Author: typepadtowordpress

Chiles en Nogada, El Rey de los Chiles :: Chiles in Walnut Sauce, The King of Chiles
Chile en nogada (chile poblano stuffed with a seasonal filling and topped with fresh walnut sauce, chopped parsley, walnut meats, and pomegranates), as served by chef Juan Cabrera Barron at Fonda Fina, Mexico City, August 21, 2017.

Freshly cut nuez de castilla (walnuts), an essential for seasonal chiles en nogada. Photo courtesy El Sol de Puebla.

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, the locally grown panochera apple, 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 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 Mexico, a small crisp apple and a very crisp pear (Bosque or d'Anjou) would substitute.

This festive dish is traditionally served on September 15 or 16 in honor of Mexico's Independence Day, though it is popular anytime in the late summer and fall. During August and September in the highlands of Mexico, particularly in Mexico City and Puebla, vendors wander tianguis (street markets) and other markets, selling the clean, white meats of nuez de castilla. 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…but you and your guests will jump up and shout "VIVA!" 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
For the picadillo (filling):
- 4 Tbsp safflower or canola oil
- the shredded 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
- 3 heaping Tbsp raisins
- 1 or 2 chiles serrano, finely minced
- 4 Tbsp chopped fresh walnuts
- 4 Tbsp slivered blanched almonds
- 2 Tbsp finely diced biznaga (candied cactus, optional)
- 1 fresh pear, peeled and chopped
- 1 apple, peeled and chopped
- 4 ripe peaches, peeled and diced
- 3 Tbsp Mexican pink pine nuts. Substitute white if you aren't able to find pink.
- 3 large, ripe tomatoes, roasted, peeled and chopped
- sea salt to taste
Fully mature chiles poblano, picked fresh in Tehuacán, Puebla. Green chile poblano is normally used for chiles en nogada.

For the chiles:

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

For the nogada (walnut sauce):
- 1 cup fresh walnuts
- 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)
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.

For the garnish

–1 Tbsp 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.

Candied biznaga cactus. Do try to find this ingredient in your local market. There isn't an adequate substitute, so if you don't find it, leave it out.

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 meat and cook for five minutes. Add the cinnamon, pepper, and cloves, then, stir in the raisins, the two tablespoons of chopped walnuts. Add the chopped pear, apple, biznaga, 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 a day or two in advance.

Beautifully home-prepared chiles en nogada, as presented several years ago at a traditional food exhibition in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.

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 boiling water. Remove from the heat and let them sit for five minutes. Drain the nuts and, when cool, rub off as much of the dark skin as possible. into small pieces. Place the nuts, cream cheese, crema, and salt in a blender and purée thoroughly. Stir in the optional sugar, cinnamon, and sherry until thoroughly combined. 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. After they are thoroughly heated, place the chiles (cut side down) on a serving platter or on individual plates, cover with the chilled walnut sauce, and sprinkle with the chopped parsley and pomegranate seeds.

Chile en nogada as served at Restaurante Azul Histórico, Mexico City.

Chile en nogada as served at Restaurante Pasillo de Humo, Mexico City.

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

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.
9 de September de 2017
The Painter’s Eye :: Dr. Atl, Watching Mexico’s Volcanos

In conjunction with last week's article about the volcano Popocatépetl, please enjoy this short history of Dr. Atl (Gerardo Murillo), Mexico's quintessential painter of volcanos.

The painter's eye. Detail of Dr. Atl (Gerardo Murillo) 1962 self-portrait, oil on cardboard. Private collection.

Gerardo Murillo was born in 1895 in the San Juan de Dios neighborhood of Guadalajara, at the height of the Francophile rule of Mexican president/dictator Porfirio Díaz. He began studying painting at the age of 19. After studying in Italy in 1921, Gerardo Murillo became been better known as 'Dr. Atl' (atl is the Náhuatl word for water), as he was re-christened by Leopoldo Lugones, an Argentine writer and leftist political colleague. After his death in 1964, his ashes were interred in Guadalajara in what is known today as the Rotonda de Jaliscienses Ilustres (the Rotunda of Illustrious People of Jalisco). During his life, Dr. Atl was profoundly eccentric, his entire being immersed in his passions for painting, for politics, and particularly for volcanos.

Gerardo Murillo, self portrait 1899. All photos by Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.

The Museo Colección Blaisten, part of Mexico City's Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco (part of the UNAM, the huge multi-campus National Autonomous University of Mexico), mounted a December 2011 through April 2012 exhibition if 190 of Dr. Atl's masterworks. Dr. Atl, one of Mexico's most prominent 20th century painters, is actually very little known in the United States. Mexico Cooks! thought you might like once again to see a part of this exhibit.

Volcán Iztaccíhuatl (the Sleeping Woman volcano), 1916. Colleción Museo Regional de Guadalajara-INAH. Labels of this and many other paintings in the exhibit indicate that they were painted using Atl color (a type of paint created by the artist). Atl color is similar to Greek encaustic paint. It contains resins, wax, and dry pigment which are melted, mixed, and hardened to form a medium similar to oil pastel. Dr. Atl used his eponymous colors on paper, cardboard, rough fabric such as jute, wood, and other bases.

Although Dr. Atl is best-known as the passionate painter of volcanos, he also painted portraits. Nahui Ollín, pictured above in 1922, had a five-year romantic relationship with Dr. Atl. During the early part of her life, Nahui Ollín's name was Carmen Mondragón. Dr. Atl gave her the Náhuatl name to honor the date in the Aztec calendar that commemorates the renovation of the cosmic cycles. Private collection.

The Valley of Mexico from the South, 1931, oil on fabric. Private collection.

Dr. Atl's scholarly observation and study of Mexican geography (he was not only a painter, but also a volcanologist and writer) combined perfectly with his travels in Europe to give him the tools necessary to become one of the outstanding landscape painters of the 20th century. In 1897, then-Presidente Porfirio Díaz gave young Gerardo Murillo a scholarship to study in Europe. Murillo studied not only Italian frescoes but also philosophy and penal law. He involved himself ever more deeply with leftist, anarchist politics, a consequence of his studies that President Díaz probably did not anticipate.

Dr. Atl was also an exceptional painter of clouds. This painting is Nubes sobre el Valle de México (Clouds over the Valley of Mexico), 1933, Atl color on asbestos. Collection Museo Nacional de Arte INBA.

Detail mid-right side, Nubes sobre el Valle de México. Note the variety of brushstroke used to create texture in the painting. Click on any photograph to enlarge the detail.

Dr. Atl began studying volcanoes during a trip to Italy in 1911. Beginning in 1925, he spent long periods of time at Mexican volcanoes such as Popocatépetl, Iztaccíhuatl, and the Pico de Orizaba. A tireless traveler, Dr. Atl climbed Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. Later those volcanoes became an important theme in his body of work.

In 1942, he visited the site of Mexico's newborn volcano Paricutín in the state of Michoacán. He said, “…El espectáculo del cono ardiente vertiendo aludes de materia ígnea, bajo un cielo de guijarros incandescentes, en sí mismo tan fuera de lo común que toda invención sale sobrando…” 'The spectacle of the burning cone spewing avalanches of lava under a sky of incandescent ash was by itself so far out of the ordinary that every other invention became like something left over…'

Volcán en la Noche Estrellada (Volcano on a Starry Night), 1950 (Paricutín). Atl color on plywood. Collection UNAM. Dr. Atl was the first artist to paint what he called 'aeropaisajes' (landscapes from the air); he took to the skies in small airplanes, flying over various volcano sites to immortalize them from above.

Life imitates art. April 16, 2012 photo of volcano Popocatépetl spewing flame, ash, and smoke. Popocatépetl straddles the state line between Puebla and Morelos, approximately 40 miles south of Mexico City. Photo courtesy Todo Oaxaca.

Dr. Atl, astonished and awed to see a volcano born in his lifetime, lived for approximately a year near still-erupting Paricutín. He observed, painted, and wrote for more than seven years about this majestic and completely unexpected young volcano.

Cráter y La Vía Láctea (Crater and the Milky Way), 1960. Oil and Atl color on masonite. Private collection, courtesy of Galería Arvil.

Detail, Cráter y La Vía Láctea.

For his entire life, Dr. Atl involved himself in left-wing political movements. In 1914, he allegedly was part of the plot to assassinate then-President Victoriano Huerta, because of which he was imprisoned briefly. After his release, he lived in Los Angeles, California until 1920. When he returned to Mexico, revolutionary leader and President Venustiano Carranza named him director of the Escuela de Bellas Artes (School of Fine Arts) and then Jefe de Propaganda e Información en Europa y América del Sur (Head of Promotion and Information in Europe and South America), a position he held for only a short time.

In 1956 Mexico awarded him the Medalla Belisario Domínguez and, in 1958, the Premio Nacional de las Artes.

Gerardo Murillo Pintando en el Valle de Pihuamo (Gerardo Murillo painting in the Valley of Pihuamo), 1952. Photo by Ricardo Salazar. Dr. Atl's right leg was amputated in 1949. Popular legend has it that the amputation was due to the inhalation of gases at Paricutín, but it was actually necessary because of complications of diabetes.

Mexico gave poet Carlos Pellicer the task of writing Dr. Atl's biography. Dr. Atl wrote to him, "Now it looks like a biography will really get off the ground! A couple, nearly human, came from Los Angeles as if they had fallen from heaven, to write a biography of me. Then I remembered that you were writing one. To make a long story short, I make the following proposal: you finish the biography that you already started. I enclose a slip of paper with some suggestions for organizing it in the most convenient way…I send you the most cordial handshake…" Some of the biographical material was printed in Carlos Pellicer en el Espacio de la Plástica, Volume 1, by Elisa Garcìa Barragán and Carlos Pellicer, UNAM 1997.

Dr. Atl died in Mexico City on August 15, 1964. His ashes are buried in the Rotonda de Jalisciences Ilustres in Guadalajara, where this statue is part of the site. Photo courtesy Rodrigo_gh, Flickr.

The five-month exhibition was an opportunity to see, through the eyes of this genius painter, the Valley of Mexico before Mexico City's explosion of population with its lava-like rivers of concrete swallowed nature whole. We had the chance to see the Valley and its volcanos when they ran with rivers, when the mountains burgeoned with trees and flowers.

Today, even though the exhibition has closed, we can see Dr. Atl's vision of the Valley of Mexico every time we visit the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City's Historic Center. His design, executed by the house of Louis Comfort Tiffany, is immortalized in the theater's million-piece stained glass curtain.

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

2 de September de 2017
Popocatépetl :: The History of a Living Volcano :: La Historia de Un Volcán Que Vive

This article about the volcano Popocatépetl, published just over four years ago, is once again appropriate. Don Goyo (the volcano's nickname) is as active today as it was in 2013.

The active volcano Popocatépetl is the second-highest mountain in Mexico at 5,452 meters (17,887 feet) above sea level. Some sources say that Popocatépetl is slightly higher than those quoted figures. Only the Pico de Orizaba (5,610 meters or 18,406 feet) is higher. All photos by Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.

During the last week or so, Mexico City's newspapers have been full of information about Popocatépetl, the Náhuatl word for 'smoking mountain'. This volcano, which sits in the very back yard of the city, has once again been growling and grumbling and belching gases, steam, smoke, and red-hot ash. Its last major eruption was in December of 2000 and everyone in this vicinity hopes the mountain won't explode again.

Popocatépetl, 1953. Taken as a young man by my good friend Roger Hagan, this magnificent photograph lets us see how both the shape of the mountain and its cap of snow have changed during the last 60 years. The photograph appears in Roger Hagan's remarkable book, Mexico 1953. Photo courtesy Roger Hagan.

In mid-April of 2012, curiousity and excitement about Popocatépetl's current activities led us to make a Sunday afternoon trip to Amecameca in the State of Mexico, the town closest to the volcano from our Mexico City neighborhood. The town is southeast of Mexico City and we were there in a bit over an hour. Had we not stopped along the way to take photographs, we could have arrived sooner.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZAvtPJKg8U&w=420&h=315]
Popocatépetl erupting, December 2000. Video courtesy NBC News.

The alert system for possible eruptions ranges from green (no danger) to red (extreme eruption). Currently, Popocatépetl has been at Alert Phase 3 Yellow (magma flow and growing explosions) for about three weeks. Phase 3 Yellow is the alert just before red. In spite of the high alert level, no evacuations from towns around the volcano have been ordered. Click the link for updates to the 'semáforo de alertas' (alert system stoplight): ALERTAS

Iztaccíhautl, the sleeping woman, lies northeast of Popocatépetl and east of the town of Amecameca in the State of Mexico. Mexico Cooks! took this photo from the atrium of the Templo de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Church of Our Lady of the Assumption) in Amecameca; you can see one of the church arches in the foreground. The photo shows Iztaccíhuatl's head (far left) and chest.

Full view of volcano Iztaccíhuatl. Her head is at the far left in the photo. The clouds are in fact due to the accumulation of steam and ash emitted by Popocatépetl, just out of camera range to the right. The northwestern sky (behind me as I took the picture) was clear blue and brilliantly sunny.

Of course there is a romantic legend about Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhautl. At the beginning of history, when the Aztecs arrived in the Valley of Anáhuac and before the mountains had reached their permanent form, a beautiful princess named Mixtli was born in the city of Tenochtitlán–today's Mexico City. She was the daughter of Tizoc, the Tlatoani Emperor of the Mexicas (to be known later as the Aztecs). Mixtli was sought after by numerous noblemen, among them Axooxco, a cruel and bloodthirsty man, who demanded the hand of Mixtli in marriage. However, Mixtli's heart belonged instead to a humble peasant named Popoca. Popoca went into battle, to conquer the title of Caballero Aguila (Eagle Knight). If he claimed this title of nobility, Popoca would then be able to fight Axooxco for the hand of Mixtli.

Popoca carries his beloved Mixtli to the snowy mountains.

Mixtli knew the danger Popoca faced in this trial. Finally a messenger brought the news that he had been killed in battle. But the messenger was wrong: Popoca was returning victorious. Not realizing this, Mixtli killed herself, rather than live without Popoca.

When Popoca returned to find Mixtli dead, he picked her up and carried her body into the mountains. Hoping that the cold snow would wake her from sleep to reunite them, Popoca crouched at her feet until he froze there while he prayed for her to awaken.

They have remained there ever since. The body of Mixtli became the volcano Iztaccíhuatl (the Sleeping Woman), the ever-watchful Popoca became the volcano Popocatépetl (the Smoking Mountain). The evil Axooxco became the Cerro Ajusco (the highest point of the Distrito Federal). These volcanoes tower above Mexico City and the romantic legend of this couple has been passed on since the pre-Columbian era as a symbol of enduring and faithful love.

Popocatépetl exhales a huge cloud of steam, gases, and ash on April 18, 2012. Photo courtesy Notimex.

The volcano is generally known by a local nickname: don Goyo. Don is an honorific used to address or refer to any respected well-known man; Goyo is a nickname for Gregorio, in this instance specifically referring to San Gregorio (St. Gregory). Legend says that the volcano once erupted on San Gregorio's March 12 feast day and subsequently received the nickname, but the volcano's feast day (yes, he has one!) is celebrated annually on May 2. On that date, some local residencts carry gifts to the volcano: blankets and una copita (a shot of liquor) to keep him warm, and they pay him their continuing respects. As the white-haired toll booth attendant said when we told him we were on our way to pay a visit to don Goyo, "Be careful up there! He's making all this racket while he's sober–imagine if he had already had his tequila!"

The volcano on the night of April 24, 2012. Streams of molten lava flow down the sides of the crater while fire, steam, smoke, and sparks rise high into the evening sky. The volcano is so loud that some residents find it hard to get a good night's sleep. Photo courtesy MSNBC.

During volcanic activity of this kind, the world keeps turning. Residents in the several towns nearest the volcano go about their normal daily lives while keeping one eye on the top of the mountain and one ear out for the latest alerts. In Amecameca, a delightful gentleman stopped his bicycle to chat with us on the street while we were letting a local woman take a close look at the volcano through the camera's telephoto lens. "You know," he ruminated, "we still have to shop, cook, eat, and sleep even though we also have to be prepared for…" he laughed and threw his arms high into the air. "In case it blows!"

Life goes on: inside the municipal market in Amecameca, people shop for food, gossip with their neighbors, and laugh at the latest jokes. Click on any photo to enlarge it for a better view.

Our new guide continued, "You should go outside town for a better view. It's easy to get there…" He proceeded to give excellent directions for heading to the east into the foothills at the base of the volcano. We shook his hand and followed his directions as far as we could, but the rutted, stone-filled path we were driving outside Amecameca was too difficult for our vehicle. We turned onto another, even smaller road that took us to the crest of a hill. From there, we had an unobstructed view of the two lovers, Iztaccíhautl and Popocatépetl. While the wind blew from behind us, we watched as don Goyo sighed several times, sending heavy plumes of steam and ash into the heavens and away from Amecameca.

As the volcano steams and roars, commerce continues as it has for thousands of years. Amecameca has a huge Sunday market in the church atrium outside Templo de Nuestra Señora de la Asunciòn. The peaches, bright-green oval chilacayotes, and round calabacitas (zucchini-type squash) are offered for sale piled up in pyramids, the traditional vendors' display method.

Will the volcano blast off into a major eruption? Will it calm down and wait till another time? No one really knows for sure, not even the scientists who monitor its activity. On April 25, the winds shifted and small amounts of ash began to rain down on Amecameca and some of the other nearby towns. We're watching, along with the rest of the populace. And meantime, our lives go on as usual.

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

26 de August de 2017
Ruta de Aromas y Sabores :: Touring Michoacán with Patricia Quintana

A decorative charanda barrel at the entrance to Distilería El Tarasco in Uruapan. Charanda, distilled from sugar cane and bottled as both blanco (newly distilled) or reposado (aged), is a regional alcohol specialty of Michoacán.

Eighty hardy souls, chefs, journalists, travel specialists and food writers all, recently toured Mexico's Central Highlands on a two-week fact-finding and eating binge that brought us together from Europe, South and Central America, the United States, and other points around the globe. Aromas y Sabores de México, Ruta del Bicentenario 2010, organized by Mexico's national tourism department and led by the marvelous chef Patricia Quintana, kicked off in Mexico City on May 29 and ended its culinary wanderings in Michoacán on June 10. Naturally Mexico Cooks! thinks they saved the best for last!

Eleven o'clock on a hot spring morning and my friend Betty Fussell was sucking down a charanda piña colada AND a torito at the distillery! It was Betty's first full-blown taste of Michoacán and we had a marvelous time together.

The two-bus, multi-van caravan wound its way from Mexico City to the State of Mexico, then to Querétaro, to Guanajuato and, for the last four days, to Michoacán. Tour participants, accompanied by Chef Patricia Quintana of Mexico City's hot-ticket Restaurante Izote, slept when they could, partied when sleep eluded them, visited countless historic sites gussied up for Mexico's 2010 bicentennial celebrations, and ate till they could eat no more.

John Rivera Sedlar, of Rivera Restaurant in Los Angeles, California, enjoys a super-refreshing torito (made with charanda, of course) and a visit with Mexico Cooks! Photo courtesy Cynthia Martínez, Restaurante San Miguelito, Morelia.

The kind of drink dispenser that Mexico Cooks! uses for toritos for a party.

If you'd like to make toritos for a party, they're really easy to prepare and are always a huge success. If you can't find charanda in your hometown liquor store, substitute an inexpensive white rum.

TORITOS (Little Bulls)
Makes approximately 25 5-ounce servings

1 liter charanda or white rum
2 liters pineapple juice
2 liters grapefruit soft drink
Salt to taste
Ice

Crushed chile de árbol or other spicy chile
Crushed salted peanuts

Mix all of the liquids together and add salt to taste. Pour into a large pitcher and chill thoroughly. If your drink dispenser has a center cylinder for ice, you can fill it and keep the toritos cold without diluting them.

At the time of serving, place a pinch of crushed chile and a teaspoonful of salted peanuts in each person's glass. Fill each glass with the rum mixture and serve.

This recipe is easily cut in half, if you're expecting fewer guests, or doubled (or tripled) if you're expecting a crowd.

Salud! (To your health!)

On a hot spring day in Uruapan, Michoacán, Magda Choque Vilca, field coordinator of Argentina's Proyecto Cultivos Andinos, delights in a cooling paleta de aguacate (avocado ice pop).

Two of Michoacán's best known products are the avocado (the state is the world's largest avocado grower) and the macadamia nut. This chilly and refreshing mousse, unique to Restaurante Tony's–(Morelos #183, Col. Morelos, Uruapan)–combines both delicacies. The creamy white macadamia bottom layer supports the pale green avocado top layer. It was absolutely delicious.

A metate y metapil (three-legged flat grinding stone, made of volcanic rock, and its 'rolling pin') on display at the regional museum at Uruapan's La Huatápera. La Huatápera originated in the 16th Century. Nearly five hundred years ago, Bishop Vasco de Quiroga created the building as a hospitality center for the Purépecha people. Many Mexican kitchens still depend on the metate for grinding corn, beans, chocolate, herbs, and a hundred other ingredients.

For the Ruta de Aromas y Sabores tour, La Huatápera once again became a hospitality center. Tables along the portales (covered terraces) around the building held tastes of regional treats: ceviche de trucha, guacamole, paletas, and much more. Brought by Restaurante Tony's, the avocados in the photo above were halved horizontally, the meat partially removed and then mashed with cream cheese, spices, and stuffed back into the avocado shell and decorated with these charming faces. The parsley eyebrows especially tickled me.

Restaurante Los Mirasoles in Morelia hosted the welcome dinner for the Michoacán portion of the Ruta de Aromas y Sabores tour. Executive chef Rubí Silva Figueroa pulled out all the stops to make the meal a high-end version of Michoacán's regional foods. Seated at a table with food professionals and journalists from Europe, South America, and the United States, Mexico Cooks! explained the food. It was, as one friend said, a comida didáctica–a teaching meal! Photo courtesy of Los Mirasoles.

Paracho, Michoacán, is known as Mexico's guitar central, but it is also famous for weaving, embroidery, and other artisan work. Michoacán's Secretaría de Turismo (state tourism department) had arranged for a small tianguis artesanal (artisans' street market) for our tour. Among the items on display and for sale were rebozos (long rectangular shawls) woven by the famous reboceros de Aranza (rebozo-makers of Aranza). Finely loomed and beautifully patterned and colored, each of these dressy cotton rebozos take anywhere from two weeks to a month to complete.

We had a marvelous time on the tour! Left to right: Lic. Elizabeth Vargas Martín del Campo, director of the Politécnico de Guanajuato; Chef Patricia Quintana, innovative executive chef, caterer, and restaurant owner, Mexico City; Sacha Ormaechea, Restaurante Sacha, Madrid, Spain; Olivia González de Alegría, Director General, Instituto Gastronómico de Estudios Superiores, Querétaro; Cynthia Martínez, owner, Restaurante San Miguelito, Morelia; and Mexico Cooks!. Photo courtesy of Cynthia Martínez.

Originally published in 2010, this article about Patricia Quintana's amazing tour of Michoacán bears repeating. Mexico Cooks! is on the road at the moment but will be back soon.

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

19 de August de 2017
La Feria del Chile in Queréndaro, Michoacán :: Happening RIGHT NOW

It's that time again! The Quérendaro, Michoacán, Feria del Chile (Chile Fair) is happening this very weekend. If you're in the vicinity, try to get there today or tomorrow. As the poster says, you'll find culture, tourism, fun, and FOOD.

In Queréndaro, Michoacán, daily work is all about locally grown chiles chilaca. We fell in love with these wee ballet folklórico performers, children no more than four years old.

For the last 96 years, just around the late July-early August harvest time, the town of Queréndaro, Michoacán, has celebrated the Feria del Chile (chile fair). The center of town fills with rides for children, booths specializing in all sorts of food, games of chance, a big stage for daily ballet folklórico and nightly music, and all the usual whoopdedoo of fiesta time. The star of the fiestas is, of course, the chile chilaca.

About 3 thousand acres of chile chilaca–green when immature–are planted in the central Mexican states of Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Guanajuato, Zacatecas and Michoacán. Many of the residents of Queréndaro, Michoacán commercially cultivate this particular chile.

These chiles chilaca matured to their ripe, deep-red color prior to harvest.

Most of the locally grown deep-red chiles chilaca are dried in the sun. The chiles you see in the photo above are spread out along a main street in Queréndaro. The chiles are drying on petates, mats made of palm or lake reeds.

When ripe and then dried in the Queréndaro sun, the chilaca becomes very dark red and is called chile pasilla. If the seeds are removed from the dried chile, its name is chile capón. Chiles capón literally means 'castrated' chiles. This vegetable castration refers to the removal of the seeds prior to cooking.

The chile chilaca also has other names such as negro (black), prieto (dark), or, particularly here in Michoacán, chile para deshebrar (chile to tear in small strips). High quality chilaca is long, slender and undulated. Each chile can measure a foot long. Before its fully-ripe state the chilaca is inky blue-green, with color and flavor similar to the chile poblano. Here in Michoacán, where there are at least two names for every growing thing, the fresh chile chilaca is coloquially known as the cuernillo (little horn).

Some chilacas are sold bottled, either en escabeche (pickled in vinegar) or as chiles capones (dried, seeded, soaked, toasted, and then cooked with onion), to be used as a botana or condimento (appetizer or condiment).

These are chiles capones rellenos—chiles capones stuffed with tomates verdes (tomatillos), onion, and garlic. The chiles in the photo, prepared for carry-out at the Alberto Gómez family booth , still needed to be topped with shredded Oaxaca cheese.

The Barajas family of Queréndaro offered this variety of freshly harvested chiles at their booth at the Feria del Chile. Clockwise beginning with the dark green chiles at the bottom of the basket, they are: chile poblano, chile güero, chile chilaca, chile de árbol, and red (fully mature) chile poblano.

Mexico Cooks! bought a kilo of fresh mature (red) chiles chilaca. We've been preparing them in various dishes. The flavor they add is deeply sweet and deadly hot. So far, our favorite recipe is with potatoes, onions, and flor de calabaza (squash blossoms). Here's what to do:

Papas con Flor de Calabaza y Chile

Ingredients
3 large white potatoes, russets if you can get them
1 medium white onion
2 fresh mature chiles chilaca
1 large clove garlic
2 bunches fresh flor de calabaza (squash blossoms)
Flour
Vegetable oil or freshly rendered lard
Water
Sea salt

Utensils
Large pot
Colander
Griddle
Small plastic bag
Large plastic bag
Large sauté pan
Spatula

Procedure
Peel and cube (approximately 3/4") the potatoes. Bring salted water to boil in a pot large enough for them. Boil the potatoes until tender (approximately 15 minutes) and strain. Allow the potatoes to dry for 30 minutes or more.

Wash and rough-chop the squash blossoms. Discard their stems.

Dice the onion to approximately 1/2". Mince the garlic.

Heat the dry griddle and roast the chiles until they are blackened. Put them in the small plastic bag, twist it closed, and allow the chiles to "sweat" for about 10 minutes. Peel and seed. Slice the chiles in 1/2" rounds.

Heat the oil or lard in the sauté pan. While it heats, put approximately 1/2 cup flour and a teaspoon of sea salt into the large plastic bag. Add the potatoes to the bag and shake until the potatoes are dredged with flour and salt.

Sauté the onions, garlic, and chiles. Add the potatoes and continue to sauté until the potatoes are golden brown. Add the squash blossoms and sauté briefly–the blossoms will wilt. Add sea salt to taste.

Serves 3 or 4 as a side dish.

¡Provecho!

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12 de August de 2017
Restaurante El Bajío and Its Founder, Carmen Titita Ramírez Degollado
Founded in 1972 by Raúl Ramírez Degollado y Alfonso Hurtado Morellón, the highly successful restaurant has now expanded to sixteen locations in various parts of Mexico City. The original site is still thriving in Delegación Azcapotzalco, in the northern part of the city.

El Bajío's original restaurant is puro folclore (completely traditional and colorful) in its decor as well as in its extraordinarily delicious food. The cardboard Judas (devil figures) hanging on the wall are typically burned on Holy Saturday night, but these have survived to keep an eye on you as you dine.

At an event at the UNAM Jardín Botánico (Botanical Garden at Mexico's national university), Mexico Cooks! renewed acquaintance with the deservedly celebrated Carmen Titita Ramírez Degollado, founder (with her husband) and owner of Mexico City's Restaurantes El Bajío. Titita, as she is known to family, friends, and faithful customers, graciously invited us to come for comida at whichever of the eight El Bajío restaurants we preferred, and we chose the founding site, in the far northern part of Mexico City called Azcapotzalco. We particularly wanted to see the birthplace of the legendary restaurant.

Twenty-nine years ago, when Titita was left a widow with five children, she took over running the restaurant. Over the course of the years, it has become a temple dedicated to the preservation of Mexican recipes, particularly those from her Veracruz homeland. Her cooking skills, like those of all the best Mexican restaurant owners, were honed in her home kitchen, watching and learning from her mother and other female relatives and her childhood nanas (nannies). "Mexican food is not about fusion with other cooking styles. Mix Mexican food with Japanese, or Italian, and what do you get? Confusion! Traditional Mexican food is like traditional French or Italian cuisine: recipes and techniques are time-honored formulas carried intact into today's kitchens. My restaurant cooks might use a blender instead of a molcajete (volcanic stone grinding mortar) to save time in the commercial kitchen, but the end result–the food on your plate–is the same as it was decades ago."

Titita Ramírez, standing next to the gorgeous wall of baskets that decorates the Colonia Polanco branch of El Bajío. After our several-hour multi-course meal at the original location, Titita took us to Polanco to see that site. "Yes, we'd love to go with you today–but," we begged her, "please, please, don't feed us anything else!"

Because we were Titita's guests, we barely looked at the El Bajío menu. Titita, a supremely generous hostess, graciously ordered a lengthy tasting menu for us, a selection of some of her clients' favorite items. The full menu is available at the restaurant's website.

The first course brought to the table was a selection of several antojitos de banqueta (little sidewalk whims), so called because these treats are normally eaten while you're standing at a street stand. Clockwise from nine o'clock on the plate, we ate a gordita de frijol inflada (puffed-up thick tortilla, the masa mixed with black beans, served with that tiny dish of smoky salsa de chipotle meco), a garnacha Orizabeña (a small tortilla topped with Orizaba-style shredded beef, diced potato, and, in this case, red salsa), an empanada de plátano macho (the masa (dough) of the empanada is made of sweet, ripe plantain which is then filled with black beans and fried), and a panucho yucateco (a small tortilla covered with Yucatecan-style black beans, cochinita pibil, onion and chile habanero).

Next, each of us tried a tasting-menu size portion of ceviche verde de cazón (green ceviche made of dogfish, a kind of shark, marinated in citrus and chile).

One tiny round empanada rellena con frijoles negros (a round empanada filled with black beans), dusted with Cotija cheese. The beans were delicious with the subtle anise flavor of the dried leaves of aguacate criollo–Mexico's native avocados.

Arroz con mole de Xico (Mexican red rice with Xico-style mole), accompanied by a tiny serving of chicken breast and slices of plátanos machos fritos (fried ripe plantains). Xico, a lovely pueblo in Veracruz, is justifiably famous for its mole.

Mayora Sandra Olvera is in charge of making El Bajío's mole; she's holding a standard-size plate, ready to be served to a restaurant client. A mayora is the woman head of a restaurant kitchen. Mayora Sandra has been in the kitchen at El Bajío for its entire 45 year history. For more than 30 years, Mexico Cooks! has eaten mole everywhere in Mexico and this extraordinary mole de Xico ranks among the best I've tried.

Two of the members of Los Tuxpeños, a group specializing in traditional music from Veracruz. They are often at El Bajío to enliven the diners' comida (main midafternoon meal of the day).

A short breather in between courses: I confess that I was ready to be disillusioned by El Bajío. Whether cracking open a much-ballyhooed best-selling book, planning to see an Oscar-winning movie, or tucking into a legendary restaurant's meal for the first time, I am often guilty of having the preconceived notion that, "It couldn't possibly be as good as the hype." Let me tell you that El Bajío is at least as good as its publicity. The atmosphere is lovely, the food is world class, and the service is excellent.

Titita told me that this little clay pig–although it's not so little, measuring more nearly a meter from snout to tail–hails from Toluca and is used to steam-heat tamales. The door in the side, once used for carbón (Mexico's charcoal), is now used for an alcohol burner.

Titita and her restaurants have participated in world-wide events and have won every prize conceivable. All of her achievements (including the following) are legendary:
- 1998 "The Amercian Academy of Hospitality Services" Five Star Diamond Award.
- Participated for 10 years in the culinary events of Festival Anual del Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México.
- Consultant for various restaurants in the United States and Europe.
- Active member of the Asociación Mexicana de Restaurantes (AMR).
- Member of the International Association of Professional Chefs (I.A.C.P.) of the USA.
- For three years, demonstrated Mexican cuisine at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, California.
- Represented Mexico in the USA-based television commercials for the campaign "Got Milk" in Los Angeles, California.
- Won recognition as "La Llave Empresarial 2006" granted by AMAIT y ABASTUR in México.
- Nominated by the New York Times as one of the two great matriarchs of Mexican cooking.
- Won the 2008 and 2009 restaurant business merit prize.
Titita assured me that the menu, the quality, and the prices are the same at all sixteen El Bajío locations, regardless of neighborhood and regardless of clientele.

Quesadillas de flor de calabaza (quesadillas made with squash flowers, epazote, onion, garlic, and chile jalapeño). The deep, rich, complicated flavor of these quesadillas was pure Mexico.

Somehow we dived into two of the courses much too fast and the food escaped the Mexico Cooks! camera. One was a taco of delicious carnitas estilo Tacámbaro (Tacámbaro-style pork) that gave us a taste of our beloved Michoacán. The other a tasting plate of pescado a la veracruzana (Veracruz-style fish, with tomatoes, onions, and olives), brought us back to Titita's birthplace on Mexico's east coast.

The last touch to a typical meal from the east coast of Mexico: a small dish of frijoles negros refritos (refried black beans), to eat with totopos (tortilla chips) or to roll into a small taco. One of these is plenty as the final toquecito salado (little salty touch) to a meal such as ours.

And then there was dessert. We shared two: first, an individual-size dark chocolate tart filled with cajeta (otherwise known as dulce de leche) and topped with a coffee bean, created by María Teresa Ramírez Degollado (Titita's daughter), her partner Joan Bagur Bagur and their staff at Artesanos del Dulce.

Next, the hands-down best capirotada I have ever eaten. If you've been around Mexico Cooks! for long, you know that I am a huge fan of this typically Lenten dessert–but wow, this one is stupendous for any time of year.

Titita also gave Mexico Cooks! a copy of her beautiful cookbook, Alquimias y Atmósferas del Sabor: Alta Gastronomía de doña Carmen Titita (Alchemy and Atmospheres of Flavor: Haute Cuisine of doña Carmen Titita), with superb photo illustrations by internationally known photographer Ignacio Urquiza. First published by Editorial Tiempo Imaginario, México in 2001, the book won the Gourmand World Cookbook Award in 2002. The book's second edition was published in 2009.

Alquimias y Atmósferas del Sabor is as exquisite in its presentation as in its recipes, several of which are offered on the menu at all of the El Bajío restaurants. Try Titita's recipe for empanadas de plátano macho; it's very simple and will make your household and your guests sigh with delight. Here is Mexico Cooks!' translation of Titita's recipe. Serve these empanadas with any Mexican main dish you choose and freshly prepared rice; they are marvelous with a rich mole served with chicken or pork.

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Empanadas de Plátano Macho Rellenas con Frijoles Refritos
Plantain Dough Empanadas filled with Refried Beans

Ingredients
3 very ripe platános machos (plantains), skins on
Salt to taste
1 quart water
Enough vegetable oil to fry the empanadas, with a little extra to coat your hands while shaping them

Refried black beans

Special utensil
Tortilla press or rolling pin

The plantains are ready to use when their yellow skins have turned almost entirely black and are showing a bit of white mold–just when you might think it is time to pitch them in the trash, it's time to make empanadas.

The day before you want to serve the empanadas, cook the plantains, peels still on, in the quart of boiling water. Allow them to cool overnight.

The next day, peel the plantains and discard the peels. Mash the plantains to make a smooth paste that you will use as the empanada dough. Rub vegetable oil all over your hands and make 12 little balls of the plantain dough.

To flatten the dough, put each ball between two sheets of plastic (a cut-open freezer bag would work very well) and flatten into circles with either a rolling pin or the tortilla press.

In the middle of each plantain dough circle, put a tablespoonful of refried black beans. Fold each empanada in half, completely covering the beans with the plantain dough. Firmly press the edges together so that the beans cannot escape while the empanadas are cooking.

Heat the oil almost to the smoking point and fry the empanadas until they are a beautiful deep golden color. Drain on absorbent paper.

Arrange on a small platter, garnish with a flower or two, and serve.

Makes 12 empanadas as a side dish.

You will love these empanadas and your family will beg for them.

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Click for the El Bajío location nearest you in Mexico City: Sucursales

When you go, please tell Titita that Cristina at Mexico Cooks! sent you, and give her a hug from me.

Originally published in 2011, this article about the delights of Restaurante El Bajío and its founder, Carmen Titita Ramírez Degollado, bears repeating. Mexico Cooks! is on the road at the moment but will be back soon.

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5 de August de 2017
Comida Is Served! Mexico Cooks! Dines Out and Dines At Home

A whole frog, battered, deep fried and served with chiles toreados (chile serrano, rolled in oil and grilled or sautéed until soft), cebolla blanca (white onion, in this case caramelized), and limón to squeeze all over it. Whole deep fried frogs are a specialty of Queréndaro, Michoacán. It's quite a graphic presentation, but you only eat the legs–unless you care to nibble on other parts.

Truly wonderful aporreadillo from Apatzingán, Michoacán's Tierra Caliente (hot lowlands), as prepared by doña Victoria González at La Tradición, the family restaurant in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. Aporreadillo is a preparation of dried beef, cooked in highly spiced tomato-y broth with scrambled egg. In this case, doña Vicky prepared a plate of aporreadillo for me with a base of morisqueta (steamed white rice) and frijoles de la olla (freshly cooked whole beans and their liquor). The small dish in the background is a bowl of doña Vicky's delicious salsa, made in a molcajete (volcanic stone mortar). Just looking at the picture makes my mouth water!

A Sunday afternoon on the trajineras (boats) in Xochimilco requires a refueling stop at a 'restaurant' trajinera. These boats with small kitchens pull up along side the trajinera that you're riding in to offer whatever's cooking. In this case, our midday meal was juicy carne asada (grilled meat) and quesadillas cooked to order, guacamole and tortilla chips, rice, beans, and hot-off-the griddle tortillas. Delicious!

Here's pan de romero (rosemary bread) from Rosetta, chef Elena Reygadas' lovely and well-respected Italian restaurant at Calle Colima 166, Col. Roma Sur, Mexico City. This bread is so delicious that sometimes I wish I could go to Rosetta and just order bread and olive oil!

Home cooking: Mexico Cooks! prepared the hot, fennel-y Italian sausage and then created sausage, peppers, and onion sandwiches for a recent meal at home.

Another home-cooked meal: eggplant parmagiana. An Italian-American friend in New Jersey keeps me inspired to try his recipes. They're almost inevitably delicious.

Once every couple of months, Azul/Condesa or Azul/Histórico call out to us. It's difficult for me to resist the wonderful crema de flor de calabaza–squash flower soup, each bowl made with 18 squash blossoms plus strips of chile poblano, kernels of tender elotes (early corn), and tiny cubes of queso fresco (fresh white cheese).

Home-made sopa de albóndigas (Mexican meatball soup). I prepared this in February 2017 for dear friends in San Diego, California.

Perfectly grilled steak, prepared in February by chef Claudia Sandoval, for an amazing meal at the San Diego home of friend Kalisa Wells. It was an honor and a pleasure to share dinner with chef Claudia, who is the 2016 winner of MasterChef/Gordon Ramsey. Kalisa is always the hostess with the mostess, and the evening was made complete by friends Holli and Jim DeLauro.

To end on a sweet note: these buñuelos–foot-in-diameter deep-fried flour pastry, finished with a dash of granulated sugar and cinnamon, broken onto a plate or into a bowl and bathed with syrup made of piloncillo (Mexican raw brown sugar)–were on the menu at a fonda (small family food booth or restaurant) the last time I was in Morelia, Michoacán. Could you resist? I couldn't.

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29 de July de 2017
Super Pollo don Emilio, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán: Enchiladas Placeras, A Banquet on the Street
Over the course of more than 30 years, Mexico Cooks! has visited Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, one of the most beautiful small colonial cities of Mexico, more times than we can count. Every visit is memorable for 16th and 17th Century architecture, fantastic decorative arts, and food. Food! The regional Michoacán kitchen is incomparably rich and delicious, and Pátzcuaro's local specialties are truly magnificent.

Súper Pollo Emilio has been famous for enchiladas placeras for more than 40 years: plaza-style enchiladas, the only item on the menu. The cooks prepare approximately 400 orders of these incredible enchiladas every night. Don Emilio himself (the word don is an honorific title of respect and admiration) himself is supervising meal preparation at the giant brazier.

Great quantities of enormous pechugas (chicken breast halves, each large enough to satisfy two people) and piernas (leg/thigh quarters) are simmered early in the day until they're perfectly done, still juicy and tender. A bit later, preparation continues with vats of tender potatoes and fresh carrots.

The cook fans four tortillas at a time between his fingers and dips them into this enormous pot of house-made salsa para enchiladas (enchilada sauce). The recipe? Mexico Cooks! has wheedled and whined, but Súper Pollo Emilio won't give it up.

The cook spreads the salsa-doused tortillas evenly into the sizzling grease in the industrial-strength comal (griddle), flipping them rapidly from one side to the other. The tortillas need to be cooked till they are hot and soft, but not crisp.

He gives each tortilla a dollop of freshly mashed potato. The tortillas are then folded in half: voilà, enchiladas ready for your platter. Each order contains eight of these enchiladas as well as–well, we'll see in a minute.

While you wait for your supper, you'll most likely be treated, as we were, to a serenata (serenade) sung by strolling local musicians. We were quite taken with the multi-colored strings of this big bass fiddle. If you enjoy the music, be sure to give a small tip to the group.

At don Emilio's with friends (clockwise from left) Bob, Tim, Diane, and John. The platter of enchiladas and chicken on the table is the large size! We couldn't begin to eat it all, but we gave it our best shot.

Our order. The platter, which looks fairly small in the photo, measures approximately 16 inches from side to side. The two forks are ordinary-size table forks. Each platter contains:
- eight potato-filled enchiladas
- freshly sautéed potatoes and carrots, enough for two or more people
- the amount and kind of chicken you prefer–we normally order a breast portion, which was more than enough for the two of us
- a sprinkle of thinly sliced onion
- large shreds of queso Oaxaca (Oaxaca cheese)
- shredded fresh cabbage
- crumbled queso fresco (fresh farmer-style cheese)
- fresh salsa roja (spicy red sauce, different from the sauce on the enchiladas)
- a base of fresh lettuce
- chile perón en escabeche (local pickled yellow chile: HOT), as much as you want
Mexico Cooks! has never seen one person finish an entire platter of enchiladas placeras as prepared by Súper Pollo Emilio. We were hard pressed to do it, but in the interest of pure research we managed to eat most of this order. We accompanied the order with a glass of agua fresca de jamaica and a bottle of LIFT, an apple soda. If you'd like a beer or two with your meal, one of the waiters will go get it for you from another stand.

Súper Pollo Emilio is a night operation; the stand sets up at around 7:00PM every evening except Tuesdays, just around dusk on Pátzcuaro's Plaza Gertrudis Bocanegra (the plaza chica). It's the booth closest to the portal (covered walkway) on the market side of the square. The booth is open till the food runs out.

If you're still hungry after your platter of enchiladas is gone, there are buñuelos for dessert. A buñuelo is a huge flour pastry similar to a flour tortilla; it's fried until crisp. You can order a buñuelo broken and softened in a bowl of syrup or still-crispy and dusted with sugar.

Our waiter Jesús and his sweet daughter Paola, who was helping take soft drink orders. Jesús has been a fixture at Súper Pollo Emilio since long before his daughter was born.

When you're visiting Pátzcuaro, don't miss the enchiladas placeras at Súper Pollo Emilio. If nothing else about this marvelous city brings you back again and again, you'll be pulled in by these addictive enchiladas, eaten on a chilly night under the stars, just by the market-side portales.

In early June I took a client to tour Pátzcuaro. When we arrived at Súper Pollo Emilio in the evening, don Emilio's son rushed out to greet me with a huge hug. "Señora, bienvenida y qué gusto verla de nuevo. Te comparto la triste noticia de que mi papá falleció hace ocho días." (Welcome, it's good to see you again. I have sad news: my father passed away a week ago.") We both dissolved into tears for a few moments, thinking about the rich memories that don Emilio gave us all. Súper Pollo Emilio will continue into the next generation, of course; don Emilio's son is at the helm. I dedicate this article to don Emilio's memory. If you're in Pátzcuaro, don't miss eating these fantastic enchiladas.

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22 de July de 2017
What’s in Season in July at Mexico City’s Markets?

At the Mercado de Sonora, this gigantic freshly cut squash looks more like a huge flower. The squash, an extremely hard-shelled variety known as calabaza de Castilla (Castilian squash), was approximately two feet in diameter! Behind it are plátanos machos (plaintains). The squash, carefully cut in half to show its beautiful flesh and seeds, is resting on taro root rhizomes.

Those of you who live somewhere outside Mexico and are enjoying seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables right now might be surprised to learn that even in Mexico, where the growing season can be year-round, there are times when it's the season for (insert name of item here) and we all rush to buy what's new in our markets. Whether Mexico Cooks! shops at a tianguis (street market), at an enclosed municipal market, or at a modern supermarket, seasonal fruits and vegetables are must-haves–otherwise, they won't be back in the markets till next year.

The most recent seasonal fruit for summer 2017 is the tuna (prickly pear cactus fruit). Available by the ton from late June until sometime in September, the tuna is considered to be Mexico's national fruit. It even appears on Mexican flag! You can see how it grows: that's a nopal cactus paddle, with tunas growing around the outside edge. More are piled up in the boxes. The spiny, thick green peel encloses a marvelous fruit.

Here's a tuna that I just peeled. Peel-and-eat, seeds and all. Cut the ends from the tuna, make a lengthwise slit down one side of the skin, and with your fingers, simply pull the skin away from the flesh. Chilled, the sweet, crisp tuna flesh is as refreshing as watermelon–and similarly textured.

Can you even believe it? The cool, refreshing rainy season in central Mexico means wild mushrooms! The season is just beginning. I bought these glorious fresh morels at a municipal market where I often take touring foodies. Women from small towns in mountainous areas around Mexico City forage for these and other mushrooms (chanterelles and lobster mushrooms, anyone?) and sell them at local markets. These morels were so inexpensive that I bought a kilo (2.2 pounds) and gave half to my neighbor.

What you may know as lobster mushrooms (Hypomyces lactifluorum) are called trompa de puerco (pig snout) here in central Mexico. Contrary to its mushroom name, this is actually a fungus that attacks a kind of wild white mushroom, deforming it into the delicacy you see in the picture. These do sometimes appear at farmers' markets in the USA, but prepare to pay through the snout for them: upwards of $30.00USD per pound. Here, they're a tenth that price.

These enormous just-cut flores de calabaza (squash blossoms) appear in Mexico's markets as the plants are setting their fruit. The Purépecha indigenous woman in the photo has brought her flowers to sell on the street in Paracho, Michoacán. Tidbit of information: only the male blossoms are cut; the female flowers, notable by the spherical beginning of a squash at the base of each flower, are left on the vine to bear fruit.

Mangos! It's still mango season in Mexico, and the varieties are many. These are Paraíso: about five inches long and plump as can be, the flesh is tender, sweet, and incredibly popular as a snack. Mangos are the most cultivated fruit in the world!

Here's a ready-to-eat mango-on-a-stick, offered by a street vendor in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. Spritzed with a little jugo de limón (juice of the Key lime), sprinkled with a big pinch of salt, and dusted with crushed, dried, red chile–absolutely marvelous. People in Mexico look forward all year long to the several months of mango season!

July is also papaya season. This variety, the usual one that we see in Mexico, is the Carica papaya–otherwise known as the Maradol. Ranging in size from about eight inches long to a jumbo-size foot and a half, the Maradol papaya has very thin orange skin, meaty, deep orange flesh and usually a zillion firm black seeds, each smaller than a pea. Eat this fruit any time: diced for breakfast, in a smoothie, or accompany your comida (main meal at midday) with a refreshing agua fresca de papaya–a papaya fruit water.

Limón criollo: Mexico's small spherical 'native' limones are known in the United States as Key limes. These limones aren't really native to Mexico; they originated in Asia and were brought here by the Spanish nearly 500 years ago. Available all year and used ubiquitously for everything from squeezing onto fresh fruit to squeezing into your bowl of caldo de pollo (chicken soup) to spritzing onto your hands for slicking down unruly hair, these green to greenish-yellow limones are available all year long. July is their peak season, though. Their flavor is completely different from either the lime OR the lemon; oddly enough, neither Persian limes (the large oval green ones) nor Eureka lemons (the large oval yellow ones) are grown for the fresh fruit market in Mexico.

Last, the sandía (watermelon). Available all over Mexico and in season right this minute, the sweetness of the fruit is as refreshing as a cool shower. Native to somewhere in Africa–there's lots of controversy about where–and over 5000 years old, Mexico's watermelon is grown primarily in this country's western and eastern coastal states.

Fresh mango, papaya, and watermelon, ready to be seasoned just the way you like them.

Here in Mexico, many tropical fruits are eaten sprinkled with salt, crushed, dried red chile pepper, and a squirt or two of limón. If you've never tried it this way, you'll be surprised at how this multi-level flavor combination changes a standard sweet fruit experience to a rush of OH MY GOODNESS! in your mouth. Many years ago, when my elderly mother visited me in Mexico, I presented her with an already-seasoned breakfast plate of fresh ripe-picked pineapple from Veracruz, ripe-picked strawberries from Michoacán, ripe-picked papaya from Chiapas, and field-ripened cantaloupe from Mexico's west coast. Always an adventurous eater, she gobbled it right down and sighed in contentment. She said, "Cristina, I've never really understood tropical fruit before. It needs all those seasonings to make it just perfect." My mother was right.

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15 de July de 2017
Rosalba Morales Bartolo :: Cocinera Tradicional (Traditional Cook) and Proud Daughter of San Jerónimo Purenchécuaro, Michoacán

Rosalba Morales Bartolo, born and raised in San Jerónimo Purenchécuaro, Michoacán, grew up cooking alongside her mother in their indigenous Purépecha kitchen. Purépecha women are well known for their regional cuisine and extraordinary cooking abilities. Rosalba, who learned recipes and techniques beginning in her early childhood, has become one of the most exemplary cooks living in Mexico. In the photo, Rosalba oversees a restaurant dining room during a 2015 homage dinner she prepared for Diana Kennedy and many attendees. All photos copyright Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.

San Jerónimo Purenchécuaro–Purenchécuaro translates to 'place of visitors'–nestles at the shore of the Lago de Pátzcuaro, in central Michoacán. Eighty per cent of the town's approximately 2,000 inhabitants are indigenous Purépecha and a large number continue to speak their native language and teach it to their children. The town continues its millennia-old social customs, some of which are incorporated now into Roman Catholic religious practices. Mexico Cooks! took the photo from a scenic overlook in San Jerónimo; you can see the town, including the parish church tower, one tiny portion of Lake Pátzcuaro, and the tiers of Michoacán's mountains stretching out beyond the other shore.

Lake Pátzcuaro fishermen, in an old postcard. Today, the butterfly nets typical of the lake region have been largely replaced by other styles of hand-woven nets. Fishing continues to generate income as well as family sustenance for the towns around and close to the lake. Photo courtesy Mexico en Fotos.

Charales, freshly caught and cleaned. Rosalba's father was a fisherman, working on Lake Pátzcuaro. From him, she learned how to fish with a net. She learned how to prepare tiny charales (genus Chirostoma) her grandmother's old-fashioned way. Once the fish are caught, she scales them (yes, these tiny fish, one by one), then eviscerates and washes them. The heads are typically left on the charales. Next, Rosalba spreads them out in the sun to dry on petates (mats made of palm fronds). Once the fish are dried, she uses them for a variety of different dishes: fried for a filling in tacos or gorditas, simmered in a richly flavored broth, crushed into a salsa, or cooked in a guisado (a type of main dish that can also be used as a taco filling).

Petate (mats made of palm fronds), rolled up to be transported on a bicycle. The petate, of pre-Hispanic origin, has multiple uses, including use as bedding, as a drying floor, and as a shroud. Image courtesy Pinterest.

At home in her kitchen, Rosalba shows off a plateful of her famous charales. Restaurants and individuals in cities and towns all over Mexico order kilos of charales to be shipped to them. I confess that I always thought I hated them: strongly fishy, thickly breaded, greasy, and often overly picante (spicy), charales were for years last on my list of things I wanted to eat. One day a few years ago, Rosalba stood in front of me with a lightly fried, delicately golden brown charal held out between her fingers. "You haven't tried mine, Cristina," she insisted. There was no way to say no. What a surprise, it was delicious! Now I crave them–but only Rosalba's.

Your family's food preparation probably begins with a trip to a well-stocked supermarket. Once your ingredients are at home, you simply turn on a modern stove, either electric or gas. Rosalba's food preparation begins with a trip into the woods near her home, where she gathers branches to be used as fuel in her wood stove. In addition, she grows much of her food in h
er large back garden: she tends and harvests tomatoes, chiles, squash, cilantro, and various fruits, among other delicious items that end up on her table.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf9gUGDLBSI&w=350&h=200]
Recently, Rosalba has been featured on several Mexican television programs, including this one called "Cocineros Mexicanos" (Mexican Cooks). Take a few minutes to watch how she cleans the charales, prepares a simple soup and salsa, and delights Nico (the program's host) with her simplicity, directness, honesty, and skill as a cocinera.

Rosy's route to her present renown hasn't been fast and it hasn't been easy. Her life has had numerous ups and downs, its path twisting from her birthplace to a risky life as an undocumented person in the United States and back again. In 1984, she graduated from primary school in San Jerónimo and left the next day to work as a cook in a private home in Guadalajara. Her employer asked her to prepare food that was completely unfamiliar to her–fish cooked in white wine! She remembers, "That day marked my life and was incredibly special, because it confirmed and reconfirmed the love, my deep feeling for cooking, as I experimented with different flavors."

In 2013, Rosalba won honorable mention in Raíces, Platillos que Cuentan Una Historia (Roots, Dishes Which Tell a Story) at the annual Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Michoacán (Meeting of Michoacán's Traditional Cooks). Her first entry, in 2010, won her a first prize.

Twice Rosalba entered the United States as an undocumented worker, each time laboring in Mexican restaurants and sending money back to her native San Jerónimo Purenchécuaro. Over the course of 25 years, she was able to construct her own home, where she lives today and has made her "Cocina Tradicional Rosy" well known to Mexicans and foreigners who are intent on dining well in Michoacán.

Everybody's favorite chile in much of Michoacán: chile manzano, known in Michoacán as chile perón. Approximately 1.5"-2" in diameter, the perón is only chile in the world with black seeds. It ranks between 30,000 and 50,000 'heat' units on the Scoville scale–about the same heat level as the chile de árbol. "While I was living in the United States, I really missed caldo de trucha (trout soup) with chile perón," Rosalba reminisced.

Rosalba at Morelia en Boca 2015, with chef Aquiles Chávez of La Fishería Restaurant in Houston and Restaurante Sotero in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico. Morelia en Boca, an annual international high-end food and wine festival, featured a conference given by cocinera tradicional Rosalba together with chef Aquiles, demonstrating the preparation of Rosy's tiny charales and chef Aquiles' enormous pejelagarto (freshwater gar), native to the waters in chef Aquiles' home state, Tabasco. Their conference was so knowledgeable, so well-presented, and so funny that the huge and enthusiastic audience gave them a standing, cheering ovation at its end.

Chef Aquiles roasted the pejelagarto over a charcoal fire; this photo shows only the head and a small portion of the giant fish's body. To roast the fish, chef Aquiles inserted a broomstick into the gaping tooth-filled mouth; the broomstick stopped at the fish's tail. With the end of the broomstick that protruded from the mouth, chef Aquiles was able to turn the fish as it roasted.

Rosalba's caldo de pata de pollo. She prepared this rich chicken broth using just chicken feet as the base. She added fresh vegetables just prior to serving.

Rosy's delicious guisado (a casserole or stewed dish) made with nopales (cactus paddles) and calabacitas (a squash similar to zucchini).

One of Rosalba's many talents is the ability to create utterly wonderful food from whatever is seasonably available. Salsa de zarzamora (blackberry sauce) is a molcajete-ground spicy, sweet, and savory concoction of roasted chile perón, roasted ripe tomatoes, and native Michoacán blackberries. A pinch of salt, a moment's grinding in the volcanic stone mortar, and it's ready for the table. I would cheerfully have eaten it with a spoon, it was so heavenly.

Rosalba serves a taco de charales to chef Joaquín Bonilla, director of the Colegio Culinario de Morelia (Morelia's Culinary School). Not only has Rosy prepared and served her extraordinary dishes all over Mexico, but she has traveled to a number of foreign destinations as well. In 2016 alone, she thrilled Chicago, Illinois, for several weeks with her food. Later that year she participated in the Slow Food International Terra Madre event in Turin, Italy. The current year has brought more much-deserved recognition throughout Mexico.

Please contact me if you'd like to visit Rosalba and enjoy a meal in her kitchen. I'd be delighted to take you to meet my dear friend and talk with you about the food and its preparation.

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8 de July de 2017