Category: Mexican Markets

The Heart and Soul of Mexico: The Basílica of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Due to COVID-19, the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Mexico City will remain closed to pilgrimages and individuals from December 10 through December 13 to avoid the throngs of devotees who want to visit La Morenita on her feast day. How many people usually go each year, during the 24 hours of December 12? As many as 6,000,000 people flock to visit her in that short period of time. Is the closure protecting us from COVID-19? Without a doubt, and so is the Virgencita.

The Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe) in Mexico City. This newest Basílica was constructed between 1974 and 1976.

Mexico Cooks! and a friend from the United States went to visit La Morenita (a common nickname for Our Lady of Guadalupe) at her Basílica in Mexico City in February, 2008. It was my friend's first visit to the shrine and I was practically bursting with the excitement of introducing her to the heart, the very soul, of Mexico. The extreme devotion demonstrated by the pilgrims to the Basílica, the depth of personal faith in La Reina de México (the Queen of México), and the juxtaposition of the sublime with the not-so-sublime made the trip well worth repeating. We're going again in just a few days.

First on our list when friends visit Mexico City is always the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. Once our friends here discovered that I was taking her to Mexico City, every single person's first question was, "Van a la Villa?" ("Are you going to the Basílica)"

To each inquirer I grinned and answer, "Of course! Vamos primero a echarle una visita a la virgencita." (The first thing we'll do is pay a visit to the little virgin!)

Devotional pilgrimages are an everyday occurrence at the Basílica.

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

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

These young sisters dressed as indigenas peregrinas (Indian pilgrims) for el Día de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, celebrated every December 12.

The story of Our Lady's 1531 appearance in Mexico is undoubtedly familiar to every person who lives in this country.

The Tepeyac hill and shrine were important pilgrimage places for the nearby Mexica (later Aztec) capital city of Tenochtitlán. Following the conquest of Tenochtitlán by Hernan Cortez in 1521, the shrine was demolished, and the native people were forbidden to continue their pilgrimages to the sacred hill. The pagan practices had been considered to be devil worship for more than a thousand years in Christian Europe.

On Saturday, December 9, 1531, a baptized Aztec Indian named Juan Diego set out for church in a nearby town. Passing the pagan sacred hill of Tepeyac, he heard a voice calling to him. Climbing the hill, he saw on the summit a young woman who seemed to be no more than fourteen years old, standing in a golden mist.

Revealing herself as the "ever-virgin Holy Mary, Mother of God" (so the Christian telling of the story goes), she told Juan Diego not to be afraid. Her words? "Am I not here, is it not I, who am your mother?" She instructed him to go to the local bishop and tell him that she wished a church for her son to be built on the hill. Juan did as he was instructed, but the bishop's officials did not believe him and sent him away.

Typical children's costumes to be worn in processions for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

On his way home, Juan climbed the sacred hill and again saw the apparition, who told him to return to the bishop the next day. This time the bishop listened to Juan's message from Mary. He was still skeptical, however, and so asked for a sign from Mary.

The next day, Juan went again to Tepeyac and, when he again met Mary, she told him to climb the hill and pick the roses that were growing there. Juan climbed the hill with misgivings. It was the dead of winter, and flowers could not possibly be growing on the cold and frosty mountain. At the summit, Juan found a profusion of roses, an armful of which he gathered and wrapped in his tilma (a garment similar to a poncho, woven from maguey cactus fibers). Arranging the roses, Mary instructed Juan to take the tilma-encased bundle to the bishop, for this would be her sign.

When the bishop unrolled the tilma, he was astounded by the presence of the flowers. They were roses that grew only in Spain. But more truly miraculous was the image that had mysteriously appeared on Juan Diego's tilma. The image showed the young woman, her head lowered demurely. Wearing a star-strewn mantle and a flowing gown, she stood upon a crescent moon. The bishop was convinced that Mary had indeed appeared to Juan Diego and soon thereafter the bishop began construction of the original church devoted to her honor.

The original tilma worn by Juan Diego still hangs above the altar in the Basílica. Venerated by millions of pilgrims, the maguey cactus fiber tilma shows no wear after 489 years.

News of the miraculous apparition of the Virgin's image on a peasant's tilma spread rapidly throughout Mexico. Indigenous people by the thousands came from hundreds of miles away to see the image, now hanging above the altar in the new church. They learned that the mother of the Christian God had appeared to one of their own kind and had spoken to him in his native language. The miraculous image was to have a powerful influence on the advancement of the Church's mission in Mexico. In only seven years, from 1532 to 1538, more than eight million Indians were converted to Christianity.

The shrine, twice over the centuries, is today a great Basílica with a capacity for 10,000 pilgrims. You might wonder what the word "Basílica" means: it's simply the name given to certain churches which have been granted special privileges by the Pope.

Juan Diego's tilma is preserved behind bulletproof glass and hangs twenty-five feet above the main altar in the basilica. For 489 years the colors of the image have remained as bright as if they were painted yesterday, despite being exposed for more than 100 years following the apparition to humidity, smoke from church candles, and airborne pollution.

From the sublime to the not-so-sublime: these key ring-bottle openers for sale in the trinket bazaar outside the Basílica bear various images of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.

The coarsely-woven cactus cloth of the tilma, a cloth considered to have a life expectancy of about 40 years, still shows no evidence of decay. Astronomers who have investigated the 46 stars on her gown say that they coincide with the position of the constellations in the heavens at the time of the winter solstice in 1531. Scientists have investigated the nature of the image and have been left with nothing more than evidence of the mystery of a miracle. The dyes forming her portrait have no base in the elements known to science.

The origin of the name Guadalupe has always been a matter of controversy. It is believed that the name came about because of the translation from Nahuatl to Spanish of the words used by the Virgin during the apparition. It is believed that she used the Nahuatl word coatlaxopeuh which is pronounced "koh-ah-tlah-SUH-peh" and sounds remarkably like the Spanish word Guadalupe. 'Coa' means serpent, 'tla' can be interpreted as "the", while 'xopeuh' means to crush or stamp out. This version of the origin would indicate that Mary must have called herself "she who crushes the serpent," a Christian New Testament reference as well as a a reference to the Aztec's mythical god, The Plumed Serpent.

In February 2008, Mexico Cooks! and friend took the Metrobus to La Villa, a journey of about an hour from the neighborhood called La Condesa, where we were staying with friends, to the far northern part of the city. The Metrobus left us just two blocks from the Basílica.

Pope John Paul II made five official visits to Mexico. To many Mexicans, he continues to be the true Pope, Mexico's Pope. This image of Pope John Paul II, protected by and devoted to Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is found in both pictures and figures. It is still displayed in many Mexican homes.

The street and the bridge to the Basílica are filled chock-a-block with booths selling souvenirs of La Villa. Everything that you can think of (and plenty you would never think of) is available: piles of T-shirts with the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe and that of Juan Diego, CDs of songs devoted to her, bandana-like scarves with her portrait, eerie green glow-in-the-dark figurines of her, key chains shaped like the Basílica, statues of La Virgencita in every size and quality, holy water containers that look like her in pink, blue, silver, and pearly white plastic, religious-themed jewelry and rosaries that smell of rose petals, snow globes with tiny statues of La Guadalupana and the kneeling Juan Diego that are dusted with stars when the globes are shaken.

In front of the Basílica, you can have your picture taken next to her image and with a variety of horses. The caption on the yellow sign reads, "A Memento of My Visit to the Basílica of Guadalupe".

There are booths selling freshly arranged flowers for pilgrims to carry to the shrine. There are booths selling soft drinks, tacos, and candy. Ice cream vendors hawk paletas (popsicles). Hordes of children offer chicles (chewing gum) for sale. We were jostled and pushed as the crowd grew denser near the Basílica.

Is it tacky? Yes, without a doubt. Is it wonderful? Yes, without a doubt. It's the very juxtaposition of the tourist tchotchkes with the sublime message of the heavens that explains so much about Mexico. We needed to buy several recuerdos (mementos) for friends, but we were hard-pressed to decide what to choose. Some pilgrims buy before going into the Basílica so that their recuerdos can be blessed by a priest, but we decided to wait until after visiting the Virgin to do our shopping. When we finished shopping, we discovered that a priest was stationed in a nearby booth to bless late purchases.

The 17th Century Basílica is sinking into Mexico City's shifting subsoil. The new Basílica is built in the same plaza.

The present church was constructed on the site of the 16th-century Old Basílica, the one that was finished in 1709. When the Old Basílica became dangerous due to the sinking of its foundations, a modern structure called the new Basílica was built nearby. The original image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is now housed above the altar in this new Basílica.

Built between 1974 and 1976, the new Basílica was designed by architect Pedro Ramírez Vásquez. Its seven front doors are an allusion to the seven gates of Celestial Jerusalem referred to by Christ. It has a circular floor plan so that the image of the Virgin can be seen from any point within the building. An empty crucifix symbolizes Christ's resurrection. The choir is located between the altar and the churchgoers to indicate that it, too, is part of the group of the faithful. To the sides are the chapels of the Santísimo Sacramento (the Blessed Sacrament) and of Saint Joseph.

That February, on an ordinary day at the beginning of Lent, we entered the Basílica as one Mass was ending and another was beginning. Thirty Masses are often celebrated during the course of any day. Pilgrims pour in to place baskets of flowers on the rail around the altar. People filled the pews and were standing 10-deep at the back of the church. There were lines of people waiting to be heard in the many confessionals.

We stood for a bit and listened to what the priest was saying. "La misa de once ya se terminó. Decidimos celebrar otra misa ahora a las doce por tanta gente que ha llegado, por tanta fe que se demuestra" ("The eleven o'clock Mass is over. We have decided to celebrate another Mass at 12 o'clock because so many people have arrived, because of so much faith being demonstrated.")

Priests celebrate as many as 30 Masses every day of the year.

Making our way through the crowd, we walked down a ramp into the area below and behind the altar. Three moving sidewalks bore crowds of pilgrims past the gold-framed tilma. Tears flowed down the cheeks of some; others made the sign of the cross as they passed, and one woman held her year-old baby up high toward the Virgin. Most people moved from one of the moving sidewalks to another in order to be able to have a longer visit with the Mother of Mexico.

When I first visited La Villa almost 40 years ago, there were only two moving sidewalks. Now there are three. Behind them was space for the faithful to stand and reflect or pray for a few minutes. The crush of visitors last February required that the space be devoted to movement rather than reflection and rest.

We walked to the back of the Basílica to look at a large, heavy bronze crucifix exhibited in a glass case. The crucifix, approximately 3 feet high, is bent backward in a deep arch and lies across a large cushion. According to the placard and the photos from the era, in 1921 a bouquet of flowers was placed directly on the altar of the Old Basílica beneath the framed tilma. It was later discovered that the floral arrangement was left at the altar by an anarchist who had placed a powerful dynamite bomb among the flowers. When the bomb detonated, the bronze altar crucifix was bent over backward and large portions of the marble altar were destroyed. Nevertheless, no harm came to the tilma and legend has it that the crucified Son protected his Mother.

After a while, we reluctantly left the Basílica. With a long backward glance at the tilma, we stepped out into the brilliantly sunny Mexico City afternoon. The throngs in the Basílica atrium still pressed forward to visit the shrine.

We stopped in some of the enclosed shops at sidewalk level and then continued over the bridge through the booths of mementos. After we bought small gifts, we moved away to hail a taxi. My heart was still in the Basílica, with our Mother.

Take your pick: hundreds of statues of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe await you in the shops outside the Basílica.

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe falls on December 12 each year. Think about her just for a moment as you go about your day. After all, she's the Queen of Mexico and the Empress of the Americas.

How to get there once you're in Mexico City:
- From the Centro Histórico (Historic Downtown) take Metro Line 3 at Hidalgo and transfer to Line 6 at Deportivo 18 de Marzo. Go to the next station, La Villa Basílica. Then walk north two busy blocks until reaching the square.
- Take the Line 1 Metrobus north to Indios Verdes from any of its prior stops. Go down the stairs on the right, go to the traffic light, and walk two blocks to the right until you get to the Basílica.
- From the Hidalgo Metro station take a microbus to La Villa.
- From Zona Rosa take a pesero (microbus) along Avenida Paseo de la Reforma, north to the stop nearest the Basílica.
- Or take a taxi from your hotel, wherever it is in the city. Tell the driver, "A La Villa, por favor. Vamos a echarle una visita a la Virgencita." ("To the Basílica, please. We're going to make a visit to the little Virgin.")
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12 de December de 2020
Caña Fest Morelia, in honor of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe :: Morenita, Protect Us Now More Than Ever

Everywhere in Mexico, so many events and traditions have been cancelled, postponed, or otherwise affected by the on-going worldwide pandemia. This article, originally published in 2010, is a look back on a Morelia, Michoacán, favorite: the annual month-long festival Caña Fest (the sugar cane festival), that normally begins in mid-November and continues for a month, through December 12, the feast day of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. Here's how Morelia's festival looked and sounded in 2018:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61lVnekLR1I&w=560&h=315]
Originally, the pandemia cancelled the fiesta for 2020. Recently, the government announced that due to public outcry, the festival would indeed take place, but not all in one spot as it is usually scheduled. Some stands will set up in one colonia (neighborhood), others will set up in another colonia, and still others will be relegated to other locations in the city. Will it be the same? No, of course not. Nevertheless, if only ONE case of COVID-19 is prevented, it's worth the change. Let's hope we can be back, business as usual, in 2021. Video courtesy Youtube.

Enjoy these photos and reflections on past Caña Fests!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The sign asks, "What blankety-blank crisis?" The bags of caña that this dealer offered continued at the 2009 price: 10 pesos. The world economic situation in 2008-2009 deeply affected Mexico, but up until 2020, nothing stopped this party!

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

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

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

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

I don't know about you, but I'm going to pray for the end of the pandemia and the return of Mexico's traditional festivities.

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

5 de December de 2020
More of Mexico Cooks! Pre-Pandemia Wanderings :: All Over Mexico, Part 2

I'm sure you remember that old saying, "Life is uncertain, eat dessert first." Mexico Cooks! is a firm proponent of that–at least for beginning today's report. This sweet, delicious offering is on the menu at La Conspiración de 1809, just at the back of Morelia's cathedral. In the photo, you see a pavlova, a crisp meringue filled with pastry cream and frutos rojos (red fruits)–in this case, Michoacán's locally grown strawberries, blackberries, and red raspberries. Driscoll's also grows blueberries here in Michoacán. The company leases fields from local owners and trains local workers to cultivate, harvest, and pack the berries. Next time you're in your supermarket, take a close look at the Driscoll's label. Many of the berries that you purchase, no matter where in the world you live, are grown just a few kilometers from Mexico Cooks!' home. Click on any photo for a larger view.

A doorway to a private home in the community Santa Fe de la Laguna, Michoacán.

Elotes tatemados (roasted young corn, still in its husk) for sale in a large Mexico City market.

These are also elotes (young corn), boiled rather than roasted, for sale at the same market stand. It's hard to choose which to buy, roasted or boiled, both are so delicious!

Chambarete entomatado (beef shank cooked in a sauce of tomate verde (tomatillos), onions, chile, and other spices) until the meat is falling-off-the-bone tender. Available daily at Fonda Marceva in Morelia's centro historico. It's one of my favorite things on their menu–come to tour Michoacán with me, and we'll definitely eat at Marceva. Photo courtesy my friend chef Eddie Álvarez.

Preparing fresh chicharrón (fried pork skins) at a market booth in Mexico City. Book a market tour with me and we'll visit this booth–and we'll have a taste of hot-from-the-vat chicharrón. Everybody loves its crisp, greaseless texture and taste.

Escobetillas (stiff brushes made from plant root material bound together with thin wire), used for scrubbing dirty dishes. Seen in a Oaxaca market. Each one measures approximately 5"-6" in length.

My longtime friend don Rafael, a copper worker in Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán, for 62 of his 70 years. Yes, he started hand-hammering copper vessels when he was eight years old. Today, he is a prize-winning grand master of the art. In the photo, he's demonstrating a hammering technique to one of my tour groups. Each beautiful copper item in this workshop is entirely made by hand. Let's go!

Souls burning in Hell, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. Wood carving.

Longaniza (the long sausage without links) and Oaxaca-style chorizo, with small round links, displayed on a market stand, Oaxaca City.

Two little devils at once, 2019 Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales, Oaxaca. Wait, what, two? Yes, in the background is a hand dolly, known here in Mexico as a diablito, a little devil.

Puerco estilo cubano (Cuban-style roast pork). The men on the right-hand side of the photo sit on benches and turn, turn, turn the spits until the pork is tender, juicy, and ready to serve. I've eaten big plates of this meat every year for the last three years. It's truly something to look forward to at the Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales, Oaxaca.

The Unión de Palmeadoras (tortilla makers' union) from Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca had a wonderful booth set up, selling hand-made Tlaxiaco-style tortillas. Those are fiery chiles pequín, in the dish.

The fiestas patronales in San Jerónimo Purenchécuaro, Michoacán, featured Moorish dancers. These two young men posed for me.

San Jerónimo Purenchécuaro is widely known for one of its several artesanías (handcrafts): these are velas escamadas (elaborate, hand-made beeswax candles). These particular candles were placed at one side of the main altar in the church in San Jerónimo Purenchécuaro; other banks of candles were placed throughout the church. Beautiful but ephemeral, the candles are meant to be burned.

Golden cempasúchil (a type of giant marigold) and wine-red pata de león (cockscomb) are Mexico's most typical flowers for Día de los Muertos. These are for sale at the wholesale flower market in Mexico City.

Right now and until approximately March of next year, Mexico's fresh guasanas (garbanzo beans) are in season. Not dried, these are harvested fresh and steamed lightly in salt water. Each pod contains two individual green, fresh garbanzos; we eat them like edamame, squeezing the garbanzos out of the pods directly into our mouths. Some people like to douse a bagful with liquid chile (what you see in the bottle), but I prefer the clean, green taste of the guasana.

One of my favorite places to go, whether with old friends or with tourists new to Mexico City, continues to be Azul Histórico. The food is exquisite, the restaurant itself is marvelously beautiful, and the servic
e is always attentive. Here, the "hostess" is a catrina, all gussied up Oaxaca-style for Day of the Dead.

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21 de November de 2020
More of Mexico Cooks! Pre-Pandemia Wanderings :: All Over Mexico, Part 1

In February 2019, Mexico Cooks! returned to live once again in Morelia, Michoacán. It's been a joyful return, to the welcome of wonderful old friends, well-remembered streets and markets, and the beautiful colonial city itself. I found a terrific house in Morelia's Centro Histórico, walking distance to most anywhere I need to go. You can expect to hear a lot more from me in the months to come about the cuisines, customs, and creativity of the people of Michoacán. The photo above is Morelia's Cathedral by the light of the full moon.

Workshop for creating a flavored salt. In a volcanic stone molcajete (that's part of it, in the photo), I ground roasted maguey worms, dehydrated pineapple, sea salt, and a chile de árbol or two. The flavor of mine was just so-so; a fellow behind me made a fantastic salt, flavored with a roasted scorpion. Who knew! Each of us participants got to bring our salt home in a test tube.

Late this spring, a friend and I traveled to San Miguel de Allende, where we saw friends and tried some of San Miguel's many restaurants. My personal favorite meal was brunch at Marsala: Cocina con Acentos, a truly innovative and delicious Mediterranean niche in the center of the city. The photo shows my plate of Marsala-style eggs Benedict, accompanied by a so-good mimosa. In addition to a full menu of brunch choices, one is also invited to partake of the buffet of freshly baked scones, cheese biscuits, marmalades, a magnificent house-made terrine, and a number of other take-what-you want items. I can't wait to go back!

One of the highlights of the trip to San Miguel de Allende was the opportunity to meet in person a man I have long admired from afar. Charles Hall manages Rose Anne Hall Designs, a highly successful family business which produces mouth-blown glass items for the home, as well as the most beautiful hand-made candles in Mexico. Under Charlie's direction, the business dedicates itself to hiring people with disabilities–or what would appear to be disabilities–but who are enabled by the opportunity to create. Charlie is a businessman, a philosopher, and a humorist, and a wonderful human being.

In the lovely traditional kitchen at the home of good friends in Santa Fe de la Laguna. It's always a privilege to be with them.

Cocido, or caldo de res, in my own kitchen and ready to serve. So simple, and so delicious.

Embarcadero San Pedro near twilight, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.

If you've been reading Mexico Cooks! for very long, you know that I have a strange fascination with pig heads. The staff at this market booth are all great people and love showing off their wares. This handsome fellow has a mouthful of alfalfa. They are also a bunch of goofballs: they always encourage my market tour clients to kiss the snout–and I must say that in the spirit of fun, quite a few do!

These miniature chairs–about the size to seat a one-year-old baby–were all but viral on Facebook when I uploaded the photo. Turned upside down with potted plants on the bottoms of the straw seats, the chairs make a charming entrance into my home.

Last–but definitely not least–was my outrageously wonderful end-of-June birthday party, with the crowning touch of this spectacular cake. A huge shout-out to the Colegio Culinario de Morelia, to chef Joaquín Bonilla, to chef Juan Carlos Montaño, and to the crew who brought and served this marvelous creation. Between the delicious cake, the just-right frosting, the assortment of cookies and candies–and gold leaf!–that decorated the masterpiece, party guests were thrilled and so was the birthday girl. Such a wonderful birthday gift! Mil gracias a todos ustedes del Colegio!

Come back next week for a look at the rest of Mexico Cooks!' year 2019.

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14 de November de 2020
Día y Noche de Muertos en Michoacán :: Day and Night of the Dead in Michoacán

Unfortunately, COVID-19, in addition to causing unprecedented worldwide death, has also separated us from publicly receiving the spirits of our departed loved one during the 2020 Day and Night of the Dead commemorations in most of Mexico. Cemeteries are closed, public spaces continue to be off-limits to the usual throngs of visitors to small town and large cities during this sacred time, and many usually highly tourisited areas in Michoacán, Oaxaca, and other areas of Mexico continue be closed to living visitors. The dead will come, expecting to be received, but our deceased friends and relatives will be welcomed in manners different from any other year in anyone's memory.

Because of inability to travel to the places I'd like to show you this year, Mexico Cooks! is simply reprinting this very popular Día y Noche de Muertos en Michoacán article from earlier times. Let's hope that in 2021 we will be able to once again enjoy the company of visitors from afar–including, first and foremost, our visitors from the más allá–the great beyond.

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 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 maybe right over there, behind that pillar. She waits with patience, until later today or until twelve o'clock next Thursday, or until sometime next year–but when it's your time to go, she's right there, ready to dance away with you at her side.

November 2013 altar to La Santa Muerte (Holy Death), Sta. Ana Chapirito (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 Quiroga, Michoacán, panteón municipal (town cemetery). 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 nearly 40 years, Mexico Cooks! has been to countless Noche de Muertos events, but none as mystical, as spiritual, or as profoundly magical as that of 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, an altar in the home of beloved friends) in the village of Santa Fe de la Laguna, Michoacán. 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. In Santa Fe de la Laguna, relatives, friends, and neighbors who arrive at the house to pay homage to a deceased person bring fresh fruit to place at the foot of the altar. This altar filled an entire room of my friends' home. 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. The altar included her favorite rebozo (shawl), placed just above her photograph. 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 pierden su sabor, no saben a nada," they said. 'We bought bananas, for example, and we put some on the ofrenda, and we put the rest in the kitchen to eat. The next day, the ones in the kitchen were perfectly normal, but the ones from the altar had no taste at all.'

Preparing a family member's ofrenda (altar) in the camposanto in a tiny village 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 Ihuatzio and Santa Fe de la Laguna.

Come with me along the unlit road that skirts the Lago de Pátzcuaro: Lake Pátzcuaro. It's chilly, the puddles splash up as we drive, 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.

Watching 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 cempazúchitles 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.

Waiting. Memories. Prayers. No te olvido, mi viejo amado. (I haven't forgotten you, my beloved old man.)

Next year, come with me.

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31 de October de 2020
Autumn in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán :: Wildflower Season and Sights at the Market

The area around Lake Pátzcuaro, in the state of Michoacán, bursts into wildflower bloom in late September, just as the rainy season is ending here. The flowers are naturalized wild cosmos, known here as mirasoles ("look-at-the-sun"). Entire fields fill with swaths of these delicate flowers, turning our green countryside into a temporary sea of pink. Behind the mirasoles is a milpa, a field of native Michoacán corn, beans, and squash.

These beautiful blossoms, selling now at the municipal market in Pátzcuaro, are called estrellas del campo (stars of the field). From the tops of the flowers to the bottom of their thin, tender stems, they measure about two and a half feet long. Each multi-petaled bloom measure about 1.5" in diameter. I've lived in Michoacán for a long time, but this is the first year I've seen these for sale. We took three large bunches as a gift to a friend–at 15 pesos the bunch. The total for a big armful of beauty was the Mexican peso equivalent of about $2.25 USD.

Available throughout the year, the native Mexican nanche fruit is in full-blown season right now, piled high on stands around the perimeter of the Pátzcuaro municipal market and on numerous street corners all over the town. Sold in clear plastic cups (as seen in the photo, courtesy of Healthline) or by the plastic bagful, the vendor will slather these 3/4" inch diameter fruits with jugo de limón (fresh-squeezed Key lime juice), a big sprinkle of salt, and as much highly spicy bottled salsa as your mouth can handle. The biological name of the nanche is Byrsonima crassifolia.  The fruit is slightly sweet and mildly musty-flavored, a combination that most people love and that I regret to say is not a taste I enjoy at all. Nanches are packed with nourishment, though–a half-cup of them will give you nearly 60% of your daily Vitamin C requirement, 41 calories, and only 9.5 grams of carbohydrates!

These are jocotes (native Mexican plums), also in season now in central Mexico. The fruit measures about two to three inches long; the flesh is bright orange and the flavor is marvelous. Unfortunately the stone of this plum is almost as big as the entire fruit, and although you could eat it out of hand, the delicious jocote is most often made into an agua fresca (fresh fruit water) that is only available for the fruit's short season. This little plum is replete with Vitamins A and C, phosphorous, iron, and calcium, and is said to work wonders with gum problems.

Who wants to take a guess at what each of the green herbs (and the vegetable) is? The elotes (tender fresh Pátzcuaro red corn) at the bottom of the photo were part of a small daily harvest brought to sell on the outdoor periphery of Pátzcuaro's market. Just to the left of the corn, at the bottom of the photo, are some mint branches that the same vendor brought for sale. But above the mint? Click on the photo to enlarge it and you'll be able to tell that these are home-grown spiny chayotes. You are probably familiar with the paler green smooth-skinned chayotes (mirliton in Louisiana, pear squash in other English-speaking locations). The chayote has an interesting growing habit: unlike most squash, which grows as a vine along the ground, the chayote is airborne–its vines grow on overhead trellises and remind me of grapevines; the small squash hangs down from the vines. It's an extremely versatile vegetable, taking on the flavors of what you cook it with. Be sure to eat the soft, tender, flat, white seed–it's considered to be the prize part and is as delicious as the chayote itself.

To the right of the chayotes is a big bunch of wild anise, known in Pátzcuaro as anisillo. Used to make the Pátzcuaro regional specialty atole de grano, this herb is tremendously flavorful. In case you find some anisillo where you are, here's a recipe for atole de grano.

Atole de Grano
(Fresh Anise-Flavored Corn Kernel Soup)

Ingredients
2 fresh ears of tender young corn
2 cups fresh corn, cut from the cob
1 bunch wild anisillo
3 liters water
2 whole chiles perón (or substitute chiles poblano)
1/2 pound recently ground corn masa (dough)–ask at the tortillería near you
Salt to taste

Garnishes
1/2 medium white onion, minced
Chile serrano or chile perón, minced
Fresh Key limes, cut in half
Sea salt

Preparation

1. Clean the ears of corn, remove the silk and cut off the ends. Cut each ear into three pieces.

2. Boil the corn on the cob AND the corn kernels in enough water, for an hour and a half or until the corn is tender.

3. Cut the stem away from the chiles, take out the seeds and veins. Cut the chiles into small pieces.

4. In the blender, liquify the chiles, the anisillo, and the masa with two cups of water. Strain and add to the pot where the corn on the cob is cooking.

5. Allow to boil for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the liquid is slightly thickened.

To serve
1. Place sections of the cooked corn ears into each of 2 bowls.

2. Ladle soup and corn kernels into the bowls.

3. Serve with the minced onion, minced chile to taste, sea salt, and Key lime halves to squeeze into the soup.

Serves 2 people as a main dish, 3 as a first course. This soup is both vegetarian and vegan, and gluten-free.

Atole de grano, made in a cazo (large copper kettle).

The vendor at this small booth at the Pátzcuaro market had an interesting variety of things for sale. Bottom right are fresh guavas, just now coming into season. To the left of the guavas are chiles perón (aka chiles manzano), arguably the most-used chile in this part of Michoacán. Above the chiles perón are fresh, green chiles de árbol. To the right are wild mushrooms known as patita de pájaro (little bird foot). These mushrooms, growing wild in Michoacán's woods and foraged during the rainy season, make a wonderful mushroom soup.

These are home-grown loquats, known in Mexico as nísperos (NEE-speh-rohs). Nísperos are local and are plentiful in markets right now.

Gelatin–this large cupful is called "mosaíco"–mosaic, because of its many colored cubes. More gelatin is eaten in Mexico than in any other country of the world! A cupful this size is usually an eat-while-you-walk snack food. This one was made and sold from a tiny cart with no name, just to one side of the Pátzcuaro market. The young woman selling the gelatins said her name was Yesi–I said her cart was now dubbed Gelatinas Yesi, and she laughed.

Just at the corner of the market, we bumped into don Rafael, who was selling–you guessed it–cotton candy. Cotton candy HAS no season, it's always available here. Get the blue, it will turn your lips and tongue blue as a blueberry, but just for a while.

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

24 de October de 2020
Your Flaneur in Mexico City: Markets, Food, and Curiosities–Part 2, Summer 2015

Due to the pandemia shutdown starting in March 2020, Mexico Cooks! has not been able to travel around in Mexico (or anywhere else) as usual this year. I'd like to give you a "taste" of Mexico City in the summer of 2015, when life was different and moving about the country was simple. My fond hope for all of us is that many of you will return to visit Mexico in 2021: lovely and delicious things await you here. Be sure to email me about food tours: I take small groups to many places in Mexico City, Oaxaca, and Michoacán–a little-known, fascinating, and delicious state.

This white pozole from Mexico's state of Guerrero ranks close to the top of Mexico Cooks!' list of best pozoles in Mexico. The pozolería (pozole place) is right here in Mexico City–come with us next time, we go as often as we can.

A selection of beautiful crystallized fruits at Mercado Medellín, one of the several Mexico City markets where Mexico Cooks! takes tours. In the photo from nine o'clock: sweet potato, pineapple, whole orange, more sweet potato, squash, and at six o'clock, chilacayote squash and another orange. The inner group consists of squash, a limón, and a fig.

Sangre de cora, a drink prepared with tequila, sweet agua de jamaica, and frothy egg white. It's adorned with jamaica blossoms. Jamaica is a cousin of Mexico's hibiscus; in English, it's called roselle. The drink takes its name from the Cora indigenous group, which is native to western Jalisco and the coastal state of Nayarit.

They look like gears, don't they? Actually, these are molinillos (chocolate frothers), stacked up for sale at a Oaxaca market. There's nothing else like this market in all of Mexico– Mexico Cooks! would be delighted to take you along for a tour!

Oaxaca is filled with culinary delicacies not seen elsewhere in Mexico. Here, a platter of Oaxaca quesillo (think string cheese, but a million times better) stuffed with tiny chapulines (grasshoppers) and rolled jelly-roll fashion in anise-flavored hoja santa (holy leaf). This is one of the most delicious things Mexico Cooks! has eaten in 2015. Thank you, Restaurante Las 15 Letras!

Carmelite nuns buying carnations by the armload at Mexico City's wholesale flower market. An entire bundle of these flowers, the size of the paper-wrapped flowers standing on the floor, will set you back about 70 pesos–less than $4.50 USD.

And now for something completely different–gai lan (Chinese broccoli), stir-fried with garlic, as served at our favorite Chinese restaurant: Jing Teng.

These exotic fruits from South America are curuba–banana passionfruit. Each fruit is approximately 3" long and an inch in diameter. The sweet pulpy seeds are reminiscent of normal passionfruit, but less acidic. The skin isn't eaten. We recently saw these at one of our favorite downtown markets.

Look at the color of the flesh of these ruby red grapefruits! Mexico Cooks! was particularly taken with the extraordinary cut made by the vendor to display (and give tastes of) the fruit.

Mexico's own tuna–aka the prickly pear cactus fruit. The market vendor who offered these for sale had brought along the entire cactus paddle to show clients how the fruit grows.

The tuna has a zipper-skin that's so simple to peel. Just cut off each end of the tuna, make a lengthwise slit in the skin, and peel the skin away from the flesh. Easy-peasy! The tuna's texture is similar to that of watermelon, the flesh is sweet and refreshing, and the seeds are swallowed. Served chilled, they're even more thirst-quenching.

From a small restaurant in the state of Jalisco, this flan napolitano con queso (flan made with cheese) is one of the best I've eaten. My comida (main meal of the day) companion assured me that he isn't a flan fan, but one taste of this one and he said, "We should have ordered two." More the texture of cheesecake than custard, one slice of this rich, creamy dessert was plenty for the two of us.

And finally–Frida! This portrait of Mexico's iconic painter Frida Kahlo is actually a tattoo on the inner forearm of a young woman I saw on the sidewalk outside a market. Claudia very graciously allowed me to photograph just her arm. Here's yet another reason to spend some time with Mexico Cooks!: you never, never know what you'll see next in this enormous and enormously diversified city!

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

17 de October de 2020
Your Flaneur in Mexico City: Markets, Food, and Curiosities–Part 1, Summer 2015

Due to the pandemia shutdown starting in March 2020, Mexico Cooks! has not been able to travel around in Mexico (or anywhere else) as usual this year. I'd like to give you a "taste" of Mexico City in the summer of 2015, when life was different and moving about the country was simple. My fond hope for all of us is that many of you will return to visit Mexico in 2021: lovely and delicious things await you here.

Midsummer always gives us an abundance of flor de calabaza (squash flowers) to be used in the kitchen. Prepared as sopa de guias (squash vine soup), quesadillas, or stuffed with cheese, these flowers are delicious and are readily available in many Mexican markets. Did you know that only the male flowers are harvested? The female flowers are left to develop squash.

You might like to try this Mexico Cooks! recipe in your own kitchen.

Flor de Calabaza Estilo Cristina
Squash Flowers, Cristina's Style

Ingredients

2 large bunches flor de calabaza, washed and patted dry
1 medium white onion
4 chiles poblano
1 chile serrano
2 large russet or other large white potatoes
Flour
Sea salt to taste
Vegetable oil, freshly rendered pork lard, or half vegetable oil, half bacon grease for frying.

Procedure

Peel and dice potatoes into 1/2" cubes. Boil until just fork-tender. Drain, allow to dry, and reserve.

Roast chiles according to your preferred method until the skin is blistered and they are well-blackened. Sweat for 10 minutes in a closed plastic bag. Remove skin. Slice each chile lengthwise to remove seeds. Dice peppers in 1/2” squares.

Rough-chop flor de calabaza into 1 1/2" pieces.

Dice onion into 1/2" squares.

Mince chile serrano.

In a large sauté pan, heat the vegetable oil until it shimmers. While the oil is heating, shake the reserved potatoes in flour and salt in a plastic bag.

Sauté onions and chile serrano in oil or oil/bacon grease mixture. Add the floured potatoes and sauté until crisp and pale golden, adding more fat if needed. Add the diced chiles poblano and continue to sauté for about 1 minute.

Add the flor de calabaza and sauté just until tender.

Add sea salt to taste.

Serves 2-3 as a side dish.

Late in the spring, we were invited to attend the opening of El Rebozo: Made in Mexico at Mexico City's extraordinary Museo Franz Mayer. The exhibition, which was originally mounted in London, featured both old and new rebozos (long rectangular shawls) as well as some other typical Mexican garments. One of the many rebozos in the exhibit was an exquisitely embroidered shawl from Oaxaca. This is a detail of that rebozo.

This photograph of Evita Perón, wife of Argentina's Juan Domingo Perón during his first term as president of that country, was part of an exhibit at Mexico City's Museum of Modern Art (MAM) during the spring and summer. The photograph formed part of an exhibition of the works of Giselle Freund, a self-taught photographer who worked in Argentina and Mexico in the 1940s and 1950s.

This tiny ironwood mortar and pestle (the mortar is only about 2" high) comes from the state of Sonora, in northern Mexico. It is made specifically for use at the table, for an individual diner to grind one or two chiles chiltepín, which are highly spicy and famously used to season certain dishes from the cuisine of that state. The grinder is passed from person to person at the table, along with a dish of whole chile chiltepín.

Chile chiltepín from Sonora. Each chile is tiny but extremely picante. Photo courtesy Hunter Angler Gardener Cook.

Beautiful ceremonial tortillas from the state of Guanajuato. The tortillas are made in the usual way and are then stamped prior to baking with a wooden stamp dipped in vegetable dye. Mexico Cooks! was privileged to see these twice this summer, first at an event at the Escuela de Gastronomía Mexicana in Mexico City and again at the Primer Encuentro Nacional de Cocineras Tradicionales (First National Meeting of Traditional Cooks) in Morelia, Michoacán.

This is the tamarillo or tomate del árbol (tree tomato), a native of the South American Andes. Each fruit is approximately 2.5" long. The flesh is fairly firm and deeply flavorful, both sweet and earthy. You never know what you'll see when you take a Mexico Cooks! tour–our group found these delicious fruits at a downtown Mexico City market.

Come back next week for more summertime wanderings with Mexico Cooks!. Our summer was far too interesting for just one article!

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10 de October de 2020
Rajas de Chile Poblano con Crema, Cebolla, y Elote :: Chile Poblano Strips with Onion, Corn Kernels, and Cream, A Classic of the Mexican Kitchen

Mexico Cooks! published an article about rajas de chile poblano about 6 months ago. This is an updated and revised version of the previous publication, with all-new photos and some new tips. Enjoy!

The chile poblano is one of the most commonly used fresh chiles in Mexico's kitchen. A very large, fleshy chile, it can measure as much as seven or eight inches long. The stem end is much wider than the point, and the color ranges from dark green to almost black-green. Shopping tip: if you buy chiles poblano that are flat on all sides, they will roast more quickly than if they are deeply creased in spots. The flat sides will evenly touch the roasting surface.

The chile poblano is commonly used for preparing main dishes such as chiles rellenos, including the seasonal and festive chiles en nogada. It is also used for making rajas de chile poblano con crema (strips of chile poblano with cream), a marvelously flavorful vegetable side dish. All photos by Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.

Chiles poblano roasted with skin removed, showing the interior of the opened chile (left) and the exterior (right). These are two of the four chiles I used to prepare this dish. To prepare chiles poblano for use in any recipe, wash and roast them. Don't try to use them with the peel on; the peels will be as tough as trying to chew through plastic. Mexico Cooks! uses a cast iron comal (griddle) placed over a high flame to roast as many as four to six chiles at a time. Other cooks prefer to roast these chiles one at a time over an open flame, or on a broiler pan in a slightly open oven. No matter which roasting method you use, the roasted chiles should look like the ones in the above photo.

Once the chiles are roasted, put them in a plastic bag, twist it shut, and allow the chiles to 'sweat' for 10 to 15 minutes. You'll easily be able to remove the blackened peels. It's best not to rinse them–or rinse them only a little–as rinsing removes a good bit of the delicious chile poblano flavor.

The slit-open chiles with the seeds still inside. At the foreground of the photo, you can see that I removed the stem with the bulk of the seeds. Simply cut around the stem and pull it and the seeds out of the chile.

Two of the chiles still on the cutting board, with one of my 50+-year-old Sabatier carbon steel knives.

All four chiles, seeded and cut into rajas (strips about 3" long and less than 1/2" wide).

Half of a large white onion, thinly sliced and ready to sauté. The ingredients include half a white onion, sliced very thin, and about half a cup of fresh (or canned) yellow corn kernels.

Sauté the onions first, until they are soft and translucent. Then add the rajas and continue to sauté until they are soft, but still have a bit of crispness.

Add the corn and continue to sauté briefly.

Add Mexican crema de mesa (table cream, not sour cream) if you can find it. Crema Aguascalientes is the one I prefer to use. If Mexican table cream isn't available, use sour cream instead.

Salt to taste and let the cream and vegetables simmer briefly. The cream will become a thick sauce for the vegetables. The chile poblano is generally quite mild and flavorful, but once in a while you will come across one that is surprisingly spicy. There's no way to tell by looking at them whether they are mild or hot, and either way they're delicious and not overly 'hot'.

The recipe as you see it written here, using four large chiles, will serve 3 to 4 people as a side dish. It's excellent served hot or at room temperature. I've never met anyone who doesn't love rajas de chile poblano served this way!

Provecho! (Good eating!)

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

3 de October de 2020
Food, Flowers, and the Best Signs in Any Market :: Mercado de Jamaica, Mexico City

One view of the exterior of Mexico City's Mercado de Jamaica. As is true in most Mexican markets, you'll find everything from fresh figs to duct tape, from a haircut to a great midday meal: in other words, exactly what you're looking for. However, this particular market specializes in wholesale flowers. In addition to its hodgepodge of everything under the sun, the vendors here sell literally millions and millions of flowers every single day. Photo courtesy John Woods.

Nuns buying flowers for their convent. Approximately 80% of the flowers at the market are grown in the State of Mexico, which is separate from but almost completely surrounds Mexico City. In the State of Mexico, flower growing generates a yearly economic bounty of $2,700,000,000 pesos: two billion seven hundred million, folks. It's not a typo.

A few of the literally millions of beautiful blooms available at either wholesale or retail prices at the market.

Freesias, one of my favorite flowers–the scent is irresistible.

Many of Mexico City's markets use this sort of printed sign to advertise the price of what's for sale–in this case, vine-ripened Roma tomatoes–and every sign has a bit of advice to offer about your potential purchase. I've loved these signs since long before moving to Mexico's capital. On this market jaunt, the lightbulb went on: all of you would love these typical and sometimes funny signs, too. This one urges, "Don't think about it too much…take home a little kilo!".

For already-cut-up calabaza de castilla (a hard-shell Mexican squash): 'money well spent'.

For limón criollo (Mexican limes): I'll be right with you!

Limas–and there really is no translation for this uniquely Mexican fruit. They are neither limes nor lemons, nor are they oranges. But as the sign says: it's scrumptious!

Pink-fleshed guavas–the sign reads, "Take the best!" And the orange sign to the left says, "Give Trump a trumpada…" with a papaya! Loosely translated, it means bop him one with a papaya. You can also see plastic cups filled with pomegranate arils, whole pomegranates, bananas, clementines, and cantaloupes.

Chile jalapeño: pretty and cheap, at four pesos the quarter kilo (approximately two cents for a half-pound).

Mexico's papa Alfa–white potatoes for 10 pesos the kilo: smile.

Beautiful fresh, crisp cucumbers: ask for more.

In Mexico, if something is super-wonderful, people say often say, "…no tiene madre…" (it has no mother). It's common but very rude language. In this case, the merchant's sign for the apples says, "…de poca mad…", or "…it has only a little bit of mother…", but just barely skirts accepted language boundaries by cutting the …"re…", off the madre, leaving you to think of the word by yourself.

Tomate verde (tomatillo, in English) at six pesos the kilo: 'Don't look any further!'

This merchant is offering his chiles jalapeños at 14 pesos the kilo by poking fun at popular advertising: 'Like you saw on TV'."

Tunas are cactus fruits, and extremely refreshing and delicious. Their texture is like watermelon. In this case, the sign reads, "Tunas Chingonas"–the best translation I can think up is badass cactus fruit!

Here's a peeled tuna. The fruit is easier to peel than a tangerine; cut off each end, slit the thick skin, and peel it off the fruit. I buy them often during their season (right now!) and love to make agua fresca de tuna (fresh water made from tunas).

This sign is my current favorite. "Ni hablar mujer" means 'Lady, don't even talk about it!'. The phrase is also part of a Pedro Infante song.

Next year, plan to come along with us to this marvelous market. Ahorita la atiendo!

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19 de September de 2020