Category: Art and Culture

Piñatas :: Not Just For Birthdays! It’s Time for Mexico’s Posadas

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

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 88th 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, for teaching Catholic dogma. 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). The bandanna worn by the person whacking at the piñata symbolized blind faith. 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, previously 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.

Caña de azúcar (sugar cane), also in season now, goes into the piñata, too. The skin is left on and it's cut into 2" to 3" sections, then added to the mix of other treats.

Yes, little jícamas are also in the markets right now–and meant to be included in the piñata! We only use tiny ones–they also measure about 3" in diameter.

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:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIOjDz0smFw&w=560&h=315]

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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16 de December de 2017
Corn Travels In Baja California :: From Tijuana to Tecate, From Ensenada to Valle de Guadalupe and More!

Tijuana boasts an extraordinary school of culinary arts. We were privileged to be invited to present Mexico's maíces nativos (native corns) to a full auditorium of faculty, students, and the interested public. After the presentation, it was enormously gratifying to hear so many questions: "How and where do we start to promote and preserve this ancient corn?" "What can we do here in Baja California?" "How do we get seeds and how do we plant them here?" The audience truly understood and shared our preoccupation for these grains.

Left to right in the front row: W. Scott Koenig of A Gringo in Mexico, friend of maíces nativos Kalisa Wells, freelance writer Jackie Bryant, who spent the day with us, and Jennifer Kramer/Chris Mejia of Baja Test Kitchen, all of whom supported the corn project in Baja California. Seated above Scott at the far left of the photograph is Javier González Vizcaino, the director of Tijuana's Culinary Arts School, who was responsible for our invitation to speak there. The very fine culinary school recently celebrated its fourteenth anniversary.

Director Javier Gónzalez, head of the Culinary Arts School, makes a comment about a question asked after the presentation. Meeting Sr. González was a tremendous privilege for all of us involved with the Baja California corn project. We so appreciate his cheerleading!

The quintessential Baja California fish taco, delicious and endemic to the region. Think 'good-sized piece of battered and deep-fried fresh fish–often cazón–topped with salsa cruda (raw sauce–often erroneously called pico de gallo), finely shredded raw cabbage, drizzled with Mexican table cream and sprinkled with fresh cilantro. The outdoor stand offers other salsas as well, which we also slathered on our tacos. Our Baja Test Kitchen guides recommended this particular spot in the small town of Valle de Guadalupe; I'm not going to give away their secrets, but it's one of the many wonderful places they know in the in that part of the world. They'd be happy to schedule a trip for you.

This tejuino stand was one of my favorite stops. Rafael Mier's smile should tell you the story: so refreshing, so cold on a hot day–I could have drunk at least two cups, but we were on our way to eat elsewhere and tejuino is quite filling. The drink is a mixture of fresh masa (corn dough), piloncillo (Mexico's raw brown sugar), water, lemon juice, salt to taste, and ice. Everything but the ice is allowed to ferment for two or three days prior to chilling and serving. Many times your glass of tejuino will come topped with a small scoop of nieve de limón (lemon ice). The recipe comes from the state of Jalisco and the drink is served from carts all over the city of Guadalajara. I asked the man who served us our tejuino in Valle de Guadalupe where he was from–Guadalajara, of course!

We thought we'd just stop by to say hello to doña Sabina Bandera (La Guerrerense) at her carreta (street stand), but of course we stayed for some of her famous seafood tostadas. Since she was a newlywed in 1961, doña Sabina has been selling her incredibly fresh seafood preparations from a cart at the corner of Av. López Mateos and Calle Alvarado in downtown Ensenada. In addition, she recently opened a sit-down restaurant just across the street. Ensenada has always known and loved her and her wonderful seafood, but in 2012 Anthony Bourdain featured her on his show "No Reservations" and La Guerrerense became a legend and a Baja California food destination. In the coming year, La Guerrerense's seafood tostadas and jars of her dozen-plus different salsas will be available at Bourdain's new market in New York–and in another world-class city that I'm not quite allowed to mention yet. You'll read it here on Mexico Cooks! just as soon as my friend doña Sabina gives me the go-ahead.

Maíces nativos meet tostadas La Guerrerense! The tostada on the left is pulpo (octopus); the one on the right is caracol del mar (sea snail). Both are lip-smackingly good. Doña Sabina, the Guerrero-born daughter of campesinos (farmers), had a lot to talk about with Rafael Mier. He was thrilled to find out that she is 100% supportive of the work being done by the non-profit foundation Tortilla de Maíz Mexicana, and of course he is now one of her big supporters.

The serve-yourself array of salsas at doña Sabina's new cafeteria-style sit-down restaurant across from her street cart. The restaurant, simplicity itself and filled with the joy of good eating, shows the world just who doña Sabina is: no pretensions, straightforward this is who I am. You can't help but love her and the food she prepares. I certainly do.

Meet chef Omar Armas of Restaurante Mantou, Ensenada. The maíces nativos group presented these native corns to the restaurant cooks and wait staff while we were in Ensenada. The restaurant closed permanently on September 3, 2017, but chef Omar is keeping on with his culinary projects and plans to keep his career close to home. Our time at Mantou was so productive–not to mention so tasty–that it seems wise to put the news out that his culinary skills will continue to be available.

Rafael Mier talked about ancient and modern corn to the entire kitchen and front-of-the-house crew; more than triple this number was in attendance. Few had ever seen the variety of Mexico's native corns, and until hearing the talk, few understood the reasons for preserving these national treasures. Seated opposite Rafael, chef Omar listened deeply to the themes of the presentation. Above the heads of the group, you can see the final image of the Tortilla de Maíz Mexicana's slide show. The caption says, "El destino del maíz está en tus manos." 'Corn's destiny is in your hands.'

After the presentation, Restaurante Mantou hosted a dinner for us, at which we drank Henri Lurton wines. At the head of the table, Lourdes Martínez Ojeda, the head winemaker at Henri Lurton's winery (with a branch settled just over a year ago in Valle de Guadalupe) talks with everyone about why and how Henri Lurton, owner of the Château Brane-Cantenac winery in Margaux, Bordeaux, France and current head of the Lurton wine dynasties, chose Baja California for a second outpost. In addition to her work as the winemaker at Henri Lurton Baja California, Lourdes is also chef Omar's wife.

The menu we oohed and aahed over at Mantou was almost entirely vegetarian. This extraordinary salad consisted of sautéed shiitake mushrooms, verdolagas (purslane), locally made Parmesan cheese, and raspberry vinegar which had been fermented for six months. With the salad, we drank Henri Lurton Chenin Blanc Centenario. The pairing was perfect.

Pasta al dente with a sauce of calabacitas, a small squash similar to zucchini, with cherry tomatoes and gorgonzola cheese. The restaurant paired the pasta course with Henri Lurton Nebbiolo.

If you're in the Ensenada area, look for any events featuring chef Omar Armas. You won't be disappointed.

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11 de November de 2017
Noche de Muertos (Night of the Dead) in Michoacán :: Mutual Nostalgia

Mexico Cooks!' full body bone scan, 2009.

Remember me as you pass by,
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so you will be,
Prepare for death and follow me.
…from a tombstone

What is death? We know its first symptoms: the heart stops pumping, breath and brain activity stop. We know death's look and feel: a still, cold body from which the spirit has fled. The orphan and widow know death's sorrow, the priest knows the liturgy of the departed and the prayers to assuage the pain of those left to mourn. But in most English-speaking countries, death and the living are not friends. We the living look away from our mortality, we talk of the terminally ill in terms of 'if anything happens', not 'when she dies'. We hang the crepe, we cover the mirrors, we say the beads, and some of us fling ourselves sobbing upon the carefully disguised casket as it is lowered into the Astroturf-lined grave.

Octavio Paz, Mexico City's Nobel Laureate poet and essayist who died in 1998, is famously quoted as saying, "In New York, Paris, and London, the word death is never mentioned, because it burns the lips."

Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán panteón (cemetery), Mexico Cooks! photo. These fellows sing to la Descarnada (the fleshless woman) on November 2, 2009.

In Mexico, on the contrary, every day is a dance with death. Death is a woman who has a numerous affectionate and humorous nicknames: la Huesuda (the bony woman), la Seria (the serious woman), la Novia Fiel (the faithful bride), la Igualadora (the equalizer), la Dientona (the toothy woman), la Pelona (the bald woman), la Patrona (the boss lady), and a hundred more. She's always here, just around the next corner or right over there, behind that pillar. She waits with patience, until later today or until twelve o'clock next Thursday, or sometime next year–but when it's time, she's right there to dance away with you at her side.

November 2013 altar to La Santa Muerte (Holy Death), near Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. Devotees of this deathly apparition say that her cult has existed since before the Spanish arrived in Mexico.

In Mexico, death is also in the midst of life. We see our dead, alive as you and me, each November, when we wait at our cemeteries for those who have gone before to come home, if only for a night. That, in a nutshell, is Noche de Muertos: the Night of the Dead.

In the lower center portion of this photograph, you can see the panteón municipal (town cemetery) in this small town. Late in the afternoon of November 1, 2013, most townspeople had not yet gone to the cemetery with candles and flowers for their loved ones' graves. Click on any photograph for a larger view.

Over the course of the last 30-plus years, Mexico Cooks! has been to countless Noche de Muertos events, but none as mystical, as spiritual, or as profoundly magical as in 2013. Invited to accompany a very small group on a private tour in Michoacán, I looked forward to spending three days enjoying the company of old and new friends. I did all that, plus I came away with an extraordinarily privileged view of life and death.

A magnificent Purépecha ofrenda (in this case, a home altar) in one of Michoacán's villages. This detailed and lovely ofrenda was created to the memory of the family's maiden aunt, who died at 74. Because she had never married, even at her advanced age she was considered to be an angelito (little angel)–like an innocent child–and her spirit was called back home to the family on November 1, the day of the angelitos. Be sure to click on the photo to see the details of the altar. Fruits, breads, incense, salt, flowers, colors, and candles have particular symbolism and are necessary parts of the ofrenda.

Detail of the ofrenda casera (home altar) shown above. Several local people told Mexico Cooks! that the fruit piled on the altar tasted different from fruit from the same source that had not been used for the ofrenda. "Compramos por ejemplo plátanos y pusimos unos en el altar y otros en la cocina para comer. Ya para el día siguiente, los del altar perdieron su sabor, no sabían a nada," they said. 'We bought bananas, for example, and we put some on the altar and the rest in the kitchen to eat. The next day, the ones in the kitchen were fine, but the ones from the altar had no taste at all.'

Preparing a family member's ofrenda (altar) in the camposanto in another village's cemetery in Michoacán. The camposanto–literally, holy ground–is a cemetery contained within the walls of a churchyard. The candles used in this area of Michoacán are hand made in artisans' homes.

Come with me along the unlit road that skirts the Lago de Pátzcuaro: Lake Pátzcuaro. It's chilly and the roadside weeds are damp with earlier rain, but for the moment the sky has cleared and filled with stars. Up the hill on the right and down the slope leading left toward the lake are tiny villages, dark but for the glow of tall candles lit one by one in the cemeteries. Tonight is November 1, the night silent souls wend their way home from Mictlán, the land beyond life.

At the grave: candlelight to illuminate the soul's way, cempazúchitl (deeply orange marigolds) for their distinctive fragrance required to open the path back home, smoldering copal (frankincense) to cleanse the earth and air of any remnants of evil, covered baskets of the deceased's favorite foods. And a low painted chair, where the living can rest through the night.

Waiting through the night. This tumba (grave) refused to be photographed head-on. From an oblique angle, the tumba allowed its likeness to be made.

"Oh grave, where is thy victory? Oh death, where is thy sting?"

Noche de Muertos is not a costume party, although you may see it portrayed as such in the press. It is not a drunken brawl, although certain towns appear to welcome that sort of blast-of-banda-music reventón (big blow-out). It is not a tourist event, though strangers are certainly welcomed to these cemeteries. Noche de Muertos is a celebration of the spirit's life over the body's death, a festival of remembrance, a solemn passover. Years ago, in an interview published in the New York Times, Mexico Cooks! said, "Noche de Muertos is about mutual nostalgia. The living remember the dead, and the dead remember the taste of home."

One by one, grave by grave, golden cempazútchiles give shape to rock-bound tombs and long candles give light to what was a dark and lonely place, transforming the cemetery into a glowing garden. How could a soul resist this setting in its honor?

"Our hearts remember…" we promise the dead. Church bells toll slowly throughout the night, calling souls home with their distinctive clamor (death knell). Come…come home. Come…come home.

Watching. Prayers. No me olvido de ti, mi viejo amado. (I haven't forgotten you, my dear old man.)

Next year, come with me.

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28 de October de 2017
The Painter’s Eye :: Dr. Atl, Watching Mexico’s Volcanos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Detail, Cráter y La Vía Láctea.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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2 de September de 2017
OAXACA: First Grand Meeting of Oaxaca’s Traditional Cooks :: Primer Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Oaxaca

Oaxaca hosted its first-ever Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales on April 24-25, 2017. The festivities included more than 50 traditional home cooks from Oaxaca's eight regions, plus two days of conferences and other activities. Doña Martina Sánchez is the person shown on the poster; she's making a tlayuda, a very large, thin corn tortilla that will subsequently be topped with any number of ingredients.

Indescribably delicious empanandas, prepared by doña Martina Sánchez at the Mexico City press conference prior to the Encuentro.

From 1:00PM until 9:00PM, the cocineras tradicionales (traditional cooks) sold plates and platters and bowls of both well- and little-known dishes to the hordes and throngs of avid attendees. More than 10,000 people showed up over the course of two days. The Encuentro was a tremendous success in every respect.

Señora Celia Florián, traditional cook, restaurant owner (Las 15 Letras, Calle Abasolo 300, Centro Histórico, Oaxaca), and one of the principal organizers of the Primer Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Oaxaca. My dear friend Celia is a truly great woman, in every sense of the word.

Oaxaca thrilled Mexico Cooks! with an invitation to an April 23-26 hosted press trip to Oaxaca, for the sole purpose of eating, drinking, photographing, and writing about the first Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales in that city. The event took place during the celebration of the city's 485th anniversary of founding, and what a celebration it was! The Encuentro, primarily organized by Señora Celia Florián and hosted by Oaxaca's city government and other organizations, the event included more than 50 traditional cooks who set up their cooking fires on the Plaza de la Danza, just in front of Oaxaca's beautiful Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad.

La Danza de los Rubios of Santiago Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca, pounded the stage with its fiercely colorful, tremendously flashy rendition of this more than 100-year-old dance to open the Encuentro. Normally danced during Carnaval, the bailable (dance) made a wonderful festival of the Encuentro. Photo courtesy Daniel Cui, IGERS Mexico.

Just one of a huge number of whole pigs, roasted over firewood at the Encuentro. This one was almost ready to be served, together with puré de papa (mashed potato), all in the style of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in far-southern Oaxaca.

My plate, filled with tender, juicy, wood-roasted, mouth-watering carne de cerdo (pork meat), Isthmus-style puré de papa (mashed potato), and delicious sauce. The cocinera tradicional istmeña who served the crowd wears the typical clothing of the Tehuana: a woman from the Isthmus: hand embroidered velveteen blouse coupled with a colorful skirt and typically white lacy underskirt, gold filigree jewelry, and a ribbon or flower wreath around the head. Photo courtesy Gaby Vargas.

From left to right: Rufina Mendoza Ruíz, Abigail Mendoza Ruíz, Mexico Cooks!, and Marcelina Mendoza Ruíz. The Mendoza Ruíz sisters are arguably the best-known cocineras tradicionales in Oaxaca–and probably in all of Mexico. Indigenous Zapotecas from Teotitlán del Valle, they operate Tlamanalli, their family restaurant. Abigail Mendoza has literally traveled the world educating people about Mexican and Oaxacan food. It's a privilege to be a friend of the loving Mendoza family.

Tichindas en caldo de frijol: sweet-water mussels hand-gathered from their muddy flats along the coast of Oaxaca and prepared in a slightly spicy, slightly savory, slightly sweet sauce of smoothly-ground beans that knocked my socks off. The mussels themselves, shells and all, were just over an inch long. From now on, when I think para chuparse los dedos (finger-lickin' good), this will be the dish in my mind. I ate this bowl of mussels on the last day of the Encuentro; on the first day, a friend gave me the last tiny bit of a tamal with one of these mussels, still in the shell, wrapped in rich masa (corn dough). The next day, I went looking for those tamales, but they were completely sold out. This bowl of tichinda soup was my consolation prize, but wow, a prize indeed.

Three members of a fascinating and tender round table conference; the one of the topics was "food memories from your childhood". The Tehuanas (women from the Istmus of Tehuantepec) are (left to right): Aurora de Toledo, owner of Restaurante Zandunga; Deyaniro Aquino Pineda, owner of Restaurante La Teca; and Ofelia Toledo Pineda, owner of Restaurante Yu Ne Nisa. All three restaurants are located in the city of Oaxaca.

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Tejate, one of the iconic drinks of Oaxaca, is made from corn masa, Oaxacan chocolate, canela (Mexican cinnamon), the finely ground large brown seed of the mamey fruit, and flor de cacao (also known as rosita). After those ingredients are beaten by hand (see video), water and ice are added.

Mamey fruit for sale at a market in Oaxaca. The mamey tastes very much like a baked sweet potato. The cut fruits–so beautiful!–have had their seeds removed to be sold separately.

At the top of the photo are long sticks of Mexican cinnamon. In the woven tray is flor de cacao, or rosita. At the bottom are the large brown mamey seeds, ready to be ground to a fine powder for tejate.

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In this video, the vendor has added cold water and ice to the tejate mixture–it's almost ready to serve. You can see that the surface of the tejate is foamy and thick, while the liquid she mixes from on high is thin, as it is supposed to be. Tejate is a delicious and extremely refreshing cold chocolate drink. When you're in Oaxaca, be sure to try it!

The finished product, tejate ready to be served. We thoroughly enjoyed a jícara of this one at Oaxaca's Mercado Benito Juárez.

For two full days and evenings, thousands of hungry people lined up at this event for Oaxacan regional food specialties that are rarely seen outside the comunidades (small indigenous towns) where they are made. Oaxaca residents, Mexicans from states near and far, and foreign tourists devoured anything and everything that the cocineras tradicionales prepared; everything I tasted was a thrill. The Encuentro was enlivened by constant live music and other entertainment, the city was in full fiesta mode for its anniversary, and everyone was excited and happy to be present.

As soon as the dates for the Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Oaxaca 2018 are announced, I'll post the news right here. You really, really need to book your trip as soon as possible! The event is a do-not-miss. In addition, I'll be offering a guided tour of the festivities!

Eager comensales (diners) pass along one of three sides of the Plaza de la Danza, where the cocineras tradicionales served food. No admission fee at the Encuentro means that one can purchase more of the very inexpensive dishes that the traditional cooks prepare and serve. Photo courtesy Marichuy Garduño.

Part of the invited Mexico City press group took a culinary tour of Oaxaca's Mercado Benito Juárez. I'd been there many times before, and nevertheless learned a tremendous amount from our guide. We're sitting for our portrait at Aguas Frescas Casilda, an institution in Oaxaca.

Over the course of many years, Mexico Cooks! has been invited to countless culinary festivals in Mexico. The Primer Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Oaxaca will always stand out in my mind as extraordinary: as the first in Oaxaca and as being entirely exemplary of Oaxaca's marvelous hospitality. Profound thanks to Celia Florián, to the Oaxaca city government, to the Oaxaca tourism department, to CANIRAC Oaxaca (Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Restaurantes y Alimentos Condimentados–Mexico's national restaurant association), to the cocineras tradicionales, and to all who made this marvelous event possible. Trabajar en equipo siempre es mejor (it's always better to work as a team) has never been truer. Three cheers and huge gratitude to all.

Next week, Mexico Cooks! will feature some of the restaurants where we were spoiled rotten by Oaxaca's CANIRAC. The truth is, we ate more in three days than is really conscionable. Between the traditional food at the Encuentro and our meals at Oaxaca's legendary restaurants, we all but waddled our way through the city.

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6 de May de 2017
Good Friday Procession of Silence, Morelia :: Viernes Santo Procesión del Silencio, Morelia, Michoacán

Nuestra Señora de Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows) leads the procession. Hooded members of various Catholic cofradías (confraternities, or religious organizations founded in Europe) carry life-size statues on their wooden platforms approximately three kilometers through Morelia's Centro Histórico.

Nuestra Señora de Dolores (detail).

Drummers marked the beat of Morelia's penitential Procesión del Silencio, Good Friday's silent procession commemorating both the crucifixion of Christ and his Mother's grief. Only the drumbeat breaks the silence along the route.

Jesus during la Oración en el Huerto (praying in the Garden of Gethsemane), just prior to his arrest on Holy Thursday night. Boy Scouts (the young man in red at the right of the photo) hold the protective rope all along the route of the procession.

Hundreds of cofradía members marched in the still of this Good Friday night. Foreigners, particularly those from the United States, are often shocked by the hoods, which to them are cultural reminders of the Ku Klux Klan. In Mexico, there is no association between the two. The procession is penitential and the hoods are a guarantee of anonymity and humility for the cofradía members. They believe that humility and works of charity are best practiced anonymously.

Semana Santa (Holy Week) cofradías originated in 9th century Europe as pious organizations and arrived in Mexico with the earliest Spanish settlers. The figures in the 2017 photo above are from Seville, Spain, and are made of white chocolate. Photo courtesy Jane Bachner King.

Roman soldiers.

The majority of Morelia's Procesión del Silencio takes place after dark, by candlelight.

The Legion of Christ carry their banner and their lamps. The Procesión del Silencio lasts about five hours. During that time, all of Morelia's Centro Histórico is closed to vehicular traffic.

Jesus carries the cross a cuestas (on his back) to Calvary. More than 50,000 spectators stand along the entire route of Morelia's Procesión del Silencio.

Candle holders are made of many materials, from crystal to styrofoam to metal.

Penitents from one of Morelia's confraternities carry their crosses the length of the procession. Many march barefoot through the city streets. The procession celebrated its thirty-seventh anniversary this year.

Robed and hooded members of another Catholic confraternity carry this image of the Cristo del Entierro (Christ of the Burial), nailed to the cross prior to his elevation. Hoods cover the faces of those who march as a sign of penitence.

Clothed in gold and black, these marching penitents carry huge metal torches.

Six men of all ages carry Cristo Muerto (the dead Christ), while six others follow as relief when the burden of the image, the platform, the lights, and the flowers becomes too heavy. The man at the far right of the photo carries one of two saw horses used to support the platform during occasional pauses in the procession.

At the end of the Procesión del Silencio, la Virgen de la Soledad (Our Lady of Solitude) follows the body of her crucified Son. The platform bearing her image holds burning candles, a purple and gold velvet canopy, and banks of fresh flowers.

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15 de April de 2017
De Vaga en Veracruz, Tierra Jarocha :: Vacation Wanderings in Veracruz, Part III

On the way from coastal Casitas to Papantla–a drive of about an hour–you know we got hungry! And what better to have for brunch than roadside tacos, Veracruz style: on the left is milanesa de pollo (lightly breaded and sliced chicken breast with rice, black beans, and salsa) and on the right, pollo deshebrado (boned, simmered, and shredded chicken) with the same condiments. The tacos were truly wonderful, we were delighted with our we-got-lucky-with-roadside-tacos de guisado, home-style tacos filled with stew-y deliciousness.

The pyramid El Tajín was our very first stop in Papantla, Veracruz. We went straight to the pyramid site, even before checking into our hotel! El Tajín is not just one pyramid; the archeological site is an entire city. The name, in the Totonaco indigenous language, is believed to mean "place where temples join and smoke is constant", the latter due, to the long ago burning of copal incense in the temples. The photo shows the pirámide de los nichos (Pyramid of the Niches). The name of the pyramid refers to the 365 "windows" placed on all sides of the structure; because the number corresponds to the number of days in a year, this pyramid has received tremendous attention from those who study the calendars and the cosmic vision of the ancient Totonaco inhabitants who, sometime between 1700 and 800 years ago, built this city.

Los Voladores de Papantla (The Papantla Flyers) practice this impressive spiritual ritual on the El Tajín grounds. We made a point to arrive in time for their daily exhibition; the rite had its 450-year-old origins as a form of prayer for rain after a severe drought which left the Totonaco people without food. The Totonacos believe that these prayers to the rain gods brought life-saving rains back to the region. The prayer ceremony initially began with the cutting of a tree tall and straight enough for the flyers; today, the flyers climb the 30 meter high metal pole that you see in the photograph above. Five men participate in this prayer; one remains on a platform at the top of the pole to play ritual music meant to mimic birdsong; the other four launch themselves from the platform to fly upside down to the ground. There is ceremony and prayer form in every part of the rite. The pole is the connection point between earth, the underworld, and the sky; the flyers represent the four cardinal points and the four elements (earth, air, water, and fire); each rope is wrapped 13 times around its flyer, and the flyers circle the pole 52 times, representing the length in weeks of the Mesoamerican great year. All photos and videos copyright Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.

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Los Voladores de Papantla in motion–with the musician playing his drum and flute on the platform! Together, the five flyers form a living, moving pyramid. Video copyright Mexico Cooks!.

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In the Totonac region, the flyers are required to know and speak Totonaco. Most boys and young men learn the rituals and the dances from their fathers and grandfathers. Mastering the ceremonies can take as long as 10 to 12 years and the flyers and dancers usually commit themselves for life. In this video, a boy no more than three years old carefully followed the steps and gestures of the dancers on the platform. I asked; the boy is the son of one of the dancers, learning from his father and the rest of the group. Video copyright Mexico Cooks!.

When we finished at El Tajín, we paid a visit to the well-known Totonaca cocinera tradicional (traditional cook) Martha Soledad Gómez Atzin at her cocina de humo (traditional kitchen where cooking is done over firewood), close to the pyramid site. Her group, Las Mujeres de Humo, continues to give demonstrations and classes in Totonaco regional cooking.

The group of women (Las Mujeres de Humo) who work with Martha Gómez Atzin to preserve and protect the Totonaca kitchen.

Beginning in 2000, the cocina de humo has formed a part of the international festival Cumbre Tajín, which promotes music, art, and traditional cuisine in northern Veracruz. The Cumbre (summit) was founded under the impetus of the then-governor of Veracruz. The realization of the event met with strong opposition from INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History), from the custodians of the archeological site, from students at ENAH (the National School of Anthropology and History), and from the central organization of people and farm workers, all of whom believed that the festival was an illegal commercialization of archeological heritage. Differences exist between those who believe that the festival is an exploitation rather than a preservation of tradition and who say that the festival itself damages the archeological site and the promoters, as opposed to those who applaud the festival as a tourist attraction and money-making proposition. The festival, despite its controversial nature, has persevered.

In 2001, Parque Takilhsukut, a theme park approximately one kilometer outside El Tajín archeological site, opened in answer to opposition to the Cumbre. Most Cumbre events were moved to that park; only a nightly sound and light show continues at the pyramid site. Although the government intended the theme park to be a center of indigenous life and tradition, the only activity the day we were there was at the cocina de humo. Sra. Atzin and her group of cocineras tradicionales were cooking comida (the main meal of the day in Mexico) for themselves, but no group of students or guests was in the kitchen. Sra. Atzin talked extensively to me about the Veracruz government's failure to continue funding and support for their efforts. Until fairly recently, the cocina de humo offered many buzzing classes to school children and older people alike, including transportation from their towns to the theme park. Today, the bankrupt Veracruz government has no funds to offer.

In the pot are tamales pintos, a Totonaco specialty that wraps a mixture of fresh, light masa (corn dough) with newly harvested, tender black and white beans known as pintos ('painted') in hoja de plátano (banana leaves). Las mujeres de humo treated us to the first two delicious pintos to come out of the pot.

Preparing the rest of the midday meal.

Next week, come with Mexico Cooks! on the last leg of this journey in Veracruz: vanilla production in Papantla! We learned more about the origin, harvest, and importance of vanilla than we thought possible, and so will you. Plus, we ate regional Totonaca food that we're still dreaming about, and prolonged our trip till we really couldn't stay longer. Such fun!

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25 de March de 2017
Mexico Cooks! Takes a Short Break :: Mexico Cooks! Toma un Descansito

El Maizal (the corn field), 1955. Painter: Gerardo Murillo, AKA Dr. Atl.

Dear readers, the time between November 8, 2016 and today has taken a toll on our world, no matter where each of us stands along the political spectrum. Mexico Cooks! has decided to take a month away from writing about Mexican food in order to devote more time to some other important cross-border issues.

While I'm away, please look around for informative and fun articles both old and new in the Mexico Cooks! archives. There are literally hundreds to read.

I'll be back here on March 4, 2017, and thank you for your understanding. I look forward to seeing all of you then.

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25 de February de 2017
Mexico Cooks! Takes a Short Break :: Mexico Cooks! Toma un Descansito

Molinillos (hand-held wooden chocolate frothers), Mercado de Tlacolula, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Dear readers, the time between November 8, 2016 and today has taken a toll on our world, no matter where each of us stands along the political spectrum. Mexico Cooks! has decided to take a month away from writing about Mexican food in order to devote more time to some other important cross-border issues.

While I'm away, please look around for informative and fun articles both old and new in the Mexico Cooks! archives. There are literally hundreds to read.

I'll be back here on March 4, 2017, and thank you for your understanding. I look forward to seeing all of you then.

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

18 de February de 2017
Looking Back Through 2016, Part Two :: Una Mirada Hacia Atras 2016, Segunda Parte

Ceremonial tortillas from the state of Guanajuato, made only in the Otomí communities of that state as food for certain ritual occasions. These were served at Restaurante Azul Condesa during July 2016, when Guanajuato's cuisine was featured for the month at the restaurant. They became so deservedly popular that the restaurant has continued to offer them. The tortillas, made of nixtamalized corn masa (dough), are shaped, pressed, and cooked on one side on a comal (griddle). They are then flipped and stamped with a hand-carved wooden stamp that has been dipped in muicle, a liquid vegetable dye made from a wild plant.

In mid-July, it was my tremendous honor to host an evening in honor of Zarela Martínez (seated, center), who in 1987 opened Zarela, a Mexican restaurant that is credited as being a pioneer of regional Mexican cuisine in New York City. She is the author of several wonderful cookbooks, including Food from My Heart: Cuisines of Mexico Remembered and Reimagined (1995) (nominated for Best International Cookbook of the Year, James Beard Foundation); The Food and Life of Oaxaca: Traditional Recipes from Mexico's Heart (1997); and Zarela's Veracruz (2001). Some of the guests surrounding Zarela are: (seated) Celia Marín Chiunti and Rosa María Villareal; (standing from left) Rafael Mier, Marisa Zannie, Pedro Luis de Aguinaga, Mexico Cooks!, and Sonia Ortiz.

As a frequent visitor to a local tiradero (slang for flea market–literally, garbage dump), Mexico Cooks! has bought many wonderful old things for decorating the home place. This is not one of them. In August, a friend asked me to photograph this tableau of a javalí (wild boar) and rattlesnake for her nephew, a fan of taxidermy. One can buy anything from a silver ring to–well, a stuffed javalí–at this flea market.

I often go out looking for interesting graffiti, and almost always find something fun. This cat face, stenciled onto a wall close to my home, looks very much like Risa, my tortoiseshell kitten.

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An event in Mexico City at the end of August brought several cocineras tradicionales (traditional cooks) to visit from Michoacán. This woman spent most of the day pat-pat-patting truly hand-made tortillas to serve to the public along with home-style food. The gentle rhythm of her hands against the masa (corn dough) coupled with the laughter of other cooks made me feel like I was home again in Michoacán. Listen as she pats out the tortilla; imagine the smell of woodsmoke. Both are still iconic to rural Mexico.

This hard-working market bag advertises a butcher shop in Tehuacán, Puebla. No recap of the year 2016 could be complete without at least one mention of the life-changing weekend I spent in this south-central part of Mexico. Remember the Mexico Cooks! article about the cave where…well, re-read it here: Corn, An Ancient Gift from Mexico to Feed the World. Chills still run up the back of my neck when I think about gazing into this small hollow space, a shelter in the mountain.

Early September took us to the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Palace) in downtown Mexico City. The traditional music group Los Folkloristas celebrated its 50th anniversary here. A good friend is a member of the group and made certain that another friend and I had great seats, a couple of levels below the glorious stained-glass dome.

Sometimes a person can't help being ecstatic. Meeting Laura Esquivel (author of the extraordinary and ground-breaking Like Water for Chocolate, among other wonderful books) near the end of September was a real highlight of my year. She was part of the press conference for the MODO exhibition Del Plato a la Boca–the beautifully curated, kitchen-oriented show will be at the museum through February 2017. Don't miss it.

Mid-October took me to Toluca, in the State of Mexico, to see the Cosmovitral. The Cosmovitral is a beautiful stained glass-enclosed botanical garden. The group Aztec Explorers, which organizes mostly day tours for people new to Mexico City or the surrounding area, invited me to come along to see the kind of work they do. The tour company advertises primarily to people who live in or near Mexico City and want to make friends with others while enjoying an overview of sites they've heard about and want to see. If this sounds like a day that suits your style, you'll enjoy the inexpensive tours that Lilia and Peter give. By all means tell them Mexico Cooks! sent you.

Remember the gorgeous October 15, 2016 super moon? I took this shot with my cellular phone, from my bathroom window! Moon over Mexico City, a lucky shot indeed.

For November 2, Día de Los Muertos, Mexico Cooks! took a small group of tourists to that flea market I mentioned above–no taxidermy this time, though. Alfredo Vilchis Roque, who is proclaimed as "the Da Vinci of the market", built an altar for Day of the Dead 2016. Click on any of the photographs for a larger view. Sr. Vilchis, whose work has been exhibited at the Louvre and is sold at a Paris gallery (among others), was generous enough to point out several fascinating aspects to the altar. Look, for example, just at knee level and in front of him: there's a tribute to Juan Gabriel, Mexico's world-famous singer and idol, who died on August 28, 2016.

November 17, 2016, marked the launch of a program called Salvemos el Maíz Palomero de México (Let's Save Mexican Popcorn). Part of the project for the preservation of Mexico's native corns in general as well as for the preservation of the tortilla made of nixtamalized corn, the popcorn event was particularly designed to bring the near-extinction of Mexico's original corn to the attention of the press. It was a tremendous success; even Aristegui Noticias, the foremost news in Mexico shown on CÑÑ (CNN in Spanish), picked up the story and broadcast it to the Spanish-speaking world. You'll be reading a lot more about this multi-faceted project in the weeks and months to come, right here at Mexico Cooks!.

Whatever your faith, may the New Year bless you with abundance in all things, especially joy and peace. From our house to yours, we wish you a blessed 2017.

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14 de January de 2017