The Cuisine of Michoacán: Mexican Soul Food
If Michoacan is "the soul of Mexico," as it has often been called, then its food is Mexico's soul food, for few other places in the country can claim such a profound and long-lasting indigenous influence on their regional cuisine. This western state, part of the Bajio region located north and west of Mexico City, has retained its culinary roots for over a millennium.
read moreBeans, a staple in the Mexican kitches: Frijoles
Since pre-Hispanic tmes, beans have been a staple in the Mexican kitchen. They appear in a world of traditional recipes, from frijoles refritos or refried beans to frijoles charros (cowbooy beans) and ...
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The cuisine of Chiapas: Dining in Mexico's last frontier
Although the mention of Chiapas frequently brings to mind images of masked revolutionaries and steamy jungles, Mexico's southernmost state is a beautiful combination of mountains, plains and seacoast w...
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Mexican Cookbooks: A Holiday Wish List
Although many of the recipes I try come from friends, market salespeople, food stand cooks and restaurant chefs in many parts of Mexico, there is nothing like a good cookbook for inspiration, especiall...
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Rice: The Gift Of The Other Gods
Just as corn was called "the gift of the gods" in ancient Mesoamerica, the same phrase was used for rice in what is now Southeast Asia. In several Asian languages, the word for rice and food is the sam...
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Campeche: Cocktails and Seafood in a Pirates' Paradise
Picture a small tropical city nestled up against sparkling coastal waters, surrounded by fortress walls, complete with drawbridges and moats to keep out invading buccaneers. Where, in the twenty-first ...
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Demystifying mole, Mexico's national dish
Although Cinco de Mayo, the national May 5th holiday commemorating the 1862 Battle of Puebla, is celebrated with much more fervor by Mexicans living in the United States than in Mexico, one exce...
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The Pumpkin, An Ancient Mexican Native: La Calabaza Grande
Perhaps the quintessential symbol of autumn, the pumpkin is a Mexican native and an ancient staple food. The oldest pumpkin seed found dates back as far as 7000 BC, according to archeologists excavatin...
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A Central Mexican Mixed Grill: La Parillada
Although the season for outdoor grilling has just begun north of the border, here in Mexico grilling is done nearly year-round. Whenever our family and next-door neighbors in Cholula had a Sunday free ...
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Winter sunshine: Mexican ways with citrus
As Mother Nature assaults the Northern climates with chill winds, sleet and snow, northerners can take comfort from the fact that she has thoughtfully provided the season's bounty of citrus fruit from ...
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Getting to the heart of Oaxacan cuisine: A cooking class with Susanna Trilling
The longer one lives and travels in Mexico, the more meaningless the term "Mexican food" seems to become, for the true cuisine of Mexico contains such distinct regional differences that some people cla...
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Mexican Wines
We are traveling to Mazatlan for Christmas this year and would love to sample some good Mexican wines. Can anyone supply us with the names of some good reds and whites?
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A guide to Mexican cheeses: Recipes
Last month's column (Part I) presented a guide to Mexico's many cheeses, along with suggestions for substitutions when certain cheeses are not available. However, with the enormous variety of internati...
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A guide to Mexican cheese: Los quesos mexicanos
Mexican markets, especially the open-air variety, still bear an uncanny resemblance to their pre-Hispanic predecessors. The colors and aromas of carefully arranged piles of fruit and vegetables, bundle...
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Mexico's grain of the gods: Cooking with amaranth
What food was considered so important to the diet of Mexico's pre-Hispanic population that it was fashioned into images of the gods and eaten as communion? What food was outlawed during the conquest of...
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Adding zest to summer's bounty: Tropical fruit accents for meat, fish or fowl
Last month's column discussed buying and storing summer fruit, as well as the versatile fruit salsas which are perfect for outdoor dining. This month some ideas for using fruit as part of the main cour...
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Adding zest to summer's bounty: Salsas de fruta
Enticing colors, graceful shapes and heady fragrances are all part of the appeal of summer fruit. Fruit salsas, which combine Mexican flavors and techniques with a Southwest influence, are perfect for the warm weather which finds many readers gearing up for grilling, chip-and-dipping, and outdoor entertaining.
read moreVanilla: a Mexican native regains its reputation
Mention vanilla, and people are apt to think of the ice-cream flavor they select when confronted with a mind-boggling choice involving everything from chirimoya to cheesecake: "just plain vanilla." Wha...
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Cooking with tequila: Mexico's national drink moves into the kitchen - Part Two
Last month the history, distillation process, and some culinary uses of tequila were discussed in this column. A trip to the Mexican town of Tequila inspired further investigation of the beverage's rol...
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Cooking on the Sea of Cortez: Culinary adventures in Baja California
Mexico's Sea of Cortez, also known by the less lyrical name Gulf of California, supports more marine life than any other body of water on earth. It is no surprise, therefore, that divers, fishermen, an...
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Meats
Translations and conversions of weights, measurements and ingredients for the kitchen.
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Poultry
Translations and conversions of weights, measurements and ingredients for the kitchen.
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Mexican chocolate: A culinary evolution
Mexican chocolate refers to either the round, flat disks of cinnamon-scented chocolate found throughout the land, or the foamy drink made from them. This uniquely flavored sweet is popular in many othe...
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The cuisine of Sinaloa: Cenadurias in Mazatlan serve caldo and conversation
During the day visitors come down the long entranceway that gives this restaurant its name, asking if it is open. Despite the sign at the entrance to El Tunel, showing the opening time 5:30 p.m. ...
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When the Church said "No" to chocolate
Chocolate, that perennial favorite, has been accused of being sinfully delicious, overly fattening, and the precursor to teenage complexion problems. Its history is intertwined with religion, and at on...
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