Mamey cake with cream cheese frosting: Pastel de mamey con betun de queso crema

The addition of mamey makes cakes incredibly moist. Try adding mamey pulp instead of pumpkin pulp to muffin recipes. This one is adapted from a pumpkin cake recipe and makes good cupcakes, too. Ingredients For the cake: 2 cups sugar ¾ cup oil 4 eggs 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking […]

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Mexican wings al pastor © Karen Hursh Graber, 2014

Mexican ways with wings: The food craze that took flight

Wings have landed everywhere. There are endless varieties of these once humble chicken parts, and numerous restaurants are dedicated to serving them. Mexico is no exception to the wing craze, but the many establishments offering these tasty nibbles seem to focus on American style preparations. There are versions of American barbeque wings, hot wings, honey […]

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From New Spain to nouvelle cuisine: Pasta mexicana

As anyone who has ever eaten a comida corrida – the “daily special” at restaurants in Mexico – knows, the course called sopa seca will either be a plate of rice or some shape of pasta with the ubiquitous tomato sauce. Up until recent years, this sauce hadn’t varied much since the colonial era, but the influence of Mexican […]

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Mexican trout with garlic sauce: Trucha al mojo de ajo

Al mojo de ajo literally means drenched with garlic, and Mexican trout with garlic sauce is just that. Sometimes fish prepared al mojo de ajo comes with unappetizingly large chunks of garlic, but taking the time to lightly sauté crushed garlic makes a big difference. Ingredients 4 small trout, cleaned, scaled and split horizontally, or 4 to 6 […]

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Hibiscus flowers, lemon and vodka give this martini a unique flavor © Daniel Wheeler, 2010

Roselle hibiscus martini: Martini de jamaica

This drink packs the usual martini punch, but seems deceivingly innocent with its gorgeous red color and sweet-tart flavor. The basic proportion for making the agua is a cup of dried flowers to a quart of water. About six tablespoons of sugar per quart will provide enough sweetness without overwhelming the refreshingly tart taste of jamaica. It can be […]

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