Stuffed poblano chiles with quinoa: Chiles rellenos con quinoa Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican quinoa and eggs ranchero: Quinoa con huevo, estilo ranchero Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican quinoa vegetable soup: Sopa de quinoa y verduras Karen Hursh Graber

El platano macho: The plantain is the banana's big brother Karen Hursh Graber

Although grown most frequently in the tropical coastal areas of the country, plantains are found in markets all over Mexico, where they are called plátano macho and look like bananas on growth hormones, ranging in color from bright green and unripe to nearly black and looking overripe.

Unlike bananas, plantains are not eaten raw, and their high starch content means that they are frequently used as a vegetable, especially in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa. read more

Mexican filled plantain croquettes: Croquetas de platano rellenos Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican plantains with vanilla cream: Postre de platanos con vainilla Karen Hursh Graber

Mashed plantains with pork rinds: Machuca de platano con chicharrones Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican plantain empanadas with picadillo: Empanadas de platano Karen Hursh Graber

Yucatan style plantain soup: Sopa de platano yucateca Karen Hursh Graber

Crunchy Mexican plantain fritters: Aranitas Karen Hursh Graber

For graduation celebrations: Mexican summer buffets Karen Hursh Graber

Besides the seemingly endless string of fiestas, weddings, baptisms and saints' days throughout the year, the warm months bring graduations galore. Everything from a kindergarten commencement to the completion of a PhD is celebrated exuberantly in Mexico. And the season's balmy weather invites merrymakers to move outside. Even the start of the rainy season does not deter al fresco festivities. read more

Refreshing Mexican rice beverage: Horchata de arroz Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican three milk cake with rompope: Pastel de tres leches con rompope Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican coconut sweets: Cocadas Karen Hursh Graber

In addition to the west coast of Mexico, Peru and Colombia also claim these sweets as their own, an indication that perhaps they followed the Pacific route of the ceviche. In any case, the coconut sweets known as cocadas are Colima's signature candy. read more

Frozen mango margarita: Margarita de mango Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican jalapeños stuffed with cream cheese and smoked fish: Jalapeños rellenos con queso crema y pescado ahumado Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican mini tostadas with spiced tomato confit: Tostadas de tinga vegetariana Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican chipotle almonds: Almendras al chipotle Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican tres leches cake with sprinkles: Pastel de tres leches con chispas Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican multi colored gelatin: Gelatina mosaica Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican mini chicken tortas: Tortitas de pollo Karen Hursh Graber

The Mexican avocado revisited: Getting to know its sweet side Karen Hursh Graber

There are approximately 8,000 avocado farms in Michoacan and, although Mexico exports a great many, supplying 45% of the world's avocados, there must be a lot of room for avocado-themed culinary creativity among the region's cooks. What do they do with them besides making guacamole, cold soup, salads and dressings, salsas, and using the dried leaves as seasoning? For one thing, they make ice cream. read more

Mexican avocado ice pops: Paletas de aguacate Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican avocado lime pie: Pay de aguacate y limon Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican avocado ice cream: Helado de aguacate 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