Category: Visiting Chefs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Toasting the chiles ancho on the comal.

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

Toasting the chiles guajillo on the comal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Serves 12.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8 de March de 2014
Tamaliza (Tamales Feast) with Dear Friends on February 2: El Día de la Candelaria

Mexico Cooks!' dear friends Edmundo Escamilla Solís (L) and Yuri de Gortari Krauss. Between them, Yuri and Mundo know more about Mexico's history and its cuisines than most of the rest of our friends put together. I can't imagine that anyone would disagree. Photo courtesy wradio.com.mx. All photos by Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.

Several years ago, mutual friends introduced Mexico Cooks! to Edmundo Escamilla and Yuri de Gortari. Within minutes, we realized that we were in the presence of two of Mexico's treasures. Far from being museum pieces or distant ruins, these men are a vibrant, living storehouse of this country's past and present. Today, my wife and I are honored to count Mundo and Yuri among our dearest friends. We don't see one another as often as any of us would like–they're busy, we're busy–but the moments we spend together are precious.

The double stairway into the Escuela de Gastronomía Mexicana (Esgamex, School of Mexican Gastronomy), Colonia Roma, Distrito Federal. Since 1990, Yuri and Mundo have dedicated themselves to an in-depth study of Mexico's gastronomy; after running a restaurant and catering company, they founded the school in 2007. Esgamex is unique among culinary schools in Mexico, teaching not only Mexico's regional and national cuisines, but also teaching Mexico's history, art, and culture. Although the school offers no program leading to a culinary degree, it continues to attract students who want to learn traditional recipes from the best teaching team in the city.

A few weeks ago, my wife and I received an invitation from Yuri and Mundo–please come share our tamaliza (tamales party) on the night of February 2, el Día de la Candelaria (Candlemas Day). An intimate circle of friends gathered in homage to a close friend of our hosts, who had passed away. In her honor, we ate tamales–and more tamales–five varieties in all.

First were tamales de cambray, from Chiapas. These corn masa (dough) tamales, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed, were savory and delicious.

Tamal de cambray unwrapped. Each tamal was small enough to leave us hungry for the ones that followed.

The tamal de cambray cut open to show its savory filling.

This rectangular, flat tamal de cazón is filled with flaked baby shark meat. It's a specialty of the state of Campeche.

A marvelously spicy salsa made with chile habanero accompanied the tamal de cazón.

The next three varieties of tamales looked almost identical to one another. Each was wrapped in corn husks and steamed–but despite appearances, each was very different from the other. The first variety was a tamal de pollo, frutas, y verduras (chicken, fruit, and vegetables) from the state of Sinaloa. The second was our first sweet tamal of the evening. A tamal from the state of Colima, its masa is prepared with mixed corn and rice flours as well as dried coconut. The sweet filling is a mix of various dried and crystallized chopped fruits.

The last (but definitely not the least!) tamal was a tamal de almendra (almond). The masa contains not only corn and rice flours and sugar, but also blanched, peeled, and finely ground almonds. The almonds both sweeten and give texture to the masa. And sweet surprise!, the tamal is filled with sweet crema pastelera (pastry cream). If we had had one inch of space in our stomachs, we each would definitely have eaten two of these!

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HonJ3sz8HOw&w=420&h=220]
Here's Yuri de Gortari, teaching the proper way to prepare tamales de almendra. Even if you don't understand all of the Spanish-language instructions, you'll be fascinated by his teaching manner as well as his techniques. And his lovely speaking voice is simply hypnotizing.

When our group finished eating, we stayed for hours in the sobremesa–the after-dinner conversation that is frequently as delicious and nourishing as the food itself. What better way to enjoy an evening than in the company of precious friends, sharing ideas, feelings, and loving laughter? Next year, have a tamaliza at your home on February 2, invite your friends, and deepen your love and appreciation for one another–and of course for the marvelous cuisines of Mexico.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

25 de January de 2014
2013 in Retrospect :: 2013, Una Mirada Hacia Atrás

In January, we took our shopping bags and some of you to the Mercado de Jamaica, one of Mexico Cooks! favorite Mexico City markets. Not only is the produce section of this wonderful market home to a huge variety of delightful signs (this one, referring to the price for tomate verde (tomatillos), means, "Lady, don't even talk about it!"), but the main part of the Mercado de Jamaica is the city's wholesale flower market. Seasonal changes in the flowers we see there include gorgeous nochebuenas (poinsettias) at Christmas, cempazúchitl (enormous marigolds) for Day of the Dead in November, and roses of every color all year long.

For the Día de La Candelaria (Candlemas Day) on February 2, the Mercado de la Merced offers a huge selection of Niños Dios (Holy Child) figures and the clothing to dress them. This particular outfit depicts El Santo Niño Doctor de los Enfermos (the Holy Child, Doctor to the Sick), with his stethoscope, his doctor's bag, and his white uniform. There are hundreds of other costumes for Him as well. Each year, February 2 marks the official ending of the Christmas season; the Baby Jesus, dressed in his new clothing, goes to church to be blessed. He is then either stored away until the following Christmas or he's placed on his own golden throne in a private home.

In March 2013, we prepared chilaquiles con huevo (chilaquiles with egg), a simple, home-style breakfast classic much eaten at Mexico Cooks!' house. Whether you want a filling breakfast or a simple comida (midday meal), these few ingredients make a tasty and popular combination.

Rajas de chile poblano con crema (strips of poblano chiles with cream) was our traditional dish for April. These large, beautiful chiles are generally not particularly spicy, but their flavor packs a terrific punch for a different kind of side dish for your table. If you haven't tried them yet, the recipe is simple and your family will love it.

May 2013 took you and Mexico Cooks! all over Mexico City. One of our favorite pastimes is giving Mexico Cooks! readers glimpses of daily life in this huge city and letting you see things that will broaden your vision of Mexico. This mariachi member is the vihuela (a stringed instrument) player along the canals of Xochimilco.

In June, dichos de la cocina (kitchen sayings) took center stage. Here in Mexico, there's a saying to fit any situation, and sayings from the kitchen are no exception. Each of them has at least two meanings, the literal and the not-so-literal. One of my favorites is Guajolote que se sale del corral, termina en mole. The turkey that gets out of the yard ends up in mole.

Ricardo Muñoz Zurita's restaurant Azul/Condesa called out to us in July–not to mention several other times during the course of 2013. This dish, buñuelos de pato rostizado con mole negro (small crunchy fried dough filled with roast duck and drizzled with black mole), is on the menu as a main course, but we often share it among three or four diners as an appetizer.

During three weeks in August, Mexico Cooks! focused on Oaxaca. These three articles were a down-memory-lane look at a wonderful trip dating to June 2011.

In September, we featured the ultimate taste of Mexican pork: these are tacos al pastor (marinated pork, grilled to order on the trompo (vertical spit). The meat is cut from the spit and knife-flicked into warm tortillas, along with a sliver of roast pineapple, for delicious tacos. This fellow, cooking on Calle Uruguay in Mexico City's Centro Histórico, loves what he does!

October found us in a most unusual place: an international dog show, right here in Mexico City. This little wire-hair terrier named Thor really captured my heart, and his picture gave everyone who saw it a big smile. Such a cheery guy!

Early November brings Noche de Muertos (Night of the Dead) to all of Mexico. This spiritual calling-home of those who have gone before is particularly lovely in the state of Michoacán. Mexico Cooks! was fortunate to be invited on a private tour of small cemeteries, accompanied by dear friends.

To close out the year, we re-visited Doña Lolita and learned a lot about the joy of making (and breaking!) piñatas. We loved visiting her and hearing her tell the traditions of her long life as a piñatera (piñata maker).

Mexico Cooks! will be on the go again in 2014. Of course YOU are always welcome to join us on a tour especially designed for your personal needs. Let us know what we can offer you!

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

4 de January de 2014
10th Annual Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán: Festival of Michoacán’s Traditional Cuisine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9 de November de 2013
Sunday Brunch, American Style, Pops Up in Mexico City: Spice Everywhere

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5 de October de 2013
8° Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán: Eighth Annual Michoacán Traditional Food Festival
On October 4, 5, and 6, 2013, the Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán
will celebrate its 10th anniversary. In honor of the coming festival,
for the next three weeks, Mexico Cooks! will publishing its articles
about the prior three years of the Encuentro. In mid-October, you'll find the report of the 10th Anniversary Encuentro,
right here on Mexico Cooks!. And if you can possibly get to the 10th
Anniversary event, we'll publish all the details just as soon as we have
them. Meantime, save the dates: October 4, 5, and 6, 2013 in Morelia,
Michoacán.

Maestra Benedicta Alejo Vargas grinds cilantro and mint to prepare tzirita, a deliciously spicy botana (appetizer or snack) based on metate-ground chile seeds and various herbs.

For me, the days leading to the Eighth Annual Encuentro de Cocina
Tradicional de Michoacán moved almost as slowly as the days leading to a
five-year-old's Christmas morning. This event celebrating the
traditional cuisines of regional Michoacán, held annually during the
first weekend of December, is the high point of my personal and
professional year.

Essentials of the Michoacán kitchen: clay pots, wooden utensils, a ventilador (fan) to urge the wood fire hotter, and the skilled hands of a cook.

The Encuentro started life in 2004, sponsored by the Secretaría de Turismo and the Secretaría de Cultura del Estado de Michoacán
as well as by several generous corporate sponsors. During its eight
years, it has grown and changed, evolving into the unique event that so
many of us enjoy. Although there are many different food festivals in
Mexico, no other has the impact of the annual Encuentro.

Maestra Amparo Cervantes (left) of Tzurumútaro and Señora Paulita Alfaro of Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro are two of several elegant and vital grandes damas
(great ladies) of the Michoacán kitchen. They pass their recipes and
secrets of the kitchen to their daughters and granddaughters.

In November 2010, UNESCO
(the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization) announced that Mexico, and particularly the state of
Michoacán, had been officially inscribed on the Representative List of
the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Since then, Michoacán
regional cooks have proudly carried the banner of what is called el paradigma michoacano–the
Michoacán paradigm. UNESCO included those words in its award based on
miliennia-old indigenous Purhépecha way of food preparation that has
been preserved, protected, and promoted up to the present day. The
Michoacán paradigm is a model for other regional Mexican cuisines.

Freshly hand-made corn tortillas toasting on a wood-fire heated clay comal
(griddle). Note that the tortilla in the foreground is puffed up; this
is a key sign of a properly made tortilla. The tortilla will flatten
out again as it toasts. There are no tortillas like those hand-made in
Michoacán.

Much
of Michoacán's regional cuisine is based on Mexico's native corn.
These dried ears, hung up to decorate a festive food stand at the 2010 Encuentro, show just a few of the several colors of corn native to this area. The preservation of native corn varieties is crucial to the continuity of the Michoacán paradigm.

Maestra Antonina González Leandro of Tarerio, Michoacán, is radiant in her hand-embroidered blouse.

This year, the organizing committee gave special honors to a few of
the consistent winners of the cooking competition at the heart of each
annual Encuentro. These great women of the regional kitchen, now retired from competition, are the soul of this festive event. They are:
- Benedicta Alejo Vargas, San Lorenzo. Her specialities for 2010 were wild mushrooms, traditional churipo (a beef-based soup), rabbit mole, cheese mole, and tzirita.
- Juana Bravo Lázaro, Angahuan. Her specialities were atápakua de kuruchi kariri (dried fish stew), filled corundas with churipo, and two varieties of tortillas.
- Antonina González Leandro, Tarerio. She specialized in fried trout with traditional mole, tomato mole, or in a broth, pozole, and ponteduro (a kind of toasted and sweetened corn snack).
- Esperanza Galván Hernández, Zacán. Her specialties were mole tatemado con arroz (baked mole with rice), quesadillas, corundas filled with vegetables, and blue corn tortillas.
- Amparo Cervantes, Tzurumútaro. For this Encuentro, she specialized in mole con pollo y arroz (mole with chicken and rice), carne de puerco con rajas (pork meat with poblano chile strips), corundas, and uchepos.
A few of Maestra Antonina's special dishes, including (lower right) tortitas de charales, (center, in the molcajete) salsa de chile perón, (back left) nopalitos en salsa de jitomate, and (back right) caldo de trucha (freshly fried Michoacán-farmed rainbow trout in broth).

Maestra Amparo's carne de cerdo con rajas, cooking over a wood fire. She constantly tended and stirred the cazuela (clay cooking dish) so that the preparation would neither dry out nor stick.

Sra. Cayetana Nambo Rangel of Erongarícuaro prepared choricorundas, a type of pyramid-shaped corn tamal filled with cooked chorizo, a spicy pork sausage. The corunda is wrapped in a long green corn leaf (not a corn husk) and then steamed. Traditionally, corundas can be either blind (made without a filling) or filled.

Young cook Susana Servín Galván of Zacán entered the food competition with cuchiatápakua en chile verde con frijoles de la olla, a traditional dish from her small town. The dish consists of pork meat cooked in a thick sauce made of highly spicy chile serrano
and served with freshly cooked beans and blue corn tortillas. This is
my jealously guarded plateful; the dish was stunningly delicious and
sold out quickly. I was lucky to taste it.

Susana Servín Galván, the up-and-coming young cook who prepared the fabulous dish in the preceding photo.

Salsa de chile de árbol pounded into existence using this enormous molcajete y tejolote (volcanic stone mortar and pestle).

More ingredients and utensils crucial to the regional Michoacán kitchen.

Mexico Cooks! will keep you informed about the dates for the 2012 Ninth Annual Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán.
This unique event, a true look at Michoacán's regional cuisine, should
be on everyone's calendar for early December. Come with us and we will
introduce you to all of these dishes and more!

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.
28 de September de 2013
7º Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán: Michoacán’s Seventh Annual Festival of Traditional Cuisine

On October 4, 5, and 6, 2013, the Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán will celebrate its 10th anniversary. In honor of the coming festival, for the next three weeks, Mexico Cooks! will publishing its articles about the prior three years of the Encuentro. In mid-October, you'll find the report of the 10th Anniversary Encuentro, right here on Mexico Cooks!. And if you can possibly get to the 10th Anniversary event, we'll publish all the details just as soon as we have them. Meantime, save the dates: October 4, 5, and 6, 2013 in Morelia, Michoacán.

In Uruapan, Michoacán, on December 3, 2010, multicolored papel picado (cut paper streamers) billowed in the evening breeze to announce our tremendous pride in the VII Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán (Seventh Annual Michoacán Traditional Food Festival).

A sumptuous and traditional mole con pollo (mole with chicken) as prepared by Antonina González Leandro of Tarerio, Michoacán. Sra. González participated in the concurso de la Zona Lacustre (Lake Pátzcuaro region competition) that took place this year in Pátzcuaro. In addition to this mole, she prepared pozole de elote con conejo (fresh-corn stew with rabbit), several other savory dishes, and a wonderful sweet dried-corn snack called ponteduro.

In
Pátzcuaro on December 4, 2010, Sra. Antonina González paused at her
booth to pose with Cynthia Martínez, in charge of Morelia's Restaurante
San Miguelito.

Each of the last several years, Mexico Cooks!
has been privileged to be included on the teams of speakers, judges,
and hosts for Michoacán's annual traditional cuisine spectacular. This
year, our joyous cup of participation in the festival was filled to
overflowing by the two-week-prior notice that Mexico's cuisine, and
especially the cuisine of Michoacán, had been designated as a UNESCO
Intangible Heritage of Humanity–the first cuisine in the world to be so
honored. Three cities in central Michoacán (Morelia, Uruapan, and
Pátzcuaro) were named to host this year's food festival, and all three
went completely overboard in welcoming every participant: host
committees, notable chefs and food writers from all parts of Mexico and
other countries, hundreds of proud and happy local and regional eaters,
and the people without whom there would be no reason to have the party:
the stupendous traditional cooks from the Purhépecha communities
throughout this part of the state.

In Morelia on December 5, 2010, Dra. Gloria López Morales, president of the Conservatorio de la Cultura Gastronómica Mexicana, shares her views on topics related to Mexico's November 2010 triumph at UNESCO.

In Pátzcuaro, Mexico Cooks!
talks about Michoacán cuisine with (left) Christian Plotzcyk and
(right) David Suárez of the New York restaurant group Rosa Mexicano.

A
number of internationally known chefs and food writers attended the
festival this year. Among them were Patricia Quintana, Alicia Gironella
d'Angeli, Rubén Hernández, Roberto González Guzmán, Sol Rubín de
Borbolla, Cristina Palacio, and Gabriel Gutiérrez García, all from
Mexico City; Cynthia Martínez, Alma Cervantes, and Joaquín Bonilla of
Morelia; and Susana Trilling of Oaxaca. In addition, David Suárez and
Christian Plotzcyk of the Rosa Mexicano restaurant group based in New
York City and Iliana de la Vega of Restaurante El Naranjo, Austin, Texas, represented the interest of the United States. The
festival also counted on the participation of internationally renowned
Michoacán chefs Rubí Silva Figueroa (Restaurante Los Mirasoles,
Morelia), Lucero Soto Arriaga (Restaurante LU, Morelia), and Blanca
Estela Vidales (Restaurante La Mesa de Blanca, Ziracuaretiro,
Michoacán), who, along with teams of cooks and assistants, prepared
several banquets for specially invited festival participants and guests.

In Uruapan, we tasted delicious jahuacatas (corundas created using layers of frijoles molidos (beans ground on the traditional metate) and fresh masa (corn dough), as prepared by Sra. Juanita Bravo Lázaro from Angahuan, Michoacán. Sra. Bravo served these marvelous jahuacatas with an atápakua de calabaza
(thick squash sauce). This preparation won the prize for the best
traditional dish. Click on the photograph to enlarge the picture for a
better view of the layers.

None of the judges had previously heard of–much less tasted–these incredibly delicious yurucurindas. Once we tasted them in Uruapan, we couldn't stop recommending them to everyone in earshot. "Hurry, get one before they're gone!" we mumbled with our mouths full. Similar in size to but a bit thicker than a standard corn tortilla, the yurucurindas are made from blue corn masa, piloncillo (Mexican raw sugar cones), and canela molida (ground cinnamon), and then baked on a traditional comal de barro (clay griddle). Even this long after the festival, the photo still makes my mouth water at the memory!

Señora Benedicta
Alejo Vargas of San Lorenzo, Michoacán is one of the greatest
traditional cooks in the Uruapan area. The internationally known Sra.
Alejo won the prize for best rescued dish with churipo de carne seca
(dried beef soup in the Purhépecha style). Rescued dishes include
traditional preparations that are not usually prepared today and are on
the verge of extinction. Photo courtesy Gabriel Gutiérrez García.

Mexico Cooks!
noticed this basket of fresh green leaves on the table at Sra. Alejo's
booth and asked what purpose they served. Sra. Alejo smiled and said,
"When I was a little girl, my grandmother always put a basket of leaves
on the table to use as napkins. It's part of my family's tradition."
In addition to her prize-winning traditional churipo, Sra. Alejo prepared mole de conejo (rabbit mole), mole de queso (cheese mole), and tzirita, a botana (appetizer) made of finely ground chile seeds and other savory ingredients.

For
the first time, acclaimed chef (she's the owner of Mexico City's
restaurant Izote) and author Patricia Quintana attended the Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional. She happily served as a judge.

Absolutely gorgeous: hot-off-the-comal tortillas, made with two colors of corn masa.

Thick and delicious atole de chaqueta is a corn-based hot drink flavored, in this instance, with the toasted and ground outer shells of the cacao
(chocolate) bean. Nothing is wasted here in Michoacán's kitchens:
imagine that such delicious things are made from what you might discard:
chile seeds and the hulls of cocoa beans!

In
addition to the wonderful food competition, the festival organization
treated the Uruapan public to a marvelous evening of traditional music
and dance.

At the December 5, 2010 Morelia closure of the VII Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán, the prize-winning cocineras
(cooks) and other dignitaries posed with (left foreground) Sra. Alicia
Gironella d'Angeli, First Lady of Mexico's food world and chef/owner at
Restaurante El Tajín in Mexico City and Dr. Genovevo Figueroa, secretary
of tourism for the state of Michoacán. Both Sra. Gironella and Dr.
Figueroa are long-time supporters of this annual Michoacán festival.
Photo courtesy Rubén Hernández.

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21 de September de 2013
VIVA MÉXICO! For Independence Day, Chiles en Nogada, the Mexican Flag on Your Plate
The whole month of September is a big party: the Fiestas Patrias (National Celebrations).
Here, a street stand offering Mexican flags, hanging banners, and a lot of small Independence-related items for sale.

Mexico
celebrates its independence during 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 fresh nuez de Castilla (walnuts). From late August till early October, fresh pomegranates and frsh walnuts make chiles en nogada possible. Mildly 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.

Chiles en nogada: chiles poblano, roasted, peeled, stuffed with picadillo (in this case, a fruity Mexican hash), and plated with walnut sauce, pomegranate seeds, and fresh cilantro.

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 recently harvested walnuts, the freshest 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 you'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 Tablespoon sea salt
For the Picadillo
- 4 Tablespoons safflower or canola oil
- 1/3 cup chopped white onion
- 3 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3 heaping Tablespoons raisins
- 1 or 2 chiles serrano, finely minced
- 2 Tablespoons chopped walnuts or pecans
- 2 Tablespoons chopped candied pineapple
- 1 fresh pear, peeled and chopped
- 1 apple, peeled and chopped
- 1 large potato, peeled and diced
- 3 large, ripe tomatoes, roasted, peeled and chopped
- sea salt to taste
For the Chiles
- 6 fresh chiles poblano , roasted, peeled, and seeded, leaving the stem intact
For the Walnut Sauce
- 1 cup fresh walnuts (available only at this time of the year)
- 6 ounces 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 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup dry sherry (optional)
For the Garnish
- 1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
- 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds
Preparation

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 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon, pepper, and cloves, then, stir in
the raisins, the 2 Tablespoons 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 on paper towels until they are completely dry. Cover and set aside. The chiles may be prepared a day in advance.

At
least 3 hours in advance, place the walnuts in a small pan of
boiling water. Remove from the heat and let them sit for 5 minutes.
Drain the nuts and, when cool, rub off as much of the dark skin as
possible. Chop the nuts 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, if using, until thoroughly combined. Chill for
several hours.

When ready to serve, reheat the meat filling and stuff the chiles until plump and just barely closed. Place the chiles
on a serving platter or on individual plates, cover with the chilled
walnut sauce, and sprinkle with the cilantro and
pomegranate seeds.

This dish can also be served at room temperature, or it may be served chilled.

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!

Provecho!

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14 de September de 2013