Floripondio (datura brugmansia) blooming in the garden at the Casa Museo Frida Kahlo in Coyoacán, in the south of Mexico City. This lovely, easy-to-grow flowering plant, often called angel's trumpet in the English-speaking world, is a fragrant and hypnotic seductress with strong medicinal properties. But be careful: every part of the plant is poisonous, especially the seeds and leaves. It's also known as Jimson weed. Insomnia sufferers note: it's said that you can pluck one leaf, put it under your pillow at bedtime, and be assured of a good night's sleep. Just don't make a salad with it.
MUCHO (Mundo Chocolate) is one of Mexico City's newest museums--and it's all about chocolate! Located in a 100-year-old house in central Colonia Juárez (at the corner of Calle Milán and Calle Roma), the museum offers a truly fascinating voyage through the history of chocolate in Mexico. After all, chocolate originated here, and how wonderful to taste its glory throughout history. The museum offers tours, workshops, and talks, all given surrounded by the heady scent of chocolate. And don't miss the gift shop!
Huitlacoche (foreground), sometimes known in English as corn smut, is revered and sought-after in Mexico but is barely recognized as food in other parts of the world. The magnificent fresh fungus is available in Mexico City's indoor and outdoor markets.
Meet Agustín Yáñez--not the noted writer and politician, but the noted merengue (meringue) maker and vendor. Sr. Yáñez frequents Mexico City's Mercado de Jamaica, where he sells his home-made treats. His recipes have been handed down for decades in his family. On the left are basic merengues, in the center are merengues con chochitos (colored sprinkles) in little cups, and on the right are duquesas, merengue wrapped in buñuelos. The secret ingredient of Sr. Yáñez's merengues mexicanos? A little pulque, added to the stiffly beaten egg white and sugar mixture before baking. These are prepared fresh every day, and are simply delicious!
Just a week after we experienced EXPOCAN (the dog show from the October 12, 2013 Mexico Cooks! article), we had to go to EXPO-GATO, Mexico City's latest TICA cat show. EXPOCAN was pure canine chaos, compared to the relative peace and quiet of the much smaller EXPO-GATO. This gorgeous kitty is a straight-ear Scottish Fold, exhibited by Avana.
Mexico Cooks! prepared deviled eggs for a very special birthday party at home. For a major celebration, no ordinary eggs would do: these are deviled quail eggs, each half measuring less than an inch long. The 12" platter held about 36 halves. Judy (my wife, the birthday girl) said, "You could have prepared an entire Thanksgiving dinner in the time it took to take the shells off those tiny eggs!" Cue music--'what I did for love...'.
The view from the 51st floor of the Torre Mayor on Avenida Reforma. The Torre Mayor is Mexico City's tallest building. Mexico Cooks!, invited to a special event at Club 51, took advantage of the twilight to take this photo of rainy Mexico City.
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Wowww!! I didn't know that chocolate museum existed! Looking forward to visiting it some day, and as a chocoholic, I imagine the gift shop is quite dangerous.
Posted by: Tze Tze | October 30, 2013 at 08:25 PM
Wow! I'm impressed by the deviled quail eggs. What an exotic treat, and I'm sure your esposa was properly wowed.
And thanks for showing that photo from the Torre Mayor. Is there a restaurant up there? I've been to the one in the Torre Latinoamericana, which has (as you might imagine) OK food, and a spectacular view.
Saludos,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Where we're not even sure where we might get quail eggs, never mind how to prepare them.
Posted by: Kim G | October 26, 2013 at 07:11 PM