Category: Restaurants

Oaxaca De Mis Amores :: Mexico Cooks! (Finally) Falls in Love

La bella Lula'a…beautiful Oaxaca, as said in the indigenous Zapotec language. You are looking through a window toward the Capilla del Rosario (Chapel of the Rosary) dome and bell tower, part of the Templo Santo Domingo.

This image of St. Peter (easy to identify because he is almost always depicted holding the keys of the kingdom) in Oaxaca's Templo Santo Domingo wears a tiny but knowing smile: he gets to live in Oaxaca!

Mexico Cooks! has visited Oaxaca and written several times about the city and its attractions, about the interesting differences of the city's markets from those of long-familiar central Mexico, the palate-tease of regional foods, a dream made real in another Oaxaca town. I had a good time, several times. But it didn't hit me, the loving lightning bolt of Oaxaca didn't strike me, until my most recent (notice I don't say last) trip to the city.

Winter is mandarina (tangerine) season in Mexico. These, vendor-stacked in pyramids outside Oaxaca's Mercado 20 de noviembre, caught late January light and presto! they turned into still life magic.

Those non-descript nouns and pallid adjectives (attractions, interesting) in the first paragraph tell the tale of how I felt about Oaxaca, until now. Where's the punch? The truth is, I just didn't get the thrill of Oaxaca, no matter how many visits I made. And then this time: YOWZA! I got it–or better said, it got me. Oaxaca, how could I have been so blind?

Templo Santa María de la Asunción (Church of St. Mary of the Assumption), the town parish in Santa María del Tule, just outside the city of Oaxaca. A small part of the famous ahuehuete tree, more than 2,000 years old, is visible on the left side of the photo.

The photo shows a knot more than five feet in diameter on the trunk of the ancient and enormous ahuehuete tree at the town Santa María de Tule. The knots have names–they're called everything from 'the elephant' to 'Carlos Salinas's ears'. At one time people believed that this behemoth was actually several trees, but it has been proven to be only one trunk measuring more than 30 feet in diameter.

What I once thought about Oaxaca has always been like at first sight, and second sight, and third, and so on. It's been similar to going to the movies with a friend and then POW, out of the blue, right between the eyes, it's so long just friends, you're panting for a goodnight kiss.

This woman, who sells dried chiles, beans, and spices at Oaxaca's Mercado 20 de noviembre, is cleaning frijol (dried black beans). You can see the white costal (large bag) at the left side of the photo. She picks out as many stones and twigs as she can find, but once you get the beans home, you'll need to sort through them again. Note: dried beans of any kind for sale in a market are called frijol. Once you cook them, they are frijoles.

These stones and pieces of debris are typical of what you might find in any kind of newly purchased beans, whether from a bag you bought at a supermarket or bulk beans from a market. The beans in the photograph above are peruanos (so-called Peruvian beans).

This market stand is loaded with chapulines (grasshoppers), an iconic snack from Oaxaca. Seasoned with garlic or chile, these are really delicious. Mexico Cooks! prefers the tiny ones (at the top of the photo) to the larger sizes.

What changed? Not the city, surely. Oaxaca is a timeless glory. This trip, for reasons I can't explain, my heart and mind were entirely open to receive the city's gifts.

Wall of bas relief vegetables at my friend Pilar Cabrera's Restaurante La Olla, Calle de la Reforma 402, Col. Centro.

One stand in the famous callejón (alley) of carne asada (grilled meat) at Mercado 20 de noviembre. From the late afternoon moment that we saw this long hallway, lined as it was on both sides with carne asada stands and tables filled with ravenous carnivores, we knew this would be the spot for comida (Mexico's midday meal) the next afternoon.

Our basket of tender grilled beef, hot tortillas, and a spritely salad. The side dishes we ordered–nopales, guacamole, grilled onions, the salad pictured above, and several others–disappeared just as fast as the kilo of carne asada and the pile of tortillas. Three of us ate and drank our fill for just about $20.00 USD.

One of my personal favorite Oaxaca restaurants is the Istmo de Tehuantepec's La Teca, owned by the marvelous Sra. Deyanira Aquino. As part of another day's many-course main meal, friends and I shared these four molotes de plátano macho (small, sweetly ripe plantain croquettes) topped with crema de mesa (table cream) and queso fresco (fresh cheese), dividing the last one into smaller and smaller pieces so that one of us did not hog the whole thing–although each of us would have!

Paletas (in this case, lollipops) stand ready to welcome you to Oaxaca. For me, just for today, these represent the sweetness, color, variety, and delight that Oaxaca have to offer.

Come with me next week as we journey just outside the city of Oaxaca to make a new friend, a sister-soul of the cocina mexicana (the Mexican kitchen). I can't wait to introduce you; you'll love her just as much as I do.

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

5 de April de 2014
Stencil Graffiti: Art and Politics on Mexico’s Walls

"Bush Eats Mexico's S**T". San Cristóbal, Chiapas, 2006. All photos by Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.

Looking around–really observing the flow of life–in Mexico, it's easy to see that the times, they are a-changing. Whether you're watching the wall of a farmer's field or suddenly spying an all-but-hidden wall around an obscure corner in Mexico City, you become aware that art, both art-for-art's-sake and political art, is everywhere. These days, street art is sometimes hand-painted but more often than not, it's a stencil.

Delicately painted by hand, this peaceful, charmingly rendered bluebird (undoubtedly the bluebird of happiness) perches quietly on a light switch at Restaurante Rosetta. Mexico City, 2013.

The chapulín (grasshopper) is an icon not only of Oaxaca's gastronomy, but also of the state's cultural identity. It's about who we are, not simply what we eat. "Made in Oaxaca" is the slogan's translation. Oaxaca de Juárez, 2013.

Another icon: in this case, art imitates art. José María Hernández Urbina's original Art Deco-era statue, Fuente de los Cántaros (Water Jars Fountain), still graces the Teatro al Aire Libre Lindbergh (Lindbergh Open Air Theatre) wall in Parque México, Colonia La Condesa. This stencilled grafito graces the same wall. Mexico City, November, 2013.

The actual fountain in Parque México. Photo courtesy Judith McKnight.

Advertising Banda El Recodo (one of Mexico's most popular), this wall and others of its genre are hand-painted calls to party hearty. These hand-painted advertisements are ubiquitous in every Mexican state, whether in huge cities or tiny villages. The highly skilled but minimally paid graphics artists paint these signs freehand. Photo courtesy theatlantic.com.

Mexico is a country of enormous and frequently surrealistic differences. The stereotypical meek and humble Mexican contrasts sharply with the equally stereotypical highly politicized and revolution-hungry Mexican; the polemic is often contained in the self-same individual's mind and body. These blood-red words read, "Mexico is no longer a country for cowards." Mexico City, April 2013.

This wall in the State of Mexico originally held a no-nonsense civic-minded slogan: No Tirar Basura (Don't Throw Your Garbage Here). One or two waggish political commentators superimposed stencils of (top, blue) former Mexican president Carlos Salina de Gortari kissing 2012 presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto and (bottom, black) 2012 presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador. No Tirar Basura, indeed. Estado de México, 2012. Photo courtesy hazmeelchinagdofavor.com.

Garage door, Mexico City, March 2014.

Calls to political action are common representations in urban street art. At the end of 2013, Mexico's federal government voted to change the Constitution to allow some privatization of Mexico's petroleum industry. That change has been argued all along the political spectrum. Is it good for Mexico? Is it bad for Mexico? This stencilled poster falls into the 'bad for' column. The bureaucratic rats have parachuted onto our oil derricks, the police show up as granaderos (shield and truncheon-bearing 'crowd control' officers), and the poster calls for revolutionary action against so-called energy reform. Oaxaca de Juárez, January 2014.

Spirited. Alive. That's Mexico's graffiti, summed up in a single word on a tangerine wall. Oaxaca de Juárez, January 2014.

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

15 de March de 2014
Adobo de Cerdo Huasteco, from Verde Blanco y Rojo by Ricardo Muñoz Zurita

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Toasting the chiles ancho on the comal.

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

Toasting the chiles guajillo on the comal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Serves 12.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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8 de March de 2014
A Feast for February 2: Tamales, Tamales, and Tamales!

Tamales in the tamalera (the steamer) at Tamalería (tamales shop) Méndez, on the street at the corner of Av. Baja California and Av. Insurgentes, Colonia Condesa, Distrito Federal. You can see that the tamalera is divided into three sections. Each section can hold a different kind of tamal (that's the word for ONE of a group of tamales). In this case, the tamales at the bottom left of the photo are Oaxaqueños (Oaxaca-style). On the right of the divider are tamales rojos (with a red chile sauce) and tamales de mole (both with pork meat). The third section of the tamalera holds just-out-of-sight tamales verdes (with chicken, in green chile sauce) and tamales con rajas y queso (with cheese and strips of chile poblano).

Older than an Aztec pyramid and fresh as this morning’s breakfast, a pot of newly-steamed tamales whets Mexico City’s appetite like nothing else in town. Dating to pre-Hispanic times—most historians say tamales date to the time before the Christian era—the tamales of New Spain (now Mexico) were first documented in the Florentine Codex, a mid-16th century research project crafted by Spanish Franciscan monk Fray Bernadino Sahagún.

Traditionally, tamales are made by hand, not by machine. At first, they seem to be exhaustingly labor-intensive and difficult. Just as with most wonderful food, once you learn the techniques and tricks of making the various styles, they're not so hard to prepare–and they are so worth the time and effort! Here, Carmen Titita Ramírez Degollado, owner of Mexico City's Restaurante El Bajío, preparaes masa cocida (cooked corn dough) for her special tamales pulacles from Papantla, Veracruz.

The ancients of the New World believed that humankind was created from corn. Just as in pre-history, much of Mexico’s traditional and still current cuisine is based on corn, and corn-based recipes are still creating humankind. A daily ration of corn tortillas, tacos, and tamales keeps us going strong in the Distrito Federal, Mexico’s capital city of more than twenty million corn-craving stomachs.  Tamales are created from dried corn reconstituted with builder’s lime and water. The corn is then ground and beaten with lard or other fat into a thick, smooth masa (dough). Filled with sauce and a bit of meat or vegetable, most tamales are wrapped in dried corn husks or banana leaves and steamed, to fill Mexico City’s corn hunger and keep her hustling.

Tamal-to-be: cut the banana leaf to the size and shape of the tamal you're making, then lightly toast each leaf. On the banana leaf, place a layer of masa, a strip of hoja santa (acuyo) leaf, and a big spoonful or two of cooked, shredded chicken in a sauce of chile guajillo, onion, and garlic.

Every year on February 2, Mexico celebrates el Día de la Candelaria (Candlemas Day) with tamales on the table. Tradition dictates that if your Three Kings Day slice of the rosca de reyes contains the figure of the Niño Dios (Christ Child), you are in charge of throwing the tamales party on Candelaria. Late in January, there are festivals and fairs in Mexico devoted to the multiple kinds of regional tamales available all over the country. From southernmost Oaxaca with its flat tamales wrapped in hoja de plátano (banana leaves) to Sinaloa's tamales barbones stuffed with shrimp, Candelaria means tamales!

Mexico’s capital city makes it easy to buy tamales any time the craving hits you. Every day of the week, nearly five million riders pack the Metro (the city’s subway system) and are disgorged into approximately 200 Metro stations. At any given Metro stop, a passenger is likely to find a tamales vendor. Her huge stainless steel tamalera (tamales steamer) hisses heartily over a low flame until the tamales are sold out. Each steamer can hold as many as two hundred tamales, and the vendor may preside over two or three or more of these vats.

Titita folds the tamal so that the banana leaf completely wraps the masa and filling.

Hungry students on the way to and from classes, office workers with no time to eat breakfast at home, construction workers looking for a mid-morning pick-me-up: all line up at their favorite vendor’s spot on the sidewalk closest to a Metro exit. Near the vibrant Chilpancingo Metro station at the corner of Av. Insurgentes and Av. Baja California, Sra. María de los Ángeles Chávez Hernández sells tamales out of two huge pots. “Qué le doy?”  (‘What’ll you have?’) she raps out without ceremony to every hungry comer. The choices: rojo  (with pork and spicy red chile); verde (with chicken and even spicier green chile); rajas con queso (strips of chile poblano with melting white cheese); mole (a thick spicy sauce with a hint of chocolate); some Oaxaca-style tamales wrapped in banana leaves; and dulce (sweet, usually either pineapple or strawberry). The stand sells about 200 tamales a day. Sra. Chávez’s father, Ángel Méndez Rocha, has been selling tamales on this corner for more than 60 years. Even at age 80, he alternates weeks at the stand with his brother, selling tamales by the hundreds.

The masa and filling are centered in the banana leaf. Titita is simultaneously pressing the masa toward the middle of the leaf and folding each end of the banana leaf toward the middle.

The pair of tamales in the center of the photo are filled with chicken and chile guajillo sauce. The tamal closest to the bottom is made with black beans crushed with dried avocado leaves. Avocado leaves give a delicious anise flavor and fragrance to the beans. These tamales are ready to be steamed in the tamalera.

The tamal de chile guajillo, fresh out of the tamalera and unwrapped on my plate.

A specialty breakfast, unique to Mexico City, is the guajolota: a steaming hot tamal, divested of its corn husks and plopped into a split bolillo, a dense bread roll. Folks from outside Mexico City think this combo is crazy, but one of these hefty and delicious carbohydrate bombs will easily keep your stomach filled until mid-afternoon, when Mexico eats its main meal of the day. When I asked Sra. Chávez Hernández about the name of the sandwich, she laughed. “Nobody knows why this sandwich is called guajolota—the word means female turkey. But everybody wants one!”

If you'd rather take your tamales home to eat them, Sra. Chávez of Tamalería Méndez or her employee, Sra. Lucina Montel, will gladly wrap them in paper and send them along in a bag.

For steaming tamales, the bottom portion of a tamalera is filled with water. Add a coin to the water and put the tamales vertically into the steamer, atop the perforated base that rests just above the water. When the water boils, the coin will rattle. When the rattle slows or stops, add more water.

Tamales can be a massive guajolota to eat on the street or the most delicate, upscale meal in a restaurant. These, prepared by chef Gerardo Vázquez Lugo of Restaurante Nicos, are a degustación (tasting) at the Escuela de Oficios Gastronómicos operated by online magazine Culinaria Mexicana, where chef Vázquez recently offered a workshop teaching the history, ingredients, and preparation of tamales. From left to right, the four tamales are: carnitas de pato en salsa de cítricos y chile chipotle (shredded duck confit in a citrus and chile chipotle sauce), tamal de tzotolbichay (with the herb chaya), tamal de mole negro (black mole),and tamal de frijol (beans).

Chef Gerardo Vázquez Lugo of Mexico City's Restaurante Nicos.

In addition to being daily sustenance, tamales are a fiesta, a party. In Mexico City and every other part of Mexico, Christmas isn’t Christmas without tamales for the late-night family feasting on Christmas Eve. Gather the women of the family together, grab the neighbors, and the preparation of tamales becomes a party called a tamalada. Mexico City chef Margarita Carrillo tells us, “Mexican grandmothers from time immemorial say that the first ingredient for great tamales is a good sense of humor.  Tamales like it when you sing while you prepare them, they love to hear a little friendly gossip while you work, and if you make tamales in the good company of your family and friends, they’re sure to turn out just the way you want them: with fluffy, richly flavored corn dough on the outside and a delicious filling on the inside.”

A small and elegant tamal de chocolate for dessert, prepared by Restaurante Nicos for the tamales workshop.

Señora Elia Rodríguez Bravo, specialty cook at the original Restaurante El Bajío, strains masa cocida for tamales. She gently shook a wooden spoon at me as she proclaimed, “You can’t make tamales without putting your hands in the masa (corn dough). Your hand knows what it feels. Your hand will tell you when the masa is beaten smooth, when the tamales are well-formed in their leaves, and when they have steamed long enough to be ready to eat. Your hand knows!”

Señora María de los Ángeles Chávez Hernández (left) and her longtime employee Señora Lucina Montel (right) sell tamales at the street booth Tamalería Méndez seven days a week. They and Sra. Chávez's staff prepare hundreds of tamales every night, for sale the next day.

Let's go on a Mexico City tamales tour! Let Mexico Cooks! know when you're ready, and we'll be on our way.

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

25 de January de 2014
Qué Rico! Caldo de Pollo: Chicken Soup, Mexican Style

First published about four years ago, this is by far the most popular of Mexico Cooks!' nearly 400 archived articles. Caldo de pollo is especially popular during the winter months, but anytime is the right time for a steaming, delicious bowlful. There's just something wonderful about comfort food, no matter what culture prepares it.

Seasoning ingredients for preparing the caldo (broth) for Mexican caldo de pollo (chicken soup). Clockwise from top right in the photo: unpeeled carrots, white onions, chiles serranos, garlic, fresh bay leaves, cilantro, and thyme. I also added a big sprig of fresh hierbabuena (mint)and a small sprig of fresh epazote (wormweed). If you can't find fresh epazote, leave it out. The dried variety adds no flavor to any of your recipes.

There are few meals more undeniably Mexican than delicious, home-made caldo de pollo (Mexico's marvelous take on chicken soup with fresh vegetables). During the winter, when the temperature is chilly, what better to warm us from the inside out than Mexico's traditional, rich, delicious caldo de pollo (chicken soup)? You who live in even colder countries will love it as much as we do. Nothing could be simpler to prepare. The ingredients are easy to obtain, the broth all but cooks itself, and the final preparations are a snap.

This beautiful chicken weighed approximately 5.5 pounds before cooking.

Mexico's chickens are perfectly suited to caldo de pollo. Yellow skin and pink flesh create a fragrantly savory stock. If you've traveled to Mexico and visited our markets, you may have wondered why our recently sacrificed raw chickens look so…so chicken-y, so golden and inviting. They're fed ground marigold petals along with their feed! The bright golden color of the flowers is transmitted not only to their skin and flesh, but also to the yolks of their eggs, which sit up high and bright in your breakfast skillet. Several years ago, a shall-remain-nameless neighboring country to the north imported some of its frozen chicken to our supermarkets: gray, lifeless whole chickens and lumps of breast and leg meat lay in freezer compartments waiting to be purchased. Mexican housewives looked at these icy products and recoiled. Little of it sold and I currently notice that no imported frozen chicken is available either at my neighborhood tianguis or in the supermarkets I visit from time to time.

Mexico Cooks! prefers to remove as much fat as possible from the chicken before cooking, leaving only a little to give body and flavor to the broth. The skin stays on, both for color and flavor.

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

Caldo de Pollo (Mexican Chicken Soup)

For the broth
1 whole chicken, approximately 5-6 pounds
1 1/2 white onions, peeled
2 large cloves garlic, peeled
2 large carrots, peeled and cut in half
2 chiles serranos, sliced from tip to stem end
2 bay leaves
6 stems cilantro
Large sprig fresh hierbabuena (mint)
Small sprig fresh epazote (wormweed), optional. If you can't get it fresh, leave it out.
Large pinch of thyme
Sea salt to taste
Water
Stock pot

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

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

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

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

To finish the caldo de pollo:

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

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

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

Tomato Water for Rice
3 raw Roma tomatoes
1/3 white onion, roughly chopped
1 small clove garlic, peeled
2 cups water
Salt to taste

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

The finished product, steaming and delicious any time!

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

Mexico Cooks! favorite bottled salsa: Cosecha Purhépecha Salsa Casera de Chile Perón (Home-style sauce made of chile manzano, known as chile perón in Michoacán). It's made in Chilchota, Michoacán, and I keep a big stash of it in my Mexico City pantry.

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

Makes four to six servings with a lot of rich broth left over for other uses. I strain the broth and then freeze it in gallon ziplock freezer bags.

Provecho!

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11 de January de 2014
Flaneur Part Four: Shopping, Cooking, Eating in Mexico City and Beyond

Calabaza de Castilla on display at the Mercado Medellín, Colonia Roma, Mexico City, October 2013. A winter squash (this particular example measured 16" or more in diameter), it has the hardest shell imaginable. I suspect that it had been cut in half using a band saw; no ordinary knife could have sliced through it so beautifully.

Ah, Michoacán, how I miss your flavors! This enormous taco de carnitas from Quiroga (with a slice of brilliant yellow pickled chile perón on the side) went a long way toward being just the 'fix' I needed in early November. True confession: I ate two of them. Michoacán's carnitas (huge hunks of pork, long-cooked in boiling lard) really can't be replicated at home. Although you might find some recipes on the Internet that will try to tell you how to make a small batch, you really need to come with me to Michoacán to eat the real thing.

From the sublimely traditional taco de carnitas to the equally sublime but completely modern star menu item at Hamburguesas Richard's in Morelia. Just looking at this photo makes my mouth water: Richard's prepares hamburgers just right: this one is a double, with two freshly made beef patties, a slice of melting yellow cheese, a slice of gooey white cheese, fresh chopped tomatoes, thinly sliced grilled onions, a touch of mustard, and condiments to add at table–including chiles toreados (chiles serrano, sautéed in oil along with finely sliced white onion until the chiles' skin blisters) and meant to be eaten on the side, bite by bite till smoke comes out your ears. Add to your hamburger: mayonnaise, crema de mesa (Mexican table cream), chile Valentina (Mexico's ubiquitous bottled red salsa), more mustard, or a shot of catsup, and WOW. A side of fries (ask for them bien doradas (crispy-fried) and eat them like I do: dipped in a squeeze of chile Valentina that you've mixed into mayonnaise.

Currently in season at Mexico City's Mercado San Juan: percebes (goose barnacle). These strangely beautiful crustaceans are hugely popular in Spain and Portugal, but this was the first I'd seen them in the market. Here's a recipe, if goose barnacles are available where you shop: percebes.

Bright red maguey cactus worms. These creatures, known here in Mexico as chinicuiles, are a pre-Hispanic delicacy that's still popular today. They are the inch-and-a-half-to-two-inch long larvae of a type of butterfly that lives in the leaves, heart, and roots of the maguey cactus; typically, the larvae are in season from May until the end of October–approximately the rainy season in central Mexico. More true confessions: although chef-friends have tried to convince me of the delicious flavor of these worms, I have never eaten one; it's impossible for me to get past the…well, enough said. I have never eaten one.

More from the Mercado San Juan! These are pichones (squabs), with part of their plumage intact. Pichón is the word used for young pigeons; it's also used in its diminutive (pichoncito) to refer to someone who is (or who wants to appear) still young. "Tengo 84 años ya." "Tú? No puede ser! Sigues de pichoncito!" 'I'm 84 years old.' 'You? That can't be! You're still just barely hatched!'

A beguiling trompe l'oeil bluebird, perched on a light switch at Rosetta, the popular and elegant northern Italian restaurant in Colonia Roma.

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23 de November de 2013
10th Annual Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán: Festival of Michoacán’s Traditional Cuisine

The look on nearly every face at the 10th annual Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán was the same grin sported by Mexico Cooks!' long-time friend Gayla Pierce. An inveterate lover of Mexico and its food, Gayla hails from San Diego, California. This was Gayla's first year to attend the festival and it's easy to see how she felt about it: two thumbs up and exactly what the sign says: I LOVE Michoacán! The young man holding the sign above Gayla's head was one of a team that roved this year's festival eating area with several different signs.

For the first time this year, the stage was set as a typical Michoacán kitchen, this one in the style of Tzintzuntzan. Some of the festival judging took place on stage, with one or another of the home cook contestants talking to the crowd about their dishes. In addition, the this stage was also the backdrop for the festival's invited speakers. Click on any photo to enlarge it for a better view.

The left-hand corner of the kitchen. On the table are typical fruits and vegetables from Michoacán, and on the shelf you see the regional pottery of Tzintzuntzan. In this case, the design is light and dark brown, with a swan in the middle of each plate. Tzintzuntzan is also famous for black and green pottery with similar designs, and cream-colored pottery with dark brown figures drawn onto it.

Foreground, 2013 festival judge Carmen 'Titita' Ramírez Degollado, guiding hand behind Restaurante El Bajío in Mexico City. Behind her and to the left is one of Michoacán's greatest home cooks, Antonina González Leandro of Tarerio, Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán. Titita is tasting Antonina's competition preparation of traditional calabaza en tacha (winter squash cooked in heavy syrup).

Here's another of Antonina's dishes: these are charales (tiny fish, about the size of your little finger). In this case, they are fried whole and eaten with a sauce. Mexico Cooks! confesses to not being a fan of charales, but most everyone else in Mexico loves them.

These two Purépecha women, both masters of their regional cuisine, prepare fresh, hand-made tortillas for the hordes that lined up at their booths. The 55 women who came to cook at the festival broke attendance records this year, receiving more than 20,000 people over the course of the 3-day event.

This, readers, is a regional sweet atole made from burned corn silk. It's called atole de chaqueta and it is meant to be thick and black, just as it is in the photo. Atole is a hot drink made from either milk or water, thickened with corn masa (dough), and flavored with seasonal fruits or vegetables. Sweet atole is normally drunk either for breakfast or for supper, accompanied by pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread), but there are also savory atoles that are wonderfully rich and delicious. My particular favorites are atole de guayaba (guava) and atole de habas (fava beans), one sweet and the other savory. Or wait, maybe my favorites are atole de zarzamora (blackberry) and this atole de chaqueta. Or…I left out atole de tamarindo (made of tamarind pulp)! The list goes on!

Just a portion–and a small portion, at that–of the crowds of people who showed up for the Saturday of the 10º Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán. As far as the eye could see, people were lined up for big plates of regional Michoacán food, hundreds were sitting at every available table, and more people kept coming through the gates. The festival does not charge admission and it's not the sort of place where you get just a taste of this or that. Here, the marvelous cooks serve full meals on real pottery dishware with real silverware. You buy tickets to exchange for your meal(s); if you have tickets left over at the end of the weekend, take them back to the ticket booth to exchange for money.

The woman in the photo is Sra. Jovita Gil Arácuaro from Patamban, Michoacán. She is grinding wheat, not corn, to make a mole de trigo y lentejas (mole made of wheat and lentils). You can see that the freshly ground wheat falls into a batea (wooden bowl) in front of the grinding stone. Sra. Gil told me that she is 78 years old–and still grinding wheat on the metate (the three-legged volcanic stone grinder with its metlapil, volcanic stone rolling pin). Younger women kneel on the petate (woven reed mat) in front of Sra. Gil, but a woman her age sometimes sits on a low chair to grind corn, seeds, spices, cooked beans, or toasted chocolate beans. The work requires enormous upper body strength and a lifetime of practice.

This was Mexico Cooks!' year to try new dishes at the Encuentro. The meat and sauce are birria, in this case, a long-cooked preparation of beef. I've frequently eaten birria de chivo (made of goat) and birria de borrego (made of lamb), but this style beef birria was new to me. Sra. Esperanza Galván of Zacán, Michoacán prepared this according to her mother's recipe. The dish is sweet, salty, spicy, and just redolent with fragrance and flavor. Sra. Galván has realized her most cherished dream: she and her daughters have opened their own restaurant in Zacán. I'd go to Zacán just to have another plate of this birria. It's served here with blue corn tortillas and two corundas: small unfilled tamales, another Michoacán regional specialty.

For several years, our housekeeper in Morelia occasionally asked me if I'd like her to bring me an iguana from the rancho (farm) to cook. No, thank you. No? Umm..no. For all that time, I was guilty of contempt prior to investigation. On the Saturday of the Encuentro, Sr. Eloy Velázquez López told me he'd have freshly prepared iguana in his booth the following day and I would surely want to try it. Umm…thank you so much for the offer. On Sunday afternoon, friends and I had eaten our meal and were sitting at our table enjoying the passing scene–and suddenly Sr. Velázquez was standing in front of me! "How would you like your iguana, Señora? In mole, or in caldo (broth)? This time, there was no escape. I chose the caldo, so as not to mask the flavor of the animal with a heavy sauce. My friend Gayla and I swore we would at least taste it, so as not to offend Sr. Velázquez. Lo and behold, iguana is delicious–really delicious–and it tastes (I swear to you) like chicken. What you see in the soup plate is the hind-quarters of the animal, accompanied by caldo, a chile güero, some carrots, and a piece or two of chayote. I'd eat it again any time, and I'm sorry I let so many iguanas slip through my fingers in years gone by.

Pozollilo is similar to the more-familiar pozole. The major difference is that this pozolillo is made from fresh corn kernels; pozole is made from nixtamal-ized dried maíz cacahuatzintle–dried field corn that is soaked and simmered in water and cal (builder's lime) to remove each kernel's hard covering. The nixtamal-ization process allows the corn to soften and 'flower' (expand to a popcorn-size kernel) and allows the human body to access corn's vital nutrients during digestion.

Beautiful fresh Michoacán trout sizzles in a clay cazuela (multi-purpose cooking dish) over an open flame.

My very dear Morelia friend Alma Cervantes Cota and I, just after Alma's excellent conference, Michoacán: Flavors with a Story. Each of the 2013 conferences was filled with fascinating information about little-known, recently researched aspects of Mexico's cuisine. Alma spoke about nearly-forgotten aspects of Michoacán's regional cuisine. Ricardo Muñoz Zurita spoke about his research into all but unknown varieties of chiles.

Rosalba Morales Bartolo (left) won honorable mention for her Ceremonial Fish for Holy Week. Sra. Rosalba receives her award from Lilia Malandra, on the right in the photo. The theme of the 2013 Encuentro was El Platillo Cuenta una Historia: The Dish Tells a Story.

Sra. Amparito Cervantes of Tzurumútaro, Michoacán, receives a lifetime achievement award. Doña Amparito, now nearly 90 years old, said, "My mother taught me all she knew of culinary arts and I've always loved the kitchen. Since I'm from the country, I married–and well, you have to know how to cook, but you also have to know how to sow crops, and cultivate them, and harvest them. Doing that, you just get grabbed by the pleasure of it. Now, I teach others how to do it." Sra. Cervantes still loves to come to the Encuentro to cook for all of the attendees. To her right in the photo is Michoacán's Secretary of Tourisim, Roberto Monroy, García, who presented the award to doña Amparito.

Michoacán, the soul of Mexico. We look forward to seeing you at the 11th Annual Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán. Don't miss it: the dates are October 3, 4, and 5th, 2014. Mexico Cooks! would be happy to guide you through the festival, explain regional ingredients and food preparation for you, and introduce you to a world of wonder in beautiful Morelia, Michoacán.

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9 de November de 2013
Flaneur Part Three: In and Out and About in Mexico City

Floripondio (datura brugmansia) blooming in the garden at the Casa Museo Frida Kahlo in Coyoacán, in the south of Mexico City. This lovely, easy-to-grow flowering plant, often called angel's trumpet in the English-speaking world, is a fragrant and hypnotic seductress with strong medicinal properties. But be careful: every part of the plant is poisonous, especially the seeds and leaves. It's also known as Jimson weed. Insomnia sufferers note: it's said that you can pluck one leaf, put it under your pillow at bedtime, and be assured of a good night's sleep. Just don't make a salad with it.

MUCHO (Mundo Chocolate) is one of Mexico City's newest museums–and it's all about chocolate! Located in a 100-year-old house in central Colonia Juárez (at the corner of Calle Milán and Calle Roma), the museum offers a truly fascinating voyage through the history of chocolate in Mexico. After all, chocolate originated here, and how wonderful to taste its glory throughout history. The museum offers tours, workshops, and talks, all given surrounded by the heady scent of chocolate. And don't miss the gift shop!

Huitlacoche (foreground), sometimes known in English as corn smut, is revered and sought-after in Mexico but is barely recognized as food in other parts of the world. The magnificent fresh fungus is available in Mexico City's indoor and outdoor markets.

Meet Agustín Yáñez–not the noted writer and politician, but the noted merengue (meringue) maker and vendor. Sr. Yáñez frequents Mexico City's Mercado de Jamaica, where he sells his home-made treats. His recipes have been handed down for decades in his family. On the left are basic merengues, in the center are merengues con chochitos (colored sprinkles) in little cups, and on the right are duquesas, merengue wrapped in buñuelos. The secret ingredient of Sr. Yáñez's merengues mexicanos? A little pulque, added to the stiffly beaten egg white and sugar mixture before baking. These are prepared fresh every day, and are simply delicious!

Just a week after we experienced EXPOCAN (the dog show from the October 12, 2013 Mexico Cooks! article), we had to go to EXPO-GATO, Mexico City's latest TICA cat show. EXPOCAN was pure canine chaos, compared to the relative peace and quiet of the much smaller EXPO-GATO. This gorgeous kitty is a straight-ear Scottish Fold, exhibited by Avana.

Mexico Cooks! prepared deviled eggs for a very special birthday party at home. For a major celebration, no ordinary eggs would do: these are deviled quail eggs, each half measuring less than an inch long. The 12" platter held about 36 halves. Judy (my wife, the birthday girl) said, "You could have prepared an entire Thanksgiving dinner in the time it took to take the shells off those tiny eggs!" Cue music–'what I did for love…'.

The view from the 51st floor of the Torre Mayor on Avenida Reforma. The Torre Mayor is Mexico City's tallest building. Mexico Cooks!, invited to a special event at Club 51, took advantage of the twilight to take this photo of rainy Mexico City.

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26 de October de 2013
Sunday Brunch, American Style, Pops Up in Mexico City: Spice Everywhere

The Spice Everywhere crew, starring the spicy Ms. Juliet Lambert (center, in leopard print).

Pop-ups, the latest restaurant craze in a good part of the world, have become a big hit in Mexico City due to Juliet Lambert. Early in 2013, Juliet, owner of Spice Catering, decided she wanted to take on "a new project, one where I could just have fun". What would you do just to have fun–plan a vacation, adopt a puppy? Juliet, the happy caterer, opened a Sundays-only brunch restaurant–Spice Everywhere! Instead of searching for a permanent venue, she opted for a pop-up, defined as a temporary restaurant, often operated from a private home, a former factory, or, as is the case of Spice Everywhere, currently operating in a restaurant that's unused on Sundays.

Open on Sundays from 10AM to 4PM, Spice Everywhere offers American-style brunch, a concept virtually unknown in Mexico City. The menu ranges from (language direct from the menu) the offering titled 'Straight Up, No Bullshit' (2 eggs, fried or scrambled, sausage or bacon, hash browns, two slices of toast or English muffin) all the way to Papa Richard's Eggs Benedict, prepared just as you like them: two poached eggs, served on a toasted English muffin with lemony Hollandaise sauce and a side of hash browns.

American-style coffee, full-bodied, strong, and delicious, is a bottomless cup–unusual in Mexico City, where refills most often sock you with an extra charge. Mexico Cooks! asked for and received both no-calorie sweetener and evaporated milk for the coffee–just the way I like it, in this land where half-and-half is hard to find. If you had one too many adult beverages on Saturday night, there's always Alka-Seltzer on the table to plop-plop fizz-fizz in a glass of cold water, a classic remedy for your hangover.

At Spice Everywhere, all breakfasts start with a big side dish of seasonal fresh fruit. Our fruit plates included papaya, pineapple, strawberries, and sweet Michoacán-raised blackberries. If you like your fruit Mexican style, ask your wait person for a bottle of Tajín (tah-HEEN), powdered chile prepared with salt and the flavor of limón, to sprinkle on your fruit.

On the other hand, if you prefer a classic brunch drink (or a hair of the dog hangover remedy), the Spice Everywhere Bloody Mary is definitely what you want (55 pesos). Think a tall glass rimmed with celery salt and filled with a combo of Absolut vodka, a house-made blend of tomato juice, real horseradish (all but unknown in Mexico), salsa inglesa (Worcestershire sauce, in Spanish) and several other spices, just what the doctor ordered to open your sleepy eyes. Mimosas made with fresh-squeezed orange juice and plenty of bubbly are also available (65 pesos).

Two of our brunch group ordered The Uncle Cletus, full order for each of them: fried breast of chicken and two waffles, dusted with confectioner's sugar and served with an individual pitcher of maple syrup (95 pesos). The guys pronounced their breakfast fabulous.

Another at our table ordered the Buffalo 66: eggs (or tofu, your choice) scrambled with green peppers, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and cheddar cheese, served with hash browns and toast, plus salsa and sour cream (95 pesos). Our companion opted for a toasted sesame seed bagel instead of toast.

Mexico Cooks! ordered the Tex-Mex omelet: three eggs stuffed with diced smoked ham, onions, peppers, and cheddar cheese, topped with avocado slices and served with hash browns and either wheat or white toast (125 pesos). This omelet, tender and perfectly cooked, was enormous–so big I couldn't finish it. I ended up asking the waiter to have mercy on me and take my plate away before I tried to down the whole thing.

Dogs on leashes are welcome at Spice Everywhere's outdoor tables. A bowl of water and a couple of sausages are free for your favorite pooch.

At Spice Everywhere's current location, billar (pool) is free to anyone who cares to play. Here, journalist Laura Carlsen and her brunch companion Alfredo Acedo play while their meal is prepared. The standard prize: loser gets a free shot of tequila.

Additional brunch items available at Spice Everywhere: the Cowboy Breakfast (two house-made biscuits smothered in rich sausage gravy), the Dagwood breakfast sandwich (scrambled eggs, pesto, cheddar cheese, plus bacon, sausage, or ham, tomato, and avocado, served with hash browns), La Condesa (two waffles topped with fresh berries and whipped cream, bacon, and a pitcher of maple syrup), and the Salmon Rushdie (a toasted sesame seed bagel with cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers and onions).

The pop-up also offers mind-boggling gooey cinnamon rolls, heavenly chocolate mousse, and a full range of breakfast-appropriate beverages.

Juliet Lambert with mutual friends Nick Gilman (black shirt), Jim Johnston (foreground), and, mostly hidden, Martin Brown, who lived in Mexico City several years ago and was here visiting from Barcelona.

A few minor thumbs-down: the hash browns could be prepared with less fat–mine were pretty much swimming in it, and a quick check of my companion's Buffalo 66 plate showed the same. A salt shaker on every table would be helpful. Our table rocked, and not in a good way–someone needs to make sure all the tables are level.

A few major thumbs-up: the music selection is big fun, all make-you-wanna-dance oldies from I'm not saying how long ago, but I remembered them from the transistor radio days of my distant youth. The warm, friendly ambience, attentive staff, and really cool clients make you feel right at home. And the food is way above average–delicious! By all means, be sure to go for brunch, any Sunday.

Stenciled on a brick wall at this Spice Everywhere location: Please Don't Leave Me. Don't worry, Spice! We'll follow you wherever you might go.

Look on Spice Everywhere's Facebook page for updates about the pop-up location. For now and the near future, Spice Everywhere will serve Sunday brunch at:

Hostel 333, ground floor
333 Calle Colima (a half-block from the corner of Calle Medellín)
Colonia Roma Norte
Mexico City
Open Sundays only, 10AM – 4PM
Cash only – no credit cards

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12 de October de 2013
9º Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán: Ninth Annual Festival of Traditional Michoacán Cooking

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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5 de October de 2013