This is a great hot weather choice, since it calls for no cooking at all. Serve it with bolillos or crusty French bread. ½ cup water, or more as necessary 1 ½ pounds ripe tomatoes, chopped ¾ pound fresh tomatillos (called tomate verde in Mexico) husked and chopped ½ cup finely chopped white onion 1-2 fresh serrano chiles, […]
Continue ReadingMexican trout in papillote is a specialty of the high country between Toluca and México City, where trout abound in cool mountain streams. If you decide to wrap more than one fish in a foil papillote packet, keep the contents of the packet to one pound of fish or less, to ensure that it will […]
Continue ReadingThe tomatillo, called tomate verde, was first domesticated in Central Mexico and has been the basis of sauces here since pre-Hispanic times. The cream in the recipe did not exist in Mexico until the Europeans introduced dairy products. Here the two combine beautifully to make a creamy sauce for enchiladas. For sauce: 1 pound tomatillos, husked 2 […]
Continue ReadingFish filets in Mexican hoja santa is a specialty of Veracruz, where hoja santa is often called acuyo. It combines the fresh seafood for which Veracruz is famous with the anise-scented herb that grows abundantly in the warmer areas of Mexico. Ingredients 4 filets (about 1 ½ pounds total) bass, grouper or other firm-fleshed fish juice of 1 lime […]
Continue ReadingThe sugar cookies called polvorones are sometimes known as “Mexican wedding cookies” in English, although I’ve never seen them served at a wedding here in Central Mexico. They are a common bakery item throughout the year, but the version made with fresh orange juice and zest is associated with the Christmas season, possibly because oranges are an abundant winter […]
Continue ReadingThis is the soup that my children still ask for whenever they visit, probably because it combines the delicious, characteristic flavors of Mexico with the ultimate comfort food, homemade broth. Whether you use chicken, beef or vegetables as a base, do use a homemade stock; its nourishing qualities combined with the healing properties of garlic […]
Continue ReadingHere the chaya, a leafy green used throughout the Yucatan, is incorporated right into the corn dough, a common technique in this region. The chopped hard boiled egg filling is complemented by the chile-laced tomato salsa, integral to this dish. Chard or spinach can be substituted for the chaya. The salsa that tops these chaya empanadas […]
Continue Reading
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 […]
Continue Reading
Often served for Noche Buena, his Mexican Christmas Eve 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 […]
Continue ReadingThis classic Mexican flan is adapted from Essential Cuisines of Mexico by Diana Kennedy, who based it on a recipe by Josefina Velazquez de Leon, who collected recipes from all over Mexico and wrote several cookbooks from the 1940s through the 1960s. Ingredients 1 cup sugar 1 quart whole milk 1 2-inch piece of vanilla bean Pinch […]
Continue Reading