Category: Art and Culture

Another Hodgepodge: Mexico’s Dried Chiles

These bright-red dried chile de árbol (tree chile) are slender, pointed, and about four inches long. These chiles are really–but really–picante. Soak, toast and liquefy them to use in salsas, or dry-grind them to powder, then dust the chile, along with a pinch of salt and a squeeze of jugo de limón (lemon juice) onto raw fruits and vegetables. Start with just a little, though, till you know how much heat your palate will tolerate.

Dried and smoked, the chile jalapeño becomes the chile chipotle. It's one of the spiciest of Mexico's dried chiles, and one of the most flavorful. Buy it at a market as you see it in the photo, or buy it en adobo (a spice mixture) or en escabeche (pickled). You'll find canned chile chipotle at most Latin markets.

The chile morita will remind you of the chipotle because of its smoky fragrance and very spicy but sweetish taste. Some say the morita is the last of the mature jalapeño crop to be harvested (and therefore smaller than the earlier harvest); others say it's actually a smaller variety of chile jalapeño.

Chile cascabel (rattle chile) has a mildly spicy, nutty flavor. Hold it by the stem, shake it, and you'll understand its name: the rattle of the dried seeds inside gives the name away.

Reconstituted by soaking and toasting, the familiar chile ancho is used for preparing salsas and many other common dishes. The mature fresh chile poblano is the dried ancho. To make sure you are buying chile ancho and not chile mulato–the two are often confused and/or mislabeled–slice open one of the chiles and hold it up to the light. As the light shines through the chile, the ancho glows red, the mulato brown.

Chile guajillo, reddish-brown, flat, and about four inches long, is one of the most commonly used Mexican dried chiles. Indispensable for preparing Jalisco's signature pozole rojo, the guajillo is also an ingredient in moles, adobos, and salsa picante. Here's a recipe for Mexico Cooks!' favorite mushroom appetizer, champiñones al ajillo:

Champiñones al Ajillo estilo Mexico Cooks!
Mushrooms in Garlic/Guajillo Sauce, Mexico Cooks! Style

1 lb good-size fresh white mushrooms
4-6 chiles guajillos, leathery but flexible
4-6 large cloves of garlic
Minced flatleaf parsley
Olive or vegetable oil
Sea salt to taste

Remove the stems from the chiles. Shake the seeds out through the stem opening and discard. Bring the chiles to boil in a pan of water. Turn off the heat and soak for about 30 minutes.

While the chiles are soaking, clean the mushrooms and cut the stems off, even with the caps.

Drain the chiles and pat dry. Cut them into 1/8" slices across their width.

Mince the garlic.

In a 12" skillet over medium heat, sauté the garlic in oil just until it begins to soften. Add the chile strips and sauté for a few minutes more. Add the mushrooms and sauté until tender. Sprinkle with minced parsley, add sea salt to taste, and toss very briefly. Plate and serve.

Serves 3-4 as an appetizer.

Provecho!

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27 de February de 2010
Storm on the Mountain: Mariposas Monarcas (Monarch Butterflies), Michoacán 2010
A gorgeous monarch butterfly rests in the sun at El Rosario, Michoacán butterfly reserve. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are courtesy of Mexico Cooks!' very generous friend (and superb photographer) Steven Miller. Steve's photos from El Rosario are dated February 2008.

One of nature's great mysteries continues to confound scientists the world over. Millions upon millions of fragile monarch butterflies, which live their lives primarily in the United States and Canada, trek nearly 2,000 miles a year to spend their winters in the isolated oyamel (fir) forests of Michoacán and the neighboring State of Mexico. A tiny area in Mexico, a 65 square mile patch of tall mountains, hosts these miraculous migrating lepidoptera. Four mountaintop butterfly sanctuaries– El Rosario, Sierra
Chincua, El Campanario, and Cerro Pelon–are public.

Heaven on Earth in the mountains of eastern Michoacán, land of the monarchs. Photo courtesy Google Images.

In 2003, National Geographic writer John Roach published, "Researchers have believed for a long time that the butterflies use the
sun to navigate, but they were not certain as to how the butterflies
adjust their direction throughout the course of the day as the sun
moves across the sky." His article continues, "Four to five generations separate the monarch populations that make the
migration, so the butterflies that make the trek to Mexico are the
great, great grandchildren of the previous generation to have made it.
The ones that fly south have never been to Mexico before, they get
there by pure instinct, lay
their eggs on milkweed and then die." The butterflies that overwinter in Michoacán are called the Methuselah generation.

Butterflies hang thick on every tree, every branch, every surface at El
Rosario. They rest during the chilly Michoacán winter nights,
fluttering awake at daybreak and flying high as the sun warms their
wings.

It was only 35 years ago that the first scientific investigators, guided by a local resident, visited the then-isolated mountain region of Michoacán and were dumbstruck to see the monarchs in their winter habitat. "It was as if we had discovered the eighth wonder of the world," said Dr. Lincoln Brower. Dr. Brower is currently a research biologist at Sweet Briar College, specializing in the overwintering, conservation, and biology of the monarch butterfly. Dr. Brower serves on the board of directors of the Monarch Butterfly Fund.**

Every available surface–including the top of your head–can be a landing strip!

In the town of Contepec, Michoacán, a small boy, Homero Aridjis, born in 1940 as the youngest of five Greek/Mexican brothers–used to climb Cerro Altamirano near his home to look at
the monarch butterflies that flooded the forests for almost four months
in the winter before they left again, heading north. No one living in his area
knew where the butterflies came from or where they went. "When I
began to write poems," Aridjis said, "I used to climb the hill
that dominated the memory of my childhood. Its slopes, gullies, and
streams were full of animal voices–owls, hummingbirds, mocking birds,
coyotes, deer, armadillo. The natural world stimulated my poetry."
But of all of these animals, he says the monarch butterflies were his
"first love." Aridjis won Mexico's very prestigious
Xavier Villarrutia Award at age 24 and years later, monarchs were still
making their appearance in his writing. His 1971 book, El poeta niño,
includes a beautiful poem that goes like this: "You travel/by day/ like a winged tiger/ burning yourself/ in
your flight/ Tell me/ what supernatural/ life is/painted on your
wings…."**

In 1985 Aridjis formed a group
called the Grupo de Cien (Group of One Hundred) intellectuals, which issued
a statement about the environmental deterioration of the area and
convinced the government to provide official protection to the forests
sheltering the butterflies. The formation of this group led to an award
for Aridjis, already the recipient of several literary awards. This time
it was the Global 500 Award given to him by the United Nations
Environmental Program.**

The warmth of midday sees the Michoacán sky thick with monarchs. This photo, dated March 2009, is courtesy of the wonderfully knowledgeable and completely charming Betsy McNair of My Mexico Tours.

In 1986, after realizing that only the core area of each sanctuary
would be protected but not the buffer zone, Aridjis was able to get Cerro
Altamirano included in the decree, along with El Rosario, Sierra
Chincua, El Campanario, and Cerro Pelón. The government designated them as
protected areas. The sanctuaries were established to ensure the
continuation of the migration and of the genetic bank of the numerous
species that lived there. In spite of on-going deforestation and a severe plague of bark-destroying insects in the remaining oyameles, the butterflies continue to arrive.**

Natural stained glass: sunlight filtered through fir needles and a monarch's wings.

Beginning at the end of January, 2010, a tremendous and terrible natural disaster hit the Michoacán mountain towns nearest the monarch butterfly sanctuaries. Frente frío #28 (cold front #28) lashed the tiny area with heavy hail, followed by atypical out-of-season rains. The violent storms lasted for nearly a week. The Río de San Pedro (St. Peter River), which flows around Angangueo, had been deliberately re-routed several years ago from its natural pathway. During the intense rains of the days-long storm, the mountainside river sought its natural boundaries, causing enormous mudslides that devastated all of Angangueo. More than 30,000 human inhabitants of Angangueo and surrounding towns were left homeless, fleeing the floods with only the clothes on their backs. To date, 35 people are known dead, swept away or buried by the fierce currents of roiling water, boulders, rocks and mud. Many more human residents of the area are still missing.

Devastation in the central plaza, Angangueo. Click on the picture for a larger, clearer view. To the right and left of center you can see ruined automobiles, washed away in the currents. Photo courtesy of the newspaper Quadratín.

Homes crushed by raging mud and water, Angangueo. Photo courtesy of Quadratín.

Current information about the condition of the monarch butterfly reserves has been difficult to obtain. Human rescue efforts and relief have been primary in the last ten days. Little by little, news of the monarchs has filtered out of their mountain sanctuaries. According to the February 11, 2010 edition of Morelia's daily newspaper La Voz de Michoacán:
- Hundreds of trees in the reserves fell due to saturation and extreme softening of the earth at their roots.
- Approximately 10% of the tens of millions of monarchs died due to blows from intense hail. The butterflies could withstand the rain, but not the heavy hail.
- Mexico's Fondo de Desastres Naturales (Natural Disasters Fund) will designate six million pesos to investigate all damage to the sanctuaries' forests and institute approximately 1500 temporary jobs to repair what can be repaired in the reserves.
- Mexico's Comisión Nacional Forestal (Conafor) said that ProÁrbol, its national reforestation organization, will have 100 million pesos specifically designated for replanting the devastated areas, plus another 200 million pesos which were originally allotted for other uses that will now be given to urgent reforestation efforts.
According to La Voz de Michoacán, access to the butterfly sanctuaries is prohibited until authorities further assess the on-going risks at the reserves. Rosendo Caro, director of the Mariposa Monarca Biosphere Reserve, said that although this measure is difficult for those who depend on butterfly tourism for their income, risk to tourists, damage to the reserves and access highways, and the possibility of harm to the butterflies themselves make this temporary closing necessary.

Others report that the Sierra Chincua reserve is currently open, but only if you drive in from the east (Maravatio) side through Santa María. The entry to Chincua via Angangueo is closed. Cerro Pelón may also be open, but only through Zitácuaro.

Dr. Brower, writing for the MBF (Monarch Butterfly Fund), has just posted more information about the situation in the area of the reserves. After telling the history of the disastrous storm, he writes that the first priority in the devastated region is human life and safety, but that the MBF is also vitally concerned about the mortality of the butterflies and the conditions at the reserves. For the latest information, read his excellent article here.

If you or someone you know has scheduled a tour of the monarch reserves in the near future, please verify with your tour provider that he or she knows for certain that the reserve you plan to visit has in fact re-opened.

Brushed by sunlight, 2008-generation monarchs rest in oyamel (fir) boughs at El Rosario reserve.

Links to monarch butterfly conservation and preservation sites:
Monarch Butterfly Fund
Monarch Watch
World Wildlife Foundation
Journey North

Links to monarch butterfly tourism and informational websites:
My Mexico Tours
Planeta Ecotravel
Monarchs Across Georgia

To donate to the Monarch Butterfly Fund, click MBF Donations to go directly to their donations page. You can donate by check or with a credit or debit card. The MBF will use your monetary assistance, no matter the amount, to its fullest potential. Your help is urgently needed.
___________________________________________________

**Thanks to the OAS (Organization of American States) for portions of the article Masters of Migration by Adriana Herrera Téllez, which originally appeared on July 1, 2009, in the English-language edition of AMERICAS.

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13 de February de 2010
In Honor of La Morenita: Morelia’s Annual Fiestas for Our Lady of Guadalupe

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe, lovingly nicknamed La Morenita [the little brown woman]), caña (sugar cane), and fresh-roasted cacahuates (peanuts) are an annual combination in Morelia during the weeks from November 19 until the last minutes of the night of December 12, Our Lady of Guadalupe's feast day. The Fiesta de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is one of the most important religious festivals in all of Mexico, celebrated in every home and every town, in every church and every heart.

Hundreds of tons of caña (sugar cane) are hand-peeled with flashing steel machetes for your eating pleasure. Every year, more than 400 vendors set up food stands, trinket stands, and booths filled with religious articles in Morelia's Jardín Morelos, on Avenida Tata Vasco, and along the Calzada Fray Antonio de San Miguel leading to the Santuario de Guadalupe. Brightly colored children's rides and games illuminate the evening hours in the park; the fragrance of grilling meat competes with the deep smell of roasting peanuts, and the whir of the cotton candy machine pairs up with the rhythmic whack-whack-whack of the caña-cutting knife.

Long sugar canes are fibrous and tough, but hand-chopped with a huge knife into bite-size pieces, caña is easy to chew. Munch a piece until the sweet juice is gone, then discard the mouthful of straw-like fibers that are left. Munch another, it's addictive.

A bed of freshly sliced oranges and a pile of sliced caña con chamoy make a mouth-puckering, refreshing snack. Chamoy is a sour fruit brine that's popular for its flavor combination of vinegar, salt, and sweet fruit.

This roaster toasts about seven kilos (15 pounds) of raw cacahuates (peanuts) at a time. The family that operates this stand had the roaster made from an oil drum, along with a metal box on legs to hold the fuel. One of the family members turns the handle (to the left in the photo) to make sure the peanuts toast evenly, without burning.

The heat for the peanut roaster comes from carbón, Mexico's real-wood charcoal–they're not "briquets" from commercial bags!

Raw habas (fava beans) are toasted by the same method. Roasted habas and cacahuates are sold unsalted.

Here's a juice extractor to make you a glass of super-fresh and sweetly delicious jugo de caña (sugar cane juice). One operator inserts the long sugar canes through the back of the dark metal rollers while another turns the handle on the wheel at the left of the photo.

The juice pours onto the slanted tray, down the spout, and into your waiting plastic cup. A 12-ounce cup of hand-squeezed juice costs ten pesos–less than one United States dollar.

Do you need some real food? Try made-to-order tacos at one of the stands in Plaza Morelos. The bottom pair are b
istec (chopped grilled beef), the top two are carne de cerdo al pastor (marinated pork cooked on a vertical spit). A squeeze of lime, a pinch of salt, and a sprinkle of minced cilantro and onion (and of course a spoonful of the hottest salsa you can tolerate) make these tacos delicious.

Maybe pambazos, enchiladas placeras, or taquitos are more to your taste. Everything at this stand is cooked to order on an anafre (brazier). Mexico Cooks! is partial to a good pambazo: it's a sandwich made from an individual-sized loaf of dense white bread, sliced open and dipped in enchilada sauce, filled with picadillo (meat/potato/carrot hash), fried till the bread is just slightly crisp on the outside, and topped with shredded lettuce, diced fresh tomatoes, minced onions, grated Mexican cheese, and a salsa muy picante (really spicy salsa).

The sign asks, "What blankety-blank crisis?" The bags of caña that this dealer offered continued at last year's price: 10 pesos. The world economic situation has deeply affected Mexico, but nothing stops a party!

Mexico has a real 'thing' for corn dogs. Here in Mexico, they're fair (as in county fair!) food, just like they are in the United States. They make quite a switch from a traditional pambazo, no?

For dessert, local strawberries flash frozen in Zamora, Michoacán, are partially thawed and served with cream. You can see that the cartons are labeled both 'fresas' and 'strawberries' (for the English-language market; strawberry export is an enormous business in Michoacán. Duero is the name of the strawberry packing company, as well as the name of the Michoacán river that runs through Zamora.

Take home a bag of candies. Pick the candy you prefer–tiny mint chocolate eggs, crisp-coated lunetas of chocolate, sweet and tart buttons, gummy worms or bears or frogs, and a dozen more choices– and buy as little or as much as you like.

It's traditional for both adults and children to dress in 16th Century indigenous clothing during these December fiestas. This beautiful baby wears painted bigotes (moustache), a tiny poncho, a sombrero de paja (straw hat), and a bright pañuelo (handkerchief scarf), all in honor of San Juan Diego, who first saw and talked with Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in the chilly mid-December of 1531. Read here to learn the rest of her miraculous story.

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6 de February de 2010
Día Mundial del Payaso (World Clown Day) in Morelia
Morelia's well-known Mario Galván is Beto Botones (Bert Buttons). Don't be frightened–these Mexican clowns are completely harmless!

One sunny Saturday not too long ago, Mexico Cooks! hopped into the car and headed for downtown Morelia: it was the annual Día Mundial del Payaso (World Day of the Clown) and we wanted to see the local clown parade as it trouped west on Avenida Madero from Plaza Villalongín to the Cathedral.

Nearly 100 payasos (clowns) form Morelia's clown community. Entire families, in colorful wigs and ear-to-ear painted smiles, pass the joy of laughter and delight from one generation to the next. The patriarch among them is Beto Botones, personified by Mario Galván. His 23 years as a clown and magician make him one of the elder statesmen in the Morelia clown community. Now his sons, 11-year-old Oscar Eduardo (Bombonetto) and 14-year-old Mario Alberto (Beto Bettín) are also part of the group.

This beautifully made-up clown has also drawn his family into the act: his wife and his gorgeous baby daughter have joined the fun. His young wife said, "Most of the women who are clowns are here because of our husbands. They were clowns when we married them, so we got involved, too."

A relative newcomer to Morelia's clown community. Learning to be a true clown is a lifetime occupation. Some boys start clowning as early as age four or five.

There's more to becoming a clown than simply putting on makeup and a
red nose. For the professional clown, the work of laughter is serious
business. Most attend clown conventions and workshops, where they learn new routines and participate in competitions. It's not cheap to be a clown: the right costume and makeup can cost more than 7000 pesos (approximately $600 USD). Many clowns have a profession in addition to clowning: Eduaro Espinaza (Tornillito), one of Morelia's most sought-after clowns, is also an auto mechanic.
Beto Botones said, "In other big cities, a clown can charge 1000 pesos
or more for working a party. Here in Morelia, most charge 600 to 650."

A malabarista (juggler) shows off his skill.

In the worldwide clown community, there are a number of types of clowns. Mexico's professional clowns adhere to the same fascinating guidelines.
- CLOWN: he's also known as Carablanca (Whiteface), Pierrot, Enharinado (Flourface)and Listo (Clever). Normally he's made up in whiteface and wears an elegant, shiny costume. When there's a clown confrontation among the various types, he always wins–always! He represents law and order and the adult world.
- AUGUSTO: He's also known as Tonto (the Fool). He's more naive than all the rest and he's always on the receiving end of any joke.
Purple wig, green eye shadow, glittery nose, and orange suit–brilliant!
- SEGUNDO AUGUSTO: He's also known as "Contraugusto" or "Trombo". He's the third figure in a trio of clowns and is often also a musician.
- EXCENTRICO: This clown has evolved from the role of 'Augusto'. He is normally mute and sometimes uses musical instruments or other objects like juggling pins or balls.
Buck teeth, spiky hair, and starry glasses!
- VAGABUNDO (or TRAMP): His character is sad, oppressed, and abandoned.
- PAYASO DE SOIRÉE: This clown is normally an 'augusto'. He acts out his specialty in the entrance to events.
- MIMO-CLOWN: This guy is a variation on the first clown category. He's usually mute, but he has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. He can juggle, he's sometimes an acrobat, and he can often play a musical instrument or two.
Another juggler, in full regalia.
- MESIÉ LOYAL: He's the ringmaster and the director of the show–the ultimate authority.
- CLOWN DE PERSONAJE: We can identify this clown by his character or profession. He might be a fireman, a sailor, a doctor, or a cowboy. Or, he might take on the role of a policeman, a child, or someone from a familiar story.
This clown's face makeup is superb. Mexico Cooks! particularly loved his eyelashes and golden tears.

In addition to this time-honored hierarchy of clowns, Mexico is home to many informal and little-trained stoplight clowns who work our cities' street corners. You saw some of them in the January 16, 2009, Mexico Cooks! article Lo Que Se Ve En El Crucero. Beto Botones said, "These street clowns wear jeans, they don't follow the norms of real clowns, they think it's too costly to train and work professionally. But it's important to follow clown traditions. It's not right that they don't know our history, our theories, and that they don't want to act like professionals."

The wig! The tongue! The gloves, the shirt, the vest! Who could resist him?

The trained clown always has a red nose, a bright plastic sign that this is a real clown. His wig can be any color he wants, as long as it goes with his personality. Today, his makeup is usually airbrushed onto his face in the style that suits him best. Usually he wears gloves; the "Augusto" generally uses a dandy's white gloves.

These payasitos–baby clowns–are totally adorable. The little guy on the right sports a wonderful hat.

The shoes: a clown, especially an "Augusto", is notable for his gigantic, bulbous, and colorful footwear that serves to call attention to his character. A clown's suit is almost always copious, with big hidden pockets filled with balls, juggling pins, hats, and handkerchiefs: the stuff of magic, jokes, and laughter.

At last, the desfile de payasos (clown parade) turned the corner onto Avenida Madero! Even with the difficult economic situation in today's Mexico, Morelia's payasos haven't lost their sense of humor, their smiles, or their optimism.

Morelia's professional payasos are available to work all kinds parties and other special events. Nothing enlivens a child's birthday party like a clown; nothing but a clown takes a suddenly too-serious event to another level of fun. How wonderful to know that Mexico's traditional clowns live on for future generations' laughter.

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30 de January de 2010
Caldo de Pollo: Chicken Soup, Mexican Style

Seasoning ingredients for preparing the caldo (broth) for Mexican caldo de pollo (chicken soup). Clockwise from top right in the photo: unpeeled carrots, white onions, chiles serranos, garlic, fresh bay leaves, cilantro, and thyme.

Winter! Even in Mexico, the wind blows cold in the central highlands during late December and all of January. Daytime high temperatures in Morelia sometimes hover near 65°F, warm for you who live in northern climes but cold for us who have no heat source in our homes. Nighttime temperatures here can drop nearly 30 degrees below the daytime highs. In January, the weather gives us las cabañuelas, a few days of chilly drizzle said to predict the length and intensity of the summer rainy season. What better to warm us from the inside out than Mexico's traditional, rich, delicious caldo de pollo (chicken soup)? You who live in colder countries will love it as much as we do. Nothing could be simpler to prepare. The ingredients are easy to obtain, the broth all but cooks itself, and the final preparations are a snap.

This beautiful chicken weighed approximately 5.5 pounds before cooking.

Mexico's chickens are perfectly suited to caldo de pollo. Yellow skin and pink flesh create a fragrantly savory stock. If you've traveled to Mexico and visited our markets, you may have wondered why our recently sacrificed raw chickens look so…so chicken-y, so golden and inviting. They're fed marigold petals along with their feed! The bright golden color of the flowers is transmitted not only to their skin and flesh, but also to the yolks of their eggs, which sit up high and bright in your breakfast skillet. Several years ago, a shall-remain-nameless neighboring country to the north imported some of its frozen chicken to our supermarkets: gray, lifeless whole chickens and lumps of breast and leg meat lay in freezer compartments waiting to be purchased. Mexican housewives looked at these icy products and recoiled. Little sold and I notice that little imported chicken is currently available in the supermarkets I visit.

Mexico Cooks! prefers to remove as much fat as possible from the chicken before cooking, leaving only a little to give body and flavor to the broth.

In the pot: the chicken back and legs, along with the seasoning ingredients and water, ready to cook.

Caldo de Pollo (Mexican Chicken Soup)

For the broth
1 whole chicken, approximately 5-6 pounds
1 1/2 white onions, peeled
2 large cloves garlic, peeled
2 large carrots, peeled and cut in half
2 chiles serranos, sliced from tip to stem end
2 bay leaves
6 stems cilantro
Large pinch of thyme
Sea salt to taste
Water
Stock pot

Procedure
Remove as much fat as possible from the raw chicken. Remove the bag of menudencias (heart, gizzard, liver, etc). Mexico Cooks! prefers to separate the entire breast and wings from the back and legs, using the back and legs for preparing the broth and reserving the breast and wings for later use.

Put the chicken and all seasoning ingredients except the salt into the stock pot. Add approximately 12-14 cups cold water. Bring to a boil, lower to simmer. Skim the broth once. Simmer, partially covered, for approximately 1.5 hours. Cool slightly and add sea salt to taste. Remove all vegetables, herbs, and the chicken back and legs from the pot. Chill the broth overnight and peel off any congealed fat.

Because my partner and I prefer to eat breast meat, I often shred the cooked leg and back meat to be used in other recipes. However, when I made this batch of caldo de pollo, I took large chunks of the dark meat and added them to the broth.

Ingredients for the final preparation of the caldo de pollo, to cook in the broth just before serving. Clockwise from top right: calabacitas (tender zucchini, about 3" long), peeled carrots, chicken breast, fresh green beans. Potatoes, ready to be peeled, are in the foreground.

To finish the caldo de pollo

Ingredients
1/2 pound fresh green beans, broken in thirds
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 2" lengths
4 to 6 calabacitas (tiny zucchini will do), cut into 2" lengths
2 or 3 large potatoes, cut in eighths
2 half chicken breasts, cut into three pieces each
2 chicken wings, pointed end sections removed

About an hour before mealtime, bring the broth to a simmer. Add all of the above ingredients to the broth. Simmer for half an hour, or until the chicken and vegetables are done.

During the half hour that the vegetables and chicken are cooking in the caldo de pollo, prepare a pot of traditional Mexican rice. In a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil, sauté the amount of rice you want (I usually use 1 or 2 cups of raw rice) until the rice is uniformly golden brown. Add 2 cups of tomato water for every cup of rice, bring to a boil, cover the pot and lower the heat to simmer until the rice is fluffy, about 20 minutes.

Tomato Water for Rice
2 Roma tomatoes, roasted on a comal (griddle)
2 cups water
Salt to taste

Add all ingredients to your blender and whiz until smooth. Strain through a fine colander and use for cooking rice.

The finished product, steaming and delicious on a winter day–or any day!

At meal time, have the following on the table: a large bunch of fresh cilantro in a glass of water; a plate of halved limones or limes, a dish of sea salt; and a cooked (not raw) or bottled table salsa of your choice. Plenty of hot-from-the-griddle corn tortillas round out your meal.

Mexico Cooks! favorite bottled salsa: Cosecha Purhépecha Salsa Casera de Chile Perón (Home-style Chile Perón Salsa). It's made in Chilchota, Michoacán, only a couple of hours from Morelia.

To serve your caldo de pollo, add a large spoonful or two of steaming hot rice to each diner's bowl. Next, add chicken and a good amount of vegetables. Fill each bowl with hot, fragrant broth. Each person can then add a pinch of sea salt, some cilantro leaves, a squeeze or two of jugo de limón, and salsa to his or her own taste.

Makes four to six servings with rich broth left over for other uses.

Provecho!

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23 de January de 2010
Lo Que Se Ve en el Crucero: What You See at the Intersection

Click to enlarge the photo and see the bunny in the box at the clown's feet. While the clown works the street, the bunny hops from lane to lane and back to the safety of its box. It's very well trained–but just for this one trick.

Mexico calls its under-the-radar businesses 'informal commerce'. These very individualized businesses include a lot of ambulatory salespeople, service people, and curbside entertainment. You'll see them working in every city: windshield cleaners, fire eaters, balloon vendors, candy and fruit sellers, jugglers, and people doing anything that someone else might pay to buy or see. In these difficult times of la crisis económica (no translation needed, right?), more people than ever are squeezing a living out of tips from drivers and passengers in cars stopped at any traffic light.

"Don't take my picture, take a picture of these folding lap tables I'm selling. Don't you want to buy one for yourself?" Click any photo on Mexico Cooks! to enlarge it for a better view.

Cilindrero (organ grinder) in the Centro Histórico (historic center). Mexico Cooks! has seen three or four of these late 19th Century delightful hand organs here in Morelia, plus another dozen or more in Mexico City. The guys who play the cilindros in Morelia are part of the Mexico City group.

Got a leak? Although this pickup is parked every day at a nearby busy corner, Mexico Cooks! has never seen the driver. Just call the number!

Young women who work distributing advertising, handing out free samples, or simply acting as living decor for any event are called edecanes. The word comes from the French aide-de-camp. The lovely Señorita Promo Tip's passed a free promotional newspaper through the window of my car.

During September's Fiestas Patrias (Independence Day celebrations), flag sellers rolled their colorful carts to hundreds of local intersections. Due to la crisis económica, sales of flags and other Independence Day souvenirs were very slow this year. Right now, few people have enough money for small luxuries like these.

Every visible surface of his body is painted silver and he juggles flaming batons on a 12-foot ladder while you wait for the light to change. Just before the green light, he passes through the lanes of traffic to collect a propina (tip) from those who care to give him one.

This young man is selling BonIce brand frozen fruit pops, not far from the street in Morelia where Mexico Cooks! lives.

Take home roses for your sweetie, 40 pesos the dozen–about $3.00USD, at the current exchange rate.

Mexico Cooks!' favorite Morelia payaso de semáforo (street clown)!

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16 de January de 2010
VI Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán: Sixth Annual Traditional Michoacán Food Festival
Tostada Nexpa, opening course at the gala comida (main meal of the day) for dignitaries at the VI Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán (Sixth Annual Festival of Traditional Michoacán Cuisine).

Atápakua de verduras (creamy vegetable soup) and a miniature corunda wrapped in a corn leaf, second course at the festive comida.

The VI Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán began on Friday, December 4, with a full day of academic conferences. During the course of the day, some of Mexico's top gastronomic experts spoke on topics ranging from the need to safeguard and promote Mexico's traditional cuisines to the importance of the teachings of Mexico's grandmothers. Among the speakers were Dra. Gloria López Morales (Mexico City), Lic. Olivia González (Querétaro), Inga. Magda Choque Vilca (Jujuy, Argentina), and Maestro Julián Estrada (Colombia).

The third course included (center) duck, locally hunted at Lake Pátzcuaro and prepared in salsa de chile guajillo; (left) Uruapan-farmed rainbow trout, covered in coconut and bathed in salsa de aguacate; and (right) turkey in salsa de manchamanteles (tablecloth-stainer), as served at traditional regional parties held on the day after a wedding.

Dra. Rubí Silva of Restaurante Los Mirasoles and Chef Lucero Soto Arriaga of Restaurante LU–two extraordinary Morelia restaurants serving regional Michoacán alta cocina mexicana (Mexican haute cuisine)–prepared an extraordinary menú de degustación (tasting menu) for participants' midday comida.

Uchepo de leche de elote tierno (sweet corn tamal with locally-grown and prepared mermelada de zarzamora (blackberry marmalade)–just one of the banquet's desserts.

Mexico Cooks!, once again in eager attendance at the annual
all-Michoacán traditional food festival, was honored and humbled to be
invited to participate as a judge for the 2009 culinary competitions. The competition cooking began early on Saturday morning, with judging for all categories starting at about noon. Assigned to judge traditional breads as well as candies and preserved fruits, Mexico Cooks! was glad to accompany a team of Mexico's finest chefs and food experts in making the rounds of the contestants in these categories.

Such a sacrifice in the name of research! This pyramid of preserved figs was one of the visual highlights of the sweets judging.

We judges were instructed to concentrate on the following categories for sweets:
- tradition
- use of basic ingredients from the region
- techniques of preparation
- techniques of preservation
- presentation
- flavors
- the cook's innovations or personal touches
Tejocotes en almibar (tiny crab apple-type fruit preserved in syrup) looked so beautiful in their cazuela de barro (clay cooking vessel). Tejocotes are in season in the winter. They're traditionally preserved in syrup or used as one of the many fruits in ponche navideño (Christmas punch).

Patricia de los Santos de la Cruz from Michoacán's westernmost coastal city, Lázaro Cárdenas, won the prize for the best sweet for her atole de plátano (thick drink made of ripe plantains). Made with coconut milk and very ripe plantains, this traditional atole, which contains no sugar or preservatives, could be either drunk from a cup or eaten with a spoon for dessert. We judges were delighted with its delicious flavor and smooth consistency.

For judging the bread category, we used the following criteria:
- tradition
- techniques of preparation
- texture
- flavor
- the cook's innovations or personal touches
A close contender for top honors in the bread category, these traditional quesadillas de miel de piloncillo (pastry with brown sugar syrup) are made by Sra. María Dolores Ocampo in Santa Ana Maya, Michoacán. She's the third generation of her family who bakes these crisp-crusted sweets, preparing them every other day. She told us that if we wanted to take some home, she would package them for us with the syrup in a separate bag so they wouldn't get soggy.

Beautiful folded pan dulce sprinkled with sugar made a marvelous visual impression but left something to be desired in its taste and texture.

Sr. Juvenal Acuña Baltierra brought a number of breads to the festival from his Chilchota bakery, Panadería La Favorita. We judges tasted a bit of each variety, but the minute we tried his pan de anís (anise bread, pictured at right in the photo) we knew what the bread category winner would be. Richly flavored with anise, sweet with piloncillo and with a texture both dense and chewy–but not heavy–this entry jumped out at all of us. It scored a big TEN (the best) in every judging class.

The other judging categories included moles, atápakuas, and corundas. We 26 judges managed to pick winners in every category, but it was a difficult job. The traditional cooks and bakers of Michoacán are marvelously talented and richly deserve the preservation efforts being extended to their art. One of the conference speakers, Maestra Jiapsy Arias, said it best: "La cocina se debe de preservar igual que cualquier pirámide." ('The kitchen must be preserved, just like any pyramid.')

We look forward to having you with us next December in Morelia for the seventh annual conference!

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9 de January de 2010
Mexico Cooks!: A Backward Glance at 2009

Mexico Cooks! started 2009 with a bang, offering tamales and rosca de reyes to celebrate the New Year.

In February, we purchased this gorgeous cazuela (large clay cooking vessel) at Tzintzuntzan's annual fiestas patronales (patron saint's festivities).

We ate delicious capirotada (bread pudding), a Lenten specialty unique to Mexico, in March.

The kitchen at Pátzcuaro's Museo Regional de Arte Popular (Regional Popular Arts Museum) is one of our all-time favorite displays.

The spring arrival of the infamous AH1N1 influenza virus shocked Mexico and the world. Suddenly, everyone on the street was wearing a protective tapaboca (surgical-style mask).

June took Mexico Cooks! to Rancho Casa Luna in San Miguel de Allende for a marvelous weekend of cooking with friends.

Our culinary research assignment for July: Morelia's homage to Guadalajara's signature snack, the famously spicy torta ahogada (drowned sandwich).

Mexico Cooks! met the delightful Doña Felícitas and her family at Morelia's Mercado Nicolás Bravo in August.

In September, Restaurante LU, part of Morelia's Hotel Best Western Casino, offered Mexico Cooks! a chance to try the new menú bicentenario (bicentennial menu). Mexico celebrates its 200th anniversary during all of 2010.

Lila Downs captivated Mexico Cooks! and all of Morelia in October.

Noche de Muertos in Tzintzuntzan's cemetery. We dedicated the entire month of November to information about and photos of the Day of the Dead.

Frijolitos refritos (refried beans) and how to prepare them–along with some traditional Michoacán recipes for your kitchen–highlighted December.

Come along with Mexico Cooks! for the year 2010! You'll discover as many new caminos de México (pathways of Mexico) as we can fit into every month. We look forward to having you with us.

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

2 de January de 2010
Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

May every moment of the year to come be filled with the joys of all you hold dear.

Happy holidays from Mexico Cooks!.

25 de December de 2009
Piñatas!

Traditional piñatas ready for sale decorate the door to the Hernández family's tiny taller (workshop) on Av. Lázaro Cárdenas.

Among clean ollas de barro (clay pots), plastic receptacles filled with engrudo (flour/water paste), and colorful, neatly stacked rounds of papel de china (tissue paper), Sra. María Dolores Hernández (affectionately known as Doña Lolita) sits on an upturned bucket. She'll celebrate her 80th birthday on December 24, and she still lights up–just like a Christmas tree–when she talks about her business and her life.

The last point of the star-shaped piñata is in Doña Lolita's hands, nearly ready to be glued into place.

"When I was a young woman, raising my family together with my husband, it was hard for us to make a good living here in Morelia. We had eight children (one has died, but six girls and a boy survive) and we struggled to make ends meet. My husband was a master mason, but I wanted to help out with the finances. I knew a woman who made piñatas, and I thought, 'I can do that.' So I started trying my hand, nearly 60 years ago."

Doña Lolita adds another layer of newspaper to this piñata in progress. "You can't put too much newspaper on the pot, because it will take too long to break," she explained. "And you can't put too little on it, either, because then the first child to hit it will break it. That's no good, either. You just have to know how much to use." Click on the photo to enlarge it and get a good look at the clay pot inside the paper maché.

"The woman who made piñatas wouldn't give away her secrets, so I had to figure everything out for myself. You should have seen me the first time I tried to make a bird's beak for a parrot-shaped piñata! A man I knew told me to make it out of chapopote (a kind of tar), so I did. It hardened all right, but later in the day the weather warmed up and that beak dripped down to here! What a mess! I finally figured out how to make the shape out of paper, but I just about broke my head thinking about it!"

Pre-cut rounds of papel de china (tissue paper) wait to be glued onto a piñata. The black plastic bag holds strips of newspaper.

Doña Lolita told me about the different grades of paper used to create different styles of decoration on the piñata, and she explained different kinds of paper-cutting techniques; she's absolutely the expert. Here, her son-in-law Fernando cuts tissue paper for fringe. His hands are so fast with the scissors it made my head spin; he can even cut without looking.

"In those days, the clay pots cost four and a half pesos for a gross–yes, for 144. In the old days, I usually sold about 7,000 piñatas every December, so you can imagine the investment I made just in clay pots. In the 1960s, I could sell a large piñata for seven pesos. Now–well, now the pots are much more expensive, so naturally the piñatas cost more, too. The large ones cost 45 pesos. This year, I'll sell about 1,000 piñatas just for the posadas. "

Piñatas in various stages of completion hang from every beam in Doña Lolita's tiny workshop.

"When my daughter Mercedes was about eight years old, she wanted to learn to make piñatas. She'd been watching me do it since she was born. So I taught her, and I've taught the whole family. Piñatería (making piñatas) is what's kept us going." Doña Lolita smiled hugely. "My children have always been extremely hard workers. There was a girl for each part of making the piñatas. Every year, we started making piñatas in August and finished at the beginning of January.

This gigantic piñata, still unfinished, measures almost six feet in diameter from point to point.

"One time, we had so many piñatas to finish that I didn't think we could do it. So I thought, 'if we work all night long, we can finish them by tomorrow morning.' Only I couldn't figure out how to keep the children awake to work all night." She laughed. "I went to the drugstore and bought pills to stay awake. I knew I could keep myself awake, but I gave one pill to each of the children. And in just a little while, I was working and they were sleeping, their heads fell right down into their work! What! Those pills didn't work at all! The next day I went back to the drugstore and asked the pharmacist about it. 'Oh no! I thought you asked me for pills to make them sleep!' he said." Doña Lolita laughed again. "We finished all the piñatas in spite of those pills, but you had better believe me, I never tried anything that foolish again."

Doña Lolita builds piñatas with her son-in-law, Fernando Cedeño Herrera (left), her daughter Mercedes Ayala Hernández, her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren. A close friend, Oswaldo Gutiérrez López (background), works with the family. Her grandson Enrique, 19, says he intends to keep the family business going.

Oswaldo Gutiérrez works on this piñata in the doorway of the tiny taller. Doña Lolita has taught many people the art of creating traditional piñatas, but her family and her loyal customers say she's the best piñatera (piñata maker) in Morelia.

"People come from everywhere to buy my piñatas. I don't have to take them out to sell; I only sell them here in the taller. Because they're so beautiful and well-made, all the best people in Morelia–and lots of people from other places–come to seek me out and order piñatas for their parties. I've taught my family that our work is our pride and our heritage, and my children have all taught their children the same. That is our legacy, our family tradition."

Fill the piñata with candy like these bags of traditional colación (hard candies especially for Christmas).

But why piñatas, and why in December? During the early days of the Spanish conquest, the piñata was used as a catechetical tool. The body of the piñata represented Satan; each of the seven points symbolized the seven capital sins (pride, lust, gluttony, rage, greed, laziness, and envy). Breaking the piñata equated with the triumph of good over evil, overpowering Satan, overcoming sin, and enjoying the delights of God's creation as they pour out of the piñata. Doña Lolita's most sought-after piñatas continue the traditional style, but she also creates piñatas shaped like roosters, peacocks, half-watermelons, deer, half moons, and once, an enormous octopus!

Now, for the nine nights from December 16 through December 24, Mexico celebrates las posadas. Each evening, a re-enactment of the Christmas story brings children dressed as la Virgencita María (ready to give birth to her baby) and her husband Sr. San José (and a street filled with angels, shepherds, and other costumed children) along the road to Bethlehem, searching for a place to stay. There is no place: Bethlehem's posadas (inns) are filled. Where will the baby be born! For the re-enactment, people wait behind closed doors at certain neighborhood houses. The santos peregrinos (holy pilgrims) knock, first at one door, then another. At each house, they sing a song, begging lodging for the night. At each house, the neighbors inside turn them away in song: 'No room here! Go away! Bother someone else!' Watch a lovely slide show: Las Posadas.

Freshly toasted cacahuates (peanuts) also stuff the piñata. The wooden box holding the peanuts is actually a measure, as is the oval metal box.

After several houses turn away la Virgen, San José, and their retinue, they finally receive welcome at the last designated house. After the pilgrims sing their plea for a place to stay, the guests assembled inside sing their welcome, "Entren santos peregrinos…" (Come in, holy pilgrims…). The doors are flung open, everyone piles into the house, and a huge party starts. Traditional foods like ponche (a hot fruit punch), buñuelos (a thin fried dough covered with either sugar or syrup), and tamales (hundreds of tamales!) pour out of the kitchen as revelers sing villancicos (Mexican Christmas carols) and celebrate the coming of the Niño Dios (the Child Jesus). Finally, all the children line up to put on a blindfold and take swings at a piñata stuffed with candy, seasonal fruits, and peanuts.

This five-pound bag of hard candies shows a blindfolded (but peeking) boy ready to break open the filled piñata. Luis Gómez, a merchant at Local 290, Mercado Independencia in Morelia, offers these and other bags of piñata candies.

Mandarinas (tangerines) are in season at Christmastime and round out the goodies in lots of piñatas.

The piñata, stuffed with all it will hold, hangs from a rope during the posada party. A parent or neighbor swings it back and forth, up and down, as each child takes a turn at breaking it open with a big stick. Watch these adorable kids whack away.

The piñata, lovely though it may be, is purely temporary. Nevertheless, happy memories of childhood posadas with family and friends last a lifetime.

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19 de December de 2009