Category: Travel

Restaurante Nicos: Vintage Traditions, New Acclaim

This article about Mexico City's ever-popular Restaurante Nicos bears repeating today for an important announcement. Just a few weeks ago, our much-loved Nicos was named to the list of 50 Best Restaurants in Latin America, presented by RESTAURANT, a British specialty magazine. Long a great cause for pride in Mexico City, thanks to this award Nicos is now even better known throughout the world.

Chef Gerardo Vázquez Lugo, consummately professional executive chef at Restaurante Nicos in Mexico City.

Freshly baked, still-warm bolillo (crusty white bread roll) served from a dried guaje (gourd) and accompanied by three salsas and a wee dish of sea salt.

Mexico City's gourmands–the many of us who are heartily fond of good food and drink–often travel substantially north of the Centro Histórico (downtown) to have a marvelous meal. The magnet that pulls us to Delegación Azcapotzalco? Restaurante Nicos, a Mexico City institution since 1957. Started by don Raimundo Vázques and his wife María Elena Lugo Zermeño (chef Gerardo's parents) and run by the Vázquez Lugo family for the last 58 years, the restaurant offers a warmly charming atmosphere, excellent service, and simply fantastic food.

It always makes me happy to see that Nicos makes its guacamole exactly the way I've been doing it at home for 30 years. You can see that the avocado is left in silky chunks; it's not mashed. Add a little olive oil, some sea salt, small-diced white onion, small-diced tomato, chopped cilantro, and as much minced chile serrano as your palate can handle. No limón (Key lime) is necessary.

Prepared at tableside with perfectly ripe, perfectly fresh ingredients, this guacamole brims over in its molcajete (volcanic stone mortar) and is a plentiful appetizer for four diners. It's served with freshly-fried salty totopos (tortilla chips).

This oasis of great eating has never pretended to be more than a family restaurant serving home-style Mexican cooking. Traditional recipes prepared and served in the spirit of Slow Food are the basis of Nicos' kitchen, and attentive, non-obtrusive, closely-supervised staff continue to ensure that the customer is king. Really, what more can we want?

Another appetizer, this time doblada de tinga (delectable stewed, spiced, and shredded chicken stuffed into a folded, hot-off-the-comal (griddle) tortilla). These dobladas are offered three to an order, but our server generously provided our table of four diners with an extra doblada.

A Mexican food enthusiast and restaurant owner visiting from Oregon recently invited me and some other friends to accompany him for comida (main meal of Mexico's day) at Nicos. An eager sí, cómo no!, and Mexico Cooks! joined this group of friends at table. Faced with the truly difficult choices among Nicos' marvelous appetizers, soups, salads, and main dishes, we of course ordered far too much food, and of course we polished it all off with delight.

Our third entrada (appetizer) was this beautiful plate of trancas—taquitos (small rolled and fried tacos) stuffed with chicken and served with farm-fresh crema de mesa (Mexican table cream, similar to creme fraiche), grated queso fresco (soft white cheese), lettuce, and tomato–plus a small bowl of guacamole.

We ordered two sopas to share. This is what Mexico knows as a sopa seca (dry soup). In this case, it's the very special sopa seca de natas; a 19th century recipe from the convent of the Capuchinas (Capuchin nuns) in Guadalajara. It's made of crepes, layered with shredded chicken and a sauce made of nata (unpasteurized cream from raw milk), tomatoes, and finely sliced chile poblano. Once the ingredients are layered in a baking dish, they're baked for about an hour and a half.

A soup plate arrives at table already piled with accompaniments for sopa de frijoles, the sopa aguada (liquid soup) we ordered. The shallow bowl holds strips of thinly sliced, fried tortillas, queso Pijijiapan (a white crumbly cheese from the state of Chiapas), lightly fried chile de árbol, and crema de rancho (farm-style table cream). Note the name Pijijiapan: it's the only place name in Mexico with five dotted letters in a row! You can always count on Mexico Cooks! for this sort of fascinating trivia.

Absolutely delicious sopa de frijoles (bean soup), based on an ayocote (white runner bean) broth flavored with fresh epazote (wormweed) is then ladled atop the soup accompaniments, and our waiter added a few drops of organic olive oil.

The first of our three platos fuertes (main dishes) was adobo de antaño con carne de cerdo con tamal de ejote tierno (pork cooked in an old-fashioned smooth, spicy adobo (sauce) and served with a fresh-corn tamal.

A tiny pot of frijoles negros (black beans), for just a spoonful each to go with our main dishes.

And another tiny pot of frijoles charros (cowboy-style beans with bacon, onion, and tomato). We couldn't have just one pot of beans, right?

Our second main dish: conejo al chile piquín (tender rabbit in a chile piquín sauce), served with ensalada de nopalitos (cactus paddle salad). Next time I am at Nicos, I'll order this dish just for myself. It was unquestionably my favorite–fall-off-the-bone tender rabbit cooked in a supremely delicious sauce. Just try and get me to give you a bite!

This dish of pollo en hoja de aguacate con pulque (boneless chicken with avocado leaf, orange juice, butter, and pulque) was, for me, a close runner-up to the rabbit. Beautifully presented and carrying the subtle flavor of anise-y avocado leaf and earthy pulque, the recipe was created by one of Mexico's foremost chefs and my friend, Mexico's great lady of the kitchen, Alicia Gironella d'Angeli.

Can you tell that we were simply too stuffed to order dessert? We waddled out of the restaurant into the first downpour of Mexico City's 2013 rainy season, happy to have spent several hours enjoying one another's company and a superb meal. Next time you're in Mexico City, Restaurante Nicos will be a truly memorable experience for you.

Restaurante Nicos
Av. Cuitláhuac 3102, corner of Clavería
Col. Clavería
Del. Azcapotzalco
Mexico City 02080
Tel: 55.5396.7090 (reservations suggested for hours of comida, 2.30-4:00PM)
Hours: Monday through Friday 7.30AM to 7:30PM

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5 de December de 2015
On The Road and at The Table, La Marquesa National Park

Cabaña Carmelita, La Marquesa, Estado de México (the State of México, or Edomex).

When you think of national parks, what comes first to your mind? Smokey the Bear? That cute forest ranger in khaki shorts who showed you how to pitch your tent? Hungry campers 'round the fire, waiting for hotdogs? Next time you think "national park", think La Marquesa in the State of Mexico (affectionately known as Edomex). And forget about forest rangers, tents, bears, and hotdogs. Instead, think about homey fonda-style restaurants lining both sides of the highway.

Watch for the sign on the south side of the cuota–you'll love the place.

For more than 30 years, Mexico Cooks! has bused to and from Mexico City, first on the old two-lane highways and then on the super-duper toll highway called the autopista. Either way, the road meanders between the city of Toluca and the Distrito Federal, passing through Parque Nacional Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. The park is affectionately known as La Marquesa, and its natural wonders are an enormous tourist attraction.

Guisado de chicharrón prensado (a stew-like dish made of the compressed crunchy bits left after frying pork skins), ready to be served at Cabaña Carmelita. It was truly hard to choose among all of the wonderful offerings. We wanted one of everything.

Mountains, waterfalls, and green pine forests are one thing: what called my attention every single time the bus passed through the park were the colorful restaurants framing two sides of the roadway. But sadly enough, the bus hurtling along never stopped for food. Think thirty years of unsatisfied craving!

Crocheted lace doilies and hand-decorated clay dishes are just waiting for your arrival.

About a year ago, it suddenly occurred to me that I was familiar enough with getting around in Mexico City that I could drive to and–oh, the daring thought!–in this city of nearly 25,000,000 people. And if I played my cards right, I could time the trip to arrive at La Marquesa just in time for comida, Mexico's main meal of the day. My compañera, our two little dogs, and I left Morelia at eleven o'clock in the morning with happy plans for our lunch break at one of the La Marquesa fondas.

On the left, a guisado of huitlacoche (corn fungus). On the right, hongos silvestres (wild mushrooms).

But which one! The little restaurants line up one after another like tempting booths at a state fair, colorful and filled with promise. Look, this one advertises rabbit! And that one has delicate escamoles (ant eggs)! And then we noticed La Cabaña Carmelita, with pambazos (iconic Mexico City-style sandwiches) blazened prominently on its placards. The thought of pambazos enticed us in, but even though we found out that there were no pambazos that day, the rest of the menu made us stay.

Sopa de hongos (mushroom soup), served with a piece of crunchy chicharrón and a lime to squeeze into the broth. Steaming hot, loaded with big pieces and strips of setas (a kind of mushroom), and deliciously spicy, this mushroom soup is a far cry from your Mom's can of Campbell's.

A quesadilla con pollo (quesadilla with shredded chicken). The serving was enormous: it consisted of a huge blue corn tortilla covered with shredded chicken, melted soft cheese, shredded hard cheese, and a salsa picante, plus a salad of sliced ripe tomatoes and cucumbers.

A tlacoyo con frijolitos y queso (an oval tortilla, in this case made of blue corn, stuffed to bursting with refried beans and cheese), accompanied by a big clay mug of café de olla (cinnamon-spiced coffee).

These two women took our orders and cooked and served our delicious food.

By the time you read this, we will have driven once again through La Marquesa. Will we stop for comida? Look at that face–is there any doubt in your mind?

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28 de November de 2015
Your Flaneur in Mexico City: Markets, Food, and Curiosities–Part 1, Summer 2015

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

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

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

Ingredients

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

Procedure

Peel and dice potatoes. Boil until fork-tender. Drain, allow to dry, and reserve.

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

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

Dice onion.

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

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

Add the flor de calabaza and sauté just until tender.

Add sea salt to taste.

Serves 2-3 as a side dish.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

14 de November de 2015
Noche de Muertos (Night of the Dead) in Michoacán, A Journey of Love and Respect

Mexico Cooks!' full body bone scan, 2009.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Preparing a family member's ofrenda (altar) in the camposanto in the village of Arócutin, Michoacán. The camposanto–literally, holy ground–is a cemetery contained within the walls of a churchyard. The candles used in this area of Michoacán are hand made in Ihuatzio and Santa Fé de la Laguna.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Next year, come with me.

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7 de November de 2015
Revisiting Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in the Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán Cemetery

Graves decorated for Noche de los Muertos (Night of the Dead) in the Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán panteón (cemetery). These recent graves lie within easy sight of the yácatas (Purhépecha pyramids, mid-center in the photograph) just across the road. The yácatas, dating to as early as 900 A.D., were formerly both a priestly burial site and the site of ancient Purhépecha religious ceremonies.

Rituals for the traditional Noche y Día de los Muertos (Night and Day of the Dead) take place all over Mexico on the night of November 1 and the day of November 2. One of the best-known celebrations of this enormously important spiritual holiday takes place in the town of Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán. A visit to the town cemetery on November 2 gives just a small idea of the beauty of the events. During this very Mexican, very special festival, the dead–at least in spirit–pay a visit to their loved ones here on earth. In an article in 2005, The New York Times quoted Mexico Cooks! as saying, "It's about mutual nostalgia: the living remember the dead, and the dead remember the taste of home."

The packed-earth paths among the graves at the cemetery in Tzintzuntzan wind through old trees and dappled sunshine.

This little car, decorated with cempasúchil (marigold) flowers, fruits, and pan de muertos (bread of the dead) in the shape of human figures, is the cemetery ofrenda (altar, or offering) for a baby born in October 2005 and dead the same November. Tiny white baby shoes are on the car's hood, along with a baby bottle. Click on any photo to enlarge it.

The faithful Purhépecha believe that the angelitos, the dead children, are the first of the departed who come to re-visit their loved ones each year during the day of November 1, arriving early in the evening. Their parents take an ofrenda (offering) of fruit, candies, and wooden toys to the children's graves and invite the little ones to come and eat. Late in the night, the godfather of a dead child goes to the cemetery with a boveda (arch) made of cempasúchil (marigolds). At home, the parents have already prepared beautiful altars to honor the memory and spirits of their children.

Cempasúchiles, gladiolas, and candles adorn this grave. The cross is made of red veladoras (candles in holders) in a framework of blue and white.

Each year, late in the night of November 1, the spirits of deceased adults make their way back to this earthly plane to visit their relatives. The living relatives, bearing food, bright golden flowers, strong drink, and other favorites of the dead, file into Purhépecha cemeteries to commune with those who have gone before. The assembled lay out blankets, unfold chairs, bring out plastic cups, cartons of beer, a bottle of tequila, and assorted food for their own consumption as they settle in for the long, cold night of vigil.

A band or two or three often wander the cemetery, hired for a song or two or three to entertain the living and the dead.

Copal incense burns, its mystic scent calling the souls of the dead home. Candles, hundreds and hundreds of candles, flicker on and around the graves, showing the way home to the wandering spirits. Food–especially corn tamales and churipo, a beef soup for festivals–and other personal gifts for the 'visitors' show the spirits that they are still valued members of their community. Special Purhépecha-style pan de muertos (bread of the dead) in the form of human bodies represents the relationship between the living and the dead. Seasonal fruits, including bananas, oranges, and limas, are hung on the ofrendas de cempasúchil to represent the relationship between nature and human beings.

This elaborate bóveda de cempasúchil (marigold arch) hung with an old family photograph and topped by a feather dove (the symbol of the Holy Spirit) decorates a family grave. Under the photograph, an angel stands vigil.

During the Día y Noche de Muertos fiesta, a loved one's grave becomes a place to pray, party, and reminisce. Candles, a glass of water to quench the deceased person's thirst, a bottle of his or her favorite liquor, and favorite foods such as mole or tamales, pan de muertos, calabaza en tacha, and seasonal fresh fruits are always placed on the grave. Baskets of favorite foods, prepared especially for the spirits of deceased family members, are covered with beautiful hand-embroidered cloths. The spirits partake of the food's essence; the living gather at the grave to partake of the material food.

Marigolds are used as symbols for their yellow color, which resembles the gold that was used as decoration for the ancient grand festivals. The flowers were used to adorn the visitor in the form of crowns or necklaces. Today, the belief is that the ofrendas de cempasúchil (marigold arches) aid the visiting spirits to identify their homes. Cempasúchil petals are also strewn over the bare earth mounds of the graves.

These modern coronas (wreaths) are made of ribbons and plastic, much more durable than fresh flowers. The brilliant colors eventually fade over the course of a year, but the wreaths will stay up till next October.

Cempasúchiles, pata de león (lion's paw, as cockscomb is known in this part of Michoacán), freshly cut gladiola, nube (baby's breath) and just-in-season flor de las ánimas (flowers of the souls–wild orchids) from the mountains are the flowers most commonly used on Tzintzuntzan's graves.

My favorite ofrenda of 2009: a terrific full-size bicycle made of cempasúchiles, decorated with various fruits–including a pineapple on the seat! The flowers at the base of the grave marker are flores de las ánimas (wild orchids). This elaborate style of figural ofrenda is very unusual.

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31 de October de 2015
Día y Noche de los Muertos: Another Look at the Day and Night of the Dead in Michoacán

Catrinas de papel maché (death-mocking skeletal figures made of paper maché). The catrín (male figure) and catrina (female figure) come from the late 19th and early 20th Century drawings by political cartoonist José Guadalupe Posada. Posada drew his skeletons dressed in finery of the Porfiriato (the era between 1875-1910 when Porfirio Díaz, a Francophile, ruled Mexico) to demonstrate the pointlessness of vanity in one's life that, in the end, covers nothing but bones.

Día (y Noche) de los Muertos (Day or Night of the Dead) is celebrated in Mexico each year late on November 1 and early on November 2. It's a festival both solemn and humorous, both sacred and profane: it's a wildly and uniquely Mexican fiesta (party), although other Latin American countries–Guatemala, Honduras, and Perú, among others–celebrate the dates in other ways.

Called Día de los Muertos in most of Mexico, in Michoacán the fiesta is known as Noche de los Muertos. The traditional celebrations in Purhépecha pueblos (indigenous towns) near Morelia are among the most famous in Mexico.

Everywhere in Mexico, it's traditional to eat pan de muertos (bread of the dead) before, during, and after the early November Día de los Muertos. Mexico Cooks! photographed this gorgeous pan de muertos at Panadería Hornos Los Ortiz on Av. Vicente Santa María in Morelia.

These catrínes de barro (clay) are tremendously elegant. They are the creations of acclaimed painter and bronze sculptor Juan Torres Calderón and his wife, clay sculptor Belia Canals. Maestro Torres and Belia Canals work in Capula, Michoacán, where in the early 1960s they started the now Mexico-wide tradition of clay catrines.

Cohetes (rockets) are another tradition for Día de los Muertos and other fiestas. Coheteros carry bundles of long-stick rockets in local processions, lighting one after another during the duration of the parade. The young boy walking behind the cohetero is carrying a pole to move electrical wires out of the way of the rockets. The intense boom! boom! boom! of the cohetes announces the arrival of the procession.

Calabaza en tacha (squash in syrup) is one of the most traditional foods for a Diá de los Muertos ofrenda (home or cemetery altar to honor the deceased). Delicious for breakfast or for a light supper, this squash brings the flavors and scents of home to the dearly departed.

During the Día y Noche de Muertos fiesta, a loved one's grave becomes a place to pray, party, and reminisce. Candles, a glass of water to quench the deceased person's thirst, a bottle of his or her favorite liquor, and favorite foods such as mole or tamales, pan de muertos, calabaza en tacha, and seasonal fresh fruits are always placed on the grave.

During this very Mexican, very special festival, the dead–at least in spirit–pay a visit to their loved ones here on earth. It's a mutual nostalgia: the living remember the dead, and the dead remember the taste of home.

An acquaintance in Pátzcuaro dedicated this very large ofrenda (offering, or altar) to his deceased parents and other family members. The colors, the candles, the foods, the photos, and the flowers are all part of the old traditional altar decoration.

Next week, Mexico Cooks! will take you to one of the most important cemeteries in Mexico for a last look at the special Michoacán traditional commemoration of Noche de los Muertos .

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

24 de October de 2015
Día de los Muertos en México: Day of the Dead in Mexico, A Primer

Highly decorated cardboard skull for Noche de Muertos.

Pantéon Municipal (Municipal Cemetery), Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán.

Mexico Cooks! will be touring Morelia and surrounding areas again during this special time of year. We'll be attending one or another special Noche de Muertos event every day for an entire week. Traditional ofrendas (altars dedicated to the dead), spectacular crafts exhibits, concerts, and annual concursos (contests) will fill our days and nights. Known in most parts of Mexico as Día de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead), here in Michoacán we call it Noche de los Muertos (Night of the Dead). By either name, the festival as it's celebrated in Mexico is unique in the world.

These four-inch-long skeletal figures, laid out on their petates (woven rush mats), are hooked up to intravenous bottles of either beer or tequila!

Tiny sugar footwear, in styles from baby booties to high-heeled pumps, are ready to be given as gifts or for placement on an ofrenda.

Mexico celebrates death as it celebrates life, with extreme enjoyment in the simplest things. Life and death are both honored states.

The home ofrenda (altar) may memorialize a cherished relative, a political figure (either reviled or beloved), or a figure from the entertainment world. Traditional decorations include cempasúchil (marigold) and cordón del obispo (cockscomb) flowers, which are used in profusion in churches, cemeteries, and homes.

Sugar skulls are often inscribed in icing with a living friend's name and given to that person as a small token of admiration.

Relatives take favorite foods and beverages to the grave of a loved one gone before. It's said that the dead partake of the spirit of the food, while the living enjoy the physical treats at the cemetery.

Pan de muertos (bread of the dead) is decorated with bone-shaped bread and sugar. The bread itself is flavored with orange and anise.

This miniature ofrenda (altar) is filled with tiny representations of treats that the deceased loved in life.

Several years ago, an article in the New York Times quoted Mexico Cooks! about the Noche de los Muertos: "There's a mutual nostalgia. The living remember the dead, and the dead remember the taste of home." That nostalgia imbues the cities and villages of Michoacán at this time of year just as surely as do woodsmoke and the scent of toasting tortillas.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours. And be sure to book your Mexico Cooks! 2016 Dia de los Muertos tour as soon as possible! We'll reserve space for you and your group to make sure you don't miss anything!

17 de October de 2015
Eat My Globe and The Day of the Dead, Revisited

For the next month, Mexico Cooks! will publish a retrospective of articles about the Day (and Night) of the Dead in Mexico. This brief article was published originally on November 24, 2007, when Mexico Cooks! was just a few months old.

Mexico Cooks!' friend Simon Majumdar, on his first tour of Mexico, joined us for a week-long whirlwind crawl to some of our favorite food sites in Guadalajara and Morelia. In between restaurants, taco stands, and walking-around food, we introduced him to the Day of the Dead in both cities.

Papel maché skull masks at the Tianguis del Día de los Muertos, Guadalajara.

Fancy-dress clay catrines (skeletons), each about 7" high, ready for an evening out on the town.

Little clay calacas (skeletons) in sombreros and serapes, the perfect size for hanging from your car's rear-view mirror.

Muñecas de cartón (cardboard dolls) dressed in crepe paper and sequins.

Part of a large ofrenda (altar) in Morelia's Centro Histórico. This altar was dedicated to Don Vasco de Quiroga, one of Michoacán's most historic figures and the first bishop of the state.

A traditional ofrenda (with a twist–click on the photo to get a better view of the hand creeping out of the grave) at Morelia's Hotel Virrey de Mendoza. Click on any photo to enlarge it.

The Plaza San Agustín in Morelia. The ofrenda covered the entire plaza. The central pyramid is made of carrizo (bamboo) and ears of corn. It's surrounded by cempasúchil and terciopelo (marigolds and cock's comb flowers). The cempasúchil fragrance leads the spirits of the dead back to earth and the deep maroon terciopelo is a color of mourning.

A skeletal pair in the Jardín de las Rosas, the garden outside the Conservatorio de las Rosas in Morelia.

This ofrenda, in front of Morelia's Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, is dedicated to Frida Kahlo.

At the time of this 2007 article, our guest was traveling the world to research his first book, Eat My Globe. Today, Simon Majumdar is a well-known and well-respected Food Network personality, with several more books to his credit. His most recent, published a bit earlier in 2015, is Fed, White, and Blue: Finding America With My Fork.

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

10 de October de 2015
Patron Saint of The Impossible: Saint Jude Thaddeus–San Judas Tadeo–in Mexico City

Mexico City's Templo San Hipólito, built starting in 1559 to commemorate the 1520 victory of the Mexica (later known as the Aztecs) over the Spanish invaders in a battle that became known as la Batalla de la Noche Triste (the Battle of the Sad Night), one of the worst defeats the Spanish suffered at the hands of the people they subsequently conquered. The church was finished late in the 17th century.

The church location has been a major influence in Mexico City since those early times. Prior to the building of the church, the first mental hospital in the Americas, founded by Bernardino Álvarez, stood on this corner. San Hipólito was the first patron saint of Mexico's capital city.

A prayer card image of St. Jude Thaddeus, patron saint of difficult or impossible causes. Your Catholic mother or grandmother–or maybe you yourself– probably have an image like this tucked into a Bible.

Not your grandmother's version of St. Jude. Photo courtesy Tattoomuch.com.

Today, Templo San Hipólito is the site of enormous devotion to Saint Jude Thaddeus, known in Spanish as San Judas Tadeo. The most venerated statue of the saint in Mexico is here, and Mexico is deeply devoted to him and to his image. San Judas's feast day is celebrated on October 28 each year, when as many as 100,000 faithful converge on the small church. The huge number of faithful who visit their beloved saint–starting with the first Mass celebrated at midnight–inevitably cause chaotic traffic jams at the corner where the church is located, one of the busiest junctions in Mexico City.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoEsO7rDFoA&w=420&h=315]
The video will give you an idea of the devotion to St. Jude.

Devotion to San Judas in Mexico City is so great that his feast day is celebrated not only on October 28 each year, but also on the 28th of every month. In July of this year, Mexico Cooks! went to visit the saint on his day.

Merchandise sold by vendors around the perimeter of the church–merchandise like these rosaries–is often colored green, white, and gold, the traditional colors of San Judas's clothing.

My companion and I arrived at Templo San Hipólito relatively early, but people had been pouring into the church for each Mass of the day; on the 28th, Masses are said on the hour, all day. This view, from outside the church entrance, did not prepare us for the packed sanctuary.

Once we entered the sanctuary, we were unable to advance beyond the half-way point due to the enormous number of people already inside. At the top middle of this photo, you see a very large statue of the Virgin Mary. Below her is San Judas.

Unlike predominately female crowds at Masses in other churches or at prayer services devoted to other saints, the majority of this crowd is male. While women are certainly present, you can see in the photo that the people in front of us were almost all male.

Custom here is to wrap a figure of San Judas in scarves, scapulars, beads, and medals. When I asked this woman, seated on a bench along the inside of the church, if I might take a picture of her statue, she said yes, but bowed her head to show him, not herself. It's also customary to take small gifts, such as the candy this woman is holding, to share with others at the church.

St. Martín de Porres is also much-venerated in Mexico. This life-size statue of him, holding a real broom, is at one side of the San Hipólito interior. Notice that much of the broom straw has been broken off and taken by the faithful. Click on the
photo (and any photo) to enlarge it.

This young man gave me permission to photograph him and his statue.

Many parents dress their babies in the green, gold, and white colors of the saint. Usually they have made a vow to St. Jude to do this in thanks for a favor granted; oftentimes, the favor granted is the birth of a healthy child after complications of pregnancy.

The man who carried this elaborately wrapped statue during the entire Mass set it on a stone wall so that I could photograph it.

Vendors along the sidewalks sell every kind of St. Jude-related goods. People carry these candles into the church to be blessed, and then carry them home to light their personal altars dedicated to the saint.

We visited many of the booths selling figures of San Judas. The sizes range from about six inches high–like the ones at the left in the front row–to life size or larger. The seated figure just right of center represents Jesús Malverde, an 'informal' saint (one revered by the people but not a saint in the church). Jesús Malverde, a Sinaloa legend, is also known as the 'narco saint', the 'angel of the poor', or the 'generous bandit'. The green sign refers to the copitas (little goblets) filled with San Judas's seeds of abundance just above it. Each goblet with seeds costs 10 pesos. That's approximately 60 US cents, at today's exchange rate.

Feeling like your world is standing on its head? You might want to try a chat with St. Jude.

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

3 de October de 2015
Mexico’s Independence Celebration: A Month of Fiestas Patrias

Street vendors hawk la bandera nacional (the Mexican flag) in dozens of forms for several weeks during August and right up to September 16, Mexico's Independence Day.

Mexico's official struggle for freedom from Spanish colonization began sometime between midnight and dawn on September 16, 1810, when Father Miguel Hidalgo gave the Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores) from the parish bell tower in the town known today as Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato. Mexico celebrates its day of Fiestas Patrias (Patriotic Holidays) on September 16 with parades of school children and military batallions, politicians proclaiming speeches, and general festivity.

Hundreds of books have been written about Mexico's break from Spain, millions of words have been dedicated to exploring the lives of the daring men and women who knew, a bit more than 200 years ago, that the time had come for freedom. You can read some of the history on the Internet. Another excellent source for Mexican history is The Life and Times of Mexico, by Earl Shorris. You'll find that book available on the left-hand side of this page.

But the best-kept secret in Mexico is the Independence Day party. No, the big deal is not on September 16th. Held every year on the night of September 15, the Gran Noche Mexicana (the Great Mexican Night), the real celebration of the revolutionary events in 1810, is a combination of New Year's Eve, your birthday, and your country's independence festivities. Wouldn't you really rather hear about the party?

Jalisco town kiosko (bandstand) decorated for the Fiestas Patrias.

For years I've attended the September 15 celebrations in a variety of towns and cities. In Mexico City, the country's president leads hundreds of thousands of citizens in late-night celebrations in the zócalo, the enormous square surrounded by government buildings and the Metropolitan Cathedral. Every Mexican town big enough to have a mayor holds a reenactment of the Grito de Dolores, Hidalgo's cry for independence. The town square is decorated with flags, bunting, and ribbons. Cohetes (sky rockets) flare and bang. Sometime around eleven o'clock at night, the folks, assembled in the town plaza since nine or so, are restless for the celebration to begin. The mayor's secretary peeks out from the doorway of the government offices, the folkloric dancers file off the stage in the plaza, the band tunes up for the Himno Nacional (the national anthem), the crowd waves its flags and hushes its jostling. The mayor steps out onto the balcony of the government building or onto the stage built just outside the building's front door to sing the Himno's emotional verses.

Dressed in his finest and backed up by a military or police guard, the mayor clears his throat and loudly begins an Independence Day proclamation. He pulls a heavy rope to ring the Independence bell, then he waves a huge Mexican flag. Back and forth, back and forth! In every Mexican town, the proclamation ends with Hidalgo's 205-year-old exhortations: "Long live religion! Long live Our Lady of Guadalupe! Long live the Americas and death to the corrupt government! Viva México! Qué viva!"

Father Hidalgo's 1810 banner. He carried this banner as his standard as a leader in the fight for Mexico's independence from Spain.

The mayor and the crowd shout as one voice: "Viva México! Qué viva! Qué viva!" The mayor grins and waves as the fireworks begin, bursting huge green, white, and red chrysanthemums over the heads of the attendees.

Later there will be dancing and more music, pozole, tostadas, mezcal, tequila and beer, and, in larger towns and cities, all-night revelry in the plaza, in private homes, and in hotels, restaurants, and events halls.

About five years ago my friend, música ranchera singer Lupita Jiménez from Guadalajara, invited me to a Gran Noche Mexicana where she was performing. The event was scheduled to start at 9.30, but Mexican custom normally dictates late arrival. By ten o'clock I was on my way to the party. At the salón de eventos (events hall) the parking lot was already full, but a man was parking cars on the street just a block away. As I left my car, he said, "Could you pay me now for watching your car? It's 20 pesos. I'll be leaving a little early, probably before the event is over."

"How long will you be here?" I asked, a bit anxious about leaving the car alone on this night of prodigious revelry.

Lupita Jiménez in performance at a Gran Noche Mexicana in Guadalajara.

"Till six." My jaw dropped and I handed him the 20 pesos. Six in the morning! Surely we wouldn't party quite so long as that!

The sad truth is that I didn't. I couldn't. My stamina flagged at about 3:00 AM, after dinner had been served at 10:30, a city politician had proclaimed the Grito, the Himno Nacional had been sung, and fireworks (I swear to you) had been set off on the indoor stage of the salón de eventos. Then the show started, a brief recapitulation in dance of Mexican history, starting with concheros (loincloth-clad Aztec dancers) whirling around a belching volcano, and ending with the glorious jarabe tapatía–the Guadalajara regional dance that most speakers of English know as the Mexican hat dance.

After innumerable trios, duets, and solo singers, the show paused for intermission at close to two in the morning. Several of my table-mates slipped away, but I thought I could make it to the end. The first half of the Gran Noche Mexicana had been invigorating and exciting and I loved it. During intermission, a wonderful Mexican comedian poked fun at politics, functionaries, and Mexican life in general. We were all roaring with laughter. When the comic left the stage, I realized that I was exhausted and needed to go home to bed. Just as the performers stepped onto the stage to begin the next round of song, I sneaked away.

When I called Lupita the next afternoon to congratulate her on the success of the event, she asked if I'd stayed for the last few costume changes. "Mija, I had to go home early. I lasted till three, but then I just couldn't stay awake. I'm so sorry I missed the end."

Lupita laughed. "I'm glad you lasted that long, but next time you have to stay for the whole night! You missed the best part!"

The Zócalo (main city plaza) in Mexico City, dressed up for the Fiestas Patrias.

Viva México! Qué viva!

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

26 de September de 2015