Category: Arts and Crafts

La Casona Rosa: #1 Ranked Small Hotel Accomodations in Morelia, Michoacán–and Mexico Cooks!’ Top Choice

Creative, generous, and kind, Rose Calderone–occasionally of Chicago, currently of Morelia–is the founding mother at La Casona Rosa, her unique small hotel located at Galeana #274, Centro Histórico, Morelia, Michoacán. If you're going to Morelia, it's the place to stay for comfort, conversation, art, and impeccable information about all that central Michoacán has to offer.

Just so you know: I am proud to say that Rose Calderone is my friend. You know, then, that anything that Mexico Cooks! might say about her and her charming Morelia inn comes with a strongly positive bias. On the other hand, I can't think of a single person who has stayed at La Casona Rosa who came away as anything other than her friend and devoted client. Near the computer available for her guests' use is a small sign: "Enter as strangers – Leave as friends." In one clear sentence, Rose makes her philosophy as a host completely transparent.

Open the street door to La Casona Rosa and the long, lovely, flower-filled private patio stretches to welcome you.

Tripadvisor.com names La Casona Rosa the number one small hotel in Morelia and lists twenty-two reviews (and counting!) from completely satisfied customers. What they have to say speaks louder than any advertisement. One reviewer summed it up perfectly: "An Italian heart running a Mexican home: there's no better combination."

The guest dining room at La Casona. If you'd like to have a traditional and delicious Mexican meal cooked for you, just ask on-site manager María Armenta to prepare either breakfast or comida (Mexico's main meal of the day). The price is always fair and the food is out of this world.

The Colonial Suite–Mexico Cooks!' favorite home away from home. It won my heart with its en-suite bathroom and luxuriously comfortable bed, the cool breezes that pass through even on a warm spring day, its separate dining or conference room, and its Michoacán folk artisans' decor.

The Colonial Suite's en-suite bathroom. It's not huge, but it has all the things you need for your stay: a great shower, thick, thirsty towels, a hair dryer, and Michoacán-style homey charm. I took the towels down from the shelves so you could see for yourself just how wonderful they are!

The Colonial Suite's dining/conference table. Everything you see in the photograph–from the chairs to the candles and from the chest of drawers to the glorious clay pumpkins–is a product of one or another Michoacán artisan. Rose knows all the artisans and if you like, she'll make sure that you know them, too.

María Armenta, on-site manager at La Casona Rosa, with an equine friend. It's not a special Michoacán six-legged horse: the third set of hooves belongs to another horse, hidden behind the one in the photo. Photo courtesy La Casona Rosa.

Rose's staff at La Casona Rosa is as special as Rose herself is. Another Tripadvisor review (February 2011) reads: "Morelia is a peaceful, fascinating destination, and Casona Rosa is clean and convenient, and decorated in a charming Mexican manner. A well appointed kitchen is available for all residents. But the central delight of Casona Rosa is the attention offered by María Armenta, the manager. She is tireless in her concern to be helpful, and her advice on the local scene – where to shop, eat, sightsee, etc. – is excellent. She also has access to a wide variety of local services, including Jesús, the well informed, courteous and reliable taxi/limousine operator. Morelia is delightful, and with the help of people named María and Jesús, what can go wrong?"

If you're visiting Morelia as a family, the ground-floor Pátzcuaro Suite could be ideal. The suite sleeps four or even five, and La Casona also offers a crib if you're traveling with a baby or toddler.

Across the room in the Pátzcuaro Suite, this rustic table, bench, and chair are perfect for an end-of-the-day glass of wine–or a taste of Michoacán's artisan liquor, mezcal!

The second room in the Pátzcuaro Suite offers twin beds that can also be made up as one king-size bed. If you're traveling with children, this suite is equipped with games and other pasttimes for them.

The Rose Suite, where the reviewer quoted below stayed. This suite includes a small kitchen for guests' use, a private bathroom, and its own patio.

Another reviewer wrote at length on Tripadvisor: "We arrived in Morelia with backpacks and no accommodation booked. After walking the streets for a few hours…we found Casa Rosa. It is literally a little piece of heaven. Centrally located within easy walking distance of all the great sites,cathedral, museums, food options and drinking spots, this place is a total gem. María the host is a complete delight, graceful, friendly and welcoming, fluent in Spanish and English and a mine of information about Morelia. There are several sleeping options in this lovely renovated old house. The rooms are very spacious, beautifully decorated and with comfortable beds. There are rooms with one and two beds, an excellent kitchen, beautiful lounge and dining area, wonderful courtyard and a second formal dining room. We had two dinner parties with other guests in our 7 day stay! There is also a self-contained apartment at the back of the property with two bedrooms, mini rustic kitchen, bathroom and its own courtyard with sun and shade; this is where we stayed. Great for short and long stays. If you are in Morelia and you want charm, comfort, excellent location, very good value for money and wonderful hosts then Casa Rosa is the perfect choice."

In the fully equipped main kitchen–guests are free to use it–the corn on the Michoacán-made copper charger is real (and really that color) and so is the banana, but the red pepper is glass. Art mixes perfectly with nature at La Casona Rosa.

The ample bedroom of the Frida Suite. Rose is a huge fan of Frida Kahlo; you'll see her image at least once in most of La Casona's rooms. A reviewer on Tripadvisor said this: "The room that I am in–the Frida Suite–is quiet, bright, clean, and very comfortable. I've enjoyed making use of the kitchen for breakfast, and there always seems to be hot pot of coffee ready first thing in the morning."

The guests' living room. Just out of sight on the left is the stairway to the lovely guest bedrooms on La Casona's second floor. In addition to the already mentioned amenities at La Casona, guests have access to free long distance calls either within Mexico or to the United States. Just be sure you grab the right phone for the place you want to call–Rose or María will tell you which is which.

A posada–an inn–offers much more than shelter. The plaque at the side of the door reads, "Bienvenidos, mi casa es su casa." (Welcome, my house is your house). La Casona Rosa is truly a home away from home.

When you call for reservations, please make sure to tell them that Mexico Cooks! sent you. There's no kickback, of course, but I know that the fabulous Rose and her staff of magicians would be tickled to hear that I recommended them.

La Casona Rosa
Galeana #274
Morelia Centro Histórico
Michoacán, Mexico
To reserve, call from the USA: 1.773.696.5771
Within Mexico: 01.443.312.3127
To reserve online: onlinereservations@casadelarosa.info
https://www.facebook.com/lacasonarosa

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

3 de December de 2011
World Cultural Tourism Fair (Feria Mundial de Turismo Cultural) in Morelia, Michoacán

The World Cultural Tourism Fair logo, all lit up for the fair's opening night at Morelia's Teatro Ocampo.

For the second year in a row, Morelia, Michoacán was chosen as the site of the Feria Mundial de Turismo Cultural: the World Cultural Tourism Fair. Hot on the heels of Mexico City's FITA (International Tourism Fair of the Americas) at the end of September, Morelia captured a world-wide crowd of numerous exhibiting countries–including Indonesia, Slovakia, and Japan–plus twenty Mexican states, and several corporate exhibitors, all designed to attract tourism and travel both to Mexico and to their own venues.

Mexican federal tourism secretary Gloria Guevara Manzo with Mexico Cooks!, photographed at the Feria Mundical de Turismo Cultural opening night cocktail party. The party, held in the central patio of Morelia's beautiful mid-17th century Palacio Clavijero, included music, folkloric dancing, drinks, food, as well as great opportunities to make new acquaintances and hug old friends.

The delightful president of CONACULTA (Mexico's Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes–the national arts council), Dra. Consuelo Sáizar, spoke to inaugurate the FMTC, along with national tourism secretary Gloria Guevara Manzo, Michoacán's Governor Leonel Godoy, Michoacán and local Morelia tourism directors, and other state and national dignitaries.

The objective of the annual world cultural tourism fair is to offer a platform for global tourism industry operators, including travel agents, state and national tourism representatives from various international countries and Mexican states, and to ensure growth in this arm of the tourist industry. National Tourism Secretary Gloria Guevara Manzo assured the attendees that the event would enrich and strengthen the goals of the Mexican national tourism agreement, particularly in its sixth strategic pillar.

Michoacán state tourism secretary Lic. Thelma Aquique (right, in yellow) takes time out from the fair's intense schedule of events to talk with an attendee. Photo courtesy Estado de Michoacán.

During the three-day cultural tourism event, visitors, buyers, and exhibitors alike were treated to the best that Michoacán and Mexico have to offer. From the ceremonial cutting of the opening ribbon to exhibitions of Michoacán's folkloric dancing, regional foods, and the artisan work from several Mexican states, the booths filling Morelia's Casa de la Cultura (State Cultural Center) were packed with foreign and national buyers seeking ways to promote tourism.

Wood carvings from master sculptor Jesús Ursino Ramos Cota of Sinaloa. Tomatoes and corn are the two major agricultural products of Sr. Ramos's home state.

A gigantic hot air balloon made of paper. In Mexico, these are called globos de Cantoya. Their name comes from Sr. Joaquín de la Cantoya y Rico who lived in Guanajuato in the past century and allegedly began making these balloons. They are made of hundreds or even thousands of individual sheets of papel de china (tissue paper) and are expanded by a flame-generated hot air device carried in a small basket inside the balloon. This globo de Cantoya, two stories high, bears the logo of the 2011 Feria Mundial de Turismo Cultural. Click to enlarge the photo and see the connections of the tissue paper sheets.

To the delight of the crowd, the giant paper balloon sailed off successfully into Morelia's night sky.

This wooden indigenous Huichol sculpture of a deer, a bit more than two feet long from head to tail, is completely covered first with beeswax and then with thousands of individually hand-placed tiny beads. This particular sculpture originated in and was brought to the fair by representatives of the state government of Nayarit. Click to enlarge any photo for a better view.

Mexico's southernmost state, Chiapas, was represented at the Casa de la Cultura tourism booths by this lovely young woman in her ropa típica chiapaneca (typical dress of Chiapas). Entirely hand-sewn and hand-embroidered, the dress is worn in a folkloric ballet or for other folkloric events.

Banamex, one of Mexico's prominent banks, is a strong supporter of traditional arts and crafts and their makers throughout the country by way of its program Fomento Cultural Banamex, A.C.. The Banamex stand featured clay work from Santa Fe de la Laguna, Michoacán, as well as the extraordinary book Grandes Maestros del Arte Popular Mexicano (Great Masters of Mexican Popular Arts), which Banamex publishes.

This excellent brass band, dressed all in purple, played a public concert in the Plaza del Carmen, just behind the Casa de la Cultura, seat of the FMTC. While they played, their concert was also projected on the big screen behind them. The concert was part of the cultural program of the FMTC.

Morelia's cathedral. The city, named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1991. Its 16th century pink cantera (stone) buildings, its European air, its exquisite regional gastronomy, and its hundreds of tourist attractions make it the ideal setting for the Feria Mundial de Turismo Cultural.

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

Disclaimer: Marca País-Imágen de México is a joint public and private sector initiative designed to help promote Mexico as a global business partner and an unrivaled tourist destination. This program is designed to shine a light on the Mexico that its people experience every day. Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work in creating content for the Mexico Today program. All stories, opinions, and passions for all things Mexico that I write on Mexico Cooks! are completely my own.

5 de November de 2011
Regional Food and Drink in Oaxaca: A Comer! (Let’s Eat!) with Mexico Cooks!

In Oaxaca, the state's fine regional drink–mezcal, la bebida de los dioses (the drink of the gods)–is almost as common as water. Whether enjoyed from a shot glass or sipped from a traditional jícara (a small dried half-gourd), the smoky taste of mezcal combines perfectly with sal de gusano (worm salt, pictured above in the clay bowl) and fresh orange slices.

About six weeks ago, Mexico Cooks! was a guest of Mexico Today, a new Mexican government initiative designed to promote all the best of Mexico to the world. Twenty-four diverse writers–all with a passion for Mexico–met in Oaxaca to bond and to learn about the new program we would soon be representing to our readers. As you might imagine, Mexico Cooks! thought what's cooking in Oaxaca was one of the highlights of the trip.

We experienced our first Oaxaca cena (late-evening supper) at Pitiona, the new and highly touted restaurant owned by young Chef José Manuel Baños Rodríguez. Along with several other courses, he served our group this estofado de carne de res con mole (braised beef tongue with mole). The three pale-green globes are olive liquid that burst in the mouth to release the pure essence of green olive. The beef? Delicious, tender tongue. Some of our group could barely believe that beef tongue, of all things, could be so wonderful.

Another member of the Mexico Today writer/community managers' team, my new pal Lisa Coleman, went with me the next day for a relatively light comida (the main meal of Mexico's day) at Pilar Cabrera's marvelous restaurant, La Olla. Our first course was a plate of four of these tostadas callejeras (street-style tostadas). Not one smidgen of anything–not tomato, not guacamole, not lettuce, not the crispy corn tostada and certainly not the delicious Oaxaca-style chorizo –remained on the plate after we finished the course.

Chef Alejandro Ruiz closely supervised the preparation of a beautiful and amazingly delicious Saturday-night cena for the Mexico Today group. A candle-lit mezcal and jamaica (infusion of hibiscus flower) martini started our elegant meal at Restaurante Casa Oaxaca.

Chef Alejandro explains one of the fine points of the dinner preparation.

The Casa Oaxaca cebiche (marinated raw fish) appetizer, served with mango cubes, onion, cilantro, and an espejo (literally mirror, but in this case, a pool) of marinade that included jugos de limón y maracuyá (key lime and passionfruit juices). This socko flavor combination was the hit of the night for me.

One table of the several tables of the Mexico Today group of contributors and community managers, ready for dinner at Casa Oaxaca.

Next week, a very special not-about-food edition of Mexico Cooks!–don't miss it. In just a few weeks, Mexico Cooks! will invite you for one last meal in Oaxaca and another quick peek at the Mercado Benito Juárez.

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

Disclaimer: Marca País-Imágen de México is a joint public and private sector initiative designed to help promote Mexico as a global business partner and an unrivaled tourist destination. This program is designed to shine a light on the Mexico that its people experience every day. Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work in creating content for the Mexico Today program. All stories, opinions, and passions for all things Mexico that I write on Mexico Cooks! are completely my own.

6 de August de 2011
Mercado 20 de noviembre, Oaxaca::Shop the 20 de noviembre Market with Mexico Cooks!

Emblematic of Oaxaca and its mezcal culture, sal de gusano (worm salt) and a wedge of fresh orange are the truly Oaxacan accompaniments to a shot of what Mexicans call la bebida de los dioses (the drink of the gods). And yes, sal de gusano is made with sea salt, ground chile, and ground dried maguey worms. I promise you that it is delicious.

The last morning of Mexico Cooks!' recent stay in Oaxaca (invited by Mexico Today), I grabbed a friend who's working with the initiative and headed off to the city's famous Mercado Benito Juárez. The market is in many ways similar to but in many ways different from the traditional markets of Mexico's Central Highlands, those that Mexico Cooks! knows best. Both my friend and I were fascinated by what we saw and learned while we were poking around among the stalls.

The large carved bowls at the top of the basket and several of the smaller carved bowls to the lower right–including the laquered red ones–are actually jícaras (dried gourds). Jícaras are traditionally used for drinking mezcal. Around the edge of the basket you see sonajas (rattles), in this case whole dried gourds on sticks. The seeds dry inside the gourds to provide the sound effects when you shake the stick.

Rural Oaxaca grows chiles of all kinds, including some that are unique to the state. These are dried chile chilhuacle negro, arguably the most expensive chile in Mexico. Retail price? Eight hundred pesos the kilo–about $75 USD for 2.2 pounds, at today's exchange rate.

Bags, bags, and more bags–all plastic–sell at two adjacent market stands. The bolsas (bags) range from the little zipper change purses in the basket at lower right to the big woven market bags on the left and at the rear. Mexico Cooks! came home with two of the big ones.

Mexican chile terminology is filled with contradictions. These are chiles pasillas oaxaqueños (Oaxacan pasilla chiles). Chiles pasillas are different sizes, shapes, colors, and flavors depending on where you are in Mexico, but these are unique to Oaxaca.

Moronga is pork blood sausage. The blood is heavily seasoned with ruda (rue), oregano, fresh mint, onions and chile and then stuffed into pigs' intestines and boiled for as much as several hours.

Chile de agua (literally, water chile) is another specialty pepper from Oaxaca. Some folks say its heat is medium, some folks swear it's hot as hell, and everyone agrees that it's very difficult to find outside Oaxaca. Look back a few weeks on Mexico Cooks! to see a wonderful use for these small chiles. I loved the flavor and the picor (heat factor).

Three of Oaxaca's famous moles. These are sold as pastes, by weight. You simply reconstitute them with chicken broth at home and serve them with the meat of your choice. Mexico Cooks! is crazy about carne de cerdo con mole negro (pork with black mole).

We'll come back to Oaxaca, just to give you a sample of marvelous food and drink–next Saturday morning, right here at Mexico Cooks!. Be ready for more regional Oaxacan specialties.

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

Disclaimer: Marca País-Imágen de México is a joint public and private sector initiative designed to help promote Mexico as a global business partner and an unrivaled tourist destination. This program is designed to shine a light on the Mexico that its people experience every day. Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work in creating content for the Mexico Today program. All stories, opinions, and passions for all things Mexico that I write on Mexico Cooks! are completely my own.

30 de July de 2011
Una Muestra de Gastronomía in Michoacán: A Food Fair in Michoacán

The Purhépecha woman in the foreground pats out tortillas while her companion sorts through a plate of golden, freshly cut flor de calabaza (squash blossoms).

The first two mornings of the huge annual artisans' crafts fair in Michoacán begin with a food fair: una muestra de gastronomía. Fifteen or so outdoor kitchens, set up around a charming plaza just a block from the crafts booths, offer cooking demonstrations and inexpensive meals of representative Purhépecha dishes. The food, rustic and rarely seen outside a Purhépecha home kitchen, is, in a word, heavenly. The Mexico Cooks! group trooped into the food fair just in time for Saturday breakfast. They could have known who we were by the way our mouths were watering with anticipation.

Corn is the basis for the indigenous Mexican kitchen, and the tortilla is the lowest common denominator. On the table in front of this woman, you can see the metate (three-legged rectangular grinding stone) and the mano (similar to a rolling pin) resting on it, along with the prepared masa from which tortillas are made. Both the metate and the mano are hand-carved from volcanic rock.

To your left of the table is the clay comal (similar to a griddle) that in this instance rests loosely on top of a metal drum in which the wood cook fire is built. Prior to use, the comal is cured with cal (builders' lime). The cal serves two purposes: it gives the comal a non-stick surface and it adds nutrients to the masa as it toasts.

In the past, all of Mexico's women prepared dried corn for masa by soaking and simmering it in a solution of water and cal. The name of the prepared corn is nixtamal. Once it's processed, it's ready to be ground into masa for tortillas, tamales, and other corn-dough preparations. Some rural women still grind nixtamal-ized corn by hand using the metate and mano. Some take the prepared corn to their neighborhood tortillería (tortilla vendor's shop) for grinding, and some prepare their masa using commercial dried corn flour. In urban areas, the majority of Mexican families buy tortillas hot off the tortilla baker at the tortillería and carry them home, wrapped in a special hand-embroidered towel, just in time for a meal.

This woman prepares her stove, made of part of a metal drum with an opening cut away for firewood. She's spreading a paste made of wood ash and cal on and around the top of the the drum to hold the comal in place. The white streaks on the red clay comal are cal. The volcanic rock metate and mano are on the bench in the background. Her well-used clay cooking pot is visible to your left.

This joyous woman is patting out blue corn tortillas. The masa and mano are on the metate in front of her. She's toasting the tortillas and roasting tomatoes and chiles on her clay comal. The comal is set into a clay stove fired by wood. The haze that you see is woodsmoke.

The Purhépecha kitchen repertoire includes numerous atápakuas (literally, a type of thick, soup-like salsa served plentifully over prepared food). The Purhépecha word atápakua has meaning deeper than its simple definition. Its connotation is food that is picante (spicy), nutritious, and life-sustaining in a spiritual sense. Mexican culinary historians agree that the preparation of atápakuas dates from as long as 400 years before the Spanish Conquest, around 1100 AD, when the Purhépecha were strong rulers in the area of Mexico that is now Michoacán.

An atápakua can be made from the ingredients that are easily found in the region. The specialty of one tiny village of the Meseta Purhépecha is atápakua del talpanal (wasp larvae). Another town's specialty is xururi atápakua, the principal ingredient of which is cotton seeds. More commonly, indigenous cooks prepare their atápakuas of seasonal and readily available vegetables, wild herbs and greens, and a bit of meat, poultry, or fish.

We of Mexico Cooks! didn't eat wasp larvae or cotton seeds. We inhaled bowls of atápakua de flor de calabaza (thick, soupy salsa served over squash flowers, fresh corn kernels, and chunks of corundas de ceniza (unfilled tamales made with masa and wood ash).

In the closeup of the atápakua you can clearly see the corn kernels (closest to the bowl of the spoon), small pieces of calabacita (similar to zucchini), orange squash flowers, and a piece of white corunda. For flavor and color, chiles serrano and cilantro are blended into the cooking liquid. The thin, soupy salsa is then thickened by blending a small ball of masa into the hot liquid. This atápakua is deliciously spicy and tastes as fresh as the garden. I finished my portion and wanted another bowl.

Here are Susan, Steve, and Gayla, all part of the Mexico Cooks! breakfast crew. We had already gobbled our atápakua (witness the empty bowls) and had moved on to snarfing down the jahuácatas we're holding. Jahuácatas are similar to gorditas. Purhépecha women prepare the jahuácatas by folding freshly patted tortillas and refried beans into multiple thin layers, then toasting the finished product on the comal.

Churipo, shown above, is one of my favorite Purhépecha specialties. Churipo is a hearty soup, the delicious broth flavored by long cooking with beef, cabbage, calabacitas, xoconostle (the sour fruit of a specific nopal cactus), onion, chile, and other ingredients. Served with a squeeze of limón (Mexican lime), a sprinkle of coarse sea salt, tortillas hot off the comal and corundas de ceniza broken up in the bowl, it's a wonderful meal in one dish. If your palate will take the heat, eat some raw chiles serrano along with your bowl of churipo. Remember that the tip of any chile is less picante than the stem end, where most of the seeds are. Photo courtesy Steve Sando, www.ranchogordo.com

Late in the afternoon, after we'd investigated as many of the crafts booths as we could, we were all in need of something very light and fresh for our comida (middday meal). We ordered a fruit plate and a plate of guacamole with totopos (triangular fried tortilla chips) at a local restaurant.

For dessert we found limones, with the pulp scraped away, candied and stuffed with cocada (coconut candy). Half of one of these is plenty!

This was such a sweet finish to a fascinating day in Michoacán. If you'd like to travel to this event in 2012, be sure to email Mexico Cooks! in time to save your place for adventure.

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

23 de April de 2011
Tianguis Artesanal Domingo de Ramos :: Palm Sunday Artisans’ Fair, Uruapan, Michoacán

Originally published on May 9, 2009, this article takes us to the annual Tianguis Artesanal Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday Artisans' Fair) in Uruapan, Michoacán. The 2011 fair opens today (April 16) and runs until May 1.

Waving papel picado (cut paper) dance sticks and elegantly dressed in red velvet aprons trimmed with lace , these Purhépecha women danced their way through the opening day parade at the annual statewide Feria de Artesanías.

Mexico Cooks! has attended the Feria de Artesanía de Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday Artisans' Fair) in Uruapan, Michoacán, every year for nearly 15 years. The two-week-long fair is always the same and yet never boring, a remarkable combination. This largest artisans' fair in Mexico draws more than 1200 vendors and contestants for the best-of-the-best from all over the state of Michoacán. It attracts international tourism: we've heard languages from all over the globe as we walk the vendors' aisles.

Purhépecha women's festive ropa típica (native dress) includes a knife-pleated skirt, a hand-embroidered guanengo (blouse), a cross-stitch apron, and the long, rectangular blue, black, and white striped rebozo (shawl) that is typical to the region.

This woman marched while carrying an enormous huarache (shoe made of woven leather strips) representing the goods that her region of the state produces. She's also carrying a bag of souvenir key chains that she tossed to individuals in the crowd. Look closely and you'll see the tiny huarache key chains that decorate her sombrero de paja (straw hat).

Clarinets, trumpets, trombones, and a pink tuba–what a great band!

Artisans hawk thousands of traditional low-fired clay pots and pitchers. These are from Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán.

Michoacán is famous world-wide for its traditional arts and crafts. For hundreds of years, artisans in this state have produced highly decorated articles made from locally found materials: clay, wood, lacquer, textiles, copper, reedwork, and paper maché, among others.

Ollas para frijoles (clay pots for cooking beans) from Capula, Michoacán.

Molinillos (little mills) are used for whipping chocolate caliente (hot chocolate) to a thick froth.
For more about Michoacán-style, hand-made Mexican chocolate, look here: chocolate Joaquinita.

These blue jarras y platones (pitchers and platters) with their finely painted, intricate white designs come from one family workshop in Capula. Mexico Cooks! does not…DOES NOT…have room in the house for more pottery. Well, maybe just one more piece! These glorious jarras were all but impossible to resist.

Clay sculptures from Ocumicho, Michoacán, are full of whimsy and bright colors. Among all of these guaris (Purhépecha word for women), did you notice Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the upper right corner?

Hand-embroidered traditional cotton guanengos (blouses) are so important and finely made that they have their own concurso (competition) at the Feria de Artesanía (Artisans' Fair).

2012 will be the 53nd anniversary of the Artisans' Fair in Uruapan. Come see it with us!

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

16 de April de 2011
Indigenous Market in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas

Here's another re-run from February, 2008. Mexico Cooks! had been visiting friends in Chiapas, one of Mexico's southernmost states, and had just returned home with wonderful photographs of indigenous artesanía (arts and crafts work). Enjoy!

Hand made woolen animal toys at the San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, artisans' market.

Mexico Cooks! is home again in Morelia, Michoacán. We have just enough oomph left to give you a photo essay from San Cristóbal de las Casas. You'll have a brief but very colorful idea of what we saw during our stay with friends in Chiapas. By next week we will have had enough respite from our vacation to write about local customs, incredible crafts, and, of course, the food.

Every day of the week, indigenous artesanía (crafts) makers and vendors gather to wait for the tourist trade in the plaza of Templo Santo Domingo in San Cristóbal de las Casas. Embroidery and other textiles, leather goods, beads, toys, and trinkets of every kind are on the sellers' tables. Mexico Cooks! was particularly taken with how many of the artisans' goods march along in patterns of vertical and horizontal stripes. Be sure to click on the individual photographs to appreciate the details.

Come look:

Bright yellow-dyed corn and colored beans strung as necklaces.

Hamacas (hammocks) made of handmade string, lined up along a wall.

A stack of finely woven shawls.

Bolts of shiny tela de hule (oilcloth), the top roll featuring Day of the Dead figures.

Woven textile belts finished with leather.

Hand-embroidered zippered eyeglass holders.

Hand-woven bracelets.

Headbands, headbands, headbands!

We're now based in Mexico City, in one of the loveliest old colonias (neighborhoods) in this enormous capital. In a week or so we'll be writing new reports from here–wait till you see what's cooking for Mexico Cooks!.

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

9 de April de 2011
Dreams, Reality, and the Future (Sueños, Realidades, y el Porvenir): Restaurante San Miguelito, Morelia

One of Mexico Cooks!' favorite English-language sayings is, "Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first." With that in mind, let's start at the finish. This traditional pastel de elote (corn cake) is deservedly the most popular sweet end-of-a-meal treat at Restaurante San Miguelito. Photo courtesy San Miguelito.

Restaurante San Miguelito, open in Morelia since May of 1995, started life as a piano bar in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. Servando and Erik Canela, the father and son team who started the venture, soon decided that offering an all-in-one restaurant, artisans' gallery and museum to Michoacán's capital city residents and visitors would be a wiser use of their time. They would incorporate Don Servando's forty years' experience as an art and antiques dealer, his son Erik's experience, and his daughter Cynthia Martínez's extraordinary culinary talents and business acumen into a highly unusual endeavor. Today, Restaurante San Miguelito continues its evolution as one of the most beautiful, most delicious, most spiritual, and most frequented restaurants in central Mexico.

The charming and multi-talented Cynthia Martínez of Restaurante San Miguelito.

Walk through the door at San Miguelito and your attention is drawn first by the decor, then by the maitre d' who warmly welcomes you, and then by the artesanía (Mexican arts and crafts) that fills every nook and niche. Even after a score of visits to the restaurant, I still spend as long exclaiming over the latest Noche de Muertos (Night of the Dead) skeletons, the newest finely hand-woven Michoacán rebozos (long rectangular shawls), and the proudly displayed alebrijes (hand-carved and hand-painted wooden fantasy animals) from Oaxaca as I do studying the wine list and the menu. What beautifully tempting thing to buy! What delicious tempting thing to eat! What a wonderful dilemma!

Salón de las Conspiraciones (the Conspiracies Room), Restaurante San Miguelito. Photo courtesy Guillermo Martínez Acebo. Each section of the restaurant has a theme, and almost every item in the restaurant is for sale. If you like the table and chairs, the glassware, or the plates that you and your guests are using, ask the price: you can treasure them in your own home. Click on any of the photos for a more detailed look.

Mexico Cooks! recently spent a leisurely evening talking with Cynthia Martínez about her philosophical relationship with food, especially Mexican food. Her knowledge of the traditional Mexican kitchen comes honestly: her Oaxacan grandmother taught her recipes and culinary legends while she was a young girl helping out at home. "Growing up in Oaxaca, I milked cows, caught the grasshoppers we seasoned and ate, and nourished a passion for the kitchen. My grandmother always said that behind every cultural tradition you find gastronomy, and I still believe that. The motivation to open San Miguelito was my father's desire to put together a fusion of Mexico's artisan and culinary traditions; my grandfather had the initial dream, and my father kept it alive. He and my brother Erik and I have brought that dream to fruition in Morelia."

El Rincón de las Solteronas (the Old Maid's Corner), Restaurante San Miguelito. Photo courtesy Alejandro Canela.

Arguably the best-known of San Miguelito's several dining rooms is el Rincón de las Solteronas. Dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua, patron saint of old maids single women, the room contains over 500 images of him–every image hanging by its feet. From the ceiling, from wall niches, from mantelpieces and window frames, these upside-down St. Anthonys exist only to hear the pleas for a mate from women of all ages. There's a book to write your prayer (including, if you like, all the characteristics you seek in a mate): the longest petition runs to twenty-five pages!

Ensalada Azteca (Aztec Salad), Restaurante San Miguelito. The salad is a beautifully presented mixture of lettuces, zucchini-type squash, roasted sweet red peppers, tender corn kernels, queso fresco (fresh Mexican cheese), and cilantro vinaigrette. Photo courtesy San Miguelito.

"Until very recently–within the last three to five years–it was unusual in Mexico to find a chef in a restaurant. A chef has studied at a culinary school or under a great master of the kitchen, and easily 90% of people working in restaurants here have had no opportunity to study their profession. We Mexicans have usually known to frequent restaurants offering the best food, but until lately, we have not known 'name' chefs. Our restaurant cooks have traditionally been las mayoras, women whose school-of-life experience and whose individual sazón (unique taste in preparing dishes) made them natural leaders in the kitchen. We ate at restaurants where we knew we would have a delicious meal, but we didn't know who was responsible for preparing that meal. Now we have culinary-school graduate chefs whose names are well-recognized and to whose restaurants we flock simply because they are there. But you can't learn sazón in school. Techniques, yes, but sazón? As the saying goes, 'El buen cantante ya tiene voz' (the good singer already has a voice)."

El Altar de las Conversaciones (the Altar of Conversations), Restaurante San Miguelito. Photo courtesy Guillermo Martínez Acebo.

"For us at San Miguelito, the challenge today and every day is consistency. Our clients expect that the meal that they remember eating five days or five years ago, the dish that remains alive on the palate as a fond memory, will look and taste the same now as it did then. We have guests who dine with us as often as two or three times a week, guests who know immediately if we change the brand of cheese in a dish or if we've changed meat purveyors–because the food tastes just a little different. Many of our clients know our staff by name, expect to be seated at 'their' table, and know by instinct if anything from table service to the presentation of a dish is slightly different from the last time they dined with us. Our daily aim is to provide each diner with a delicious meal in beautiful surroundings."

Pescado en Hoja de Plátano (Fish Cooked in Banana Leaf). Photo courtesy San Miguelito. Everything served to you at the restaurant, from the marvelous small bolillos (traditional crusty rolls) to the wine you enjoy with your meal, is chosen with strict attention to quality and consistency.

"Because traditional culture and traditional gastronomy are so closely linked, San Miguelito plans a number of events every year that offer opportunities to enjoy and learn more about both. One of our very popular evenings is a marvelous night that includes the history and uses of Mexico's traditional rebozo (long rectangular shawl). For that event, we showcase weavers and traditional as well as contemporary styles of wearing the rebozo.

"The next event on our 2011 calendar is an evening with Martha Ortiz Chapa, one of Mexico City's most prominent chefs. She'll be at San Miguelito on February 19, preparing a seductive and romantic menu in her own inimitable style. Just in time for el mes de San Valentín (Valentine's month), this evening promises to be extraordinary. If you haven't made reservations yet, don't wait too long; we expect the house to be filled."

Salón con Mural del Lago de Pátzcuaro (room with mural of Lake Pátzcuaro). Photo courtesy Guillermo Martínez Acebo. Tiny lights embedded in the mural create a twinkling illusion of an evening overlooking the lake.

"Aside from the daily challenges of running the restaurant, we also face the challenge of caring for the future of our traditional foods. The advent in Mexico of genetically altered corn would devastate a milennia-old way of eating; globalization has already brought immense quantities of previously unknown 'convenience' foods to this country, and we're asking ourselves who in the new generations will maintain or rescue the old ways. Who will take the time to learn and prepare a grandmother's recipes and write them down for the future?

"Right now, chefs and restaurant owners are in the vanguard of revitalizing the traditional kitchen. But unless today's young people commit to keeping traditions alive in their own homes, Mexico's culinary glories will exist only in our memories and as restaurant-produced curiosities. It's time to put our home kitchens to the test and rescue Mexico's food heritage."

Restaurante San Miguelito
Av. Camelinas at Av. Ventura Puente (across from the Convention Center)
Fracc. La Loma
Morelia, Michoacán, México
Tels: 52.443.324.4411 and 52.443.324.2300

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12 de February de 2011
Maestro Juan Torres: Images for the Ages in Michoacán Contemporary Art

The sumptuously rolling countryside near Capula, Michoacán.

Juan Torres, one of Mexico's most prominent working artists, has made his home in Capula, Michoacán for the last quarter century. Michoacán is fortunate that he chooses to live and work here, and his inspiration and images come most often from the history, landscapes, and people of the region.

The entrance to Torres' home, with its central bronze sculpture by the artist.

Maestro Torres says that he never made a conscious decision to become an artist; from an early age, he simply was an artist. At the tender age of ten, he went to Morelia's Escuela Popular de Bellas Artes (School of Fine Arts) "just to draw", and one of the teachers suggested that he enroll as a student at the school. "At that time there were no requirements that a student had to have completed elementary school, or junior high or high school–you just went and signed up. So I signed up. Like every other child in the world, I drew. The difference is, I never stopped drawing. One day, much to my amazement, I realized that there was a profession that would let me keep doing what I loved. And so I began my work as an artist."

Maestro Juan Torres regards one of the catrinas de barro (clay skeleton figures) that he designed more than 35 years ago. Torres' designs for these figures are based on the late-19th Century drawings of José Guadalupe Posadas, a Mexican political cartoonist of the manners and mores of the Porfiriato (presidency of Porfirio Díaz, 1876-1911). Maestro Torres was the first artist to take Posadas's catrinas from pen-and-ink drawings to three dimensional work in clay.

Alfredo Zalce, "Gente y Paisaje de Michoacán" (Michoacán people and landscape), mural fragment, 1962, Palacio de Gobierno (Government Offices), Morelia, Michoacán.

One of Torres' profoundest influences at the beginning of his career was the legendary Michoacán artist Maestro Alfredo Zalce. Zalce (1908-2003) took the young Torres under his wing and made him his right arm. Once Torres finished school, he lived and worked for years at Zalce's studio. "One way of learning art is, of course, imitating the teacher's work. It's a way of growing as an artist, and art is a job that requires growth or the artist stagnates."

The chapel on Maestro Torres' property serves as his gallery; unlike the gallery, his studio is connected to the home that Torres shares with his wife, Velia Canals Henríquez. Today, Sra. Canals is in charge of the taller (workshop) where the Torres-designed catrinas and other clay figures are produced.

Panteón de Capula (Capula Town Cemetery), oil on fabric, 1 meter X 1.5 meters, Juan Torres. Expo Noche de Muertos, Galería Secretaría de Turismo (Gallery of the Secretary of Tourism), Morelia, Michoacán, November 2010.

"Many people think that the artist's life is bohemian–that it's all about sitting around in cafés, waiting for inspiration to strike. A long time ago, someone gave me the advice that an artist has to work like the rest of the world. If it's at all possible, the artist needs to work at his art eight hours a day. How can it be to wait for the muse, then to paint one painting a year, and still expect to evolve? If that's how he works, then every time the artist picks up a brush, he has to start from zero."

Biombo (screen), side one, Juan Torres. Expo Noche de Muertos, Galería Secretaría de Turismo (Gallery of the Secretary of Tourism), Morelia, Michoacán, November 2010.

Biombo (screen), side two, Juan Torres.

"So I prefer that people know me as someone who works in the arts. And that's what I do: I work at my job every day. Recently I've had this Noche de Muertos exhibit at the Secretaría de Turismo, and I'm working toward another exhibit in Morelia, this time about women in the Mexican revolution. I have about 30 paintings completed in that series, 30 of the 40 that I need to fill the exhibit. So every day, I work."

Angelito (Little Angel), oil on fabric, 1 meter X 1.5 meters, Juan Torres. Expo Noche de Muertos, Galería Secretaría de Turismo (Gallery of the Secretary of Tourism), Morelia, Michoacán, November 2010.

Angelito, detail.

Ofrenda con Cristo (Alter with Crucifix), oil on fabric, 1 meter X 1.5 meters, Juan Torres. Expo Noche de Muertos, Galería Secretaría de Turismo (Gallery of the Secretary of Tourism), Morelia, Michoacán, November 2010.

Panteón (Cemetery), oil and watercolor, 40cm X 90cm, Juan Torres. Expo Noche de Muertos, Galería Secretaría de Turismo (Gallery of the Secretary of Tourism), Morelia, Michoacán, November 2010.

Juan Torres, Expo Noche de Muertos, Galería Secretaría de Turismo (Gallery of the Secretary of Tourism), Morelia, Michoacán, November 2010.

Portions of this article are translated from a piece which originally appeared in the magazine Estilo México, July 2010.

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5 de February de 2011
Viva la Vida: Mexico Cooks! Looks Back at 2010

Fruit stand with mango and papaya, Paracho, Michoacán. A large cup of fruit, served with fresh-squeezed limón, salt, and chile if you like, costs 10 pesos (about 80 cents US at today's exchange rate). The bees are always free.

Artisans from Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán, prepared papel picado (cut paper) banners for a Semana Santa (Holy Week) exhibition of antique religious art in Morelia.

Menta (in this case, apple mint–menta sauveolens) growing against old bricks at the Colegio Culinario de Morelia. It was planted several years ago by Guillermo Lara Góngora, the English-language teacher at the CCM.

Devil dance mask, Tocuaro, Michoacán.

Caldo de pollo (Mexican-style chicken soup), on the hoof. The butcher will use his machete to cut off all the claws for you; the well-washed feet add color and flavor to your chicken broth.

Flowers float in a Morelia fountain at twilight.

Detail of hand-embroidered rebozo (long rectangular shawl) from Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán.

Creating a basket from huinumo (pine needles), Opopeo, Michoacán.

Two colors of masa (corn dough), one metate (grinding stone). Uruapan, Michoacán.

Two beautiful young women from Paracho, Michoacán show off the hand-cross stitched guanengos (blouses) they created for a wedding.

Michoacán, for the joy of life.

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22 de January de 2011