Category: Tours

XIº Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Michoacán :: Fiesta y Comida en México: In Mexico, the Food’s the Party

Ana Pellicer and James Metcalf's handmade–by their own hands–copper pots and pans–from their own kitchen–perfectly illustrate Maestra Pellicer's Saturday morning talk explaining the history and uses of copper in the kitchen. By 1450 A.D., the Tarascan (Purépecha) kingdom in the state of Michoacán had become the most important center of pre-hispanic metalworking. Metallurgy played a significant role in the structure of political and economic power in the Tarascan Empire.

Although many people erroneously believe that Don Vasco de Quiroga brought copper work to Michoacán in the 16th century, the excavation and working of copper items predates Don Vasco's arrival by approximately 900 years. Copper was crafted for use in funeral practices, ornaments, and ritual items.

Malachite and copper. Mtra. Pellicer, an internationally renowned copper sculptor, spoke about the connection between malachite and copper ore. She and her husband, the late James Metcalf, were instrumental in developing artisan copper work in Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán. Santa Clara is the last home of Mexico's copper art.

A panel of highly knowledgeable judges concentrates on the presentation of a traditional dish. From left, this panel includes chef Martha Ortiz, restaurateur Roberto González Guzmán, Maestro Benjamín Lucas Ángel, and jefe de cocina Yuri de Gortari, among others.

Norma Alicia Urbina Rangel, who lives in Uruapan, Michoacán, wore her most festive finery for the Sunday closing of the eleventh Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales. Her hand-embroidered guanengo (traditional Purépecha blouse) features the Virgen María and Niño Dios on the front, back, and sleeves. I asked her if she had made the blouse herself and she laughed. "Señora, my hand is skilled in the kitchen, not for embroidery. I bought it." For this Encuentro, Sra. Urbina competed in the category platillo de rescate ('rescued' dish–one that is now seldom prepared and is at risk of disappearing) with pescado seco capeado en salsa verde (battered dried fish in green sauce).

Edmundo Escamilla (left) and Yuri de Gortari, executive co-directors of the Escuela de Gastronomía Mexicana in Mexico City, gave an extraordinary talk about the conjunction of parties and food in Mexico. The two men are a living treasure, repositories of culinary history, techniques, ingredients, art, tradition, folklore, and much, much more. Authors of nine books, they were thrilled to participate in the Encuentro this past April.

As always, Mundo and Yuri gave a marvelous talk, filled with facts, myths, folklore, and tremendous good humor. Beginning with a short history of the caste system in colonial New Spain, they taught us about the body's need for a daily ration of salt, which led to the word salario (sal+diario) (salary), the huge variety of tamales that continues to exist in Mexico (4,000!), and how tamales were prepared in pre-Hispanic days in this country: without fat of any kind, tamales were eaten to celebrate the New Year.

Casta (caste) painting from colonial New Spain. This and many other paintings of the era reflect the importance that the Spanish gave to the mixture of races in the world they had conquered. The Spanish caste system gave rise to ethnic shame in what was eventually to become Mexico. The nomenclature of the mixes is long, and sometimes shocking to our 21st century sensibilities. Click on any photograph to enlarge the image for a better view.

Tamales de zarzamora (blackberry), a sweet Michoacán specialty.

When the Spanish arrived with pigs (think lard) and Catholicism, lard became part of many recipes for tamales: with the addition of lard to corn masa, the tamal became Christian, along with its indigenous cooks. Bendito puerco, bendita manteca! (Blessed pork, blessed lard!)

In Morelia every January 6, a giant-size Rosca de Reyes (Three Kings Bread) is dished up to hungry hordes.

Mundo and Yuri pointed out that Christmas feasting includes a fusion of the indigenous Maya belief that corn is our actual flesh and bones, combined with the newly arrived and harvested Spanish wheat which forms the Communion host–in Catholic dogma, the actual body and blood of Christ, which believers (the spiritual body of Christ) consume.

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rABJeZGNFNs&w=420&h=315]
After conclusion of the Sunday conferences and before the prizes were awarded for the XIº Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Michoacán, many of the cooks, jurors, and festival attendees danced for the sheer joy of it–as the crowd cheered, "Michoacán! Michoacán!". In Mexico Cooks!' video, historian Edmundo Escamilla dances with maestra cocinera Rosalba Morales Bartolo of San Jerónimo, Purenchécuaro, Michoacán.

The next edition of the Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Michoacán will take place on October 4, 5, and 6, 2014. If you'd like to come with me to see it all, please let me know! Mexico Cooks!' email address is patalarga@gmail.com.

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

17 de May de 2014
XIº Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Michoacán: Michoacán’s Eleventh Festival of Traditional Cooks, Part Two

Today's article is the continuation of Mexico Cooks!' report about the Eleventh Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Michoacán that took place April 3, 4, and 5, 2014. If you haven't had the chance to look at the May 10, 2014 article about the festival, you might like to jump back a week and read it, too.

The focus of Mexico Cooks!' articles about Michoacán's early April 2014 festival of 'las cocineras' (the cooks) is the presentations given by some of the Purépecha participants, as well as other talks given by professionals in Mexico's culinary and cultural worlds.

Maestra cocinera (master cook) Cecilia Bernabé Constancio, from San Lorenzo, Michoacán, receives her official recognition after giving a talk about how Purépecha women cure (prepare for cooking) clay pots. She told her audience that she learned to cure clay pots from her mother, who learned from her mother before her.

The entrance to San Lorenzo, Michoacán, where both Benedicta Alejo Vargas and Ceci Bernabé live and cook. Click to enlarge the image for a better view. Photo courtesy Panoramio.

Maestra Ceci Bernabé explained that when a woman buys a new olla or cazuela (two types of clay cooking pots), she first puts water in her new pot and puts it on the wood fire at home. If the pot can withstand a full rolling boil for 20 minutes and not break, it's good enough to use for cooking.

Demonstration setup of a new cazuela (shallow cooking dish), coated with cal (builder's lime) paste and ready to be cured. The cazuela is sitting in an anafre (a kind of brazier). The firebox is inside the square metal box under the brazier; the black rectangle is its opening. Unfortunately (or fortunately!) no one was allowed to have a fire under the canvas roof where the audience was seated. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, it is easier to see the thick cal paste.

Maestra Ceci told us that after she smears the cal paste thickly on the outside of the new pot, she asks the fire's permission to cure the cazuela. She then places the pot in the fire and leaves it for 20 to 30 minutes, long enough for the cal paste to harden and burn. She then removes the pot from the heat, cools it, and brushes off the cal. The pot is then ready for use.

Whole fish frying in a well-used cazuela. Foreigners sometimes buy these clay pots as souvenirs and are nervous about using them on a gas stove. Remember that the heat of the wood-fired kiln where the pot was made is higher than the heat of your stove. Try it, the clay gives a flavor depth to your food that metal can't offer. A clay pot that is glazed like this one, without colorful paint, contains no lead.

Newly made wooden cooking utensils like these, made of Michoacán pine, also need to be cured prior to using. Otherwise their strong pine scent can leach into the food you are preparing. Although you will see recommendations on the Internet for sanding your utensils and then curing them with oil, Doña Ceci uses a thin mix of cal and water. She places new utensils in the mix and heats them for several minutes, then washes the cal away with clean water.

After giving us these instructions, Maestra Ceci talked to her audience about her early life. She recalled, "I often talked to my abuelo (grandfather) about our ancient Purépecha history. In time, I came to realize that the Earth is my mother, and that all of her elements–air, fire, earth, and water–are necessary to life and worthy of respect. Without them, we don't exist.

"Our traditional diet is very healthy and all natural. Our cooking comes from our ancestors. My grandfather told me that the cabildos (town officials) ate first from the table, ate fish and other meats, and that the rest of us ate with or without meat, depending on what we had. During Lent and especially on Good Friday, we eat a lot of nopales (cactus paddles). The spines of the cactus paddles represent our people in mourning."

A plate of freshly fried charales, small freshwater fish that are fried whole in a cazuela and eaten during Lent and the rest of the year as well.

Maestra cocinera Antonina González Leandro holds a platter of fried uarhashi, the root of the chayote plant. Nothing in the Purépecha kitchen is wasted. After chayote is harvested, its roots are dug up and cooked. The root is a Lenten delicacy in the Purépecha kitchen. It certainly was! Maestra Antonina gave me a small slice to taste; later I ordered a plateful, served in a sauce of tomato and nopales. The Purépecha name of this delicious dish is uarhashi apopurhi.

Next week: Part Three of the Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Michoacán. We'll be spending time with copper artist Ana Pellicer and with jefe de cocina Yuri de Gortari and historian Edmundo Escamilla. Don't miss their fascinating points of view.

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

10 de May de 2014
XIº Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Michoacán: Michoacán’s Eleventh Festival of Traditional Cooks
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vlNbX2ZhbQ&w=420&h=236]
Whether you understand Spanish or not, the video will give you a marvelous feel for the extraordinary XI Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Michoacán, which took place in Morelia, Michoacán over the weekend of April 3, 4, and 5, 2014. The festival is known more commonly as the Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán.

Since 2007, Mexico Cooks! has been honored to be part of this conference, Mexico's most remarkable festival of traditional cooking. Affectionately known simply as "Las Cocineras" (the cooks), it's part love-fest, part food-fest, part culture-fest, and entirely about traditional indigenous cooking in the west-central Mexican state, Michoacán.

Because of its enormous popularity, the Las Cocineras will have two editions in 2014. The first, celebrated during 2014's Lenten season, took as its theme "Sabores de Cuaresma" (Lenten Flavors). A committee from the artisan town Tzintzuntzan decorated the stage as if it were a traditional Altar de Dolores, an altar dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows. The second edition this year will take place on October 4, 5, and 6. Click on any image to enlarge it for a better view.

Left to right: Cynthia Martínez Becerril, president of the festival organizing committee; Ana Compeán Reyes Spíndola, representative of the national Secretary of Tourism offices (SECTUR) in Morelia; and Francisco José de la Vega Aragón, Director General de Innovación de Producto Turístico de la SECTUR Federal, immediately following the formal inauguration of the April festivities.

In November 2010, UNESCO awarded its Intangible cultural heritage designation to Mexico's cuisine: Traditional Mexican Cuisine – Ancestral, Ongoing Community Culture, The Michoacán Paradigm. The title is based in large part on this annual event and the manner in which it reflects Michoacán's culinary and cultural heritage. Due to the undisputed and unique importance of this festival to Mexico as a whole, representatives from Mexico's state and national tourism offices were present all weekend.

Now let's celebrate!

Maestra cocinera (master cook) Benedicta Alejo Vargas from San Lorenzo, Michoacán, indubitably the best-known Purépecha cook in the world, is giving a demonstration of the preparation of corundas de siete picos (seven-pointed corundas) while her granddaughter, nearly-four-year-old Imelda, watches.

To the far right of the photo you can see a bundle of oak twigs that are used at the base of the steamer to keep the corundas out of boiling water during the steaming process. In front of maestra Benedicta is a bowl of masa and another bowl of dough balls ready to be wrapped in leaves. To the far left in the photo, that tall object is dried corn leaves, wrapped with a cord for storage. Dried corn leaves are reconstituted for use during the season when fresh leaves are not available.

Corundas, a Purépecha-region specialty, are in this case corn tamales shaped like pyramids, wrapped in long corn leaves (center in the photograph above), and steamed. They can have three, five, or seven points–but popurlar opinion is that maestra Benedicta is the only person capable of consistently making them with seven points!

Maestra Benedicta's corundas con verduras (with vegetables), topped with col de árbol and tzirita. Corundas can be prepared as tontas (corn masa without filling), made with finely chopped vegetables incorporated into the masa (in this case, corn dough) as pictured above, or stuffed with chile strips and cheese.

When I met maestra Benedicta and most of the other traditional cooks, they did not speak Spanish, were shy and retiring, and were generally afraid to speak in public. Today, Benedicta and many of the others are internationally known, speak both Purépecha and near-fluent Spanish. The Encuentro's benefits to these women, most of whom live in distant rural outposts of Michoacán, include the self esteem that comes from being recognized and valued for their enormous contribution to their communities, their state, and their country.

Maestra Benedicta recently told a story of a woman who was standing in the long line at her Encuentro stand. She suggested that the woman buy food from the cocinera at the next stand, saying, "Her food is just like mine. We are making similar things." The woman shook her head. "The other cocinera doesn't speak Spanish." The maestra answered, "But the food speaks for itself."

This small representation of the Virgin Mary, ensconced in a flower-adorned niche at the top of Benedicta's stand, is dressed in typical Purépecha clothing, all made by Benedicta. Notice that her apron is hand-embroidered with typical clay jugs. In 2012, this Virgin traveled to the Vatican with a delegation of artisans and officials from the state of Michoacán, including Benedicta. She and a team of assistants prepared a typical Purépecha dinner for 900 people, including Pope Benedict XVI. Maestra Benedicta was thrilled to cook for her tocayo (namesake). Maestra Benedicta recently laughed as she told a group, "I never thought that I would leave my home in little San Lorenzo, but now–now I feel like a swallow, flying here and there."

Maestra cocinera Juanita Bravo Lázaro from Angahuan, Michoacán gave a fascinating talk about the nixtamal-ization of corn. Among her points were:
- the importance of choosing the very best mazorcas (ears of dried cacahuatzintle corn)
- taking the dried corn from the cob using a lava stone
- processing the corn in a new clay pot that has been freshly cured with cal (builder's lime)
She also elaborated on the use of ceniza (wood ash) and a bit of cal in the corn's cooking water and the carefully watched 20-30 minute time that the corn simmers over a slow wood fire. She emphasized the yellow color that the corn takes on during its cooking and the importance of washing, rinsing, and overnight soaking of the finished nixtamal to remove all traces of both cal and wood ash.

Maestra Juanita mentioned that five liters of prepared nixtamal renders approximately 100 small corundas. In advance of weddings and other important fiestas, townswomen gather and together prepare many hundreds of corundas.

As part of her talk, Maestra Juanita shared some of her experiences in Nairobi, Kenya, during November 2010, when Mexico was a contender for the UNESCO Intangible cultural heritage designation. She talked about how difficult it was for her to leave her home and family and travel halfway around the world to a place she had never seen and had barely heard about. She said, "I hated to leave my family behind. I knew that there would be very few of us Mexicans at the event in Africa, and I knew I would not be able to understand much of the language used there. I was nervous about flying all that distance. But I wanted to be there, in case my country received the prize. So I set aside my fears and took the chance.

"I was standing with a group of people, trying to figure out what the dignitaries were saying–but I couldn't hear much or understand what was going on. Suddenly I heard a huge shout, people were screaming and clapping. 'What? What happened?' I kept asking." Finally someone who spoke Spanish said, 'You won the award! Mexico WON!' And then I felt so proud, so happy to be part of it all. It was a joyous day and I was so happy to be there, representing my town, my state, and my country in Africa."

Next week, we'll continue our exploration and celebration at the XIº Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Michoacán. There are many stories left to tell and a lot more to enjoy.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.
3 de May de 2014
Old News–But Still Fun: London Times Votes Mexico Cooks! World’s No. 1 Food Blog!

Originally published in December 2008, when this was brand new news, this is still a marvelous tribute to what Mexico Cooks! is all about: qué viva México!

Lovely young gemelitas (identical twins) in Porfiriato-era fancy dress at a recent Sunday event in Morelia. The Porfiriato dates from 1875 to 1910, the period when Porfirio Díaz was president of Mexico.

The venerable Times (the London, England, Times) has named Mexico Cooks! the Number One food blog in the world. According to the author of the article, there are more than 10,000 food blogs currently on the Internet–and we're the top.

Just click on the link to read the full article, which appeared in The Times on November 27, 2008.

Top 10 Food Blogs from Around the World

TOP 10 FOOD BLOGS

1) Mexico Cooks - Cristina Potters’s knowledge of Mexican food is matched only by her passion for her adopted home. The best starting point for anyone who wants to learn more about the varied cuisine of this extraordinary country.

2) Eating Asia - Robyn Eckhardt knows more about the food of South East Asia than anyone I have ever encountered. Check out a recent post on The Philippines for an example of superb food writing.

3) Silverbrow on food - The quirky journal of a man whose eating is restricted by the Jewish rules of Kashrut, the author still seems to pack away plenty of food and writes about it very well.

4) Grab your fork - All food bloggers should aspire to be as good as Helen Yee. Her wonderful website, mainly about Sydney is a daily read for me even if she is discussing places halfway across the world.

5) Chocolate and zucchini - Clotilde Dusoulier’s online presence remains the ne plus ultra of French food blogs and has been supported by the recent publication of books based on her experiences of shopping, eating and cooking in Paris.

(Click the above link to Top 10 Food Blogs from Around the World for the next five blogs.)

To say that Mexico Cooks! all but fell off her chair when The Times emailed with this news is an understatement. We're still grinning and more than a bit dazzled.

Outdoor kitchen, San José de las Torres, Michoacán

You might like to have a look at what my cyber-friend Steve Cotton had to say about all this on his blog, Same Life–New Location. Thanks, Steve!

Viva Times de Londres! Viva Mexico Cooks! And viva, qué viva México!

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26 de April de 2014
Viernes Santo Procesión del Silencio :: Good Friday Procession of Silence, Morelia

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

Nuestra Señora de Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows). Hooded members of various Catholic confraternities (religious organizations founded in Europe in the 15th Century) carry these life-size statues on their wooden platforms approximately three kilometers through Morelia's Centro Histórico.

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

El Señor del Pilar (the Lord of the Column) depicts Jesus, bound to a column, and whipped by Roman soldiers after his conviction.

Roman soldiers.

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

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

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

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

Robed and hooded members of another Catholic confraternity carry a small image of the crucified Christ. Hoods cover the faces of those who march as a sign of penitence.

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

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

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

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

19 de April de 2014
Abigail Mendoza Ruiz and Restaurante Tlamanalli: Food for the Gods in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca

Emblematic of Oaxaca: chocolate caliente (hot and foamy hand-ground hot chocolate) prepared in water and served in a bowl. Zaachila market, Oaxaca.

There's much more to Oaxaca's magic than simply its capital city, which is of course fantastic in its own right. Driving in any direction from the city, twisting two-lane roads lead to small towns; each town has a weekly market, and each market has beauties of its own.

At the Zaachila Friday market, a vendor sold calabaza en tacha (squash cooked in brown sugar syrup) covered with a leaf to keep insects away and maintain the squash fresh and ready to eat.

Another vendor offered flor de frijolón (the red flowers of a large, black, local bean known elsewhere as ayocote negro).

Tejate, Oaxaca's emblematic cold, foamy, and refreshing chocolate beverage, scooped out of this clay bowl with a red-lacquered jícara into the size cup you prefer: small, medium, or large.

When Mexico Cooks! traveled recently to Oaxaca, joyous anticipation and a letter of introduction were stowed among my baggage. For years I had read about and admired (albeit from afar) Abigail Mendoza Ruiz and her sisters, but we had never met. This trip would fix that: two days after my scheduled arrival, we had an appointment for comida (Mexico's main meal of the day) at the Mendoza sisters' Restaurante Tlamanalli in Teotitlán del Valle. The restaurant's name, a Náhuatl word, means several things: it's the name of the Zapotec kitchen god, it means abundance, and it means offering. For me, newly arrived in Teotitlán del Valle, the word Tlamanalli meant, 'you are about to have the experience of a lifetime'.

Teotitlán del Valle is best known as the principal Oaxaca rug-weavers' town. Among its five to six thousand inhabitants, the majority weaves wool to make lovely rugs and also combines the weaver's tasks with agricultural work, growing both marketable and personal-use corn and other vegetables plus raising poultry for personal use.

Detail of the rustic wooden rueca (spinning wheel) used by the Teotitlán del Valle rugmakers for spinning fine wool yarns.

Shown in this group of Oaxaca-made baskets: a flat double comb for carding wool, a pointed spindle, and various natural coloring agents, along with hanks of wool which demonstrate just a few of the colors used in Oaxacan wool rugs.

Not only are the Mendoza Ruiz sisters extraordinary regional cooks, they and their siblings are also well-known rug weavers. Their parents, Sra. Clara Ruiz and don Emilio Mendoza (QEPD), gave this world a group of supremely gifted artisans, all of whom learned the weavers' traditions at their parents' knees.

Abigail Mendoza started learning kitchen traditions as a five-year-old, as the first daughter of the family, watching her mother grind nixtamal (dried native corn soaked and prepared for masa (dough). In the postcard above, the little girl (who is not Abigail) watches seriously as the woman we imagine to be her mother pats a tortilla into its round shape.

By the time she was six years old, Abigail was in charge of sweeping the kitchen's dirt floor, gathering firewood, and making the kitchen fire. At age seven, she told her mother, "I'm ready to grind corn on the metate," (volcanic rock grinding stone, seen in the center of the photograph above), but she wasn't yet strong enough to use her mother's large stone. She was barely able to lift its metapil (stone rolling pin). She eagerly awaited the purchase of a metate small enough for her use. Doña Clara taught her to grind the home-prepared nixtamal, pat-pat-pat the tortilla dough into perfect thin rounds, and bake them on the comal (wood-fired griddle made of clay).

Abigaíl Mendoza Ruiz, the internationally known and much-traveled Zapoteca cook, best loves preparing meals in her home kitchen and her restaurant kitchen in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca. Here, she's pictured in the beautiful open kitchen of Tlamanalli, the restaurant where she and her sisters Rufina and Marcelina (pictured above) create their culinary alchemy.

Abigail Mendoza is at once filled with light and filled with mystery. Luminous as her joy-filled personality, her smile lights up any room she enters. She is a woman of deep faith, a subscriber to the mysteries of dreams, a believer in spirit worlds both before and after life, a strong believer both in human relationships along life's horizontal and the vertical relationship of God with humanity. Formally educated only through primary school, she holds intense wisdom borne of deep meditation on the nature of life, both spiritual and physical.

In her extraordinary book Dishdaa'w, Abigail reveals her life story, her philosophies, and a good part of her soul. The Zapotec title of her biography (transcribed and organized by Concepción Silvia Núñez Miranda) means "the word woven into the infinite meal". And what does that mean? Food itself has a soul, the soul is transmitted in food's preparation and its ingestion. We are all part of the whole, and the whole is part of each of us.

In her restaurant's large kitchen, Abigail is the sun itself. Hair braided with traditional Zapotec ribbons into a royal crown, she's holding a fistful of freshly picked flor de calabaza (squash flowers).

What did we do, Señorita Abigail and I? We talked, we laughed, we discovered who our many friends in common are, we swapped kitchen lore and recipes, we gossiped (just a little, and in the best possible way), and we each felt like we had met yet another sister, a sister of the kitchen.

And then she asked what we would like to eat. After stumbling around in a maze of I-don't-know-what-to-request, I suggested that she simply bring us her personal choices from the day's menu.

Menu for the day, Restaurante Tlamanalli. The dishes are not inexpensive, but ye gods: save up, if you must, and go. You will never regret it.

First came made-on-the-spot creamy guacamole, in tiny turkey-shaped clay dishes and accompanied by a small bottle of local mezcal amd a wee dish of roasted, seasoned pepitas (squash seeds).

Mole zapoteco con pollo (Zapotec-style mole with chicken). Each of our dishes was accompanied by freshly made tortillas, hot from the comal (griddle).

Pre-hispanic segueza de pollo (breast of chicken in tomato and chile sauce with dried corn and hoja santa). If I should ever be in Oaxaca and in a position to choose one last meal, this would be it.

The herb hoja santa is added to the sauce just before serving and gives a delicate anise flavor to the segueza de pollo.

Oaxaca's heirloom jitomate riñón (kidney-shaped tomatoes) is used for creating the intense and deeply tomato-flavored sauce for the segueza.

When we finished our meal, the Mendoza sisters and doña Clara invited Mexico Cooks! to visit their private kitchen altar, devoted to the Preciosa Sangre de Cristo (Precious Blood of Christ), whose feast day is a major holiday in Teotitlán del Valle and for whom the parish church is named. The home altar has offerings of seasonal fruits as well as perpetually-burning candles.

Mexico Cooks! will go back to Oaxaca, back to Teotitlán del Valle, and back to Restaurante Tlamanalli. After all, I want to visit my new sister–she's a constant inspiration and the best Oaxacan cook I know.

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

12 de April de 2014
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
Witness to Life: The Rebozo in Mexico :: El Rebozo en México, Testigo de la Vida

Lovely young Agustina in her pink silk rebozo (long rectangular shawl).

A friend recently gave me a copy of an old and anonymous Mexican poem, written in Spanish, in homage to the rebozo. The rebozo's importance to Mexican women cannot be exaggerated: from swaddled infancy to shrouded death, a rebozo accompanies our women throughout their days. It is at once warmth, shade, infant's cradle, cargo-bearer, fancy dress, screen for delicious flirtation, and a sanctuary from prying eyes.

I hope you enjoy my translation.

Michoacán-made rebozos and guitar, on exhibit in Morelia. Note the elaborate fringes on both rebozos.

My Rebozo

Rummaging through my closet one fine day
I found this garment—my old rebozo!
How long had it been resting there?
Even I can’t say exactly.
But seeing it brought back so many memories
Tears clouded my eyes and fell one by one as I held
My beloved rebozo!

Mother and infant daughter wear matching rebozos, Fiesta de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Morelia, Michoacán 2010.

What a faithful friend you have been.
Shall we relive just an instant of that far-distant past?
When I first showed you off, you were so beautiful, so new,
With your lively color and flowing fringe
Your reflection gleamed in the mirror like the morning star!

Fine lace rebozo still on the loom, from the Reboceros de Aranza (Aranza Rebozo Weavers Cooperative).

Come on, come on, let me fling you over my heart
The way I did in bygone years,
Next to this heart that disappointment has turned to ash!
Don’t you remember that beautiful blouse I wore,
Embroidered with poppies and carnations?
Don’t you remember all my triumphs and successes,
And my flounced skirt, so full of its pretty sequins, beads, and glitter?

Lavender and white rebozo with elaborate fringe.

See, tightened to the span of my narrow waist and
Crossed just so over my straight young back
Showing off my fresh round breasts,
With two vertical parallel lines.
We stepped out to the beat of those long-ago songs,
That dance that determined my life.
Your fringes hung down just so!
And the two of us formed one soul.

Finely woven black and red rebozo.

How was it that I wanted him? You know!
Rebozo, you heard first how I loved him!
Your fringes were hopeful prisoners of my teeth
While I heard the soft slow songs of love
Oh perverse rebozo, unfaithful friend!
You were my confidante and my hiding place
You pushed me, burning, into romance
Wrapped in your fringes as if they were cherished arms.

Intricately patterned deep red rebozo.

But what’s this I see!
An ugly hole
That looks like a toothless mouth
Bursting out into furious laughter.
You laugh at my romantic memories?
You make fun of my long gone triumphs?
You know that the one who loved me has forgotten me
And that my soul, just like my love, is sacked and plundered?

Two elderly women share a secret joke in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.

And you—you aren’t even a shadow of what you were
And because we don’t remember what we have been
We are betrayed! Old! Faded!
I’ll throw you in a box with other trash—
You, who are a traitor and so worn out!
How strange and how complicated
Just like you, I also betrayed—sometimes–in little ways!
Those sweet lies and silly nonsense
That made so many of my yesterdays happy.

White and black rebozo fringed with feathers.

Laugh, rebozo! Don’t you see that I’m laughing–not angry?
The tears that spring from these eyes
Are just laughter, nothing more. I’m not crying, I’m laughing!
But how can I be laughing, when I hate you so?
Let your mantel cover my head
The way it did in days long past, when I was possessed
By a kiss so strong, so violent.

Gold and salmon rebozo de gala (fancy dress).

No! I will not throw you away, old rebozo!
You have a soul like mine
A Mexican woman's soul, wild, unmanageable
That will not bend even when faced with death itself!
I will fold you up and keep you in the closet
And there, like a holy relic,
My heart will once again put on
Your flowing fringe.

Elderly flower seller, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.

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29 de March de 2014
Comida Mexicana para La Cuaresma: Special Mexican Food for Lent

Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent, was March 5, 2014. The following article has been very popular as a reference since it was first published on Mexico Cooks! in 2009. So many people want to know what we eat in Mexico when we're not eating meat! Enjoy…and buen provecho!

Tortitas de papa (potato croquettes, left) and frijoles negros (black beans, right) from the south of Mexico are ideal for a Lenten meal.

Catholic Mexicans observe la Cuaresma (Lent), the 40-day (excluding Sundays) penitential season that precedes Easter, with special prayers, vigils, and with extraordinary meatless meals cooked only on Ash Wednesday and on the Fridays of Lent. Many Mexican dishes–seafood, vegetable, and egg–are normally prepared without meat, but some other meatless dishes are particular to Lent. Known as comida cuaresmeña, many of these delicious Lenten foods are little-known outside Mexico and some other parts of Latin America.

Many observant Catholics believe that the personal reflection and meditation demanded by Lenten practices are more fruitful if the individual refrains from heavy food indulgence and makes a promise to abstain from other common habits such as eating candy, smoking cigarettes, and drinking alcohol.

Atole de grano, a Michoacán specialty made of tender corn and licorice-scented anís, is a perfect cena (supper) for Lenten Fridays.

Ash Wednesday, February 22, marked the beginning of Lent in 2012. Shortly before, certain food specialties began to appear in local markets.Vendors are currently offering very large dried shrimp for caldos (broths) and tortitas (croquettes), perfect heads of cauliflower for tortitas de coliflor (cauliflower croquettes), seasonal romeritos, and thick, dried slices of bolillo (small loaves of white bread) for capirotada (a kind of bread pudding).

This common Lenten preparation is romeritos en mole. Romeritos, an acidic green vegetable, is in season at this time of year. Although it looks a little like rosemary, its taste is relatively sour, more like verdolagas (purslane).

You'll usually see tortitas de camarón (dried shrimp croquettes) paired for a Friday comida (midday meal) with romeritos en mole, although they are sometimes bathed in a caldillo de jitomate (tomato broth) and served with sliced nopalitos (cactus paddles).

During Lent, the price of fish and seafood in Mexico goes through the roof due to the huge seasonal demand for meatless meals. These beautiful huachinango (red snapper) come from Mexico's Pacific coast.

Tortita de calabacita (little squash fritter) from the sorely missed Restaurante Los Comensales in Morelia, Michoacán. Mexico Cooks! featured the restaurant (the name means 'The Diners') in October 2009. Less than a year after our interview with her, Señora Catalina Aguirre Camacho, the owner of Los Comensales since 1980, became too elderly and incapacitated to continue to operate her wonderful restaurant. This dish is wonderful for a Lenten supper.

Chef Martín Rafael Mendizabal of La Trucha Alegre in Zitacuaro, Michoacán, prepared trucha deshuesada con agridulce de guayaba (boned trout with guava sweet and sour sauce) for the V Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán held in Morelia in December 2008. The dish would be ideal for an elegant Lenten dinner.

Capirotada (Lenten bread pudding) is almost unknown outside Mexico. Simple to prepare and absolutely delicious, it's hard to eat it sparingly if you're trying to keep a Lenten abstinence!

Every family makes a slightly different version of capirotada: a pinch more of this, leave out that, add such-and-such. Mexico Cooks! prefers to leave out the apricots and add dried pineapple. Make it once and then tweak the recipe to your preference–but please do stick with traditional ingredients.

CAPIROTADA

Ingredients
*4 bollilos, in 1" slices (small loaves of dense white bread)
5 stale tortillas
150 grams pecans
50 grams prunes
100 grams raisins
200 grams peanuts
100 grams dried apricots
1 large apple, peeled and sliced thin
100 grams grated Cotija cheese
Peel of one orange, two uses
*3 cones piloncillo (Mexican brown sugar)
Four 3" pieces of Mexican stick cinnamon
2 cloves
Butter
Salt

*If you don't have bolillo, substitute slices of very dense French bread. If you don't have piloncillo, substitute 1/2 cup tightly packed brown sugar.

A large metal or clay baking dish.

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 300°F.

Toast the bread and spread with butter. Slightly overlap the tortillas in the bottom and along the sides of the baking dish to make a base for the capirotada. Prepare a thin syrup by boiling the piloncillo in 2 1/2 cups of water with a few shreds of cinnamon sticks, 2/3 of the orange peel, the cloves, and a pinch of salt.

Place the layers of bread rounds in the baking dish so as to allow for their expansion as the capirotada cooks. Lay down a layer of bread, then a layer of nuts, prunes, raisins, peanuts and apricots. Continue until all the bread is layered with the rest. For the final layer, sprinkle the capirotada with the grated Cotija cheese and the remaining third of the orange peel (grated). Add the syrup, moistening all the layers little by little. Reserve a portion of the syrup to add to the capirotada in case it becomes dry during baking.

Bake uncovered until the capirotada is golden brown and the syrup is absorbed. The bread will expand as it absorbs the syrup. Remember to add the rest of the syrup if the top of the capirotada looks dry.

Cool the capirotada at room temperature. Do not cover until it is cool; even then, leave the top ajar.

Try very hard not to eat the entire pan of capirotada at one sitting!

A positive thought for the remainder of Lent: give up discouragement, be an optimist.

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22 de March 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.

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15 de March de 2014