Mexican onions: Red, white and green Karen Hursh Graber

The white variety is the onion of choice in classic Mexican cooking. Use them in both raw and cooked salsas, and grill them with peppers when making fajitas. Also popular in Mexico is the red onion, or as it is more properly called in Spanish, cebolla morada, or purple onion. Green onions, called cebollita or cebolla cambray, are a requisite component of any Mexican parillada, or meal of grilled food, whether beef, chicken, chorizos, or a mix of meat, poultry or vegetables. read more

Yucatan Style pickled onions: Cebollas encurtidas estilo yucateca Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican grilled green onions: Cebollitas a la parilla Karen Hursh Graber

Onions stuffed with Mexican chorizo and potatoes: Cebollas rellenas con chorizo y papas Karen Hursh Graber

Yogurt: A healthy Mexican favorite Karen Hursh Graber

The Lebanese population of Mexico, especially concentrated in Mexico City, Puebla and Veracruz, has given us jocoque, a type of thick yogurt from the Middle East, related to Greek yogurt. And it was in Spain that the industrialized production of yogurt was begun in Barcelona in 1919, when Isaac Carasso introduced a product called Danone, named for his son Danial. Danone, called Dannon in other countries, has long been the most popular brand of yogurt in Mexico. read more

Mexican chicken in yogurt sauce: Enjococado Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican yogurt avocado dip: Dip de yogurt con aguacate Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican vegetable salad with yogurt dressing: Ensalada de verduras con aderezo de yogurt Karen Hursh Graber

The beautiful beet: A Mexican salad and drink favorite Karen Hursh Graber

Traditional Mexican beet salads nearly always pair the sweetness of beets with a savory ingredient, most often a mild white cheese, usually queso fresco. Some type of fruit is usually incorporated, with citrus being a common choice, either orange in the salad, lime in the dressing, or both. Pears, mangos and avocados are also typically used in beet salads. read more

Mexican blessed beet salad: Ensalada de betabel bendito Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican Christmas Eve salad: Ensalada de noche buena Karen Hursh Graber

This salad is open to individual interpretation, with the only constants being the beets and the lettuce. Pineapple and bananas are frequently added in tropical climates, apples and jicama in cooler regions. The ingredients should be artfully arranged on a large platter and tossed after it has reached the table. read more

Refreshing Mexican beet drink: Agua de betabel Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican sweet and sour beets: Betabel agridulce Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican beet and mango salad: Ensalada de betabel y mango Karen Hursh Graber

A lightly dressed summer salad, Mexican beet and mango salad is good with grilled chicken or fish. Make sure to use mangos that are not overripe, so that they keep their shape when cubed. read more

For sauces, soups and snacks: Using Mexican dried shrimp Karen Hursh Graber

In Mexico, dried shrimp come in a range of sizes, from the tiny quarter-inch river shrimp to larger ones from the ocean. The tiny ones are ground into a powder, used for adding flavor and body to soups, stews and sauces, and the larger ones are usually soaked and peeled. read more

Fresh Mexican salsa and dried shrimp appetizer: Pico de gallo con camaron seco Karen Hursh Graber

A lively accompaniment to margaritas or cold beer, this fresh Mexican salsa and dried shrimp appetizer needs to be made as close as possible to serving time. read more

Mexican scrambled eggs with dried shrimp: Huevos revueltos con camarones secos Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican dried shrimp soup: Caldo de camaron seco Karen Hursh Graber

Oaxaca white beans with dried shrimp: Frijoles blancos con camaron seco Karen Hursh Graber

Dining on trout in Mexico's mountains Karen Hursh Graber

Some of the most thriving enterprises in the highland areas are trout farms, either run privately or as community projects undertaken by locals. Through the years, we have enjoyed fresh fish from trout farms in different regions of Mexico, where water from mountain streams feeds the ponds. read more

Mexican trout in papillote: Trucha empapelada Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican trout with sesame seeds in parchment paper: Trucha empapelada con ajonjoli Karen Hursh Graber

Trout in Mexican macadamia sauce: Trucha en macadamia Karen Hursh Graber

The taste of fresh trout is a good foil for the richness of this Mexican macadamia sauce. The recipe uses macadamias as both a sauce ingredient and a garnish. read more

Trout with Mexican tropical fruit salsa: Trucha con salsa de frutas tropicales Karen Hursh Graber

Trout with tropical fruit
© Karen Hursh Graber, 2013

Fresh tropical fruit goes nicely with the clean taste of trout in this recipe for trout with Mexican tropical fruit salsa. Wrapping food in corn husks is a quintessentially Mexican treatment, but parchment paper could be used instead. read more

Mexican trout with epazote: Trucha al epazote Karen Hursh Graber

Karen Hursh Graber

Senior Food Editor for Mexconnect.

Born in New York City, Karen Hursh Graber spent several years Directing an English as a Second Language Program in Northern California before moving to Mexico to teach at the state university in Puebla, where she developed an interest in the unique cuisine of the area.

She has written food and travel articles for The News (Mexico City) and the Antigua Times (Guatemala) and is the Food Editor of the internet magazine Mexico Connect, for which she writes a monthly column.

She is the author of Take This Chile and Stuff It: Authentic Mexican Chiles Rellenos (Golden West Pub., 1998)

The mother of two grown daughters, she lives in southern Mexico with her husband, Larry. The Grabers travel frequently in Mexico and Central America, collecting regional recipes along the way.

• Cuisine of Mexico
• Cuisine of Colima
• Cuisine of Oaxaca
• Cuisine of Puebla
• Cuisine of Tlaxcala
• Cuisine of Veracruz
• Cuisine of the Yucatan

Menu and kitchen consulting, food research, cooking classes and Mexican cuisine presentations

The fields of Menu Consulting and Food Research/Writing have, in recent years, expanded to include information on culinary traditions and ingredients on an international scale. Economic globalization, the Internet, a newly-discovered pride in ethnic and indigenous roots - all have contributed to the groundswell of interchange in areas as diverse as hotel/restaurant management and culinary anthropology. The world-wide enthusiasm for Mexican cooking has expanded to an interest in authentic, regional cuisine as well as its origins and ingredients.

As the Senior Food Editor of MexConnect, the author of Mexican cookbooks (Take This Chile and Stuff It and The Cuisine of Puebla, Cradle of Corn) and a long-time resident of Mexico, I have had the opportunity to study with a diverse group of chefs, academics, and regional cooks in restaurants and home kitchens throughout Mexico, and to share what I have learned with both professional and home cooks.

I have worked with Chef Guillermina Reyes of Las Cazuelas, Tlaxcala, Mexico; Chef Estela Salas of Mexican Home Cooking; master baker Maestro Jose Dominguez, founder of La Feria del Pan, among others. I have also written food and travel articles for newspapers in the United States, Mexico and Guatemala, as well as magazine articles and essays for COPIA, The American Center for Food, Wine and the Arts, Home By Design and El Restaurante Mexicano. I have served as food consultant and developed recipes for a variety of enterprises, including Cacique Cheese Company, Fleishmann's Yeast, The American Dairy Association, The New York Daily News and Hacienda de los Santos-Five Star Small Hotel Spas of the World. I have done menu consulting for restaurants as far away as Oslo, Norway and Brisbane, Australia.

In 2007 I was awarded the magazine industry's Folio Award for a series on the history of Mexican Cuisine that appeared in the Chicago-based magazine El Restaurante Mexicano. This year I am appearing on the satellite television show Under the Sun, doing Pueblan cooking and marketing.

Below is a list of services that I offer. Fees are based on the work required by individual clients. Once clients specify a particular service, or combination thereof, I provide as fair and accurate an estimate as possible. Fees do not include research expenses I may incur, such as long distance phone calls and visits to out-of-town restaurants and schools.

I am based in Mexico and will provide curriculum vitae upon request.

Menu Consulting:

A complete menu-developing service, including recipes, is available to hotels, restaurants, spas and members of the food industry. Menus are custom-tailored to fit budgetary and dietary tastes/requirements, with special attention being paid to the availability of ingredients in specific locations.

Food/Recipe Research:

This includes historical and cultural background on specific regional dishes and ingredients, as well as information on culinary festivals and fairs throughout Mexico, updated to include the very latest information requested by hotel and restaurant owners, food and beverage publications, and producers and aficionados of Mexican food products.

Guest Chef/Cooking Teacher:

I give cooking classes to restaurant, hotel and spa staff, as well as private clients. I specialize in regional Mexican cooking with attractive, modern presentations. I have developed a course in La Nueva Cocina Mexicana for small groups or individuals, both professional chefs and home cooks. I also give regional cooking classes, featuring traditional dishes from Oaxaca, Puebla, the Yucatan and other parts of Mexico. Recent clients have included food stylists from Bon Apetit and Gourmet magazines as well as readers who want to learn more and visitors interested in this vital aspect of Mexican culture.

Karen Hursh Graber - E-mail

See all articles by Karen Hursh