Category: Anniversary

Eat My Globe and The Day of the Dead, Revisited

For the next month, Mexico Cooks! will publish a retrospective of articles about the Day (and Night) of the Dead in Mexico. This brief article was published originally on November 24, 2007, when Mexico Cooks! was just a few months old.

Mexico Cooks!' friend Simon Majumdar, on his first tour of Mexico, joined us for a week-long whirlwind crawl to some of our favorite food sites in Guadalajara and Morelia. In between restaurants, taco stands, and walking-around food, we introduced him to the Day of the Dead in both cities.

Papel maché skull masks at the Tianguis del Día de los Muertos, Guadalajara.

Fancy-dress clay catrines (skeletons), each about 7" high, ready for an evening out on the town.

Little clay calacas (skeletons) in sombreros and serapes, the perfect size for hanging from your car's rear-view mirror.

Muñecas de cartón (cardboard dolls) dressed in crepe paper and sequins.

Part of a large ofrenda (altar) in Morelia's Centro Histórico. This altar was dedicated to Don Vasco de Quiroga, one of Michoacán's most historic figures and the first bishop of the state.

A traditional ofrenda (with a twist–click on the photo to get a better view of the hand creeping out of the grave) at Morelia's Hotel Virrey de Mendoza. Click on any photo to enlarge it.

The Plaza San Agustín in Morelia. The ofrenda covered the entire plaza. The central pyramid is made of carrizo (bamboo) and ears of corn. It's surrounded by cempasúchil and terciopelo (marigolds and cock's comb flowers). The cempasúchil fragrance leads the spirits of the dead back to earth and the deep maroon terciopelo is a color of mourning.

A skeletal pair in the Jardín de las Rosas, the garden outside the Conservatorio de las Rosas in Morelia.

This ofrenda, in front of Morelia's Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, is dedicated to Frida Kahlo.

At the time of this 2007 article, our guest was traveling the world to research his first book, Eat My Globe. Today, Simon Majumdar is a well-known and well-respected Food Network personality, with several more books to his credit. His most recent, published a bit earlier in 2015, is Fed, White, and Blue: Finding America With My Fork.

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

10 de October de 2015
Seasonal Chiles en Nogada: The Mexican Flag on Your Plate
Mexico Cooks! couldn't start the month of September without paying tribute to our iconic chiles en nogada (chiles in walnut sauce), the Mexican flag on your plate.

Mexico celebrates its independence the entire month of September with parades, parties, and traditional food and drink in restaurants and at home. The traditional festive dish during the weeks before and after the Independence Day holiday is chiles en nogada, a magnificent tribute to the seasonal availability of granadas (pomegranates) and walnuts. From mid- August till mid-October, fresh pomegranates and 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.

This festive dish is traditionally served especially on September 15 or 16 in honor of Mexico's Independence Day, though it is popular anytime in the late summer and early fall. During August and September in the highlands of Mexico, particularly in Mexico City and Puebla, the dish is very popular. On streets bordering city markets and tianguis (street markets), you will see village women sitting on blankets painstakingly cracking open nutshells and peeling the thin brown skin from each freshly harvested walnut. It is important to use the freshest walnuts possible, as they produce such a creamy, rich sauce that it is worth the effort demanded to peel them. Yes, the recipe is time-consuming…but you and your guests will jump up and shout "VIVA!" when you've licked the platters clean.

Fresh peaches, in season now.

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 Tablespoon sea salt
Biznaga cristalizada (candied barrel cactus).

For the picadillo
- 4 Tablespoons freshly rendered pork lard or canola oil
- 1/3 cup chopped white onion
- 3 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3 heaping Tablespoons raisins
- 1 or 2 chiles serrano, finely minced
- 2 Tablespoons chopped walnuts or pecans
- 2 Tablespoons chopped candied biznaga (cactus)
- 2 fresh peaches, skinned and diced
- 1 fresh pear, peeled and chopped
- 1 apple, peeled and chopped
- 1 extremely ripe platano macho (plantain)
- 1 large potato, peeled and diced
- 3 large, ripe tomatoes, roasted, peeled and chopped
- sea salt to taste
Chiles poblano. Choose the largest chiles with the smoothest sides for easy roasting.

For the Chiles

6 fresh chiles poblano, roasted, peeled, and seeded, leaving the stem intact

Newly harvested, freshly peeled walnuts. All of the shell and the thin brown skin must be removed to make smooth, creamy-white nogada (walnut sauce). Photo courtesy Gabriela.

For the Walnut Sauce
- 1 cup fresh walnuts
- 6 ounces doble crema or full-fat cream cheese at room temperature
- 1-1/2 cups crema mexicana or 1-1/4 cups sour cream thinned with milk
- about 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
Fresh, seasonal pomegranates, available now in Mexico's markets.

For the Garnish
- 1 Tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds
Method

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.

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 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon, pepper, and cloves, then, stir in the raisins, the 2 Tablespoons chopped walnuts. Add the chopped pear, apple, and potato, 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 1 day in advance.

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 on absorbent paper until completely dry. Cover and set aside. The chiles may be prepared a day in advance.

At least 3 hours in advance, place the 1 cup walnuts in a small pan of boiling water. Remove from the heat and let them sit for 5 minutes. Drain the nuts and, when cool, rub off as much of the dark skin as possible. Chop 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, if using, until thoroughly combined. Reserve at room temperature.

The stuffed chiles pictured above were dipped into an egg coating and fried prior to finishing with walnut sauce and garnishes. In Mexico, passionate diners argue the pros and cons of coating the chiles; many insist that coating and frying is not traditional, and many insist that it is. Mexico Cooks! prefers chiles en nogada with no coating.

Preheat the oven to 250ºF. When ready to serve, reheat the meat filling and stuff the chiles until plump and just barely closed. Place the chiles on a serving platter or on individual plates, cover with the walnut sauce, and sprinkle with parsley and pomegranate seeds.

Chiles en nogada as presented at Restaurante Azul/Histórico, Mexico City. This beautiful service is only surpassed by the flavors of the chiles.

This dish may be served at room temperature, or it may be served chilled.

Note: Many people in today's busy world prefer to make this recipe using a mixture of ground rather than shredded beef and pork. Using this quick method, simply brown the ground meats and add the rest of the picadillo ingredients once the meats are browned. The results will be excellent!

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12 de September de 2015
Mexico Cooks!’ Anniversary: Grateful for Eight Years with YOU.

This is the very first photo published by Mexico Cooks! on February 2, 2007: multicolor woven sonajas (rattles) for sale at a Michoacán artisans' fair. Wouldn't you love to work a jigsaw puzzle made from this picture?

The first week of February 2015, Mexico Cooks! joyfully celebrated its eighth birthday. In March, 2007, only weeks after our first publication, one of our articles was titled, 'From That Little Beginning', quoting the owner of the original producer of Salsa Cholula in speaking of his own business. Today, we echo his thoughts: who would have thought that after Mexico Cooks!' initial article on Candlemas Day 2007–that 'little beginning' article read out of the goodness of their hearts by an audience of 2 or 3 friends–that our 2015 readership would number nearly three and a half million faithful followers? Who would have thought that the London Times would name Mexico Cooks! the number one food blog in the world? And who would have thought that at ten o'clock every Saturday morning for eight years, a Mexico Cooks! article would be ready for you to read? Trust me, not us!

In February and March 2008, Mexico Cooks! published several articles about our travels to the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. Many of our readers asked if this photo of ciruelas criollas (native Mexican plums), taken at the San Cristóbal de las Casas indigenous market, were for sale or if it would be part of a calendar.

September 2009 featured Ana Pellicer and James Metcalf, internationally-known copper artists from Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán. This large and utilitarian French-style tinned copper pot with hand-forged iron handle, although not representative of the artists' fine sculptural works, is part of a popular baterie de cuisine–a set of kitchen pots designed and sold by the couple. Mexico Cooks! featured Ana Pellicer again in November 2010 when she received the illustrious Michoacán Premio Estatal de las Artes Eréndira (Eréndira State Arts Prize of Michoacán). She is the first woman ever to receive the award.

Tortita de calabacita (little squash fritter) from the sorely missed Restaurante Los Comensales in Morelia, Michoacán. Mexico Cooks! featured the restaurant (the name means 'The Diners') in October 2009. Less than a year from the date of our interview with her, Señora Catalina Aguirre Camacho, the owner of Los Comensales since 1980, became too elderly and incapacitated to continue to operate her wonderful restaurant. Sra. Aguirre has since gone to cook for God's angelitos in heaven.

And of course there has always been food at Mexico Cooks!: recipes, history, and mouth-watering photographs have filled our pages since the beginning. If these few memorable articles leave you hungry for more, our archives contain nearly 500 articles, each with six–or eight–or ten–or more photos. In January 2009, we featured the first retrospective of the prior year's highlights of some of your favorite articles about Mexican food.

Over the last eight years, we have frequently featured Mexican ingredients and how to use them in your home kitchen. Some of the most popular articles showcased fresh and dried chiles, and some of Mexico's exotic fruits. This fruit, the wild ilama (Annona diversifolia) from Michoacán's Tierra Caliente (hot lands), is all but unknown outside its home territory. Its skin color is ashy green tinged with pink on the outside. The flesh is rosy pink; the flavor is a little like a cross between a peach and a pineapple.

If you had to guess, which of Mexico Cooks!' nearly 500 articles do you think would be the most searched for on Google? Think of the ultimate comfort food. Yes: it's caldo de pollo, Mexican-style chicken soup. The article is so popular that once a year, we publish it again!

Another enormously popular article features the preparation of Mexico Cooks!-style frijolitos refritos (refried beans). Prepare them this way once and you may never eat them any other way.

Mangos on the street in 2011–cut to look like flowers, soon to be spritzed with jugo de limón (lime juice), salt, and a dash of powdered red chile. Served like this, a mango is sweet, tangy, salty, spicy, and altogether delicious!

A marvelously textured guajolote (turkey) at a rural Oaxaca market, 2014.

It's almost always a party here at Mexico Cooks!, and you are always invited. Join us at ten o'clock every Saturday morning. Look at the right-hand side of the page to click on "Subscribe to this blog's feed' and receive each new week's Mexico Cooks! article and photos via email.

And what might be Mexico Cooks!' favorite part of this eight-year-long party? It's not the food, nor the travels, nor the fascinating cultural insights to this marvelous country that I can share with you, the country for which I fell hook, line, and sinker in 1981. Nope. The best part of all is you.

Mexico Cooks! met a number of fellow food writers in Mexico City in 2010. What did we do? Oh puh-leeez! We met for lunch, of course.

Many of you have written to me to talk about your joy at discovering Mexico's traditions, including its traditional foods. Many of you have written to me for advice about travel, restaurants, and the use of various Mexican ingredients. Many of you have written to me, like this person, to share a memory: "Thanks. I cried and remember my family. We always ate corundas with pork and chile. It has been many, many years since I visited my family's town in Mexico. Your articles always take me home to my beloved Mexico."

It has been particularly wonderful to meet some of you when you have visited Mexico–whether in Jalisco, Michoacán, Oaxaca, or Mexico City–to take a Mexico Cooks! culinary tour designed especially for you. Mexico Cooks! looks forward to welcoming more of you–our tours are always, as one faithful reader and tour participant says, "DIVINE". Come soon!

Be assured that knowing that you are out there reading about Mexico's food and cultures–wherever you are in the world–you are the reason that Mexico Cooks! continues. Thank you for eight years of support, trust, and confidence.

Teaching about exotic fruits (the one in my hand is a mamey) during a Pátzcuaro, Michoacán market tour with faithful readers, 2011.

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

14 de February de 2015
Adobo de Cerdo Huasteco, from Verde Blanco y Rojo by Ricardo Muñoz Zurita

Originally published in October 2011, this illustrated recipe for Adobo de Cerdo Huasteco is a perfect meal for February's cold weather. Mexico Cooks! celebrates its seventh anniversary of publishing with this delicious meal to warm body and soul. Enjoy!

Roasting roma tomatoes and onion quarters on a comal (in this case, a cast iron griddle). That little tomato on the right looks downright happy to be toasting.

Several months ago, Mexico Cooks! was thrilled to receive a copy of Chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita's newest recetario (cookbook), titled Verde, Blanco, y Rojo en la Cocina Mexicana. Due to the pressures of moving and settling into a new and somewhat more frenetic life in Mexico City, the very attractive book sat patiently in the kitchen bookshelf with its 150 or so brother and sister cookbooks, waiting to be chosen. 'Choose me, choose me!' it whispered each time I passed by the shelf. And finally I listened.

Serving-size pieces of maciza de cerdo (lean, fresh pork leg) simmering with onion and garlic.

My wife and I are very fond of traditional Mexican cuisine. Like most people, we have our favorite dishes. And like most people, I have a hard time breaking habits and wading into a new cookbook: it means learning a new format, a new organization of ingredients, and a new dish that I had never prepared.

The first task was reading the recipe all the way through to the end to make sure that I had all of the ingredients and utensils on hand prior to starting to cook and that I understood the order of cooking. It's really no fun at all to start the preparations and discover at the time of need that oops, there is no garlic and ouch, that one bowl I really wanted to use is full of last night's stew. You'll want to organize yourself and prepare your mise en place well before you turn on the stove.

Differentiating between dried chiles ancho and chiles mulato can be confusing. If you open a chile ancho and hold it up to the light, it looks from the inside like red stained glass. The mulato, on the other hand, looks brown when held to the light. It's immediately apparent which this is.

Ingredients
2 kg (approximately 4.5 pounds) lean pork meat, cut into serving-size pieces
1 white onion, cut into quarters
1 head of garlic, split in half
4 liters water
6 tsp salt
8 chiles guajillo
5 large chiles ancho
3 large tomatos, roasted
1/2 white onion, quartered and roasted
5 garlic cloves
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dry Mexican oregano, crumbled
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves
3 Tbsp pork lard (you can substitute oil if you can't get real rendered lard)
1/2 cup white vinegar


Toasting the chiles ancho on the comal.

Utensils
Comal or griddle
Mesh strainer
Several small or medium-size mixing bowls
Mixing spoons
Heavy-bottom pot with lid
Blender

Toasting the chiles guajillo on the comal.

Procedure
Put the pork, onion, and head of garlic in a large pot. Cover with water, add 4 tsp salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat until the water is simmering and cook until the pork is tender, about an hour. Remove the pork from the water, drain the liquid into a bowl, and reserve both the meat and the cooking liquid for later use.

Remove the stems, seeds, and veins from all of the chiles and discard them. Lightly toast the chiles on the comal, being careful not to burn them. If they turn black, they will be bitter. Soak the toasted chiles in four cups of the reserved cooking liquid from the pork.

Blend the soaked chiles with enough of the cooking liquid to make a smooth, somewhat liquid paste.

Roast the tomatoes, onions, and garlic on the comal, then blend them until they make a very smooth sauce. If necessary for blending, add just a little of the reserved meat cooking liquid. Using the wire mesh strainer, strain and reserve.

Grind the cumin, the oregano, the pepper, and the cloves together until they are powdered. Set aside for later use.

Over a high flame, heat the lard or oil in a heavy-bottomed pot until it smokes slightly. Add the ground chiles (splatter alert!) and fry for about 15 minutes or until the mixture is reduced by about one-fourth. Add the blended tomato mixture, the spices, and two tablespoons of salt. When the mixture comes to a boil, lower the fire and allow to simmer until the sauce has reduced a little.

Add the meat, the vinegar, and three cups of the reserved meat cooking liquid. Correct the seasonings and cook with the lid ajar over low heat (or bake covered in a 350° oven) for about an hour. The finished sauce should be thick enough to cover the meat without sliding off the pieces.

Serves 12.

The finished recipe also freezes very well.  Mexico Cooks! served half the recipe as comida for six and froze the rest for a later meal.

Both types of toasted chiles then soaked for a few minutes in some of the freshly cooked hot pork broth.

The mix of various seasonings (foreground), the blended and strained chiles (left rear) and the blended tomato/onion/garlic mixture (right rear).

The pork now needs to simmer in the adobo for an hour or more, either in the oven or over a very low fire. The fragrance will drive you crazy, it is so tantalizing.  Mexico Cooks! prepared this recipe on top of the stove using the cast iron comal as a heat diffuser.

Adobo de cerdo huasteco, ready to eat! Serve the dish with steamed white rice and plenty of hot-off-the-comal corn tortillas.

The wonderful Spanish-language Verde, Blanco, Rojo en La Cocina Mexicana, by my friend Chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita of Restaurante Azul/Condesa.

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

8 de March de 2014
Tamaliza (Tamales Feast) with Dear Friends on February 2: El Día de la Candelaria

Mexico Cooks!' dear friends Edmundo Escamilla Solís (L) and Yuri de Gortari Krauss. Between them, Yuri and Mundo know more about Mexico's history and its cuisines than most of the rest of our friends put together. I can't imagine that anyone would disagree. Photo courtesy wradio.com.mx. All photos by Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.

Several years ago, mutual friends introduced Mexico Cooks! to Edmundo Escamilla and Yuri de Gortari. Within minutes, we realized that we were in the presence of two of Mexico's treasures. Far from being museum pieces or distant ruins, these men are a vibrant, living storehouse of this country's past and present. Today, my wife and I are honored to count Mundo and Yuri among our dearest friends. We don't see one another as often as any of us would like–they're busy, we're busy–but the moments we spend together are precious.

The double stairway into the Escuela de Gastronomía Mexicana (Esgamex, School of Mexican Gastronomy), Colonia Roma, Distrito Federal. Since 1990, Yuri and Mundo have dedicated themselves to an in-depth study of Mexico's gastronomy; after running a restaurant and catering company, they founded the school in 2007. Esgamex is unique among culinary schools in Mexico, teaching not only Mexico's regional and national cuisines, but also teaching Mexico's history, art, and culture. Although the school offers no program leading to a culinary degree, it continues to attract students who want to learn traditional recipes from the best teaching team in the city.

A few weeks ago, my wife and I received an invitation from Yuri and Mundo–please come share our tamaliza (tamales party) on the night of February 2, el Día de la Candelaria (Candlemas Day). An intimate circle of friends gathered in homage to a close friend of our hosts, who had passed away. In her honor, we ate tamales–and more tamales–five varieties in all.

First were tamales de cambray, from Chiapas. These corn masa (dough) tamales, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed, were savory and delicious.

Tamal de cambray unwrapped. Each tamal was small enough to leave us hungry for the ones that followed.

The tamal de cambray cut open to show its savory filling.

This rectangular, flat tamal de cazón is filled with flaked baby shark meat. It's a specialty of the state of Campeche.

A marvelously spicy salsa made with chile habanero accompanied the tamal de cazón.

The next three varieties of tamales looked almost identical to one another. Each was wrapped in corn husks and steamed–but despite appearances, each was very different from the other. The first variety was a tamal de pollo, frutas, y verduras (chicken, fruit, and vegetables) from the state of Sinaloa. The second was our first sweet tamal of the evening. A tamal from the state of Colima, its masa is prepared with mixed corn and rice flours as well as dried coconut. The sweet filling is a mix of various dried and crystallized chopped fruits.

The last (but definitely not the least!) tamal was a tamal de almendra (almond). The masa contains not only corn and rice flours and sugar, but also blanched, peeled, and finely ground almonds. The almonds both sweeten and give texture to the masa. And sweet surprise!, the tamal is filled with sweet crema pastelera (pastry cream). If we had had one inch of space in our stomachs, we each would definitely have eaten two of these!

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HonJ3sz8HOw&w=420&h=220]
Here's Yuri de Gortari, teaching the proper way to prepare tamales de almendra. Even if you don't understand all of the Spanish-language instructions, you'll be fascinated by his teaching manner as well as his techniques. And his lovely speaking voice is simply hypnotizing.

When our group finished eating, we stayed for hours in the sobremesa–the after-dinner conversation that is frequently as delicious and nourishing as the food itself. What better way to enjoy an evening than in the company of precious friends, sharing ideas, feelings, and loving laughter? Next year, have a tamaliza at your home on February 2, invite your friends, and deepen your love and appreciation for one another–and of course for the marvelous cuisines of Mexico.

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

8 de February de 2014
9º Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán: Ninth Annual Festival of Traditional Michoacán Cooking

On October 4, 5, and 6, 2013, the Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán celebrates its 10th anniversary. In honor of the coming festival,
for the next three weeks Mexico Cooks! will publish its articles
about the most recent three years of the Encuentro. In mid-October, you'll find the report of the 10th Anniversary Encuentro,
right here on Mexico Cooks!.

At the 9th Annual Festival of Traditional Michoacán Cooking (October 19-21, 2012), Mexico Cooks! photographed alcatraces (calla lilies), an ear of blue corn, and a basketful of hypomyces lactifluorum, known in English as lobster mushroom and in Spanish as trompa de puerco (pig's
nose). During Michoacán's rainy season, the mushrooms grow wild and are
harvested in the pine forests around Lake Pátzcuaro. The lilies grow
in home gardens. Point of interest: Alcatraz, the ominous sounding name
of the infamous California prison, simply means calla lily.

For the last six years, Mexico Cooks!
has been a proud part of a uniquely Michoacán food festival. This
Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán was the impetus and the
paradigm for which in 2010 UNESCO awarded Mexico's food Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
status. Every year, we feature stories and photos about the food that
makes this festival an inimitable part of Mexico's richness. Those
stories are here: Fourth Annual Encuentro, Fifth Annual Encuentro, Sixth Annual Encuentro, Seventh Annual Encuentro, and Eighth Annual Encuentro.

A huge bunch of freshly cut flor de calabaza
(squash flowers), used in a variety of Michoacán's regional dishes.
Did you know that only the male flowers are cut for cooking? The female
flowers are left to develop into squash on the vines.

If asked about pre-Spanish conquest regional food, few people would think of
frogs. These great big frogs, for sale at Morelia's Mercado de
Independencia on the Sunday of the Encuentro, are caught around Lake Pátzcuaro and skinned for traditional preparations. Only the ancas de rana (frog legs) are eaten.

This year, rather than focus primarily on festival food, Mexico Cooks!
wants to introduce you to some of the now-elderly masters of
Michoacán's regional home cooking, women who have annually brought the
best of their family kitchens to the fair, who have proudly participated
in the festivals, and who have given their hands, hearts, and hearths
to the rescue and preservation of Michoacán's ingredients and
techniques.

Doña Paulita Alfaro Águilar lives in Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro, Michoacán. She has participated in all of the Encuentros
to date and has long operated her own restaurant. We chatted for a
while this year; she told me she thinks this might be her last Encuentro.
She told me that she is over 85 years old now and that in the last few
months, her health has begun to be less trustworthy. "I've had to go to
doctors a lot lately. And I don't feel as strong as I used to. See, I
have to walk with a cane." When it was time to say our farewells, she
added, "If I don't see you again next year, tell everyone I'm glad to
know that so many people tasted my food."

Update from the 10th Anniversary Edition of the Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán: Mexico Cooks! is sad to report that Sra. Paulita Alfaro Aguilar passed away during the course of the last year. QEPD (rest in peace), querida Paulita, your presence is everywhere on the Encuentro grounds. You leave an unfillable hole in our hearts.

Doña Matilde Apolinar Hernández from Charapan, Michoacán. Doña Matilde, who is also over 85 years old, prepared atápakua de queso (cheese in an herb-based sauce), atápakua de charales (tiny whole fish in an herb-based sauce), churipo (Purépecha beef soup), and atápakua de frijol (beans in an herb-based sauce) as well as corundas (Michoacán-style unfilled tamales). She participated in the the 2012 competitions with atápakua verde (a green herb-based sauce).

Doña Celia Moncitar Pulido shows us with her expressive hands one of the four elements of the Purépecha kitchen altar. The mazorcas (dried ears of corn) and beans represent Mother Earth, who gives us our food. Purépecha cooking–and eating–depend as much on spiritual elements as on earthly elements.

Doña Amparo Cervantes, legendary cook from Tzurumútaro, Michoacán. The 2011 Encuentro named Doña Amparo one of a handful of official maestras of the annual festival. The small group of recognized maestras had won the Encuentro
competitions so often–really, every year–that the organizing
committee retired these fabulous cooks from competition. Nonetheless,
at nearly 90, Doña Amparo continued to cook (but not compete) at the 2012 Encuentro. In addition to her participation at the Morelia event, she has also been an impetus and support for the cocina comunitaria (community kitchen) in Tzurumútaro, her hometown. A few of her specialties are mole with chicken and rice, pork with strips of chile poblano, corundas, and uchepos.

Doña Ana María Gutiérrez Águilar and her husband, don Espiridión Chávez Toral, who live in Calzontzin, in the municipality of Uruapan. At the 2012 Encuentro, I sat near the couple as we listened to a young and extremely talented woman sing a traditional Purépecha pirekua. When the song was over, Doña Ana María asked the singer who wrote the song. The singer mentioned a name. Doña Ana María stood up and said, "No señor! That song was written by my father, Valentín Gutiérrez Toral from Paricutín. He was too poor to afford to have his pirekuas
registered and most of them have been stolen. I've sung them all my
life, just as he taught them to me." The young singer invited Doña Ana María to the stage, where she sang her father's song a capella and wowed the crowd.

Doña
Lupita works selling onions at Morelia's Mercado de Independencia. At
more than 85 years old, she continues to accompany her slightly younger
sister to work. When asked how much longer she hopes to be at the
market, she smiled and merely shrugged. "Hasta que Dios me de licencia." ('As long as God lets me.')

These beautiful and highly respected old women will not be with us
forever. It's far better to honor them while they are still with us
than to carry flowers to them after they have gone.

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

5 de October de 2013
VIVA MÉXICO! For Independence Day, Chiles en Nogada, the Mexican Flag on Your Plate
The whole month of September is a big party: the Fiestas Patrias (National Celebrations).
Here, a street stand offering Mexican flags, hanging banners, and a lot of small Independence-related items for sale.

Mexico
celebrates its independence during the entire month of September with parades,
parties, and traditional food and drink in restaurants and at home. The
traditional festive dish during the weeks before and after the
Independence Day holiday is chiles en nogada, a magnificent tribute to the seasonal availability of granadas (pomegranates) and fresh nuez de Castilla (walnuts). From late August till early October, fresh pomegranates and frsh 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.

Chiles en nogada: chiles poblano, roasted, peeled, stuffed with picadillo (in this case, a fruity Mexican hash), and plated with walnut sauce, pomegranate seeds, and fresh cilantro.

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 on the streets bordering the markets, village women can
be seen sitting on blankets painstakingly peeling off the brown skin
from each individual walnut. It is important to use recently harvested walnuts, the freshest possible, as they produce such a creamy, rich sauce that it is
worth the effort demanded to peel them. Yes, the recipe is time-consuming…but you and your guests will jump up and shout "VIVA!" when you'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 Tablespoon sea salt
For the Picadillo
- 4 Tablespoons safflower or canola oil
- 1/3 cup chopped white onion
- 3 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3 heaping Tablespoons raisins
- 1 or 2 chiles serrano, finely minced
- 2 Tablespoons chopped walnuts or pecans
- 2 Tablespoons chopped candied pineapple
- 1 fresh pear, peeled and chopped
- 1 apple, peeled and chopped
- 1 large potato, peeled and diced
- 3 large, ripe tomatoes, roasted, peeled and chopped
- sea salt to taste
For the Chiles
- 6 fresh chiles poblano , roasted, peeled, and seeded, leaving the stem intact
For the Walnut Sauce
- 1 cup fresh walnuts (available only at this time of the year)
- 6 ounces doble crema or 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 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup dry sherry (optional)
For the Garnish
- 1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
- 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.

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 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon, pepper, and cloves, then, stir in
the raisins, the 2 Tablespoons chopped walnuts. Add the chopped pear,
apple, and potato, 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.

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 on paper towels until they are completely dry. Cover and set aside. The chiles may be prepared a day in advance.

At
least 3 hours in advance, place the walnuts in a small pan of
boiling water. Remove from the heat and let them sit for 5 minutes.
Drain the nuts and, when cool, rub off as much of the dark skin as
possible. Chop the nuts 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, if using, until thoroughly combined. Chill for
several hours.

When ready to serve, reheat the meat filling and stuff the chiles until plump and just barely closed. Place the chiles
on a serving platter or on individual plates, cover with the chilled
walnut sauce, and sprinkle with the cilantro and
pomegranate seeds.

This dish can also be served at room temperature, or it may be served chilled.

Photos 2, 3, 4, and 5 courtesy of Jesús Guzmán Moya, M.D., of Puebla, Puebla, México. Enjoy more of Dr. Guzmán's lovely photos here. Gracias, amigo Chucho!

Provecho!

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for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click
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14 de September de 2013
Izote de Patricia Quintana: History on Your Plate

Izote, Patricia Quintana's groundbreaking Mexico City restaurant, will close permanently on June 30, 2013. This article, originally published on November 19, 2011, recounts just one of Mexico Cooks!' wonderful experiences there. Thank you, Chef Paty, for your incredible contribution to the cuisines of our beloved Mexico. Adelante, amiga!

Sr. Brandon Milmo, director of Casa Madero Winery (Parras, Coahuila,
Mexico), chef Patricia Quintana, and don Pedro Poncelis, Mexico's
premier sommelier, at Restaurante Izote de Patricia Quintana.

Rain! As Mexico Cooks! was leaving the house, as we finally
grabbed a cab, while we were traveling (in rush hour traffic, of
course) to Mexico City's upscale Colonia Polanco, the unseasonable rain
bucketed down. But like magic, just as we pulled onto slightly
nose-in-the-air Av. Presidente Masaryk (Mexico City's equivalent to New
York's Fifth Avenue) the rain–and the cab–stopped. Respectably late,
we strolled, blessedly dry and with umbrellas tightly furled, into
Patricia Quintana's little piece of heaven: Restaurante Izote.

Casa Madero sponsored the Casa Grande Shiraz cata vertical
(vertical wine tasting). In a vertical wine tasting, each of the wines
served is the same, but from several different years. In this case,
the Casa Grande Shiraz was from 2005, 2006, and 2007. Grown on the same
vines but under slightly different climatic conditions, each year's
crop had different fragrances, colors, and flavors.

Judith
McKnight, left, enjoys the company of Mexico City wine expert Rondi
Frankel (center) and Fabiola de la Fuente, editorial director of
Food+Travel México magazine. We all found plenty to talk about before
we were seated for the wine tasting and dinner pairings. A tidbit of
information: Casa Madero, founded in 1597, is the oldest winery in the
New World.

At first glance, these Casa Madero placemats appeared to have been already used, stained by circles of vino tinto (red wine). Several people (including Mexico Cooks!)
not-so-surreptitiously touched the wine stains, only to discover that
they were cleverly printed on the paper mat. Below each supposed stain
was space for notes about each year's wine. Jorge Luis Trejo
Villaseñor, Casa Madero's national sales manager, called my attention to
the outstanding legend at the bottom of the placemat: A qué sabe un vino con 5 siglos de pasión? (What is the flavor of a wine with five centuries of passion?)

Casa
Madero's director, Brandon Milmo, listens intently as elegant sommelier
(highly trained wine steward) Claudia Juárez discusses the special
characteristics of each of the three Shiraz wines. She wears the
sommelier's formal uniform, including the tastevin on its chain.

The tastevin (saucer-like silver cup) was originally created
by French winemakers to enable them to judge the clarity and color of
wine that was stored in dim, candle-lit wine cellars. Regular wine
glasses were too deep to allow for accurate judging of the wine's color
in such faint light. Tastevin are designed with a shiny
faceted inner surface. Often, the bottom of the cup is convex in shape.
The facets, convex bottom, and the shiny inner surface catch as much
available light as possible, reflecting it throughout the wine in the
cup, making it possible to see through the wine.

With the advent of modern electric lights, the tastevin has
very little practical use, although sommeliers often wear them on a
ribbon or chain around the neck as a nod to tradition and a symbol of
pride in their profession.

The three Casa Grande Shiraz pours; from left to right, 2005, 2006, and 2007.

While sommelier Claudia Juárez instructed us, we 50 guests of the house carefully tasted the three wines. Mexico Cooks! is a relative neophyte in the world of oenology, but the lessons of the evening were well learned. Really tasting
wine isn't about pounding down a tumblerful of the rosé that you've
poured from the cheap boxed wine in your refrigerator. Instead, there
are qualities to look for in your glass: how does the wine look, from
its color to its 'legs'? How does it smell–fruity, nutty, leathery,
spicy? How does it taste–floral, peppery, acidic, light, heavy? Most
important of all, of course, is whether or not you like what you're
drinking.

A
wine's 'legs' (also called 'tears') are the subtle traces left on the
inner bowl of the glass after the wine is gently swirled around several
times. Once thought to be an indicator of quality, experts now say that
the legs are in fact a product of surface tension and an indicator of
alcohol content. In the photograph, you have the best view of the legs
at the bottom left corner of the flower arrangement.

After carefully tasting each individual Shiraz and then comparing the
various merits of the three years, we began to enjoy the food maridaje
(pairings with the wines). Chef Patricia Quintana, internationally
known for Restaurante Izote, for her many cookbooks, her television
shows, and her annual Aromas y Sabores tours, prepared a twelve-course tasting menu (yes, twelve courses!) consisting of eight savories and four sweets.

First course: timbal de frijol con morillas, queso pijijiapan y chile ancho con mezcal.
In this case, the timbale is a cylindrical mold of beans filled with
minced morel mushrooms and topped with cheese from Pijijiapan, Chiapas.
You can see the sauce on the side.

Next, a taquito de cabrito con salsa verde–a
freshly made corn tortilla wrapped around shredded goat meat, then
fried and bathed with green sauce, Mexican table cream, and dusted with
aged cheese. A chopstick, inserted into one end of the taquito, made for ease of handling.

Third course: enchiladas de queso asadero en salsa de jitomate con chile verde. Queso asadero
is a melting cheese, used in this instance to fill the enchilada. The
tomato and green chile sauce, along with the topping of thinly sliced
onion, finely grated aged cheese, and shredded lettuce, were traditional
accompaniments raised to a celestial level.

Fourth: pescado al vapor a la tinga con papa
(steamed fish, in this case red snapper, in a spicy red sauce–all
sitting on a slice of potato and wrapped for steaming in a banana leaf).

The banana leaf spread open, showing the pescado al vapor a la tinga con papa. This dish was my hands-down favorite. The mixture of flavors in the tinga combined with the sweet tenderness of the fish to explode in a sensational fiesta in my mouth.

Fifth course: ensalada de jitomatitos con vinagreta al Shiraz Casa Grande 2007.
This salad is made of tiny grape tomatoes dressed with a vinaigrette
made with the 2007 wine we were tasting. The presentation of this
salad, as well as that of all the courses, was exquisite.

Sixth: camarones con azafrán y municiones
(shrimp in saffron sauce with little pasta 'bullets'). Perfectly
cooked shrimp-on-a-stick combined beautifully with the richly delicate
flavor of saffron, but in my opinion the municiones were a mistake. The pasta gave the dish a texture that reminded me–and not in a good way–of tapioca pudding.

Seventh: enchiladas de mole negro
(black mole enchiladas). Black mole is one of Mexico's most delicious
sauces and this one was no exception. The combination of mole, sesame
seeds, crisp tortilla, and shredded onions–wow!

All of us guests were of different opinions about which of the three
years' Shiraz wines paired better with each of the courses we were
eating, but many preferred the 2006 to the earlier or later year. The
2006 was Mexico Cooks!' favorite. Waiters circulated with
bottles of each Shiraz, replenishing our wine glasses as we emptied
them. At this point in the meal–after most of the courses had been
served–many of us began requesting water rather than more wine!

Eighth: filete Doña Manuelita de Parras.
This seared and crusty filet mignon was cooked exactly to medium rare.
The accompaniments, including the stuffed chayote seen at the top, were
excellent.

Chef Patricia Quintana gently tapped two copas
(wine glasses) together to quiet the crowd before she spoke to us about
the meal in progress. The flower in the photo's background images is
the izote (the edible flower of the yucca cactus)for which she named her restaurant.

After the first eight courses, which were of course accompanied by
liberal pourings of each of the three wines, most of the invited guests
were simply unable to continue to the four-course dessert menu. Even
though each of the savory courses was a small portion, their accumulated
richness overpowered all but the most hardy souls. In addition, we
finished the last of the savories at midnight! Reluctantly we
congratulated the chef and kissed her goodbye, shook hands with the
remaining guests, and made our way out into the starry late night, the
chilly air cleansed by the earlier rain.

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29 de June de 2013
Mesamérica 2012: Mexican Gastronomic Summit (Cumbre Gastronómica de México 2012) DAY THREE

Mesamérica 2012 Day Three began with chef Paulina Abascal's sweet demonstration of completely edible dessert flower pots filled with organic pansies and mint leaves. Above, the simple and attractive finished product. Chef Paulina is a household name in Mexico, in large part due to her television appearances as a pastry chef. Her recipes are frequently designed for and easily prepared by the home cook.

In an interesting juxtaposition of Day Three speakers, the talk given by world-reknowned pastry chef Rosio Sanchez of Noma (Copenhagen, Denmark) directly followed that of Paulina Abascal. Chicago native Chef Rosio (that is how she spells her name) is only 28 years old, but she has already been part of the restaurant team at Chicago's Alinea and then served as sous-pastry chef at WD-50 in New York. She started as head pastry chef at Chef René Redzepi's stellar restaurant Noma in 2009.

A brief explanatory digression: the San Pellegrino "World's 50 Best Restaurants" competition has named Noma the number one restaurant in the world in 2010, 2011, and 2012. The annual award is a compilation of the opinions of more than 800 international restaurant industry experts. What constitutes "best" is left to the judgment of these trusted and well-travelled gourmets. Noma interior, photo courtesy Tomislav Medak.

Gammel Dansk dessert of cucumber, celery, Gammel Dansk liquor, and white chocolate. Gammel Dansk is a bitters liquor and was originally created to become a competitor on the Danish market to other bitters such as Underberg and Fernet Branca. It is aged with 29 types of herbs, spices and even flowers. The herbs and spices include angelica, star anise, nutmeg, anise, ginger, laurel, gentian, Seville orange and cinnamon, and several others. The complete recipe is kept secret.

Chef Rosio talked eloquently about dessert as a desire rather than a necessity. She spoke about sugar itself as a mental stimulant, a treatment for abstinence, and as a pleasure. She reminded us that we remember our childhood dessert favorites as almost inevitably cake or ice cream, but that often as adults we often prefer fruit. Her philosophy and talent shone through her presentation and captivated both the sensory and intellectual sides of the audience.

Chefs Mikel Alonso, Bruno Oteiza, and Gerard Bellver of Restaurante Biko in Mexico City. Biko opened its doors in 2008 and is included in the 2012 San Pellegrino "World's 50 Best Restaurants" list at number 38. The restaurant continues to carry on its traditions: the value of the original product, technique, and their characteristic identity.

It was a pleasure to watch the Biko chefs create this beautiful dish, purely Mexican in concept and purely Biko in execution.

SWALLOW Magazine's October issue will feature Mexico City. Mexico Cooks! got to leaf through the mock-up copy you see on the big Mesamérica screen. If you live where you can buy a copy, run-do-not- walk to your newsstand as soon as the magazine hits the shelves. It is creative, innovative, clever, imaginative–in one word, brilliant.

James Casey, the SWALLOW founder and editor, publishes two issues per year of the magazine. Casey, born and raised in Hong Kong, really gets it about culinary life in the Distrito Federal, Mexico's enormous capital city. His talk and video presentation created a high energy atmosphere at Mesamérica–think a joyously screaming, whistling, cheering crowd of more than 2,000. Everything he said touched a happy nerve in the audience. All the photos he projected were of bars, taco stands, and iconic culinary relics of Mexico City. I can hardly wait to see the magazine again!

It's really hard for me to write about Rancho Gordo without tremendous pride. I've known its founder, Steve Sando, since his New World Specialty Food company was just a glimmer in his eye. Hearing him tell the story of his heirloom bean business at Mesamérica left me with a tear in my own eye and the pleasure of watching his welcome as a valuable member of the Mexican food world. His partnership with Xoxoc, his fair trade practices, and his enormous appreciation for all things Mexico spoke to the Mesamérica audience of his high integrity and deep commitment to the ideals the audience believes in: support for the Mexican farm worker and the land and preservation of Mexico's milennia-old foods.

Rancho Gordo products labelled for sale in Mexico. And on the right, see the stack of three coladeras de barro (clay colanders) from Xoxoc? The smallest one now graces the Mexico Cooks! kitchen.

Chef Mónica Patiño, proprietor of Mexico City restaurants La Taberna del León, Naos, and Delirio. Chef Mónica spoke about culinary responsibility to use seasonal products and to maintain what is Mexican in Mexico. She urged the student chefs in the audience to be wary of being crushed by globalization. Photo courtesy El Universal.

If you review the three Mexico Cooks! articles about Mesamérica, it's easy to see that there is a thread–a bright golden thread–running through the speakers' topics: preserve the past, educate in the present, innovate for the future.

Next week: Day Four of Mesamérica, last but definitely not least in this August four-part series.

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18 de August de 2012
Mexico Cooks! Turns Five: Thanks to You, We’re Celebrating Our Fifth Anniversary

This is the very first photo published by Mexico Cooks! on February 2, 2007: multicolor sonajas (rattles) for sale at a Michoacán artisans' fair. Wouldn't you love to work a jigsaw puzzle made from this picture?

The first week of February 2012, Mexico Cooks! joyfully celebrated its fifth birthday. In March, 2007, only weeks after our first publication, one of our articles was titled, 'From That Little Beginning', quoting the owner of the original producer of Salsa Cholula in speaking of his own business. Today, we echo his thoughts: who would have thought that after Mexico Cooks!' initial article on Candlemas Day 2007–that 'little beginning' article read out of the goodness of their hearts by an audience of 2 or 3 friends–that our current readership would number nearly one million faithful followers? Who would have thought that the London Times would name Mexico Cooks! the number one food blog in the world? And who would have thought that at ten o'clock every Saturday morning for five years, a new Mexico Cooks! article would be ready for you to read? Trust me, not us!

In February and March 2008, Mexico Cooks! published several articles about our travels to the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. Many of our readers asked if this photo, taken at the San Cristóbal de las Casas indigenous market, were for sale or if it would be part of a calendar.

September 2009 featured Ana Pellicer and James Metcalf, internationally-known copper artists from Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán. This large and utilitarian French-style tinned copper pot with hand-forged iron handle, although not representative of the artists' fine sculptural works, is part of a popular baterie de cuisine–a set of kitchen pots designed and sold by the couple. Mexico Cooks! featured Ana Pellicer again in November 2010 when she received the illustrious Michoacán Premio Estatal de las Artes Eréndira (Eréndira State Arts Prize of Michoacán). She is the first woman ever to receive the award.

Tortita de calabacita (little squash fritter) from the sorely missed Restaurante Los Comensales in Morelia, Michoacán. Mexico Cooks! featured the restaurant (the name means 'The Diners') in October 2009. Less than a year from the date of our interview with her, Señora Catalina Aguirre Camacho, the owner of Los Comensales since 1980, became too elderly and incapacitated to continue to operate her wonderful restaurant.

And of course there was always food at Mexico Cooks!: recipes, history, and mouth-watering photographs have filled our pages since the beginning. If these few memorable articles leave you hungry for more, our archives contain nearly 300 articles, each with six–or eight–or ten–or more photos. In January 2009, we featured the first retrospective of the prior year's highlights of some of your favorite articles about Mexican food.

Over the last five years, we have frequently featured Mexican ingredients and how to use them in your home kitchen. Some of the most popular articles showcased fresh and dried chiles, and some of Mexico's exotic fruits. This fruit, the wild ilama (Annona diversifolia) from Michoacán's Tierra Caliente (hot lands), is all but unknown outside its home territory. Its skin color is ashy green with tinges of pink on the outside. The flesh is rosy pink; the flavor is a little like a cross between a peach and a pineapple.

If you had to guess, which of Mexico Cooks!' nearly 300 articles do you think would be the most searched for on Google? Think of the ultimate comfort food. Yes: it's caldo de pollo, Mexican-style chicken soup. The article is so popular that once a year, we publish it again!

Another enormously popular article features the preparation of Mexico Cooks!-style frijolitos refritos (refried beans). Prepare them this way once and you may never eat them any other way.

It's almost always a party here at Mexico Cooks!, and you are always invited. Join us at ten o'clock every Saturday morning. Look at the right-hand side of the page to click on "Subscribe to this blog's feed' and receive each new week's Mexico Cooks! article and photos via email.

And what might be Mexico Cooks!' favorite part of this five-year-long party? It's not the food, nor the travels, nor the fascinating cultural insights to this marvelous country that I can share with you, the country for which I fell hook, line, and sinker in 1981. Nope. The best part of all is you.

Mexico Cooks! met a number of fellow food writers in Mexico City in 2010. What did we do? Oh please! We met for lunch, of course.

Many of you have written to me to talk about your joy at discovering Mexico's traditions, including its traditional foods. Many of you have written to me for advice about travel, restaurants, and the use of various Mexican ingredients. Many of you have written to me, like this person, to share a memory: "Thanks. I cried and remember my family. They always ate corundas with pork and chile. It has been many, many years since I visited my family's town in Mexico. Your articles always take me home to my beloved Mexico." Be assured that knowing that you are there–wherever you are in the world–you are the reason that Mexico Cooks! continues. Thank you for five years of support, trust, and confidence.

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11 de February de 2012