Mexican avocado smoothie: Licuado de aguacate Karen Hursh Graber

Batter fried shrimp: Camarones rebozados Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican shrimp cocktail: Coctel de camaron Karen Hursh Graber

Dining at the lucha libre: An unlikely seafood feast Karen Hursh Graber

Mexico. After many years in the country, my husband and I had bought countless wrestling dolls, wrestling masks, wrestling themed tee shirts, purses and refrigerator magnets for eager friends and family members up north, not all of them children. We'd even gone to see Nacho Libre, the Jack Black movie about a Mexican luchador filmed in the Central Valley region of Oaxaca. But, somehow, we'd never gone to see lucha libre, despite the fact that Puebla, just a few miles away, has one of the most important venues and passionately dedicated aficionados. read more

The food of Easter in Mexico: a seasonal celebration of popular cuisine Karen Hursh Graber

Semana Santa — Holy Week — is the observance of a solemn religious occasion. But the mood in most of Mexico during Easter time is far from solemn. With the exception of the Good Friday passion plays and processions, the atmosphere is festive, with people taking to the streets and beaches to celebrate spring and rebirth. read more

Cinematic cuisine: Mexican recipes from a Golden Age Karen Hursh Graber

I read cookbooks the way some people devour novels, not with the casual perusal of, say, a newspaper or a magazine, but with the curl-up-and-dig-in enjoyment of die hard mystery or romance fans. Many, though not all, of the cookbooks I've read in the last 25 years or so are Mexican, and my favorites are those that tell the story of a region, an era, or a family. One that tells all three is La Tradicional Cocina Mexicana y sus Mejores Recetas by Adela Fernandez. Author, playwright, director and folklorist, Fernandez grew up in the beautiful, colonial Mexico City neighborhood of Coyoacán, daughter of the iconic film director Emilio Fernandez, known as "El Indio." read more

Whole fish in Mexican green sauce: Pescado en verde Karen Hursh Graber

What better recipes to accompany a still from the 1944 film Pasión Jarocho, or "Veracruz Passion?" This classic regional dish goes perfectly with the story of lovers in a small Mexican fishing village who seem destined to be kept apart by rumors and jealousy. read more

Jalisco style chicken stew: Cuachala Karen Hursh Graber

Aztec squash blossom quesadillas: Quesadillas de flor de calabaza Karen Hursh Graber

Traditional Mexican food: A tasty way to go gluten free Karen Hursh Graber

The basic, traditional Mexican diet is essentially gluten free. Gluten is a type of protein commonly found in wheat, rye and barley, all of them introduced by Europeans and not included in the diet of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. Corn, the subsistence carbohydrate of Mexico, is gluten free, and so are beans, sources of protein when consumed with corn, and amaranth, an important ritual food in ancient Mexico. Of the grains cultivated here after the conquest, rice stands out as being a gluten free Mexican staple food. read more

Mexican squash, corn and amaranth soup: Sopa de calabaza y elote con amaranto Karen Hursh Graber

Mushroom and spinach enchiladas: Enchiladas de champiñones y queso Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican rice and amaranth pudding: Arroz y amaranto con leche Karen Hursh Graber

Calendar of Mexican food festivals Karen Hursh Graber

A Mexican Christmas dinner: tamales, turkey, tejocotes Karen Hursh Graber

The usually bustling Mexican markets become even more so in December, when the mountains of fruit for ponche navideño (Christmas punch) compete with a wild array of tinsel-y decorations for shoppers' attention, and the excitement leading to the posadas and pastorelas builds up. The culmination of all this preparation is, of course, Noche Buena — Christmas Eve — when one of the most festive dinners of the year is served. A Mexican Christmas dinner is abundant and varied, with foods that range from tamales to turkey and tejocote. read more

Fragrant, festive Mexican guavas: For Christmas punch and other delights Karen Hursh Graber

Many of Mexico's holiday dishes are inspired combinations of seasonally available ingredients. Just as the chiles en nogada prepared for Independence Day celebrations combine the best of the late summer harvest, ponche navideño, the traditional Christmas punch, uses the fruit of late fall. Various combinations of apples, pears, tamarind, and tejocote (hawthorne fruit) come together in a drink flavored with sugar cane and cinnamon, and made irresistibly fragrant by the presence of guavas. read more

Mexican guava water drink: Agua de guayaba Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican holiday punch: Ponche navideño Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican cheese and guava flan: Flan de queso y guayaba Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican guava vinaigrette: Vinagreta de guayaba Karen Hursh Graber

The slight sweetness of this Mexican guava vinaigrette dressing works well with peppery and bitter greens such as arugula, endive and frisee. The Vinagreta de guayaba recipe is adapted from Larousse de la Cocina Mexicana by Alicia Gironella and Giorgio De'Angeli. read more

Mexican guava glazed chicken: Pollo con salsa de guayaba Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican guava pie: Pay de guayaba Karen Hursh Graber

Heart healthy lentils: Mexican fall favorites Karen Hursh Graber

Like so many other ingredients common in Mexican cooking, lentils came to the New World with the Spaniards, and became a staple in the culinary repertoire. They are found in bulk in the mercados at the same stands that sell rice, chiles, spices and beans, and in one pound bags in the supermarkets. The most common types in Mexico are Spanish brown (pardina) lentils and large yellow ones called macachiados. read more

Mexican Oaxaca-style lentils: Lentejas oaxaqueñas Karen Hursh Graber

Mexican Yucatan-style lentil stew: Potage de lentejas estilo yucateca 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