It would be difficult to think of a food more versatile than the empanada except, of course, the taco. Both consist of a dough-based wrapper around a filling, and both can hold a huge variety of ingredients within. But while the taco has its roots in the indigenous Mexican culinary tradition, the empanada was an […]
Continue Reading
Before moving to Mexico 26 years ago, I had only seen dried shrimp in small cellophane packets in Latin and Asian grocery stores. I was totally unprepared for the sight of mountains of them, pink and with an intense, briny aroma, in markets from Juchitan, in Oaxaca’s Isthmus region, to Mazatlan, on the country’s western […]
Continue Reading
This homemade candy is the kind sold at regional fairs in Mexico. Although in some places it is sold in miniature clay cazuelas, it is better cut up and individually wrapped in cellophane, since it is not recommended to keep acidic foods, such as tamarind and tomato, in clay vessels. Ingredients 3 cups hot water 1 ½ […]
Continue Reading Bundled up against the cool early morning air of Central Mexico, the “flan lady” arrives at a busy corner in front of our local mom-and-pop grocery store. She brings a small table, sets a glass case on top, and begins to arrange perfectly molded individual portions of the custard called flan, along with glistening, multihued […]
Continue Reading
This is a version of the bread that is made for the November 2 celebration known as the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico. You can also mold the bread into different shapes like angels and animals. Ingredientes – Ingredients: Una taza y media de harina – 1 1/2 cups of […]
Continue Reading
Although grown most frequently in the tropical coastal areas of the country, plantains are found in markets all over Mexico, where they are called plátano macho and look like bananas on growth hormones, ranging in color from bright green and unripe to nearly black and looking overripe. Like the banana, the plantain is an herbaceous flowering plant, […]
Continue ReadingSweet and juicy, cantaloupe melons make a delicious agua, one of the most popular with visitors and newcomers to Mexico, probably because of their widespread use as a breakfast fruit in the U.S. Ingredients: 1/2 cantaloupe, seeds and rind removed, diced (about 1½ – 2 cups diced melon) 1 quart water 1/4 cup sugar, or to […]
Continue ReadingCodillo, sometimes called chamorro, is the lower part of the pork leg, here cut crosswise into rounds, including the central bone. Nopales (paddle cactus) and verdolagas (purslane) are two of the most common plants found in Central Mexico. Because of their versatility and high nutritional value, they are used in a variety of dishes. Purslane, […]
Continue ReadingModern Mexican cooking is considered by culinary historians to be a fusion of three cuisines – indigenous, Spanish and French. This column has covered pre-Hispanic ingredients and techniques in the past, and last month focused on Mexican colonial-period cooking, characterized by the introduction of Spanish ingredients, notably animal products, citrus and other fruit, olives and olive […]
Continue Reading
The two little girls were standing at the side of the winding mountain road, surrounded by plastic buckets of something whose shape we could barely distinguish in the fading daylight. Trying to get to the next town before darkness set in, we nevertheless stopped to ask what they were selling. “Mamey” was the answer, as […]
Continue Reading