food-drink Archives - Page 17 of 31

Gloria kneads the ground ingredients for tejate a final time at the market before ading the water to create a beverage. © Alvin Starkman, 2012

Tejate: Drink of Aztec rulers and Zapotec gods

June 22, 2020August 8, 2020 Tony11283Leave a Comment

Tejate is a pre-Hispanic corn and cacao based drink. It is likely the only complex food recipe in all Mexico still enjoyed today just as it was thousands of years ago in Oaxaca. When visiting a Oaxacan marketplace and enjoying a half jícara gourd of tejate, you’re likely treating yourself to the same carefully crafted beverage, made with virtually […]

Set inside a cavern, the wine bar at La Osteria in Catemaco combines fine wines with fine and authentic Italian food off the beaten tourist track in Mexico. © William B. Kaliher, 2010

Catemaco, Mexico: home to an eclectic group of international expats

June 20, 2020August 8, 2020 Tony5775Leave a Comment

The producer of Medicine Man, starring Sean Connery, found Los Tuxtlas, as did Mel Gibson when he filmed Apocalypto. Being the home of the mysterious Olmec civilization, which predated the Mayans, makes it the perfect base for Mexico’s witches and medicine men who still produce curative powders and drinks from native plants based on ancient lore. Beyond historical sites, […]

Sotol is aged up to two years in wooden barrels © William Kaliher, 2011

Sotol: another drink from the New World’s oldest wine producing region in Mexico

June 20, 2020December 19, 2021 Tony7419Leave a Comment

Indian on the high desert: “When poor Mexicans have no money for beer or liquor they say, ‘There is always sotol.’” Driving to the Hacienda de Perote Reaching the oldest existing winery and vineyards in the New World, dating from 1597, and Antigua Hacienda de Perote, among other fine hotels, is fairly simple for any […]

Catemaco biker and popsicle maker, Alex © William B. Kaliher, 2014

Mexican motorcyclists and popsicles in Catemaco

June 20, 2020August 8, 2020 Tony5036Leave a Comment

I stepped to the front of the restaurant, near the screen, and turned around. From the darkened room, the worst motorcycle gang in southern Mexico stared back. Then I noticed these rough looking, leather-clad and tattooed hombres were enjoying paletas — Mexico’s fresh fruit popsicles. What one can learn about a product as — well as oneself […]

Mexican enchiladas with the world famous mole from Xico, Veracruz © Karen Hursh Graber, 2014

Going locavore in the mountains of Veracruz

June 20, 2020August 22, 2020 Tony4979Leave a Comment

Although mention of Veracruz usually brings to mind a tropical Gulf Coast climate and an abundance of fish and seafood, the western region of the state is home to a mountain range, a cloud forest, and a huge variety of plant and animal life in one of the most beautiful habitats in Mexico. It is […]

To prepare your sandwishes, cut the baguettes in half and stuff them with shrimp. Pour the sauce over them and garnish with onion soaked in lemon juice and avocado wedges. Avocado is a good way to neutralize the bite in the sauce for the tortas ahogadas de camaron — shrimp sandwishes drenched in a chipotle cream. © Daniel Wheeler, 2010

Shrimp sandwiches in chipotle cream sauce: Tortas ahogadas de camaron

June 20, 2020May 30, 2021 Tony4540Leave a Comment

GastroNomad in Mexico

Ingredients for guacamole. The molcajete — a pre-Hispanic morter and pestle — was used to crush and mix rasted garlic and chiler serrano for early versions of this delicious dish. © Daniel Wheeler, 2009

Guacamole, step by step

June 20, 2020May 30, 2021 Tony4100Leave a Comment

Mexican beer meets lemon, ice and salt in the michelada: step by step

June 20, 2020May 30, 2021 Tony12825Leave a Comment

GastroNomad in Mexico One of young Mexico’s favorite drinks, the michelada makes sense in all ways. Let’s face it — you think of the ingredients and you know Mexico’s got it right. A fresh and clear Mexican lager is always a must in this classic beverage. Mix it up with some lime juice and rough sea salt […]

Ingredients for the classic margarita include tequila, Cointreau, the juice of fresh limes (limones) and bar syrup, a sugar-water mixture. Salt adorns the rim of the glass. © Daniel Wheeler, 2010

Classic and refreshing: Mexico’s margarita tequila cocktail

June 20, 2020May 30, 2021 Tony7057Leave a Comment

GastroNomad in Mexico When you think of Mexico and its hot summer days, think of a cool, and flavorful cocktail with the national drink, tequila — like the classic margarita. Many legends surround the margarita, but all of them affirm that this drink was created for a special lady who — in most of the stories — […]