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Betsy Pecanins! Betsy Pecanins! Betsy Pecanins!

The delicious Betsy Pecanins captured Morelia's heart in October 2010.

Betsy Pecanins opened her recent Morelia concert with a song that frankly states, "I am my voice." This tiny woman's songs filled Morelia's 1200-seat Teatro Morelos with her heart, her warmth, and her personal charisma, giving the large audience exactly what they wanted: Betsy! Betsy! and more Betsy! Fresh from an open-air concert in Monterrey, Nuevo León, she sang her trademark gutsy blues, some contemporary Mexican songs–and, in her particular and much-loved style, bluesy interpretations of Mexican ranchera favorites–to an enamored crowd of Michoacanos.

Betsy belts one, accompanied by her drummer, Héctor Aguilar and the extraordinary harmonica player, Jorge Follado.

Like several of Mexico's other adored women singers (Rocío Dúrcal, Tania Libertad, and Chavela Vargas, to name just three), Betsy Pecanins is not originally from Mexico. Born in Yuma, Arizona, she says, "I'm embarrassed to say that I come from there, given the current situation in Arizona." Child of an American father and a Spanish mother, Betsy grew up in that hotter-than-hell border town. In her teens, she moved to Mexico City to live with her father and his family. "It was really hard in a lot of ways," she admitted. "I didn't speak Spanish, and I didn't like the food. It took me a while to get accustomed to life here, but as you can see, I did." Pecanins now considers Mexico to be her home of choice, and, after more than 30 years here, she speaks fluently colloquial Spanish.

Cellist Mónica del Águila and bassist Alfonso Rosas deepened and enriched the evening's music. Notice the electric cello!

Pecanins is touring in Mexico to promote her latest recording, titled Sones y Pasones. "It was really difficult to choose which songs from the CD to bring to the concert. Of course I love them all, but finally we chose 16 to offer on stage." Unless you know her style, you might find it hard to reconcile Mexico's sones and huastecos with the down-and-dirty blues of Willie Dixon. The two Mexican musical styles, which incorporate indigenous, gypsy, Spanish, and African rhythms, combine like magic with Pecanins-style blues.

Betsy happily applauds her fans, who spent the evening cheering in appreciation for her concert.

The evening before the concert, Betsy chatted with Mexico Cooks! about her long tenure in Mexico. "Like everyone else, I'm worried about the violent troubles we're living through right now. Like everyone else, I don't really see an immediate solution. But I also believe that we just have to go about our daily business and not live in fear. What good would it do, what would it serve, to hide and forget to live our lives? That would mean that organized crime wins, and that the good people of this country lose. Obviously we all have to be careful, but we can't forget the joy of living. So yes, I'm touring. It was important to me to sing in Monterrey, where the people have lived through so much sorrow. And it's important to me to sing in Morelia."

La Pecanins, shouting the low-down blues: Willie Dixon's "29 Ways (To Get to My Baby's Door)". Listen here to another interpretation: 29 Ways.

Betsy is a true original, combining musical roots of several cultures and eras to create a unique sound. She's been a bright light in the Mexico City musical scene for more than 30 years; during that time, she has recorded sixteen very well received CDs. She brings her sense of place, her sense of time, and her sense of humor to the stage along with her voice. Before singing "Aquí Me Ves", she offered the story of an old love, a flame that burned for two years when she was 20. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, the old flame found her again online. And she got nervous: "I'm not the same as I was when I was twenty," she said, gesturing from her shoulders to her knees. "Certain things fall–for women, and for men, too! But my friend Rafael Mendoza wrote this song for me, a song that says, 'I may not be the same person I was back then, but I'm much more of a woman.' It's so true!" Nevertheless, she laughed, "Unfortunately, things didn't work out between me and him–but I still have the song!"

Betsy and harmonicist Jorge Follado cue up a solo by the band's acoustic guitarist, Jorge García.

The concert was presented as part of the October celebrations of the anniversary of the founding of Morelia's Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (UMSNH). In addition to Betsy's concert, the university also presented a three-week repertoire of other cultural activities.

Betsy with her pink kazoo. Hearing the buzz of that kazoo took me back to my own roots in folk music, more years ago than I care to confess.

Betsy is currently undergoing treatment for vocal difficulties that affect her ability to speak much more than her ability to sing. Her vibrant new CD, Sones y Pasones, is terrific evidence that her quest for meaningful fusion between musical styles is a huge success. If she's appearing anywhere near your city or town, go hear her. You'll fall under her spell, just as we did here in Morelia.

The band takes a final bow after its concert in Morelia. Left to right: Héctor Águilar, Mónica del Águila, Alfonso Rosas, Betsy, Jorge Follado, and Jorge García. After Betsy congratulated each of the band members by name at the concert's end, the entire band leaped up and down shouting, "Betsy Pecanins! Betsy Pecanins! Betsy Pecanins!"

All photos and written material copyright Mexico Cooks!.

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18 de December de 2010
Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en Imágines :: Images of Our Lady of Guadalupe

The actual tilma (cape-like garment) worn by San Juan Diego in December 1531. The framed tilma hangs over the main altar at the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Mexico City.

The annual feast of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe) falls on December 12. Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is Mexico's patron saint, and her image adorns churches and altars, house facades and interiors, taxis, private cars, and buses, bull rings and gambling dens, restaurants and houses of ill repute. The shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, la Basílica, is a place of extraordinary vitality and celebration. On major festival days such as the anniversary of the apparition on December 12th, the atmosphere of devotion created by the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims is truly electrifying.

Statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe for sale at the many, many souvenir booths outside the Basílica.

The enormous Basílica of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Mexico City is the most visited pilgrimage site in the Western Hemisphere. Its location, on the hill of Tepeyac, was a place of great sanctity long before the arrival of Christianity in the New World. In pre-Hispanic times, Tepeyac had been crowned with a temple dedicated to an earth and fertility goddess called Tonantzin, the Mother of the Gods. Tonantzin was a virgin goddess associated with the moon, like Our Lady of Guadalupe who usurped her shrine.

Our Lady of Guadalupe tattoo.

Read the full story of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe here.

Our Lady of Guadalupe surrounded by fresh roasted peanuts, Morelia, Michoacán. November 2009.

Holy water bottles in rainbow colors of plastic, for sale at the booths just outside the Basílica.

Art casket, Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Basílica.

Primitive folk art depiction of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Statue in resin of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Pope John Paul II, who was devoted to her. This image is reproduced as calendars, statues of all sizes, and pictures to hang on the wall.

Portrait of Monseñor Diego Monroy, rector of the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. The painting is part of Monseñor Monroy's private collection.

In 1810, Padre Miguel Hidalgo carried this banner to lead the struggle for Mexico's independence from Spain.

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11 de December de 2010
Mexican Edible Oddities: What Is This Fruit and What Do I Do With It?

We'll start off with a gimme: everybody recognizes bananas–the green fruits hang from the long knobby stalk. The pointed reddish-purple part at the bottom of the photo is the banana flower. Click on the photo to better see the tiny purple-yellowish florets just under the extended portion of the flower. That's the part of the flower that matures to form the actual banana fruit. In India and in Thailand, those tiny flowers are prepared as delicious dishes. I don't know a Mexican recipe for them–do you?

Mexico is home to some decidedly unusual fruits (no smart remarks, please). Many of these fruits are unavailable in other parts of the world, but it's certainly worthwhile to learn that they exist and are wonderful to taste.

This is a chirimoya (Annona Cherimolia), sometimes known in English as a custard apple. Its size ranges from that of a baseball to much larger. I once picked one that was almost the size of my head, carried it by hand from the Michoacán mountains to Mexico City, allowed it to ripen fully, and shared it with my friend Celia Gutiérrez.

When ripe, the chirimoya's flesh is soft, yielding easily to a spoon. The taste is like a combination peach and strawberry: absolute heaven. The fruit is picked while immature and ripens quickly in a sunny window or on a kitchen counter. Originally brought to the New World by the Spanish conquistadores, these are available in Mexico primarily during their relatively short summer season.

The seeds of the chirimoya are large, black, and shiny. Occasionally you'll find a sprouted seed inside one of the fruits; I've tried to grow a tree but have had no luck.

Mousse made of chirimoya and cream. Photo and recipe courtesy this website.

Mousse de Chirimoya
Serves six

Ingredients
1 ripe chirimoya (300 or 400 gr.)
1/4 Cup heavy cream
2/3 Cup whole milk
1leaf of unflavored gelatin
1 Tbsp sugar

Decoration
I or 2 white grapes per individual mousse
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp dark rum
Sprigs of fresh mint

Procedure
Cut the chirimoya in quarters and carefully remove the seeds. Put the chirimoya flesh into your blender jar.

In a heavy saucepan, heat the milk, the cream, and the sugar. Stir constantly to make sure that the mixture does not stick. Dissolve the gelatin in cold water.

Once the mixture begins to cook, add the dissolved gelatin. Allow the mix to cook for a minute more, without moving the saucepan from the burner. After a minute, take the pan off the fire and allow the mixture to cool.

Once the mixture is cool, pour it into the blender along with the chirimoya flesh. Blend until the mixture is smooth and silky.

Pour the mixture into individual-serving ramekins and chill in the refrigerator for at least four hours before serving.

To make the grape garnish, roll each grape first in the rum and then in the brown sugar. Prepare the garnish just before serving. Unmold each ramekin onto a small dessert plate and top with one or two grapes, a small spoonful of rum, and a sprig of fresh mint.

The guanábana (Annona muricata), known in English as the soursop, is related to the chirimoya. The flesh is white and the large seeds are black, like those of the chirimoya. When ripe, the guanábana has a somewhat more acidic flavor than its cousin, although it is still sweet and delicious. It's easy to tell these two similar fruits apart: the guanábana is the one with the big soft thorns! In Mexico, guanábana is most often used to make a refreshing agua fresca (fresh fruit drink) or equally refreshing paletas (fresh fruit ice pops).

These olive-size yellow fruits are nanches (Byrsonima crassifolia), also known in Michoacán as changungas. These fruits grow and are extremely popular in Michoacán. They're sold by the plastic cupful in markets and at street stands, usually topped with a squeeze of lime, a pinch of salt, and a squirt of bottled salsa. Sorry, gang, Mexico Cooks! seems to be one of the few people in Michoacán who really, really doesn't like changungas. More for you!

Similar in size and appearance to nanches, these are nísperos–otherwise known as loquats (Eriobotrya japonica). Not usually grown commercially, they are nevertheless commonly home-cultivated in Mexico's Central Highlands. In our neighborhood, it's a race to see who gets to the fruits first: birds or humans. We humans generally eat them out of hand, but they can be made into jam or conserve.

This, ladies and gentleman, is the illusive ilama (Annona diversifolia). Yet another relative of the chirimoya, the softball-size ilama grows wild in Michoacán's Tierra Caliente. Its season is very short, just a few weeks during the summer, and it is normally harvested only when it cracks. I was privileged to taste and photograph my first ilama this summer.

There are two kinds of ilama, the white and the pink. This is the pink variety. The skin is about double the thickness of the chirimoya skin, and the seeds are spherical and brown rather than black. Some ilama trees bear no fruit during their season; others bear just a handful of the fruits.

Sr. Juan Cortés, the friend who gave me the ilama, said that the ripe fruit is usually just chilled, broken open, and eaten out of hand. It was delicious, with banana/pineapple flavor notes. Sr. Cortés also mentioned that the ilama isn't grown commercially in Michoacán; in order to eat one, it's necessary to go to the hills of the Tierra Caliente, find a tree, climb it, and cut the fruit yourself. Given that summer temperatures in the Tierra Caliente can reach 115°F, it's highly unlikely that I will be clambering about to harvest an ilama. I was extremely grateful for Sr. Cortés' generous gift.

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In fact, every now and again Mexico Cooks! still learns of a new fruit that grows in this part of the country.

4 de December de 2010
Michoacán Awards Premio Estatal de las Artes Eréndira 2010 to Ana Pellicer

On October 25, the Michoacán state government awarded copper sculptor Ana Pellicer the coveted Premio Estatal de las Artes Eréndira for 2010. The important prize is given annually to a living artist who best represents–at the international level–the arts of Michoacán. Ana Pellicer is the first woman to receive the award.

The Premio Estatal de las Artes Eréndira 2010.

Grupo Erendi, regional Purhépecha musicians, played at the award ceremony. Celebratory well-wishers filled Morelia's newly renovated Teatro Ocampo for the event.

Leonel Godoy Rangel, Michoacán's governor, personally awarded the three 2010 prizes to Ana Pellicer, to Purhépecha painter Jerónimo Mateo, and to the Morelia vocal group Coral Moreliana Ignacio Mier Arriaga.

James Metcalf and Ana Pellicer celebrate on October 25, 2010. Photo courtesy Casandra Rubio.

On April 10, 2010, Mexico Cooks! published the following article about Ana Pellicer's 40-year history as an artist in Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán. An earlier article discussed her life and work and that of her highly acclaimed husband, James Metcalf.

La Tehuana (1996). Silver-plated copper, resin, and electroformed lace fabric. Click on all of the photographs for a larger view of each sculpture.

In September 2009, Mexico Cooks! met and interviewed James Metcalf and Ana Pellicer, internationally acclaimed artists who are long-time residents of Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán. Privileged to photograph a number of their sculptures at their home in September, I was nevertheless unprepared for the visual and emotional impact of Poemas Forjados (Hand-wrought Poems), a lifetime retrospective of Ana Pellicer's work that opened on March 27, 2010 at the Palacio Clavijero in Morelia.

La Libertad Purépecha (1987). Mixed media: fiberglass, wood, plaster of Paris, textiles, copper, and brass. In honor of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the French sculptor who created the original Statue of Liberty, the pleated skirt which represents the traditional guari (Purhépecha woman) garment is the colors of the French flag. I asked Ana Pellicer why she chose to create the body of the sculpture in purple. The simple answer: "She is in mourning."

The 75-sculpture exhibit, which fills several huge rooms at the Clavijero, is divided into themes: Secretos, Mujer, Luz, Poder, Libertad, and Juego (Secrets, Woman, Light, Power, and Sport).

Caja, Jugadores de Pelota (Box, Ball Players), Serie Secretos 2003. Hammered copper, repoussé and silver plate, approximately 20cm long, 12cm wide, and 3cm deep. The sculptured box top represents the pre-Hispanic Purhépecha ball game that may have been the forerunner of both baseball and basketball. The 'Secrets' portion of the exhibit includes boxes, books, clouds, and other sculptures.

Ana Pellicer sculpts predominately in copper, hand-forging and hammering every piece. She works directly on the metal in the traditional pre-Hispanic "technique of fire" that is still practiced by Santa Clara del Cobre's artisans. She begins her labor directly on the tejo (round ingot) of copper. Her sculptures also may include bronce (bronze), hule (hand-harvested rubber), chuspata (lake reed), resina (resin), latón (brass), and plata (silver).

Libro 1 (Book 1), 1970. Hammered repoussé brass, plastic, and paper, approximately 20cm square. Ana Pellicer produced this and other mixed-media sculptured books to record her creative process.

La Medusa, Serie Mujeres, 2010. Cast bronze, repoussé copper, marble and wood. Ana Pellicer points out details of the sculpture; the Medusa's head opens on a hinge, revealing her brain.

For more than two years, Ana Pellicer worked to gather the pieces in this current exhibit. Dispersed in public and private collections around the world, the owners have loaned the sculptures to Michoacán, where they were originally made. "It gives me so much pride to exhibit my sculptures in the enormous rooms of the Palacio Clavijero, where the proportions of the building suit the proportions of the work," said Pellicer.

Querubines, Serie Luz, 1998. Repoussé copper, resin, and iron. Many of the pieces in the series Light include resin, which collects and concentrates the light in each of the sculptures.

The recurrent themes of Pellicer's work–light, power, women, secrets, sport–develop in strength and beauty as the viewer passes from gallery room to gallery room in the Palacio Clavijero. Quotations from philosophers as diverse as Greece's 700 BC poet Sappho and Mexico's 15th century AD poet Netzahuacóyotl dot the exhibit's walls, both taking from and giving depth and comprehension to the works. From Netzahuacóyotl, for example:

    "Percibo lo secreto, lo oculto:
    Así somos,
    somos mortales.
    de cuatro en cuatro nosotros los hombres,
    Todos habremos de irnos,
    todos habremos de morir en la tierra…"

    "I perceive the secret, this hidden thing:
    we are this way,
    we are mortals.
    Four at a time we men,
    All of us must leave,
    All of us must die to this earth…"

Arracada Monumental de la Libertad (Monumental Earring for the Statue of Liberty), 1986. The hand-forged hollow copper earring weighs approximately 45 pounds. Ana Pellicer sculpted the single earring and several other pieces of jewelry to fit the Statue of Liberty on the occasion of her 100th birthday.

Anillo de la Libertad (Ring for the Statue of Liberty), 1986. The repoussé copper and resin ring, made to the same scale as the earring above, fits the ring finger of the Statue of Liberty. The statue measures 305 feet from its base to the tip of her torch.

Objeto Encontrado en la Tumba de una Reina (Object Found in the Tomb of a Queen), Serie Poder, 1996. Hammered copper, glass, and tempered mica. The axe is the pre-Hispanic Purhépecha power symbol. Ana Pellicer described this piece as el hacha santificada (the sanctified ax) because of its halo.

Beisbol (Baseball), Serie Juego 1999. The baseball sculpture measures approximately 70cm in diameter. Pellicer laughingly said, "I signed this huge baseball as if I were a sports star!"

Ana Pellicer herself embodies the five themes of this magnificent retrospective exhibit. A strong, intelligent woman, filled with light, with power, with humor, and with her own creative secrets, Pellicer's life work offers us a penetrating look into her world and our own. Do not miss this opportunity to share her vision.

Poemas Forjados de Ana Pellicer
Palacio Clavijero
Nigromante No. 79, between Av. Madero Poniente y Santiago Tapia
Colonia Centro
Morelia, Michoacán
March 27-June 30, 2010
Hours: 10AM to 6PM, Tuesday through Sunday (closed Mondays)

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27 de November de 2010
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: MEXICO’S CUISINE
Chiles chilacas, cultivated in Queréndaro, Michoacán, are spread on traditional petates (woven reed mats)to dry in the late summer sun. All photos and their captions are copyright Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.

At its meeting in Nairobi, Kenya on November 16, 2010, UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) announced that Mexico, and particularly the state of Michoacán, had been officially inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

According to UNESCO, "The term ‘cultural heritage’ has changed content considerably in recent decades, partially owing to the instruments developed by UNESCO. Cultural heritage does not end at monuments and collections of objects. It also includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe, or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts.

Dra. Gloria López Morales, director of the Mexico City-based Conservatorio de la Cultura Gastronómica Mexicana, spearheaded the latest drive for Mexico to achieve the UNESCO award. Many, many people worked with her to make the dream a reality.

"While fragile, intangible cultural heritage is an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of growing globalization. An understanding of the intangible cultural heritage of different communities helps with intercultural dialogue, and encourages mutual respect for other ways of life.

"The importance of intangible cultural heritage is not the cultural manifestation itself but rather the wealth of knowledge and skills that is transmitted through it from one generation to the next. The social and economic value of this transmission of knowledge is relevant for minority groups and for mainstream social groups within a State, and is as important for developing States as for developed ones.

In Uruapan, Michoacán, blue corn tortillas, tomatoes, and chiles serranos toast on a traditional clay comal (griddle).

"Intangible cultural heritage is:
- Traditional, contemporary and living at the same time: intangible cultural heritage does not only represent inherited traditions from the past but also contemporary rural and urban practices in which diverse cultural groups take part;
- Inclusive: we may share expressions of intangible cultural heritage that are similar to those practised by others. Whether they are from the neighbouring village, from a city on the opposite side of the world, or have been adapted by peoples who have migrated and settled in a different region, they all are intangible cultural heritage: they have been passed from one generation to another, have evolved in response to their environments and they contribute to giving us a sense of identity and continuity, providing a link from our past, through the present, and into our future. Intangible cultural heritage does not give rise to questions of whether or not certain practices are specific to a culture. It contributes to social cohesion, encouraging a sense of identity and responsibility which helps individuals to feel part of one or different communities and to feel part of society at large;
- Representative: intangible cultural heritage is not merely valued as a cultural good, on a comparative basis, for its exclusivity or its exceptional value. It thrives on its basis in communities and depends on those whose knowledge of traditions, skills and customs are passed on to the rest of the community, from generation to generation, or to other communities;
- Community-based: intangible cultural heritage can only be heritage when it is recognized as such by the communities, groups or individuals that create, maintain and transmit it – without their recognition, nobody else can decide for them that a given expression or practice is their heritage."
Sra. Chef Alicia Gironella de'Angeli headed the group of high-level chefs, culinary professionals and food aficionados in Mexico which, in 2000, began to organize the 2005 application for the UNESCO designation. For the next five years, Sra. Gironella continued to work toward the goal that Mexico finally achieved in 2010.

Cristina Palacio, Mexico City-based food historian and indefatigable promoter of Mexico's culinary heritage.

Text from the UNESCO documents as they relate to Mexico:

"Traditional Mexican cuisine is a comprehensive cultural model comprising farming, ritual practices, age-old skills, culinary techniques and ancestral community customs and manners. It is made possible by collective participation in the entire traditional food chain: from planting and harvesting to cooking and eating.

In Cherán, Michoacán, a Purhépecha woman waits to sell delicious flor de calabaza (squash flowers). Photo courtesy Roset Claes.

Outdoor kitchen, San José de la Torre, Michoacán.

"The basis of the system is founded on corn, beans and chile; unique farming methods such as milpas (rotating swidden fields of corn and other crops) and chinampas (man-made farming islets in lake areas); cooking processes such as nixtamal-ization (lime-hulling maize, which increases its nutritional value); and singular utensils including grinding stones and stone mortars. Native ingredients such as varieties of tomatoes, squashes, avocados, cocoa and vanilla augment the basic staples. Mexican cuisine is elaborate and symbol-laden, with everyday tortillas and tamales, both made of corn, forming an integral part of Day of the Dead offerings.

Late-summer corn shocks mark the end of harvest in Cuanajo, Michoacán.

Ears of red and blue corn, hung to dry from a wooden garabato (hook) in a traditional Michoacán kitchen.

Preparing blue corn masa (dough) on a volcanic stone metate (grinding stone). This masa, used to make tortillas, is made from freshly ground nixtamal-ized blue corn, moistened as needed with water. It has no other ingredients.

Atole de grano (corn soup prepared with fresh anise) dates to the milenia before Mexico's Spanish conquest. All ingredients for this delicious soup are original to the New World, as are the copper that is hand-hammered to make this cazo (cooking pot) and the pine that's hand-carved to form the cuchara (spoon).

"Collectives of female cooks and other practitioners devoted to raising crops and traditional cuisine are found in the State of Michoacán and across Mexico. Their knowledge and techniques express community identity, reinforce social bonds, and build stronger local, regional and national identities. Those efforts in Michoacán also underline the importance of traditional cuisine as a means of sustainable development."

Charales (tiny fish), used in Mexico's cuisine for thousands of years, are still abundant in our lakes. These fish are eaten whole in many different preparations. Click on any photo for a larger view.

Pale light filters through the high window of a traditional Michoacán kitchen. Many 21st Century rural Mexican homes do not have refrigerators.

The UNESCO decision as it relates to Mexico:

"The Committee decides that [this element] satisfies the criteria for inscription on the Representative List, as follows:
- R1: Traditional Mexican cuisine is central to the cultural identity of the communities that practise and transmit it from generation to generation;
- R2: Its inscription on the Representative List could enhance the visibility of intangible cultural heritage and promote respect for cultural diversity and human creativity;
- R3: Current and planned safeguarding measures include consultations and research projects as well as practical training, with the support of the State and the communities concerned;
- R4: Practitioners participated actively in the nomination process and provided their free, prior and informed consent;
- R5: Traditional Mexican cuisine is included in the Inventory of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Mexico maintained by the National Council for Culture and Arts."
On November 16, 2010, Michoacán governor Leonel Godoy Rangel (right) and Dr. Genovevo Figueroa (Michoacán Secretary of Tourism, left) made the official announcement of the UNESCO designation.

All of us who have been involved in this enormous effort, all of the hundreds of traditional cooks who keep the flame of Mexico's ancient culinary excellence alive, all of those who believe in the sanctity of Mexico's trinity of corn, beans, and chile, and all who simply crave a meal of truly Mexican cuisines celebrate UNESCO's recognition of Mexico's cooks, villages, culinary heritage and her tremendous worth. We who are from Michoacán invite you to get to know what UNESCO calls 'the Michoacán paradigm'. We simply call it home cooking.

The wild mirasol, symbol of Michoacán's splendid autumn, invites you to celebrate with us.

Special thanks to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization for the use of excerpts from its public documents.

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20 de November de 2010
Mexico Cooks! at Restaurante JASO in Mexico City

The chefs and entire staff at Restaurante JASO combine close attention to every detail and every nuance of ambiance, service, wine, and innovative, creatively prepared food. Mexico Cooks! photo.

A little over a year ago, Mexico Cooks!' delightful friend Tony Chinn Anaya moved from Morelia to an apartment in Colonia Polanco, Mexico City. One day soon after the move, Tony emailed me to say, "You will not believe who our neighbors are: the chef/owners at JASO. The restaurant is fantastic! When can you come meet them?" It's taken me this long to get there. If I had understood way back then the fabulous experience that awaited me, I would have immediately asked Tony, "Is tomorrow too soon?"

Our waiter began by presenting our wine (Casa Lapostolle Cuvée Alexandre Chilean Chardonnay, Atalayas Vineyard 2007), followed by a tray of six delicious and equally beautiful house-baked breads. The three breads pictured are (left) rye with nuts and raisins, (top) pumpkin, and (right) a heavenly herb-scented parmesan roll. The surprising detail: all of JASO's fresh butter (back right) is churned in the restaurant kitchens. The restaurant also pasteurizes its own milk and makes its own ice cream. Mexico Cooks! photo.

Chefs Jared Reardon and Sonia Arias met and fell in love while both were students at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. The CIA at Hyde Park is the flagship of what is arguably the finest culinary school in the world, with three additional campuses in California, Texas, and Singapore. Chef Jared specializes in JASO's avant garde savories; Chef Sonia specializes in an extensive menu of glorious sweets. The twosome is unbeatable.

The light, citrus-y, cream-finished Chardonnay that we drank throughout our meal.

After stellar ten-year restaurant stints in the United States (Sonia: Daniel, Danube, and Bouley; Jared: New Orleans Marriott, Bouley, and others), the couple decided to live their restaurateurs' dream in Mexico City, Sonia's home. Sonia laughed, "He knew nothing about my culture except what he had seen when my family visited us in the States. Not just my mother and father, but the whole extended family came for holidays, graduations, and other special events. He thought we were all crazy, but this is how family lives in Mexico: loving, close, and unified. He loved it and wanted to see more of it, and even though I'd been in the United States for years, I was so happy to come home."

The entertaining and delicious appetizer: small house-baked cones filled with ceviche made from fresh raw tuna, seaweed, avocado, cucumbers, and fresh peaches, with a soy/lemon dressing. The black sesame seeds topping the ceviche imitate chocolate sprinkles. Photo courtesy Tony Anaya.

Chef Sonia selected a special multiple-course tasting menu for me and my dining companion, who else but Tony Anaya. Tony and I were doing just fine with the extensive small-portion meal until the desserts started appearing on the table. After the first two small dessert courses, we were groaning–but we couldn't stop without at least a taste of everything that the waiters brought us.

One of our several waiters pours puréed eggplant soup flavored with sun-dried tomato over grilled langostino. This is the only dish we tried that did not leave me craving another serving. Mexico Cooks! photo.

A single ravioli stuffed with rich foie gras, sauced with black truffles, adorned with thin ribbons of Venezuelan chocolate and shavings of parmesan cheese and accompanied by a fresh red raspberry. This, in my opinion, was the most memorable savory dish of the afternoon. Tony insisted that I not lick the dish, although I would have. That's why we had bread–to scoop up every bit of the sauce. Mexico Cooks! photo.

Chef Jared sources nearly all of the restaurant's ingredients in Mexico. The few exceptions include Kubata pork, which he purchases especially from an Iowa farm, and sweet corn, which is not grown commercially in Mexico. "The restaurant seats 120, and we serve between 70 and 100 clients per day. We recommend that our clients make reservations for cena (the evening meal), as the tables are usually filled at those hours."

Slices of rare duck breast crusted with Thai pepper, served over a seta mushroom and fresh seasonal vegetable risotto, sauced with cherry-laced port. Photo courtesy Tony Anaya.

Chef Sonia and I agreed that a true experience of fine dining at JASO's level is rare in Mexico. Wonderful food is definitely available everywhere here, from the most casual street stand to meals served in beautiful rooms, but Mexico has long been a culture of home-prepared meals and restaurants specializing in so-called 'Continental' cuisines. In recent years, Italian and Argentine restaurants have dominated the scene, with alta cocina mexicana just coming to the forefront. Four-year-old JASO brings a mix of ingredients to the arena, with high-end and obviously American influences predominating.

To cleanse our palates before dessert, our waiter presented us with tiny glowing cubes of house-made fresh orange gelatin balancing a quail's egg size scoop of Chef Sonia's guanábana sorbet. Photo courtesy Tony Anaya.

Confit de manzana con crujiente de nuez y helado de canela (sugar-preserved apple with crunchy nuts and cinnamon ice cream). In reality, this marvelously clever dessert was a deconstructed apple strudel a la mode! Mexico Cooks! photo.

I asked Chef Sonia why she chose repostería (desserts) as her specialty. "Ever since I was a little girl, just five or six years old, I have loved to bake. Even when I was that young, I begged to take courses in cake and cookie making instead of going to the movies with my little friends. I went to classes with women I thought of as old ladies–they were probably about the age I am now, but they seemed really, really old to me. I baked and baked, and even my sweets-loving family couldn't eat it all. I took the leftovers to school for my friends.

The tray of house-made bonbones de chocolate blanco (white chocolate marshmallows). I wanted to put five or six of these sinful delicacies in my pockets, but reason prevailed. Photo courtesy Tony Anaya.

"When I was still just a kid, everyone knew that if an occasion demanded a cake, I was the one to make it. When I was still in secundaria (middle school), I took a diplomado (degree course) in baking and pastry. I went to school from early in the morning till 2:30 in the afternoon. Then I came home and had a fast comida (main meal of Mexico's day) and was at the baking course from 4:00PM until ten at night. After that I had to do my regular homework and find time to sleep! My parents said I could keep doing it as long as I kept my grades up, and I did.

"My teacher in that baking course had been to the CIA and pushed me to go there, too. I filled out the application for a continuing education course in their summer school, and they accepted me. I don't know how I convinced my parents to let me go to New York at that age, but they finally said yes. When I got to the CIA, they took one look at me and said, 'You can't stay here! You are far too young, you have to go home.' I told them, 'My age was on the application, and you accepted me–I have to stay.' And I did stay, the youngest person there. I took classes all morning, took a double class in the afternoon, and helped the chefs. Trust me, my parents were not happy at all that I wanted to be a chef, but they let me go ahead. I took both an Associate of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts degrees at the CIA. Now, of course, my parents are in love with my career choice. Best of all, every day I get to live my passion for fine desserts."

To finish, a cappuchino and, to jog our memories, light-as-air madeleines dusted with powdered sugar. Mexico Cooks! photo.

The only dessert that we unfortunately devoured before taking a photo (it's possible that at that point we were all but comatose from our meal) was a rich, melting Belgian chocolate tarte served with mocha semifreddo and garnished with granules of expresso coffee. The tarte, exquisitely delicious, put us right over the edge into please-don't-bring-us-more-food territory.

Mexico Cooks! tours JASO's kitchen with Chef Jared. All kitchen photos courtesy Tony Anaya.

Chef Jared shops extensively at Mexico City's Mercado de Abastos (wholesale market), bringing cases of the freshest possible fruits and vegetables to the restaurant. Whatever is best at the market is used on the menu at JASO. He's always particularly interested in produce that is not farmed commercially; many vendors at the Abastos bring unusual items from rural areas. Ingredients not often seen elsewhere are found here, prepared in innovative ways for the most exacting palates.

Guillermo Mejía demonstrates the composition of the ceviche appetizer. He also bakes the cones to order (the shiny waffle cone apparatus is at the bottom of the photo).

They let me cook–better said, they let me stir!

Jesús Sánchez of the pastry team decorates a cake with fresh apple slices.

JASO's enormously talented pastry chef Sonia Arias with Mexico Cooks!. Both Sonia and Jared work twelve to fourteen hour days, six days a week. Sonia gets up extra-early every day to exercise "so I can keep up with the pastry guys–their stamina is amazing" and Jared spends a few hours several times a week at Mexico City's enormous Mercado de Abastos (wholesale market). Photo courtesy Tony Anaya.

The day we were at JASO was the grand opening of the restaurant's retail bakery. The restaurant supplies its special house-made desserts and ice creams to a few other Mexico City restaurants. In addition, JASO caters special events and will prepare its decadent and beautiful cakes to your order.

Pastry chef Sonía Arias, bubbling over about her completely outrageous cakes. Photo courtesy JASO.

The bakery, situated at the front of the house, has several tables created especially for enjoying JASO's incredible desserts with a coffee, a glass of port, or another drink of your choice. Mexico Cooks! photo.

Chefs Jared and Sonia have no plans to open another restaurant. "It's so important that we are both here to assure that every detail is right and every client has a wonderful experience," said Sonia. "I can't imagine trying to be in two places at once. With the restaurant and the bakery, plus the catering and special-order cakes we sell–life is full. We're happy and our clients are happy. That's what matters to us."

Just one of a pyramid of decadently chocolate JASO Bakery cupcakes. A new batch will be fresh out of the oven when you need a sweet Mexico City treat.

Restaurante JASO
Newton #88
Colonia Polanco
México, DF, México
Tel: 55.5545.7476

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

13 de November de 2010
Mexico Culinary Bloggers’ Meeting, Mexico City

Window, blue sky, and clouds from the inside at Restaurante Los Panchos, Calle Tolstoy #9, Colonia Anzures, Mexico City, where Mexico's culinary bloggers met formally for the first time on October 6, 2010. We met, of course, over comida (Mexico's main meal of the day).

Mexico and her deliciously diverse cuisines are popping up wherever you look these days. Taco trucks are hot from New York City to Los Angeles, Germany and France are snarfing down everything from enchiladas to flan, and traditional Mexican dishes are in worldwide ascendence. What's on your plate today is not just Taco Bell.

Claudio Poblete and Silvia Ayala, producers of Culinaria Mexicana, a marvelous monthly on-line Spanish-language magazine about all things related to Mexico's cuisines and wines.

Best of all, the joys of Mexico's cuisines–documented in print by such authors as Diana Kennedy, Rick Bayless, and Marge Poore, among many others both Mexican and foreign–are now all over the Internet. Many of Mexico's current culinary bloggers live in or near Mexico City, and earlier this month a few of us met for comida to discuss the present and the future of our craft and passion: writing about what we eat and love in Mexico.

Los Panchos plate includes (from six o'clock) ensalada de nopalitos con jitomate y queso (salad of nopal cactus strips with tomato and crumbled cheese), sliced avocado, limón (Mexican lime), fresh-made guacamole, chicharrón, and one of the house specialties, tostada petrolera.

One of the bloggers who was unfortunately unable to attend the group is the most excellent writer and investigator Rubén Hernández (Crónicas del Sabor). While this first meeting was in the planning stage, Rubén suggested that such a group might provoke the beginning of something more than just a casual let's-put-a-face-to-the-blog-names get-together over comida. Other, more serious topics required discussion: the future of food and eating in Mexico, the rescue and revival of Mexico's millenia-old culinary traditions, the place of culinary blogging in this country, and other related and equally important themes.

From left: Nicholas Gilman (Good Food in Mexico City), Catherine Bardrick (Small Fish in the Big Taco), and Juliet Lambert (Spice Catering), all bloggers living in Mexico's capital.

Los Panchos house-made salsa roja–spicy red sauce.

For once in our careers, the food we were about to eat was not the main item on the agenda! All of us, including occasional blogger Ruth Alegría (Alegría in Mexico), had to take time out from the meeting to study the Los Panchos menu.

One of Los Panchos' signature dishes: the famous tostada petrolera, a crispy corn tortilla smeared with frijolitos refritos (well-fried beans), then topped with minced onions, cilantro, and crumbled cheese. Add a dollop of the table sauce of your choice–red or green–and oh my!

The charming and extremely knowledgeable Adriana Legaspi, creator and leader of Gastronomía Prehispánica de Malinalco. Adriana said, "I'm not really a writer, but I'm so happy that I was invited to come today!"

Our waiter at Los Panchos took a terrific picture of the bloggers group. Left to right: Nick Gilman, Catherine Bardrick, Juliet Lambert, Claudio Poblete, Adriana Legaspi, Silvia Ayala, Mexico Cooks!, Ruth's granddaughter Emma, and Ruth Alegría. Several other bloggers were unable to attend this first meeting, but we'll plan soon for the second get-together.

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6 de November de 2010
Noche de Muertos en Michoacán: Night of the Dead in Michoacán

Highly decorated calaca de cartón (cardboard skull) for Noche de Muertos (Night of the Dead) decor.

For the last several days here in Michoacán, people have been cleaning up their family members' graves at local cemeteries. Everything is ready for the wonderful Noche de Muertos (Night of the Dead) festivities during the first two days of November.

Pantéon Municipal (Municipal Cemetery), Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán. Mexico Cooks! photo from Noche de Muertos 2009.

Mexico Cooks! is touring Morelia and Pátzcuaro again during this special time of year. We've attended one or another special Noche de Muertos event every day for an entire week! Traditional ofrendas (altars dedicated to the dead), spectacular crafts exhibits, concerts, and annual concursos (contests) have filled our days and nights. Known in most parts of Mexico as Día de Muertos (the Day of the Dead), here in Michoacán we call the night of November 1 Noche de Muertos (Night of the Dead). By either name, the festival as it's celebrated in Mexico is unique in the world.

These four-inch-long skeletal figures, laid out on their petates (woven rush mats), are hooked up to intravenous bottles of either beer or tequila! Mexico Cooks! has more information about all of the special figures for Noche de Muertos.

Tiny sugar footwear no more than two inches long, in styles from baby booties to high-heeled pumps, is ready to be given as gifts or for placement on an ofrenda. You'll find many more Night of the Dead photos from 2009 on Mexico Cooks!.

Mexico celebrates death as it celebrates life, with extreme enjoyment in the simplest things. Life and death are both honored states. The home ofrenda (altar) usually memorializes a cherished relative, while an altar in a business is normally built to the memory of a political figure (either reviled or beloved), or a figure from the entertainment world. Traditional decorations include the cempasúchil (marigold) and cordón del obispo, pata de león or terciopelo, all regional names for cockscomb flowers, which are used in profusion in churches, cemeteries, and homes.

Sugar skulls are often inscribed in icing with a living friend's name and given to that person as a small token of admiration.

Relatives take favorite foods and beverages to the grave of a loved one gone before. It's said that the dead partake of the spirit of the food, while the living enjoy the physical treats at the cemetery.

Pan de muertos (bread of the dead) is decorated with bone-shaped bread and sugar. The bread itself is flavored with orange and anise.

This miniature ofrenda (altar) is filled with tiny representations of treats that the deceased loved in life.

Several years ago, an article in the New York Times quoted Mexico Cooks! about the Noche de los Muertos: "There's a mutual nostalgia. The living remember the dead, and the dead remember the taste of home." That nostalgia imbues the cities and villages of Michoacán at this time of year just as surely as do woodsmoke and the scent of toasting tortillas.

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30 de October de 2010
El Mesón del Queso Cotija–Región de Origen: Michoacán Aged Cheese
Queso Cotija Gourmet, produced in the Jalmich region of far-western Michoacán by the Mesón del Queso Cotija, SRL de CV.

If you live in the United States, you have more than likely seen packaged cheese labeled 'queso tipo Cotija' (Cotija-style cheese) in your supermarket. You may actually have purchased queso tipo Cotija to crumble on your frijoles refritos (refried beans) or your enchiladas, but have you ever asked yourself why the cheese is Cotija-style? Have you ever wondered what Cotija might be, and what a genuine Cotija cheese is, given that the product in your supermarket is labeled Cotija style?

The Jalmich region of Michoacán is located in the westernmost part of the state along the border with the state of Jalisco. This small area is the región de origen (region of origin) of genuine queso Cotija. Click on the image for a larger view, including the small map in the bottom right-hand corner. Map courtesy Esteban Barragán López.

For starters, Cotija is the largest town (current population about 20,000) in the Jalmich region of far-western Michoacán, where this delicious cheese originated soon after the Spanish brought cattle to what would become Mexico.

Defining what makes a genuine Cotija cheese is a bit more difficult. For many years, local producers have worked diligently to preserve, protect, and promote this well-known but little understood traditional product of Michoacán. Brands of Cotija cheese that are factory-produced or which are produced outside the narrow parameters of the Jalmich region are those that must be called Cotija-style cheese.

General Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, president of Mexico from 1934-1940, introduced hardy Cebú (Brahma) cattle to Mexico in 1925. He believed that the Cebú was ideal for both the tropical and arid regions of the República. His son, Cuahutémoc Cárdenas Solórzano, continues to raise Cebú cattle in Apatzingán, in Michoacán's Tierra Caliente (hot inland lowlands).

Brahma cattle, now cross-bred with Mexican-born or Swiss cattle, need four years to come to maturity and breed. The cows can produce three to four liters of high-quality milk per day while nursing a calf. Cotija cheese producers milk their cows only in the morning. They make cheese from the rich milk only during the June to November rainy season, when the cattle feed on local grasses.

One artisan-made queso Cotija weighs approximately 20-23 kilos (44-50 pounds).

Production of traditional Cotija cheese is limited specifically to the Jalmich region of western Michoacán. Two hundred producers in that area continue to make Cotija cheese. Ten liters of milk are needed to make one kilo of cheese; each cheese weighs in at 20 kilos or more. One nursing cow can produce enough milk during the rainy season to make a single cheese.

At the cava (aging cellar), each cheese is marked with the date that it was made. The cava is strictly controlled for temperature and the intrusion of bacteria. When Mexico Cooks! visited, the producers required us to walk through a disinfecting shoe bath prior to entering the sealed cava.

Sign posted on the entrance to the cava. No mice allowed!

The distinctive characteristics of genuine Cotija cheese are the following:
- Elaborated uniquely on farms in the mountains of Jalmich, Michoacán
- Made from fresh whole leche bronca (raw milk)
- Milk from free-range cattle
- From cows that are nursing their calves
- Prepared with natural rennet from the stomachs of ruminants
- Prepared with artesanal sea salt from Colima
- Production limited to each year's rainy season (June to November)
- Farm-produced and aged in a cava (aging cellar) under strict sanitary regimentation for a minimum of three months
- 100% natural
Dr. Esteban Barragan López, professor at El Colegio de Michoacán and director of promotion for the Mesón del Queso Cotija, points out certain properties of a queso Cotija.

Every afternoon, local farmers hand wrap milk solids in henequen-fiber cloth. Producers initially squeeze the milk solids by hand to drain off excess whey. The cheese is formed in lightweight parota wood molds; then the makers place heavy stones on the molds to continue pressing the cheese. The whey (liquids that run off as the pressed cheese becomes solid) can be used to make requesón, similar to ricotta or cottage cheese, or it can be fed to the farmer's pigs. Eighteen hours later, the cheese is removed from the mold. Two weeks afterward, the wooden belt around the cheese is removed. The cheese continues to age and can be sliced after about three months.

José Luis Barragán Valencia, director of sales for the Mesón del Queso Cotija, examines a cava shelf filled with aging cheeses. The dated cheeses in the cava range from those that are newly-made to others that are about four years old.

The sign on the cava entrance includes its logo, registered as the Marca Colectiva in 2005.

In 2005, Mexico awarded this traditional local cheese with the first Marca Colectiva (Collective Mark) ever given to a Mexican artisanal food product. This distinction recognized the role of the particular Jalmich region, its cheese producers, and the crucial work of the Mesón del Queso Cotija in preserving traditional cheese production. The designation is similar to that of products like Champagne and Roquefort, which enjoy the coveted PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status. Much like the Mexican Marca Colectiva, the PDO also refers to specific geographic regions in Europe where certain protected products are produced.

Sr. Barragán Valencia uses a Cryovac machine to package a cut of aged queso Cotija. The labels of all cheese cuts indicate the age of the cheese in the package.

In addition to the sought-after and prestigious Marca Colectiva designation, artisan queso Cotija from the Mesón del Queso Cotija won first prize in 2006 in Italy, in a championship of high-quality cheeses from all over the world.

The Mesón del Queso Cotija also markets pre-crumbled queso Cotija.

Due to current United States Food and Drug Administration restrictions on cheeses made of unpasteurized milk, it is not yet possible to export this artisan-made queso Cotija to the USA. However, the cheese is widely available in Mexico, sold in such diverse locations as the prestigious Palacio de Hierro department stores, Restaurante Nicos and La Nicolasa organic grocery shop in Mexico City, and Soriana supermarkets all over Mexico, among other venues.

Breakfast at the Mesón del Queso Cotija: queso Cotija, of course! In addition, we relished plates of delicious fresh fruit picked on the premises, eggs from the Mesón's chickens, avocados from trees on the property, home-prepared chilaquiles with thick cream and cheese, requesón frito (cottage-type cheese fried with chile, onions, and tomato), and cafe de olla (coffee, flavored with cinnamon and sweetened with piloncillo (Mexican brown sugar).

What hard work it is to be Mexico Cooks!. There is always some fascinating place to visit, and always some wonderful food to experience. Come along! We'd be delighted to show you our insider secrets.

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23 de October de 2010
Susana Trilling Tours Michoacán with Mexico Cooks!

Susana Trilling, internationally acclaimed chef, tour guide, and owner of Seasons of My Heart cooking school in Oaxaca, recently toured western Michoacán with Mexico Cooks!. It was Susana's first trip to Michoacán, but definitely not her last.

Mexico Cooks! was recently quite tickled to take Susana Trilling on a cook's tour of some off-the-beaten-path culinary highlights of western Michoacán. Susana, after more than twenty years in Oaxaca, was enticed to visit Morelia and this region of Michoacán by two of Mexico Cooks!' good friends, Cynthia Martínez of Morelia's Restaurante San Miguelito and Chef Joaquín Bonilla, director of the Colegio Culinario de Morelia. Susana's visit, prompted by her desire to see Michoacán and taste its marvelous regional delicacies, was a prelude to a visit to Michoacán that she and Mexico Cooks! will guide together in the near future. It was enormously exciting to meet and travel with Susana, who in her touring style is Mexico Cooks!' alma gemela (soul mate).

Renowned Purhépecha cook Benedicta Alejo of San Lorenzo, Michoacán (left), photographed with Restaurante San Miguelito owner Cynthia Martínez. Photo courtesy Rubén Hernández.

San Miguelito's famous Rincón de las Solteronas (Single Women's Corner). This dining room contains more statues of San Antonio than you can count–thousands! Each is hung upside down (to get Saint Anthony's attention) as prescribed by tradition, to attend to a woman's prayers for a husband. It's San Antonio's job to hear your prayer, if you're a woman seeking a mate! Just remember that the answer could be yes–or it could be no!

To start off Susana Trilling's week-long tour of Michoacán, we were invited to join Cynthia Martínez, Benedicta Alejo, and several other friends at Cynthia's Restaurante San Miguelito. It was an amazing introduction to the arts and crafts of Michoacán as well as to its regional cooking–everything in the restaurant is a gorgeous example of the best crafts work of Michoacán (and other parts of Mexico), and everything is for sale. Featured in such magazines as Travel and Leisure, Día Siete, and Estilo México for its beautiful surroundings and its food, Restaurante San Miguelito is a treat for all five senses. Our meal, chosen especially for us by Cynthia, introduced Susana to the taste of Michoacán.

Early the next morning we were off to chilly Pátzcuaro, where we enjoyed an outdoor breakfast near the Basílica: corundas (regional tamales) stuffed with doble crema (similar to cream cheese) and rajas de chile poblano (strips of fresh poblano chiles), wrapped in long, green corn leaves, and steamed. On the left in the photo is Susana's companion, Joaquín Jiménez.

Close-up of one of Pátzcuaro's gigantic corundas–it's nearly the size of a softball. These corundas are served topped with lots of salsa muy picante (hot!) and crema de mesa (table cream). In the upper right corner of the photo is a big mug of atole de guayaba (a delicious hot drink, flavored with sweet, fresh guavas and thickened with corn dough). At this same booth, we also tasted two other atoles: canela (cinnamon) and tamarindo (tamarind fruit).

At Galería El Manantial, Pátzcuaro. Photo courtesy Rick Davis, proprietor.

And then we shopped. And shopped, and shopped some more! Naturally Mexico Cooks! believes that the arts and crafts of Michoacán are Mexico's best, and we saw much of the best of the best. Susana's favorite stores in the Pátzcuaro area were Galería El Manantial, Artesanías Irepan, and Artesano Saúl Tavera e Hijos.

The following day we visited several artisans: Belia Canals, whose glorious clay catrinas you see in the photo above, pottery workshops in the artisan village of Capula, and the painted furniture workshops at MFA/Eronga.

Left to right: Chef Joaquín Bonilla, Mexico Cooks!, Chef Blanca Vidales (owner of the eponymous La Mesa de Blanca), and Susana Trilling. Remember that this was a cook's tour–mostly we traveled from meal to meal, eating and exclaiming over new-to-Susana flavors and food combinations. We joined Chef Joaquín Bonilla for a long, leisurely comida (main meal of the day) at La Mesa de Blanca in rural Ziracuaretiro.

Esteban Barragán López of Mesón del Queso Cotija shows Susana some of the characteristics of fine, aged Cotija cheese.

On Sunday, we drove for several hours into the wilds of JalMich territory, in far western Michoacán. Our destination was the cheese cava (like a wine cellar) at the Mesón del Queso Cotija, where famous Cotija cheese is aged to perfection. In the next few weeks, Mexico Cooks! will bring you a full report on the extraordinary work being done at the Mesón.

On Monday, we were invited to the Colegio Culinario de Morelia, the only school of gastronomy in Michoacán that offers a licenciatura (full degree program). The event that the students and staff had prepared for Susana, her companion Joaquín, and me was heartfelt and beautiful. Two student demonstrations of Purhépecha food preparation, regional songs and ballet folklórico, and a wildly appreciative student body joyfully greeted Susana's visit. They had created this lovely tableau combining Susana's book with typical Michoacán foods and crafts.

After a long comida at Restaurante LU, Morelia, Chef Lucero Soto Arriaga (left) and Susana Trilling posed for a photograph. We dined with other friends: Chef Joaquín Bonilla and Arquitecto Gerardo Torres of Morelia's Museo del Dulce (Candy Museum). You've read about Restaurante LU before, but the menú de degustación (tasting menu) has recently been updated and will be featured in Mexico Cooks! within the next six weeks.

After our hours-long comida at Restaurante LU, Arq. Torres had arranged a full tour (complete with–oh wretched excess!–lots of tasting!) at the Museo del Dulce. In the photo above, you see delicate, sweetly flavorful candied rose petals, the latest beautiful offering at the Museum store. Who could resist just one (or maybe two, but who's counting) of these tiny treats?

To end our week of regional Michoacán food tasting, we had our farewell almuerzo (hearty late breakfast) at Fonda Marceva in downtown Morelia.

Did Susana have a good time? Here's what she said:

"It was inspiring to be around all your knowledge and network of wonderful people that you got together to show us the magic of Michoacán! I can see why you love it so much. Not only is it physically beautiful but the spirit of the people is engaging and contagious. We left feeling so well received and in awe of the talent of Michoacanos, and we felt that we learned so much! ! Everyone at the school was impressed by the dulces [candies] and the artesanías [arts and crafts] we brought back. If it hadn't been for you, we never could have seen and done so much...You are incredible!"

If you would like a culinary and cultural tour of Morelia and Michoacán, a tour designed especially for you, just click on the link below.

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16 de October de 2010