Mexico Cooks!

Mercado 20 de noviembre, Oaxaca::Shop the 20 de noviembre Market with Mexico Cooks!

Emblematic of Oaxaca and its mezcal culture, sal de gusano (worm salt) and a wedge of fresh orange are the truly Oaxacan accompaniments to a shot of what Mexicans call la bebida de los dioses (the drink of the gods).  And yes, sal de gusano is made with sea salt, ground chile, and ground dried maguey worms.  I promise you that it is delicious.

The last morning of Mexico Cooks!' recent stay in Oaxaca (invited by Mexico Today), I grabbed a friend who's working with the initiative and headed off to the city's famous Mercado Benito Juárez.  The market is in many ways similar to but in many ways different from the traditional markets of Mexico's Central Highlands, those that Mexico Cooks! knows best.  Both my friend and I were fascinated by what we saw and learned while we were poking around among the stalls.

The large carved bowls at the top of the basket and several of the smaller carved bowls to the lower right--including the laquered red ones--are actually jícaras (dried gourds).  Jícaras are traditionally used for drinking mezcal.  Around the edge of the basket you see sonajas (rattles), in this case whole dried gourds on sticks.  The seeds dry inside the gourds to provide the sound effects when you shake the stick.

Rural Oaxaca grows chiles of all kinds, including some that are unique to the state.  These are dried chile chilhuacle negro, arguably the most expensive chile in Mexico.  Retail price?  Eight hundred pesos the kilo--about $75 USD for 2.2 pounds, at today's exchange rate.

Bags, bags, and more bags--all plastic--sell at two adjacent market stands.  The bolsas (bags) range from the little zipper change purses in the basket at lower right to the big woven market bags on the left and at the rear.  Mexico Cooks! came home with two of the big ones.

Mexican chile terminology is filled with contradictions.  These are chiles pasillas oaxaqueños (Oaxacan pasilla chiles).  Chiles pasillas are different sizes, shapes, colors, and flavors depending on where you are in Mexico, but these are unique to Oaxaca.

Moronga is pork blood sausage.  The blood is heavily seasoned with ruda (rue), oregano, fresh  mint, onions and chile and then stuffed into pigs' intestines and boiled for as much as several hours. 

Chile de agua (literally, water chile) is another specialty pepper from Oaxaca.  Some folks say its heat is medium, some folks swear it's hot as hell, and everyone agrees that it's very difficult to find outside Oaxaca.  Look back a few weeks on Mexico Cooks! to see a wonderful use for these small chiles.  I loved the flavor and the picor (heat factor).

Three of Oaxaca's famous moles.  These are sold as pastes, by weight.  You simply reconstitute them with chicken broth at home and serve them with the meat of your choice.  Mexico Cooks! is crazy about carne de cerdo con mole negro (pork with black mole).

We'll come back to Oaxaca, just to give you a sample of marvelous food and drink--next Saturday morning, right here at Mexico Cooks!.  Be ready for more regional Oaxacan specialties.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

Disclaimer: Marca País-Imágen de México is a joint public and private sector initiative designed to help promote Mexico as a global business partner and an unrivaled tourist destination.  This program is designed to shine a light on the Mexico that its people experience every day.  Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work in creating content for the Mexico Today program.  All stories, opinions, and passions for all things Mexico that I write on Mexico Cooks! are completely my own.

Dream Pairing: Mexico Cooks! Meets Mexico Today

There was plenty of serious content at our daily conferences, but there was also dancing in the streets of Oaxaca during the Mexico Today kickoff weekend.

On June 23, Mexico Cooks! and a team of 23 other writers went to Oaxaca, invited (in the strictest Mexican sense)* by the Mexican government-funded public relations initiative called Mexico Today.  The 24 of us spent several magical days in one of the most beautiful cities in the country, attending informational conferences and having a party--or two, or three!

All things Oaxaca, from hand-carved and intricately painted alebrijes to Zapotec rug weavers, filled every weekend minute that was not spent getting to know the ins and outs of the Mexico Today program or getting to know one another.  As happens at the best of this sort of event, we bonded strongly.  The program gave each of us, idiosyncratic to the core, enough room to sniff around one another, feel one another out, and truly get it that all 24 of us writers were already in love--if not with one another, then certainly with Mexico.

Fireworks!  There's nothing quite as much fun as an old-fashioned Mexican display of fireworks.  This particular variety is called a castillo (castle).  In addition to shooting out plumes of fire, it also spins and whirls on succeedingly higher levels.

Mexico Today is a time-limited, strategic Mexican government project designed to showcase what we already know to be wonderful here in Mexico and to highlight the rest of the best that Mexico has to offer.  The writers involved focus on that.  The team includes people who write on topics that range from hard-data economics to--well, to Mexico Cooks!' tales about off-the-beaten-track Mexico culinary adventures.  So, you might ask, what's the point?

The weaver's skilled hands belong to Fidel Cruz Lazo, of Casa Cruz in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca.  He and his wife, Sra. María Luisa Mendoza Ruiz, make hand-spun and hand-woven wool rugs.  All of the wool for the rugs is hand-carded, hand-spun, and dyed using pure, hand-ground vegetable dyes.

The point is this: unless you've been living out of international news range for the last four years, you know that since late 2006, Mexico has been struggling through some very difficult times.  Because of true insecurity in several of Mexico's states, international media rumor mills have created ever more sensational reports of what's wrong with this country.  Mexico Today wants to make certain that there is a continuing stream of online information publicizing the good and beautiful things about Mexico to help balance the scales.  The group wants to ensure that when this spate of trouble is over, everyone outside Mexico remembers why this country is such a marvelous place to invest in business, to plan a vacation, and to love.

Sra. Mendoza had just used her metate (grinding stone)to grind a half-handful of cochineal, a black insect about the size of a black peppercorn, into this red powder.  She swept up the powdered cochineal with the escobilla (little broom) and then dissolved just a bit of the dye in the glass of water to demonstrate the color.

An alabaster pot, one of the hundreds of treasures rescued at the temples at Monte Albán and preserved in Oaxaca's Museo Santo Domingo.

Falling in love with Mexico is so easy.  If you've been following Mexico Cooks!' wanderings of the last four-plus-years through the kitchens and cultures of this incredible country, you already know that I've been head over heels for more than 30 years.  The deal is, unexpected things sometimes happen in any loving relationship.  One partner might develop health challenges, one might lose a job: nonetheless, love for one another keeps both partners remembering the miracle of love each one is for the other in spite of temporary dark clouds.

Maguey cactus garden under a tabachín (delonix regia) tree in the atrium of Oaxaca's 16th century church and former Dominican monastery known as Santo Domingo.

Right now, my beloved Mexico needs rehabilitation.  Would I desert her in her time of need?  Not a chance!  The important thing for me is to focus on my profound love for this country and continue to talk about her beauty, her warmth, her humor, her intelligence and creativity.  The problems mi México is experiencing are temporary, the glory is eternal.  Mexico Today understands that and wants you to see it through the eyes of Mexico Cooks! and through the eyes of every other writer who is part of the program.  We want you to fall in love--for the first time or all over again--with the little piece of heaven that is Mexico.

Spring break in a Mexican beach town?  Not a chance: it's a city of Oaxaca calenda (street party)!  Kelly McLaughlin, a Mexico Today blogger from Cancún, gets hoisted up for a rocking ride on a torito, a little festival bull made of bamboo and, in this case, deer skin.

*Full disclosure: In Mexico, to be invited means that the person or organization that invites you pays the way. Mexico Today is compensating me for anything I write that's actually for use in the Mexico Today program.  It's the start of a new relationship, the kind of dream pairing that we all hope for in our relationships: Mexico Today loves Mexico Cooks! just the way it is, which means the program chose Mexico Cooks! because it already presents its readers with the wonder and joy that this glorious country offers to the world.  They simply want me to keep telling you what I see as the fabulous reality of my country.  They don't want Mexico Cooks! to change a single word for them.  That's easy--and they want you to spread the word, too.  You can start now by adding Mexico Today to your circle of friends on Facebook and follow us on Twitter: @mexicocooks or @MexicoToday. 

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

Oh Joy! Mexico Cooks! Makes Alegrías

Mexico Cooks!' homemade alegrías, freshly turned from the parchment-lined baking sheet onto the cutting board and ready to cut into pieces.

 
Lots of people are like Mexico Cooks! when it comes to cookbooks.  We own hundreds of them, but actually cook from very few.  For over a year, I've read and sighed with delight over the stories and recipes in Fany Gerson's My Sweet Mexico--and last week I finally prepared alegrías from her recipe.  Fany calls them 'amaranth happiness candy'.  Why?  Happiness or joy is the English meaning of the Spanish word alegría.

A couple of weeks ago, friends at the superb new Cocina al Natural invited Mexico Cooks!' household to a wonderful comida en casa (main meal of the day at their home).  For dessert, they proudly brought a big box of alegrías to the table.  "They're home made!" they proclaimed.  "No way!" we remonstrated.  Well, yes, güey, it was the absolute truth.  The alegrías were beautiful, professional, delicious, and prepared from Fany Gerson's cookbook, which is actually in my kitchen library.  We joyfully crunched them down.

According to Ricardo Muñoz Zurita, legendary Mexico City chef and author of the Diccionario Enciclopédico de Gastronomía Mexicana (Encyclopedic Dictionary of Mexican Gastronomy), alegrías are the oldest candy in Mexico.  In pre-Hispanic times, before sugar cane had been introduced to New Spain (now Mexico), the amaranth candy was sweetened with maguey cactus honey.  In that long-ago era, this candy had a highly religious meaning.  Shaped in the form of a cookie or cracker, it was utilized for communion in indigenous rituals and also  was made into huge sculptures of pre-Christian gods.  Because these god-figures appeared so horrible to the Spanish, they outlawed the use of this candy after the conquest.  But in the 16th century, a Spanish monk had the idea to mix amaranth with bee honey.  Rejoicing over the return of the right to eat this sweet treat, the ancient inhabitants of Mexico named it what they felt 'alegría'--joy.

The topping mixture for the alegrías--raisins and lightly toasted pecans, peanuts, and pepitas (pumpkin seeds), spread onto the parchment-paper lined baking sheet.

The following week, Betty Fussell, our wonderful friend from New York, invited us once again to visit her in Tepoztlán, just south of Mexico City.  The light bulb went on: alegrías would make a great hostess gift!

The recipe for alegrías is simplicity itself.  Here's the recipe, taken straight from My Sweet Mexico.

Alegrías (Happiness Candy)

Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/2 cup chopped toasted peanuts
1/2 cup toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/2 cup dark raisins
8 ounces chopped Mexican piloncillo (coarse brown sugar) or standard dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
4 ounces puffed amaranth seeds

Equipment
Large bowl
Large spoon
15" X 10" X 1/2" baking sheet
Parchment paper
Medium sauce pan
Cutting board
Sharp knife

Preparation
Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.  Combine the pecans, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, and raisins in a bowl and then spread them on the prepared pan.

Piloncillo, honey, and lemon juice in the pot.

Combine the piloncillo, honey, and lemon juice in a medium pot over medium heat and cook until the piloncillo has melted and the mixture has thickened slightly, about 5 to 10 minutes. 

Squeezing the jugo de limón (lemon juice) into the mixture is simplicity itself using a Mexican lime squeezers.  You can find one in metal or plastic at your local Latin market.

Remove from the heat and add the amaranth seeds, stirring quickly to mix everything well.


Mixing the cooked and thickened piloncillo, honey, and lemon juice mixture with the amaranth seeds.

The amaranth mixture, patted firmly into the parchment-lined baking sheet.  Remember that the nuts and raisins are the topping--they're on the other side of the alegrías.  Once this rectangle is completely cool, it will be firm and you will easily be able turn it over onto a cutting board.

Pour the amaranth mixture into the baking pan with the nuts, seeds, and raisins, and carefully press down with slightly dampened hands (so you don't burn yourself) to compact the mixture.

Allow to cool completely, 30 to 40 minutes at least, then invert onto a cutting board.  Cut the mixture into the desired shapes with a sharp knife.  If your mixture seems to be sticking to the knife, simply dip the knife into hot water, dry, and continue cutting.

Freshly made alegrías, ready to travel!

Mexico Cooks!' alegrías turned out really crispy and hard to cut, so instead of battling with the knife, I simply broke them into reasonable-size pieces and packed them in a tightly sealed container to travel the next day.

Were the alegrías a hit?  They definitely were!  Five of us ate almost all of them.  We left all but a couple of the remaining pieces with our hosts, but we had to bring a little bit home.  Minimal ingredients, minimal cooking, and maximal enjoyment: what more can you ask for from pre-conquest Mexico!  Your family will love them and you can send a big thank you to Fany Gerson at My Sweet Mexico--and to Mexico Cooks!.

If you don't have your copy of the book yet, look over on the left-hand sidebar and just click on the book cover.  That click will take you to My Sweet Mexico's Amazon.com page.  Grab the book today and make your family a sweet Mexican treat as soon as it's in your kitchen.

And by all means visit our friends at Cocina al Natural.  Their website and their videos are marvelous.  In the very near future, Mexico Cooks! will be partnering with them to post some of the videos with English-language subtitles.  We're all very excited about this new venture.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours. 

An Italian in Love with Mexico: Homage to Giorgio de'Angeli

Giorgio de'Angeli enjoys one of his passions, eating a taco under the afternoon sun at the December 2007 Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán.  Mexico Cooks! photo.

Mexico Cooks! met Giorgio de'Angeli and Alicia Gironella (his wonderful wife and partner in crime) in Jalisco almost a decade ago. While Sra. Gironella prepared what seemed to be a million ingredients for a Guadalajara food event, Dr. De'Angeli and I sat for several hours at the table and talked about his passions: tradition, creativity, and innovation in food preparation (always in combination with ecology and biodiversity), and the Slow Food movement. Dr. de'Angeli, an economist, editor, university professor and gastronome, introduced the Slow Food movement to Mexico in about 2002 and was, at the time we met, its national president.

Dr. de'Angeli died in late May of 2009, shortly after celebrating his 85th birthday.  He continues to be lovingly remembered in Mexico's culinary world.  On May 15, 2011, his many admirers and friends were treated to a culinary event in his honor: a trip through the world of an Italian in love with Mexico. 

Sra. Alicia Gironella de'Angeli poses with a few of Dr. d'Angeli's favorite things, exhibited at his homage in May 2011.  His desk and chair, his typewriter, one of his countless awards, his brown cap (the same one he was wearing in the photo Mexico Cooks! took in Morelia), his lamp,  and a few books speak reams about the man himself.

Dr. de'Angeli studied, wrote, spoke, ate, and collected with passion.  Here, a tiny representation of his collection of restaurant menus and ash trays.

A few more articles from his collection.  These are mementos from events at Mexico City's Club de Banqueros.

In addition to the exhibit of Dr. de'Angeli's fascinating personal effects, the homage also offered a tianguis (market) of organic and local goods.  Chef Margarita Carrillo de Salinas and her assistant offered delicious tastes of artisan-brand Finno ice cream. 

For decades, María Luisa Obregón has sold cuisine-related books at Mexico's culinary events.  It's always a delight to see her and browse through El Rincón de María Luisa, her peripatetic book store.

A good deal of the May 2011 event centered around children--the future of the culinary world as well as the world at large.  It was tremendously entertaining to watch the miniature chefs in their tall paper Slow Food toques take lessons from some of the biggest names in Mexico's restaurant world. 

Sra. Gironella with two adorably eager chefs-in-the-making.  Left, Miranda Sánchez Díaz, age 9, and right, her brother, Francisco Sánchez Díaz, age 7.


Lesson One: everyone knows that a correctly placed toque is the most important part of being a chef!

We're not the least bit nervous!


What did he say we have to do next?

Ana María González, of Mexico City's Restaurante El Tajín, contributes to this boy's joy of cooking.  El Tajín, founded in 1993 by Dr. de'Angeli and Sra. Gironella, continues its long and well-deserved success under her watchful eye.

Every time I am tempted to buy another olla de barro (clay pot) for the kitchen, I linger and hover over it, turn away and turn back, and sometimes it comes home with me.  Look at this seductive beauty which I bought from Gabriel and Yunuén of Xoxoc, who brought it to the tianguis from the state of Hidalgo.  That shape!  Those handles!  How in the world could I resist!  The book, Los Clásicos de la Cocina Mexicana, is by Ricardo Muñoz Zurita and is available now for pre-order through Amazon.  You'll see the book cover listed on the Mexico Cooks! left-hand sidebar.  One click takes you to its purchase page.  The 1950s-era framed traditional Mexican kitchen has lived in the Mexico Cooks! kitchen for years.

Dr. de'Angeli, it was a wonderful afternoon of reliving old memories and making new ones.  Thanks for your tremendous passion for la cocina mexicana.  We miss you so much.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

Disclaimer: Marca País-Imágen de México is a joint public and private sector initiative designed to help promote Mexico as a global business partner and an unrivaled tourist destination.  This program is designed to shine a light on the Mexico that its people experience every day.  Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work in creating content for the Mexico Today program.  All stories, opinions, and passions for all things Mexico that I write on Mexico Cooks! are completely my own.

Dining at the Matterhorn: Restaurante Monte Cervino of Mexico City's Colegio Superior de Gastronomía

The name of the restaurant at Mexico City's Colegio Superior de Gastronomía translates to "Matterhorn".  We're lucky to be able to walk over for comida (Mexico's main meal of the day), with no mountain climbing involved.

A few days ago, our young downstairs neighbor stopped in for her first visit with us.  Although we'd greeted her in the elevator and outside the building, we didn't know much about her other than that she has an adorable puppy called Diego Rivera.  Now we know that she is studying for a four-year licenciatura (similar to a bachelor's degree) at Mexico City's Colegio Superior de Gastronomía.  She has only a year left before she's finished with the degree program.  She invited us to go and enjoy the offerings at the school's student-operated restaurant.  We'd walked past it many times and were aware of the school, but we had never known about the restaurant.

Orli Horta Shvarzblat, student at the Colegio Superior de Gastronomía and our delightful neighbor.  The school is the very first university dedicated to gastronomy in Latin America, founded as the Tecnológico Hotelero in 1977 and transformed into the Colegio Superior de Gastronomía in 1992.  Because of Orli, we are now privy to one of our neighborhood's best-kept-secrets for comida and cena (supper).

Although the restaurant wasn't overflowing, the turnout was respectable for a Monday mid-afternoon.  Six or seven of the ten tables were filled while we were there.

After their first four semesters of study, the students run the restaurant, from the back of the house to the front.  Every three months, their roles change: this quarter behind the bar, next quarter as a line cook, next quarter as a server, next quarter...you get it.  Each time the students change places, the restaurant menu changes, too.  By the time a student graduates, he or she has full knowledge of restaurant operation.  Take a look at the school's elaborate academic and hands-on curriculum: Colegio Superior de Gastronomía. 

The beautiful and delicious amuse bouche, an opening gift from the chef to excite the mouth and open the appetite.  This amuse, one spoon for each of us, was a single bite of chilled fresh tuna sashimi, served with peppery arugula and drizzled with parsley oil.

Service is attentive without being intrusive and the food is alta cocina--haute cuisine, with a big pinch of Europe, a big pinch of Asia, a big pinch of Mexico, a big pinch of creativity, and a tiny pinch of oops, I forgot to bring your drink order!  We were quite impressed and we will definitely go back.  Comida includes six courses (amuse through dessert) plus four alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks.  It's quite the bargain at 220 pesos (about $19.00USD, at today's exchange rate) per person.

Judy's entrada (appetizer): wafer-thin slices of jícama hiding a portion of aguachile de camarón.  Those beautiful red tangles are amazingly beet-y beet sprouts!

My entrada, and don't even think about snitching a bite!  A three-inch triangular wedge of watermelon, drizzled with balsamic vinegar, dotted with a few tiny cubes of bacon, and surrounded by wee bites of goat cheese plus a sprinkling of sweetened dried fruits and nuts. The combination is tantalizing.  And that crowning mint leaf?  Think crystallized: it crackles in the mouth and gives just a hint of mint.

The selection of sopas (normally a course of either wet or dry soups) did not offer anything like the usual sopa de fideo (very thin pasta in an equally thin tomato sauce called caldillo de jitomate) or consomé de pollo (chicken consommé).  Judy chose the sopa pictured above: mousse de foie.  The white foam is made of guanábana (soursop), the golden brown puff is an Iberian ham croquet, and the almost-brown creamy ruffle is mousse of paté de foie gras.  On top, a slice of red grape.

My sopa was indeed soup, but wow--a chilled fresh strawberry soup with a touch of malamado (a Malbec wine)!  On the bamboo skewer, a perfect half strawberry and a chunk of kiwi fruit.

Judy's entremés (between-courses plate): roast duck, fried in a crunchy wrapper and served with spicy chutney, mezcal honey and threads of crispy potato. 

My mid-course dish was a serving of mixed seafood (smoked oyster, shrimp, and squid), topped with melted cheese and a dollop of caviar.  Although the seafood flavors were good (and I loved the touch of caviar), in my opinion, this combination was not as successful as the previous courses.

Judy's main course was a serving of mahi mahi in adobo, wrapped in banana leaf to cook and plated with pickled red onions and polenta.  A sauce of chile habanero was the excellent flavor complement.

My main course: black risotto cooked in squid ink and accompanied on the plate by a langostino, served with a seafood reduction.  The rice needed a bit longer cooking time and the langostino needed a bit less.

Judy asked our waiter, "Which is the dessert with the most chocolate?"  From left, a dark and white chocolate mousse flavored with rosemary, a slice of dark chocolate cake flavored with thyme, a pretty squiggle of delicious chocolate, and a bolita (miniature scoop) of nopal ice cream.


And my dessert: a bolita of queso de cabra (goat cheese) covered with port wine jelly and backed with a poof of algodón de azúcar (cotton candy), plated with a really delicious fig compote.  The strongly flavored goat cheese was, in my opinion, a less-than perfect accompaniment to the sweet of the compote.  I'd try preparing the same presentation with a bolita of flavored mascarpone instead of the queso de cabra.

The students are giving it their all as they work toward a restaurant career.  What they are learning is very different from standard food preparation in Mexico.  Today, top-end restaurants of alta cocina are totalmente de la moda (very much in style); in this kind of restaurant, plating and presentation are as crucial to success as the food itself.  Nevertheless, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.  In my first experience of comida at the Colegio Superior de Gastronomía, the plating and presentation get a 10 (Mexico's 'A' grade in school).  The food gets a seven.  There's room for improvement, yes, but we'll definitely go back.

Monte Cervino
Cocina de Alta Escuela
Av. Sonora #189 Esq. Av. México
Col. Hipódromo Condesa
Del. Cuahutémoc
México Distrito Federal 06100
Hours:
(comida): Monday through Thursday 1.30PM - 3.45PM
(cena):    Monday through Thursday  6.30PM - 9:45PM
Reservations: 5584.3800 ext. 103 (calling from Mexico City)

 Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.