the waiter, then turns and turns the spit until he can shave off slivers of pork for your tacos. The slivers go directly from the freshly grilled meat on the spit into a hot tortilla–you can just see that the pastorero is holding a tortilla in his left hand. The order of tacos on the plate in front of him is almost ready. The coup de grace: the skillful pastorero fills your tortilla with meat and then with a quick flick of the knife, sends a portion of roasted, slightly caramelized sweet pineapple flying from the whole fruit straight into your taco while it's still in his hand. As far as I could see, he never misses. What a guy! And needless to say, what a taco! Top it yourself with finely chopped onion, cilantro, and the salsa of your choice. It's a fiesta of flavors in your mouth.

Mexico Cooks! would be delighted to tour you along Calle República de Uruguay, as well as along any of the fascinating neighboring streets in the endless byways of the Centro Histórico (Historic Center). Just let me know when you'd like to come to Mexico City!

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

28 de May de 2022
Strawberry Season in Central Mexico :: When? All Year!

Piled high in every town's market, locally grown strawberries sell all year 'round in parts of Michoacán, Guanajuato, and Jalisco. Mexico Cooks! photographed these at a daily outdoor market in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.

Right about now, fresh produce bounty from South of the Border is available on your supermarket shelves. Fresh red strawberries, grown from Zamora, Michoacán to Irapuato, Guanajuato, will give you the sweet taste of Mexico's sun and warmth. Fresh raspberries grow near the shores of Lake Chapala, while big-as-the-end-of-your-thumb, sweet, delicious blackberries grow locally in Mexico Cooks!' region of Michoacán. Big beautiful and delicious blueberries are also grown prolifically in both Jalisco and Michoacán.

When you go to your local super market, take a closer look at those clear plastic containers (known in the trade as clamshells) full of red raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries. In the small print on the Driscoll label it says "Product of Mexico". When I still lived in the States, I read that label and imagined a gleaming white-tile packing factory. In my mind's eye, I saw employees in starched laboratory jackets, nurse-like white caps and latex gloves, packing strawberries as the jewel-red fruit came flying down an assembly line. It was a fantasy worthy of Lucy and Ethel at the chocolate factory, in that famous episode of I Love Lucy.

The first time I visited a nearby raspberry "packing factory", I had to laugh at my own earlier ideas. This packing operation was perfectly simple. Several clean-cut young men with bandannas wrapped around their heads roamed up and down the rows between lush raspberry canes. They hand-picked only the reddest, ripest raspberries and gently placed them into small plastic buckets, the kind five-year-olds use at the beach.

Two young women dressed in blue jeans and caps stood at a long folding table (the kind you'd find at a swap meet) and packed those perfectly ripe raspberries into flat after flat of Driscoll clamshells. They packed the plastic boxes into case after case for shipping and then rapidly started packing more.

Within 24 hours of picking, those berries are in the United States, either in Miami or Los Angeles. A day later, they are shipped out to stores across the United States. In addition, red raspberries from the shores of Lake Chapala are shipped not only to the United States but also to Canada, to England, to all parts of Europe, and to Japan.

The half pint boxes sell for about $4.99 the box in grocery stores north of the Mexican border. Here in Mexico, you don't want to know what I pay. Just remember that I live where all of these berries are grown and we can buy them without a middleman or transportation costs.

Remember that raspberries are the most delicate fruits in the vast berry family. Treat them with the softest touch, just like handling like a newborn baby. Rinse them gently (never allowing them to soak) just before you serve them.

In case any of you might have health concerns about Mexican-grown produce, here's what the Driscoll people themselves say about the safety of their raspberries and strawberries:

"Driscoll's farmers have been leaders in the practice of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) which relies on a balanced method of natural and inorganic means to reduce disease and control pests in the field. To insure that Driscoll's fruit is the safest possible, Driscoll's employs a company which conducts third-party independent residue testing of fruit in every Driscoll cooler and facility every week."

These fields in the state of Jalisco are Mexican owned and leased to Driscoll solely for growing raspberries and strawberries. The raspberry crop is rotated annually and the packing operation is moved each year to the fields most convenient to the highway. The plastic protects the raspberries from too much sun, too much rain, and too much wind.

Far-flung fields of Driscoll's other delicious crop—strawberries–are grown from Zamora and Morelia, Michoacán, and as far east as Maravatio, Michoacán–several other towns in Michoacán. Two out of every three strawberries grown in Mexico come from Michoacán, and that's a LOT–about 340 thousand tons per year! Red jewels lie close to the ground, nestled in dark green leaves. The strawberries are ripe and luscious this time of year, ready to be hand picked, packed, chilled, and shipped to all parts of the world. You'll find them, packaged in clear plastic one-pound boxes so you can see exactly what you're choosing, in the produce section of your favorite hometown supermarket. North of the border, the boxes sell for about $2.50 US in season. Here in Mexico, we're paying closer to the peso equivalent of $2.00 US per kilo (2.2 pounds).

Strawberry stands dot the roads leading into and out of Irapuato, Guanajuato. The stands offer tall wicker baskets filled with sweet, delicious fresh berries as well as frozen strawberries with cream, just ready to dig in.

These are not those huge strawberries grown more for looks than for flavor. Is there anything more disappointing than biting into a beautiful berry and finding it white in the middle, dry, hard and tasteless? These berries are mid-size and grown for their sweet taste—the best possible flavor—as well as beauty. Ripened more fully prior to picking than those grown elsewhere, these local strawberries are simply perfect.

Wow, a tower of locally grown strawberries! These are from the area around Irapuato.

Always refrigerate berries immediately—move them from your shopping bag directly to the refrigerator. Refrigerator temperatures between 34 and 38 degrees F are best, but be sure not to freeze them! Fresh berries are very sensitive to freeze damage. Do remember this general rule: for every hour your berries are away from refrigeration, you'll lose a whole day's shelf life.

If you want to freeze red raspberries, spread them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet with sides and place the uncovered cookie sheet in the freezer. After the raspberries are well frozen, shake them gently into a zip-lock bag and immediately put them back in the freezer. Your raspberries, whole and beautiful, will be ready for immediate use when you need them.

Do not wash your berries until you are ready to prepare and eat them. Moisture will hasten decay of these fragile berries, so keep them dry as well as cold until the last moment.

Shelf life varies between berries; however, under ideal conditions, strawberries should keep for about two to five days in your refrigerator and raspberries should keep for between one and three days. For best results, consume your berries as soon after purchase as possible.

If you buy either raspberries or strawberries in plastic clamshells, use the berries and save a clamshell or two for times when you want to store the berries in your refrigerator. farm to protect the berries on the trip home.

Here is an interesting statistic about strawberries: Canada imports all of its fresh strawberries from either the United States or from Mexico. The United States is the major importer of Mexican fresh strawberries. Under NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), duty is no longer charged on strawberry exports to either the USA or Canada.

Are you drooling yet? Let's look at two more wonderful recipes for raspberry and strawberry treats.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
For the ultimate in red raspberry decadence, try this cheesecake.

18 vanilla wafer cookies
1 cup macadamia nuts, toasted
4 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 ounces white chocolate, chopped
16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 large eggs
3/4 cup fresh raspberries
8 ounces sour cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Finely grind cookies and macadamias in food processor. Add butter and blend until mixture forms very moist crumbs. Press crumbs firmly onto bottom and part of sides of an eight inch spring-form pan. Bake until golden (10 minutes).

Filling:
Melt white chocolate in microwave, (about 1 1/2 minutes), stopping every 30 seconds to stir and to make sure it doesn't burn. Set aside. In a large bowl, use your electric mixer to beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon juice until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition, just until combined. Beat in white chocolate.

Spoon half the batter into the crust. Top with berries. Top with remaining batter. Bake for about 45 minutes or until cake is set around the edges, but center jiggles slightly.

Let cool for about 20 minutes before adding the topping.

Topping:
In a medium bowl, whisk sour cream, sugar, and vanilla. Spoon over cake, spreading the topping to the edge of the pan. Bake five minutes. Allow cake to cool and then refrigerate overnight. Serve plain or garnish with more berries.

Try the following recipe when you want to serve an unusual fruit treat for a Sunday brunch with friends. You and your guests will love the refreshing berries in a very unusual dressing. Let me know how you like it!

Ginger Strawberries Estilo Mexico Cooks!
This recipe is served cold, and with its hint of spicy ginger it always makes a hit.

2 pounds fresh ripe strawberries
1 orange
2 tablespoons pickled ginger, drained
1 cup unflavored yoghurt
2 tablespoons orange marmalade
2 tablespoons sugar or 2 packets artificial sweetener
1/4 teaspoon salt

Remove green caps from strawberries and wash gently. Pat dry in a large terry cloth towel. Cut the strawberries in half and place in a large mixing bowl.

With a vegetable peeler or zester, cut thin strips of orange peel (orange part only). Cut the orange peel strips into tiny matchstick-size strips, no longer than 1" and no wider than 1/16".

Cut the pickled ginger to the same size as the orange strips. Mix the ginger and the orange strips together.

Add the ginger and orange strips mixture, orange marmalade, sugar (or artificial sweetener) and salt to the yogurt. Stir until well-mixed.

Pour yoghurt mixture over strawberries and stir gently to coat all the strawberries.

Refrigerate until well chilled. Serves 6 – 8 as a side dish.

Remember the taste of a strawberry this red–red all the way through? I was in a produce market and had already taken a bite of this one when I thought, take its picture! The world wants to see a real strawberry, right now in 2022!

Buen provecho!

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

21 de May de 2022
A Beautiful Food and Music Festival in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán

Seasonal chiles en nogada (stuffed chiles poblanos in walnut sauce) were the most popular item at the Pátzcuaro food show one September quite a few years ago.

Pátzcuaro has just celebrated its 474th anniversary as a certified municipio (similar to a US county seat). Lots of events were scheduled during the weekend of September 19-21, including a parade, an artisans' fair, concerts, and two regional muestras de gastronomía (food exhibits and sales).

Joaquín Pantoja, Plaza Don Vasco de Quiroga, Pátzcuaro.

Mexico Cooks! was there, of course. Would we miss a reason for a fiesta? We spent a full and diverse day in Pátzcuaro, first listening to a concert by the incredibly talented guitarist Joaquín Pantoja, visiting friends at a nearby gallery opening, strolling around the beautiful Plaza de don Vasco de Quiroga, and eating–you guessed it–wonderful chiles en nogada at Sunday's Muestra de Gastronomía Regional on Plaza Don Vasco de Quiroga.

Imagine the taste of mildly spicy, fresh chiles poblanos stuffed with a rich meat and fruit picadillo (hash), bathed in creamy walnut sauce, and garnished with fresh pomegranate seeds and parsley. Normally served in Mexico during July, August, September, and October (the time when both pomegranates and walnuts are harvested), this beautiful dish represents the colors of the Mexican flag.

Just one of the Muestra de Gastronomía Regional tables in Pátzcuaro. From the beautifully presented platillos (main dishes) to the hand-embroidered tablecloth, the table was a feast for all the senses.

Pollo en Cuñete, a superb example of comida casera michoacana (Michoacán home cooking) that Mexico Cooks! has never seen on any restaurant menu.

Pollo en Cuñete

Ingredients
1 whole chicken, 4 to 5 pounds, skinned and cut into serving pieces
11 cloves of garlic, mashed
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 tablespoons corn or other vegetable oil
20 new potatoes, peeled
3/4 cup vinegar, either white or red wine
1/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
6 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 chiles serrano

Romaine lettuce
Pineapple slices
Orange slices
Avocado slices
Radishes

Procedure
Rub the chicken pieces with garlic, sea salt, and pepper and refrigerate for one to four hours.

In a large frying pan, heat the oil and sauté the chicken pieces, putting them in a large casserole dish as they brown. In the same oil, lightly brown the potatoes. Remove the potatoes from the oil and reserve.

Allow the oil to cool slightly. Add the vinegar (carefully, it will splash) and heat until it begins to boil. Remove the brown pieces that stick to the bottom of the pan. Pour the vinegar through a strainer and over the chicken. Add the olive oil, the salt, the bay leaves, the thyme, and the oregano to the chicken in the casserole dish. Place the chicken over a high fire until it begins to boil. Cover it tightly and lower the flame. Every 10 minutes, turn the chicken. After 30 to 40 minutes, test for taste and add the chiles and the potatoes. Cover and cook over a slow fire for approximately 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are done.

To Serve
Cover a large platter with romaine lettuce leaves. Arrange the chicken pieces on the platter. Garnish with decoratively cut radishes, peeled orange slices, thinly sliced pineapple, and sliced avocados.

Serves 6 to 8 as a main course.

This gorgeous jewel-colored drink is actually ensalada del obispo (the bishop's water), a Morelia traditional speciality served only during Semana Santa (Holy Week). It's prepared with beets, oranges, lettuce, other vegetables, and peanuts. You eat it with a spoon and drink the liquid.

This little section of the muestra de dulces regionales (regional sweets exhibit) features gelatina de frutas con leche (milky gelatin with fruits), pastel de almendras (almond cake), rollo de chocolate (chocolate roll), and ate casero de membrillo (home-made quince paste). We split a slice of almond cake and a little cocada casera (home-made coconut candy).

Pátzcuaro is famous everywhere in Mexico for its ice cream, especially the nieve de pasta (richly creamy ice cream flavored with ground almonds, cinnamon, and honey). Mexico Cooks! didn't have room to eat even a small cup, but instead stopped a passer-by who waited patiently before taking a bite to have a photo taken of his treasure: nieve de pasta con mermelada de zarzamora (with fresh blackberry marmalade).

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

14 de May de 2022
In Honor of Mother’s Day in Mexico: Imágenes de la Mujer en México :: Images of Women in Mexico

A late-19th century image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Queen of Mexico and Patroness of the Americas. She's everyone's mother. There's a saying in Mexico: "No todos somos católicos, pero todos somos guadalupanos" ('Not everyone is Catholic, but everyone loves Our Lady of Guadalupe'.)

In Mexico, el Día de la Mamá (Mother's Day) is celebrated every year on May 10. Whether the day falls on a weekend or mid-week, it's every family's mother's special event, and it's a red-letter day, a huge occasion. If one lives in a town or city other than where mother lives, one goes home. If one is married, the question is always 'con la mamá, o con la suegra, o qué hacemos!' (do we go to Mom's, or to the mother-in-law, or what do we do!)".

Women are depicted in every way possible, in materials, styles, and atmospheres. Let's look at some–in honor of all of our mothers.

His mother, painted by Rodolfo Morales, 20th century artist (May 8, 1925 – January 30, 2001) from Ocotlán de Morelos, Oaxaca.

Tortillando y comadreando (making tortillas and gossiping), Morelia, December 2007.

Sayaca (transvestite clown), Carnaval (Mardi Gras), Ajijic, Jalisco 2004.

Native dance costume, Chiapas 2003.

Corn Mother, huipil (a traditional indigenous blouse) installation by Lena Bartula, La Huipilista, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. The entire huipil is made of totomoxtle stitched onto hemp. Totomoxtle are dried corn husks, normally rehydrated and used to wrap tamales for steaming. Photo courtesy Lena Bartula.

This hand-painted image recently appeared on the outside wall of a house that neighbors mine, in Morelia, Michoacán. Below the painting of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is written, "And am I not here, I who am your mother?" When the indigenous man Juan Diego saw her initially, in December 1531, she spoke those words to him to give him peace in place of the fear he experienced in the face of something so unusual. At the lowest part of the image, the painter wrote, "Everyone's virgin.". Take heart: "Am I not here, I who am your mother?"

Graciela Alejo, Morelia, Michoacán 2007. Graciela is the daughter of a long-time friend, traditional cook Benedicta Alejo from San Lorenzo, Michoacán.

Lila Downs, Mexican-American singer, in concert, Guadalajara, Jalisco, November 2005.

Two young Purépecha women showing off their beautiful embroidery. Paracho, Michoacán, September 2010.

My own mother at two, with a toy lion, 1924. She died in 2003 and I miss her every day. Here's to you, Mother, on this Mother's Day.

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7 de May de 2022