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

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

First on our list when friends visit Mexico City is always the Basílica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Once our friends here discovered that we were going, every single person's first question was, "Van a la Villa?" ("Are you going to the Basílica)" 

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

Devotional pilgrimages are an everyday occurrence at the Basílica.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The original tilma worn by Juan Diego still hangs above the altar in the Basílica.  Venerated by millions of pilgrams, the maguey cactus fiber tilma shows no wear after 483 years.

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

The shrine, rebuilt several times over the centuries, is today a great Basílica with a capacity for 50,000 pilgrims.

Juan Diego's tilma is preserved behind bulletproof glass and hangs twenty-five feet above the main altar in the basilica. For more than 477 years the colors of the image have remained as bright as if they were painted yesterday, despite being exposed for more than 100 years following the apparition to humidity, smoke from church candles, and airborne pollution.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to get there once you're in Mexico City:

• From the Centro Histórico (Historic Downtown) take Metro Line 3 at Hidalgo and transfer to Line 6 at Deportivo 18 de Marzo. Go to the next station, La Villa Basílica. Then walk north two busy blocks until reaching the square.
• Take the Line 1 Metrobus north to Indios Verdes from any of its prior stops.  Go down the stairs on the right, go to the traffic light, and walk two blocks to the right until you get to the Basílica.
• From the Hidalgo Metro station take a microbus to La Villa.
• From Zona Rosa take a pesero (microbus) along Reforma Avenue, north to the stop nearest the Basílica.
• Or take a taxi from your hotel, wherever it is in the city. Tell the driver, "A La Villa, por favor. Vamos a echarle una visita a la Virgencita." ("To the Basílica, please. We're going to make a visit to the little Virgin.") 

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

 
Trio Los Panchos, from the 1950s.  They're still playing today and everyone of every age in Mexico knows all the words to all the songs they've sung since their beginning.  You can hear them here: 
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go8kmo4LABU&w=420&h=315]  
A few nights ago some friends and I were having dinner at a local restaurant. A wonderful trio (lead guitar, second guitar, and bass) played a broad selection of Mexico's favorite tunes while we enjoyed our food and conversation. From the table behind us, a woman's voice rang out in English, "Boy, these mariachis are really good."

Her comment, one I've heard over and over again, made me think about the many varieties of Mexican music. Not all Mexican music is mariachi, although many people assume that it is.

It's just as incorrect to classify all Mexican music as mariachi as it is to classify all music from the United States as jazz. Mariachi has its traditions, its place, and its beauties, but there are many other styles of Mexican music to enjoy.

Ranchera, norteña, trio, bolero, banda, huasteco, huapango, trova, danzón, vals, cumbia, jarocho, salsa, son–??the list could go on and on. While many styles of music are featured in specific areas, others, like norteña, banda, ranchera, and bolero, are heard everywhere in Mexico. Let's take a look at just a few of the most popular styles of music heard in present-day Mexico.

Norteña
Música norteña (northern music) will set your feet a-tapping and will remind you of a jolly polka. Norteña had its beginnings along the Texas-Mexico border. It owes its unique quality to the instrument at its heart, the accordion. The accordion was introduced into either far southeastern Texas or the far north of Mexico by immigrants from Germany, Czechoslovakia, or Poland. No one knows for sure who brought the accordion, but by the 1950s this rollicking music had become one of the far and away favorite music styles of Mexico.

A norteña group of musicians playing a set of trap drums, a stand-up bass, and the accordion produces an instantly recognizable and completely infectious sound. The songs have a clean, spare accordion treble and a staccato effect from the drum, while the bass pounds out the deep bottom line of the music.

Música norteña is popular everywhere in Mexico. Conjuntos norteños (bands) often play as itinerant musicians. These are the musicians who are often hired to play serenades in the wee hours of Mother's Day morning, who play under the window of a romantic young man's girl friend while she peeps from behind the curtain, and who wander through restaurantes campestres (country-style restaurants) all over Mexico to play a song or two for hire at your table.

Here's a great norteño by one of my favorite groups, Bronco:
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcVhmEHo4w0&w=560&h=315] 

Banda de Viento and Banda
Banda de viento and banda are similar musical styles: both have a military legacy. Each has moved in its own direction to provide different types of entertainment.

In Zacatecas, the state banda de viento plays concerts day and night.

Banda de viento (wind band, or brass band) originated in Mexico in the middle 1800s during the reign of Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlota. Later, Presidents Benito Juárez and Porfirio Dí­az commissioned the creation of brass bands in their home state, Oaxaca, in imitation of the brass bands that entertained at the Emperor's court.

The huge upsurge of popularity of brass bands in Mexico came in the early 20th Century. After the Mexican revolution, local authorities formed "Sunday bands" made up of military musicians who played in municipalities' plaza bandstands all over Mexico.

Here's the Marcha de Zacatecas, one of Mexico's most famous marches: 
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWdB26F5wLQ&w=420&h=315]
There are regional differences in banda de viento style, but you can still take a Sunday stroll around many rural Mexican plazas to hear the tuba oompah the bass part, the trumpets blare, squeaky clarinets take the lead, and the tamborazo (percussion) keeps the beat.  Sunday municipal band concerts no longer exist in some large cities, but you can still hear weekly concerts in smaller towns.

Banda music, which exploded onto the Mexican music scene in the 1990s, is a direct outgrowth of the municipal bands of Mexico. Banda is one of the most popular styles of dance music among Mexican young people. In small towns, we're often treated to a banda group playing for a weekend dance on the plaza or at a salón de eventos (events pavilion) in the center of the village. The music is inevitably loud, with a strong bass beat. You'll hear any number of rhythms, from traditional to those taken from foreign music. It's almost rock and roll. It's almost–??well, it's almost a lot of styles, but it's pure banda.

Few foreigners go to these dances and that's a shame, because it's great fun to go and watch the kids dance. You might want to take earplugs; the banks of speakers can be enormous and powerful.

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRlsmjY9gVY&w=420&h=315] 
Banda El Recodo plays "El Sinaloense".  Hang onto your hats!

The dancing will amaze you. Children, teenagers, and adults of all ages dance in styles ranging from old fuddy-duddy to la quebradita. La quebradita is a semi-scandalous style of dance which involves the man wrapping his arms completely around the woman while he puts his right leg between her two as they alternate feet and twirl around the dance floor. Complete with lots of dipping and other strenuous moves, la quebradita is a dance that's at once athletic and extremely sexual.

Bolero
In the United States and Canada, it's very common for those of us who are older to swoon over what we know as the 'standards'. Deep Purple, Red Sails in the Sunset, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, and almost anything by Ol' Blue Eyes can take us right back to our youthful romances. Most of us can dance and sing along with every note and word.

 
Here in Mexico, it's the same for folks of every age. The romantic songs from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s are known as boleros. The theme of the bolero is love–??happy love, unhappy love, unrequited love, indifference, ??but always love. I think just about everyone has heard the classic Bésame Mucho, a bolero written by Guadalajara native Consuelo Velásquez. This timeless favorite has been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and The Beatles, among countless other interpreters of romance.

Here's Luis Miguel, one of Mexico's modern interpreters of bolero, singing Bésame Mucho:

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSO9P8LgC-o&w=560&h=315]  

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE0LXg1ffdQ&w=420&h=315] 
Armando Manzanero, born in 1935 in Mérida, Mexico, is one of the most famous writers of bolero. His more than 400 songs have been translated into numerous languages. More than 50 of his songs have gained international recognition. Remember Perry Como singing It's Impossible? The original song ??by Armando Manzanero ??is called Somos Novios.

Crowds memorialize Pedro Infante, one of Mexico's greatest stars.

Agustí­n Lara was another of Mexico's prolific songwriters. Before Lara died in 1973, he wrote more than 700 romantic songs. Some of those were translated into English and sung by North of the Border favorites Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and yes, even Elvis Presley. The most famous of his songs to be translated into English included You Belong to My Heart (originally Solamente Una Vez), Be Mine Tonight (originally Noche de Ronda), and The Nearness of You.

Ranchera
The dramatic ranchera (country music), which emerged during the Mexican Revolution, is considered by many to be the country's quintessential popular music genre. Sung to different beats, including the waltz and the bolero, its lyrics traditionally celebrate rural life, talk about unrequited love and tell of the struggles of Mexico's Everyman.

Ana Gabriel is one of today's reigning queens of música ranchera.  Listen to her sing one of her all-time great songs: Y Aquí Estoy   

Ranchera finds its inspiration in the traditional music that accompanies folkloric dancing in Mexico. Its form is romantic and its lyrics almost always tell a story, the kind of story we're used to in old-time country music in the United States: she stole my heart, she stole my truck, I wish I'd never met her, but I sure do love that gal. Pedro Infante, Mexico's most prolific male film star, is strongly associated with the ranchera style of Mexican music. One of the original singing cowboys, Infante's films continue to be re-issued both on tape and on DVD and his popularity in Mexico is as strong as it was in his heyday, the 1940s. Infante, who died in an airplane accident in 1957 when he was not quite forty, continues to be revered and is an enormous influence on Mexican popular culture.

Ranchera continues to be an overwhelmingly emotional favorite today; at any concert, most fans are able to sing along with every song. This marvelous music is truly the representation of the soul of Mexico, the symbol of a nation.

Ana Gabriel is the queen, but Vicente Fernández is the king of ranchera. Listen to him sing one of his classics: "Volver, Volver"

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjJHWipbFp0&w=560&h=315]  
Vicente Fernández, whose ranch, huge restaurant, and large charro-goods store are located between the Guadalajara airport and Lake Chapala, is the current reigning king of ranchera–??indeed, he is considered to be the King of Mexico.

Mariachi
Mariachi really is the music that most folks think of when they think of Mexico's music. Mariachi originated here, it's most famous here, and it's most loved here. The love of mariachi has spread all over the world as non-Mexicans hear its joyous (and sometimes tragic) sounds. At this year's Encuentro Internacional del Mariachi (International Mariachi Festival) in Guadalajara, mariachis from France, Czechoslovakia, Canada, Switzerland and the United States (among others) played along with their Mexican counterparts.

In the complete mariachi group today there are six to eight violins, two or three trumpets and a guitar, all standard European instruments. There is also a higher-pitched, round-backed guitar called the vihuela, which, when strummed in the traditional manner gives the mariachi its typical rhythmic vitality. You'll also see a deep-voiced guitar called the guitarrón which serves as the bass of the ensemble. Sometimes you'll see a Mexican folk harp, which usually doubles the base line but also ornaments the melody. While these three instruments have European origins, in their present form they are strictly Mexican.

Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán is the most famous mariachi in the world.  Every year in Guadalajara they honor the festival with their presence at the Encuentro Internacional de Mariachi.  It's an unforgettable experience.  Listen to them now, and watch the audience singing along: 

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_YLg7w4y9w&w=420&h=315] 
The combined sound of these instruments makes the music unique. Like the serape (a type of long, brightly striped shawl worn mainly by Mexican men) in which widely contrasting colors are woven side by side–??green and orange, red, yellow and blue–the mariachi use sharply contrasting sounds: the sweet sounds of the violins against the brilliance of the trumpets, and the deep sound of the guitarrón against the crisp, high voice of the vihuela; and the frequent shifting between syncopation and on-beat rhythm. The resulting sound is the heart and soul of Mexico.

One last video: you simply can't talk about Mexico's music without a deep bow to Juan Gabriel, one of the most beloved Mexican singers of all time.  He first recorded the lovely Amor Eterno, written for his deceased mother, in 1991.  It is a legendary classic.  Once again, the audience sings along with every word.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgKqxLAhRKE&w=420&h=315] 

Next time you go to your local music store, look on the racks of CDs for some of the artists and styles of Mexican music I've mentioned. You may be quite surprised to see how popular the different styles are in the United States and Canada. As the population of countries North of the Border becomes more Mexican, the many sounds of Mexican music follow the fans. Next thing you know, you'll be dancing la quebradita.  

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

 
Sugar hens, each one ready to be placed on an ofrenda (altar) to a deceased relative or friend, or to give to a special person as a token of friendship on the Day of the Dead in November.

There's always a new wrinkle in hand-made sugar mementos made for each November's Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).  All of these photos are regional specialty items made in and around Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.  The sugar bottles (left to right) are Cazadores tequila, Bacardí rum, and Pedro Domecq brandy.  The nearly life-size bottles are decorated with icing, down to the last detail of the labels. 

Today's sugar skulls, angels, and other sugar figures were, in bygone years, made of wood and clay.  Because wood and clay were so expensive and difficult to work with, artisans searched for materials that not only cost less but were easier to handle.  Sugar and some simple stabilizing ingredients proved to be ideal.  The sugar mixture is pressed into molds and allowed to dry before being unmolded and decorated.

Sugar skulls mounted in a special Día de los Muertos display.

A large sugar skull, two angels (approximately 6" tall), and a pink-spotted pig wait side by side on an artisan's shelf for this year's customers.

Once the sugar figures are formed and allowed to harden in molds, they are hand-decorated with stiff confectioner's icing.  The artisan uses a small plastic bag to hold the icing, squeezing tiny lines of decor onto the figures from a hole cut in the corner of the bag.

These life-size fruits are made entirely of sugar.

Artisans report that the preparation and organization for sugar figure sales during the Día de los Muertos festivities begins in January, nearly an entire year before the holiday.  Due to the scarcity of molds for the sugar and the need to allow the sugar to dry to the necessary hardened consistency for decorating, making the figures is the work of many months.

These figures represent the Purépecha indigenous population of the Lake Pátzcuaro region.  The woman wears her typical skirt, blouse, and rebozo (a type of shawl) and holds a plate of lake white fish, a regional culinary specialty.  The man beside her wears a large sombrero and some very fanciful clothing.

Sweets to the sweet: "For My Sweetheart".

Average prices for sugar figures are: catrina (skeletal female figure), 50 to 60 pesos; coffins, 8 and 10 pesos; large granulated sugar skulls, 70 pesos.  More elaborate sugar figures, such as the two in the photo above, are approximately 80 to 100 pesos apiece.

Sugar fish!

Rest in peace.  These are funeral wreaths, made of colorful sugar.

The most traditional sugar skulls have a friend or relative's name across the forehead.  Some of these, just a bit over an inch high, have the name on a gold-colored tape above the eyes.  When you're ready to make a purchase, if you don't see a skull with the name you want, ask the artisan to write it on the skull with sugar icing–no extra charge!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A close-up of a jahuácata.  You can see the layers of masa, alternating with layers of frijolitos refritos.

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

For dessert, we found limones.  The pulp is scraped away, then the skin of each limón is crystallized and stuffed with cocada (coconut candy).  Half of one of these is plenty! 

This was such a sweet finish to a fascinating day in Michoacán.  If you'd like to travel to this event scheduled to begin on March 28, 2015, be sure to email Mexico Cooks! in time to save your place for adventure.

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Chiles en nogada (stuffed chiles poblanos in walnut sauce), Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.  Photo by Mexico Cooks!.

Mexico celebrates its independence the entire month of September with parades, parties, and traditional food and drink in restaurants and at home.  The traditional festive dish during the weeks before and after the Independence Day holiday is chiles en nogada, a magnificent tribute to the seasonal availability of granadas (pomegranates) and nuez (freshly harvested walnuts). From late August till early October, fresh pomegranates and walnuts make chiles en nogada possible.  Spicy chiles poblano, stuffed with picadillo and topped with richly creamy walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds, flaunt the brilliant green, white and red of the Mexican flag. 

This festive dish is traditionally served on September 15 or 16 in honor of Mexico's Independence Day, though it is popular anytime in the late summer and fall. During August and September in the highlands of Mexico, particularly in Mexico City and Puebla on the streets bordering the markets, village women can be seen sitting on blankets painstakingly peeling off the brown skin from each individual walnut. It is important to use the freshest walnuts possible, as they produce such a creamy, rich sauce that it is worth the effort demanded to peel them.  Yes, the recipe is time-consuming…but you and your guests will jump up and shout "VIVA!" when they've licked the platters clean.  

Ingredients

For the Meat  

• 2 pounds beef brisket or other stew meat or 1 pound beef and 1 pound pork butt 
• 1 small white onion, quartered 
• 2 large cloves garlic 
• about 1 Tbsp sea salt

 For the Picadillo   

• 4 Tbsp safflower or canola oil
• 1/3 cup chopped white onion
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 3 heaping Tbsp raisins
• 1 or 2 chiles serrano, finely minced
• 4 Tbsp chopped walnuts 
• 4 Tbsp slivered blanched almonds
• 2 Tbsp chopped biznaga (candied cactus)
• 1 fresh pear, peeled and chopped
• 1 apple, peeled and chopped
• 4 ripe peaches, peeled and diced
• 3 large, ripe tomatoes, roasted, peeled and chopped
• sea salt to taste

For the Chiles 

• 6 fresh chiles poblanos, roasted, peeled, and seeded, leaving the stem intact   

 For the Nogada (Walnut Sauce)   

• 1 cup fresh walnuts 
• 6 ounces queso doble crema or cream cheese (not fat free) at room temperature 
• 1-1/2 cups crema mexicana or 1-1/4 cups sour cream thinned with milk 
• about 1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
• 1 Tbsp sugar   
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 cup dry sherry (optional)

 

For the Garnish  

• 1 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds 

Method

Cut the meat into large chunks, removing any excess fat. Place the meat into a large Dutch oven with the onion, garlic, and salt. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Skim off any foam that collects on the surface. Lower the heat and allow the water to simmer about 45 minutes, until the meat is just tender. Take the pot off the stove and let the meat cool in the broth. Remove the pieces of meat and finely shred them. 

Warm the oil in a large, heavy skillet and sauté the onion and garlic over medium heat until they turn a pale gold. Stir in the shredded meat and cook for five minutes. Add the cinnamon, pepper, and cloves, then, stir in the raisins, the two tablespoons of chopped walnuts. Add the chopped pear, apple, and potato, and mix well. Add the tomatoes and salt to taste, and continue cooking over medium-high heat until most of the moisture has evaporated. Stir often so that the mixture doesn't stick. Let cool, cover, and set aside. The picadillo may be made a day or two in advance. 

Make a slit down the side of each chile, just long enough to remove the seeds and veins. Keep the stem end intact. Drain the chiles, cut side down, on paper towels until completely dry. Cover and set aside. The chiles may be prepared a day in advance. 

At least three hours in advance, put the walnuts in a small pan of boiling water. Remove from the heat and let them sit for five minutes. Drain the nuts and, when cool, rub off as much of the dark skin as possible. Chop into small pieces. Place the nuts, cream cheese, crema, and salt in a blender and purée thoroughly. Stir in the optional sugar, cinnamon, and sherry until thoroughly combined. Chill for several hours.

 

Preheat the oven to 250ºF. When ready to serve, reheat the meat filling and stuff the chiles until they are plump and just barely closed. Put the filled chiles, covered, to warm slightly in the oven. After they are thoroughly heated, place the chiles (cut side down) on a serving platter or on individual plates, cover with the chilled walnut sauce, and sprinkle with the cilantro (or parsley) and pomegranate seeds. 

This dish may also be served at room temperature, or it may be served chilled. It is rarely if ever served hot. 

Photos 2, 3, 4, and 5 courtesy of Jesús Guzmán Moya, M.D., of Puebla, Puebla, México.  Enjoy more of Dr. Guzmán's lovely photos here.  Gracias, amigo Chucho!

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Three types of maíz criollo, native Mexican corn.

Corn is the staple and basic food of Mexico.  It's the place to begin this culinary journey.  There's nothing  in the food cultures of the rest of North America remotely comparable to the importance of corn in Mexico. 

Corn was so important in the lives of the Incas, Mayas and Aztecs that it was elevated to a special role in the culture. Centéotl, the corn god, and Xilonen, goddess of the corn ear, played a primary role in pre-Conquest mythology and religious practices. In some Mexican villages, it's still customary to make offerings to the corn plant itself prior to planting.  Farmers offer flowers, coffee, and aguardiente (a strong alcohol distilled from sugar cane) to the seed corn, along with prayers and songs specific to the occasion.

La planta del hombre de maíz (men of corn plant), wall painting at the Templo Rojo, Cacaxtla, Tlaxcala.

Another Mayan legend tells that when the gods had organized the earth, the water and the animals, they then turned to creating a being who would understand the goodness of life. First they tried molding a man of clay, but he was weak and inept. Then they attempted making a man and a woman of bark, but they lacked intelligence and gratitude. Finally the gods created beings whose flesh was made of corn and had the same colors as corn. These beings could think and could thank the gods that made them.

From that day forward–right up to the present moment–corn has been central to the Mexican diet and the Mexican way of life.  Think of its infinite uses: the ubiquitous tortilla (a family of five might consume as much as a kilogram–2.2 pounds–of tortillas per person in the course of a day's meals), antojitos (little whims) made of nixtamal-ized corn, and an assortment of delicious preparations that ranges from the hundreds of varieties of tamales to tiny region-specific soup dumplings. 

Corn can be yellow, white, blue, red, green, black, or a mix of various colors.   

Any housewife can soak and boil the kernels, and then grind them into dough–that's the preparation and one use of nixtamal.  She can cook the prepared whole kernels in rich soups.  The variety of corn most often used in today's Mexico is cacahuatzintle, Nahuatl for–what else–corn. Cacahuatzintle produces large ears and soft, broad kernels and makes an excellent pozole, a rich soup traditionally prepared with nixtamal-ized corn kernels and pork meat.  In Mexico, a whole cabeza de puerco (pig's head) is the foundation of the soup's broth. 

No matter how humble, it's rare to find a meal in Mexico that does not include corn.  For desayuno (breakfast), tamales.  For comida (the main meal of the day), and for cena (late supper), corn's what's on the table, either as tortillas or as pozole or as rajas de chile poblano con crema y granos de maíz (poblano chiles strips with fresh corn kernels and cream), or any of a thousand dishes. We'll be talking much more about corn, this gift of Centéotl, as time goes by. 

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In Mexico and other Latin American countries, women wear newly purchased yellow underwear on New Year's Eve to bring good luck and wealth in the year to come.  Red underwear indicates a New Year's wish for an exciting love interest!  And if you want both, wear both!

Superstition or not, many here in Mexico have the custom of ritos del Año Nuevo (New Year's rituals).  Some rituals include foods, others prescribe certain clothing, and still others warrant attention for religious interest.

 
As the clock strikes midnight, it's common to eat twelve grapes–one at each ding, one at each dong of the bell.  While eating the grapes, you make a personal wish for each grape you consume, welcoming the new year that's beginning.  Mexico Cooks! finds that it's helpful to write down the twelve wishes so as not to forget one or choke in the rush to swallow the grapes before the clock finishes striking the New Year's earliest hour.

Eating a tablespoonful of cooked lentils on New Year's Eve is said to bring prosperity and fortune.  You can also give raw lentils–just a handful–to family and friends with the same wish.

On a small piece of paper, write down the undesirable habits and customs you'd like to let go of in the New Year that's just beginning.  Burn the paper, then follow through with the changes!

Choose three stones that symbolize health, love, and money.  Put them in a place where you will see them every day.

Light candles: blue for peace, yellow for abundance, red for love, green for health, white for spirituality, and orange for intelligence.

Spill clean water on the sidewalk in front of your house as the clock rings in the New Year.  Your house will be purified and all tears will be washed away.

To have money for your needs all year, have some bills in your hand or in your pocket to welcome the arrival of the New Year.  Some people fold up the money and put it in their shoes!

Take your suitcase for a walk.  Legend is that the farther you walk with your suitcase, the farther you'll travel.  Several New Year's Eves ago, Mexico Cooks! and a few friends celebrated by walking our suitcases around the block, and we all traveled far and wide during the new year that followed.

Mexico Cooks! wishes all of you a muy Próspero Año Nuevo–and especially wishes that your red underwear brings you (or keeps you) the love of family, friends, and that special someone.

We'll see you in 2014!

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A Christmas tree may well be the central focus of your home decoration during this joyous season of the Christian year.  In most parts of Mexico, the Christmas tree is a fairly recent import and the primary focus of the holiday is still the nacimiento (manger scene, creche, or nativity scene).

One of Mexico Cooks!' biggest delights every late November and early December is shopping for Christmas–not hunting for gifts, but rather for new items to place in our nacimiento (manger scene).  Truth be told, we have five nacimientos–or maybe six–that come out each Christmas season, but only one of them keeps growing every year.

The tiny figures in this nacimiento are made of clay; the choza (hut) is made of wood.  The shepherds and angels have distinctive faces; no two are alike.  One shepherd carries firewood, another a tray of pan dulce (sweet breads), a third has a little bird in his hands.  The tallest figures measure only three inches high.  The Niño Dios (Baby Jesus) is not usually placed in the pesebre (manger) until the night of December 24.  The Niño Dios for this nacimiento is just over an inch long and is sleeping on his stomach with his tiny knees drawn up under him, just like a real infant.  This nacimiento was made about 25 years ago in Tonalá, Jalisco, Mexico.

Mexican households traditionally pass the figures for their nacimientos down through the family; the figures begin to look a little tattered after traveling from great-grandparents to several subsequent generations, but no one minds.  In fact, each figure holds loving family memories and is the precious repository of years of 'remember when…?''.  No one cares that the Virgin Mary's gown is chipped around the hem or that St. Joseph is missing an arm; remembering how the newest baby teethed on the Virgin's dress or how a long-deceased visiting aunt's dog bit off St. Joseph's arm is cause for a family's nostalgic laughter.

Nacimiento en vivo (living nativity scene), Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico.  In 13th century Italy, St. Francis of Assisi was inspired to re-enact the birth of Christ.  The first nacimiento was presented with living creatures: the oxen, the donkey, and the Holy Family.  Even today in Mexican communities, there are hundreds of living manger scenes. 

Holy Family, 18th century Italy.  The first nativity figures, made of clay, were created in 15th century Naples and their use spread rapidly throughout Italy and Spain.  In Spain, the early figural groups were called 'Belenes' (Bethlehems). 

A few weeks before Christmas, our tiny nacimiento de plomo (manger scene with lead figures, none over three or four inches high) comes out of year-long storage.  The wee village houses are made of cardboard and hand-painted; each has snow on its roof and a little tree in front.  You might well ask what the figures in the photo represent: Sr. San José (St. Joseph, who in Mexico always wears green and gold) leads the donkey carrying la Virgen María (the Virgin Mary) on their trek to Belén (Bethlehem).  We put these figures out earliest and move them a bit closer to Bethlehem every day.  This nacimiento is the one that grows each year; we have added many figures to the original few.  This year we expect the total number of figures to rise to more than 125.  

Click on the photo and you will see that the Holy Family has not yet arrived in Bethlehem; the choza is empty and St. Joseph's staff is just visible in the lower right-hand corner.  Click to enlarge the photo to better see the figures in the nacimiento: gamboling sheep, birds of all kinds, shepherds, shepherdesses, St. Charbel, an angel, and Our Lady of Guadalupe are all ready to receive the Niño Dios (Baby Jesus).  Notice the upright red figure standing in the Spanish moss: that's Satanás (the devil), who is always present in a Mexican nacimiento to remind us that although the birth of Jesus offers love and the possibility of redemption, sin and evil are always present in the world.

Detail of the lead figures in our ever-growing nacimiento.  To the left is a well (with doves) and a woman coming to draw water; to the right is an arriero (donkey-herder) giving his little donkey what-for.  No matter how many figures are included, the central figures in any nacimiento are the Holy Family (St. Joseph, the Virgin Mary, and the Baby Jesus).  In Mexico, those three are collectively known as el misterio (the mystery).

A very small portion of one of the largest nacimientos on display in Mexico City.  It measures more than 700 square meters and includes thousands of figures.  They include everything you can think of and some things that would never occur to you: a butcher shop, a running stream and a waterfall, sleeping peasants, and washerwomen.  A nacimiento can include all of the important stories of the Bible, from Genesis to the Resurrection, as well as figures representing daily life–both today's life in Mexico and life at the time of Jesus's birth.  Photo courtesy El Universal.

Papel roca (hand-painted paper for decorating a nacimiento), a choza (little hut), and two kinds of moss for sale in this booth at the Guadalajara tianguis navideño (Christmas market).  This year, Mexico Cooks! has purchased figures of a miniature pre-Hispanic loinclothed warrior, a tiny shoemaker working at his bench, a wee man sawing firewood, and a shepherd standing under a tree while holding a lamb. The shepherd's tree looks exactly like a stalk of broccoli and makes us smile each time we look at it. 

Where in Mexico can you buy figures for your nacimiento?  Every city and town has a market where, for about a month between the end of November and the first week in January, a large number of vendors offer items especially for Christmas.  Some larger cities, like Mexico City, Guadalajara, Morelia, and others, offer several tianguis navideños (Christmas markets) where literally thousands of figures of every size are for sale.  Last year we found a tiny figure of the seated Virgin Mary, one breast partially exposed as she nurses the Niño Dios, who lies nestled in her arms.  It's the only one like it that we have ever seen.

This booth at a tianguis navideño in Guadalajara offers Niños Dios in every possible size, from tiny ones measuring less than three inches long to babies the size of a two-year-old child.  In Mexico City's Centro Histórico, Calle Talavera is an entire street devoted to shops specializing in clothing for your Niño Dios.  The nacimiento is traditionally displayed until February 2 (Candlemas Day), when the Niño Dios is gently taken out of the pesebre in a special ceremony called the levantamiento (raising).  The nacimiento is then carefully stored away until the following December.

Near Mexico City's Basílica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, this religious goods store also advertises that it will dress the Niño Dios for your nacimiento.

Piles of gold and silver glitter cardboard stars of Bethlehem, for sale at the tianguis navideño in southern Mexico City's Mercado Mixcoac.

An assortment of clay figures for your nacimiento: villagers, chickens, and vendors.  Size and scale don't matter: you'll find crocodiles the size of your little finger and elephants bigger than a soft drink can.  Both will work equally well in your nacimiento.

Giant flamingos go right along with burritas (little donkeys).  Why not?

Each traditional figure in a nacimiento is symbolic of a particular value.  For example, the choza (the little hut) represents humility and simplicity.  Moss represents humilty–it's something that everyone steps on.  The donkey represents the most humble animal in all creation, chosen to carry the pregnant Virgin Mary.  The star of Bethlehem represents renewal and unending light.

Which diablito (little devil) tempts you most, the one with the money bag or the one with the booze?

How many shepherds do you want?  This Guadalajara tianguis navideño booth has hundreds, and in sizes ranging from an inch to well over a foot tall.

It wouldn't be a Mexican nacimiento without tortillas!

This Christmas, Mexico Cooks! wishes you all the blessings of the season.  Whatever your faith, we hope you enjoy this peek at the nacimiento, one of Mexico's lasting traditions.

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The wise, elegant, and delightful Carmen 'Titita' Ramírez Degollado, since 1972 the guiding hand and shining light behind Restaurante El Bajío.

A little over two months ago, Mexico Cooks! received an email from Restaurante El Bajío: would we kindly accompany Titita Ramírez, her family and staff in celebrating the restaurant's 40th anniversary?  We would, we most definitely would!  El Bajío is one of our favorite restaurants in Mexico City; the original location in Azcapotzalco is warm, charming, folkloric, and generally a home-away-from-home for many of us who treasure honest renditions of traditional Mexican dishes.

The day we were guests at El Bajío, two large rooms of the restaurant were reserved for Titita's friends, neighbors, and family.  Left to right at our table: Fernando Cordero, Titita Ramírez, and Delphine Kachadurian LeBlanc.  Bibs are always muy de moda (very much in style) at El Bajío!

Three little clay pots of soups!  At left, chilpachole de jaiba, made with crab.  At top, xonequi, a soup of wild greens thickened by beans and masa (corn dough).  At right, chileatole verde, made with chile poblano, tender fresh corn, and epazote. 

The menu listed six different main dishes.  While the guests at our table were still deciding which to choose, the wait staff started serving the first: mole verde con verduras (green mole with vegetables).  We all giggled greedily as we realized there was no choice: we were each to have all six dishes!

Cuete de res mechado (a cut of beef that is typically pierced and stuffed with a variety of other ingredients such as capers, olives, bacon, etc., and then baked). 

Mole blanco con pechuga de pollo y tamalitos (white mole with breast of chicken and little tamales).

Among the several possibilities for drinking were pre-dinner aguas frescas (fresh fruit waters), mezcal, or tequila with sangrita, followed by white or red wine with the meal.  This 2009 Chardonnay from Casa Baloyán (Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico) was an excellent companion to each of the main dishes.

Mole de Xico con pato (mole in the style of Xico, Veracruz, served with duck).  When the waiters noticed that the guests at our end of the table had snarfed down one platter of a particular main dish, a second platter magically appeared.  Occasionally, even a third platter materialized!  Somehow all of the platters left the table completely clean–another guest and I threatened to lick this platter of mole Xico!

I neglected to photograph two of the main dishes: pipián de semillas de chile con costillitas de cerdo (pipián [a thick, seed-based sauce] made from chile seeds with little pork ribs) and pipián de Coquimatlán con nopalitos (pipián from Coquimatlán, Colima, served with cactus paddles). 

Two desserts were on the menu, and again there was no choice: we each had both.  This plate holds a macarrón de chamoy "Huehue", a small pepitoria (at the top, partially covered by the macarrón), and a trio of obleas (wafers).  The "Huehue" comes with no explanation, but it was at once crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, deliciously sweet and refreshingly tart.  The pepitoria is a larger oblea smeared with syrup which acts as a 'glue' for the protruding pepitas (pumpkin seeds).  The oblea is then folded, the halves stuck together with the syrup inside.

Our second dessert: small bolitas (little balls) of nieve (sherbet).  The orange one was mamey (a fruit) and the other, mango.  The sherbets were sprinkled with chamoy, a Mexican seasoning based on apricot, plum, or mango that combines sweet, salty, spicy, and sour flavors.

The mamey fruit used to make the sherbet.

Each guest received a commemorative Recetario de Sopas (wet and dry soup cookbook) that Titita compiled for the restaurant's 40th anniversary.  In Mexico, soups can be either aguado (wet, as in a broth or cream soup) or seco (technically either rice, pasta, or other starch course).

We had a marvelous time.  The food was just as delicious as it looks and the presentations were just as lovely.  We were honored to be included among Titita's friends.  And by far the nicest surprise was the companionship at our meal.  Randomly seated with friends of Titita's whom we had not met prior to the event, we had a lovely afternoon and have already made arrangements to spend time again with some of our table mates.  It could not have been a better afternoon!

Restaurante El Bajío
Av. Cuitláhuac 2709
Azcapotzalco
Distrito Federal
Tel: 341.5877

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Mexico Cooks! published this article on February 23, 2008, after returning home to Morelia, Michoacán following a two-week trip to Chiapas.  Several other photo essay articles about Chiapas followed this one–and WILL follow this one, as we are once again traveling for a few weeks.  Enjoy!

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

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

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

Come look:

Brightly dyed corn and colored beans strung as necklaces.

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

A stack of finely woven shawls.

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

Woven textile belts finished with leather.

Hand-embroidered zippered eyeglass holders.

Hand-woven bracelets.

Headbands, headbands, and more headbands!

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

Mexico Cooks! is traveling.  We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming in mid-July.