Mexico Cooks!

Sanctuary of Jesus the Nazarene (Santuario de Jesús el Nazareno), Atotonilco, Guanajuato

The facade of the mid-18th Century Jesuit church in Atotonilco is simple.  The interior of the church is astonishing.  Built between 1740 and 1776, the Santuario is still visited and revered by religious pilgrims as well as by some visitors.  Just a few kilometers from San Miguel de Allende, it's an easy day trip to stop in Atotonilco to view this church and then go to Dolores Hidalgo for more Mexican Independence history (and for the incredible range of ice cream flavors you find there!).

Several years ago, while Mexico Cooks! visited San Miguel de Allende, we took advantage of some free time to go to Atotonilco to visit the Santuario de Jesús el Nazareno (Sanctuary of Jesus the Nazarene), one of the best-kept secrets of central Mexico.  In 1996, the church was added to the World Monuments Fund, and in July of 2008, UNESCO named the Santuario to its list of World Heritage sites.

The main altar in the Calvary Chapel, the largest in the church.  Religious figures important to Christ's Passion give visual impact to the  meditations of the faithful. A reliquary rests on the red cloth.

The Santuario is a mixture of European Baroque and New World Mexican decoration.  It consists of a large church, and several smaller chapels, all decorated with oil paintings by Rodríguez Juárez and mural paintings by Miguel Antonio Martínez de Pocasangre.  Inspired by the doctrine of St. Ignacio de Loyola, the founder of the Companía de Jesús (the Company of Jesus, otherwise known as the Jesuits), the glowing paintings and murals in the church served in the evangelization of Nueva España, where the indigenous spoke their own languages but could neither read nor write, and where the Spanish conquistadores knew little if any of the multiple languages they heard spoken in the new land. 

St. John the Baptist pours baptismal waters over Jesus as a dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit, hovers above them.  In the 18th Century, the Santuario also served as a retreat house for the Jesuits.  Pilgrims still make week-long retreats at this church, praying in a chapel reserved just for their needs.

Judas Iscariot betrays Jesus with a kiss.  Note the demon monkey on Judas's back.  Every inch of the Santuario walls is covered with paintings of the many details, Biblical and apocryphal, of Jesus's life.  Nearly all (or perhaps all--stories vary) of the murals  were painted by Miguel Antonio Martínez de Pocasangre, a native of the area.  He worked for thirty years painting the murals.

St. Cristopher carries the infant Jesus on his shoulder.  Captain Ignacio Allende, for whom San Miguel de Allende is named, married María de la Luz Agustina y Fuentes in this church.  It was here, on September 16, 1810, that Padre Miguel Hidalgo took up the standard of Our Lady of Guadalupe and bore it into battle at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.

This side chapel, one of several at Atotonilco, is dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary).  The mirrors that surround the figure of Our Lady are painted with oils, probably by Rodríguez Juárez.

Detail of the chapel window.

Detail of the Marian litany in the Lady Chapel.

The Santuario has been in the process of restoration since 1997.  Scaffolding still fills the church but detracts very little from the amazing paintings.

Off the beaten tourist track, the Santuario de Jesús el Nazareno will fill your eyes and heart with wonder.  Let's plan a visit to see it together.

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

Caldo de Res, Otherwise Known As Cocido

A big pot of cocido, simmering last week in the Mexico Cooks! kitchen.

Nearly 40 years ago, long before the website Mexico Cooks! was a possibility--when I was just beginning to learn Spanish and some simple things about the totally-new-to-me Mexican kitchen, I would occasionally hear the word cocido from friends in Tijuana.  I looked it up in my dictionary.  I learned that cocido was the past participle for the verb cocer, to cook, or to boil.  The dictionary gave this example: "Estoy a dieta, solo puedo comer pollo cocido." (I'm on a diet, I can only eat cooked [boiled] chicken.)  OK!  That was easy.  But no, cocido isn't chicken.  Back to the drawing board.  For literally years I thought that cocido was a mystery dish that I would never see, understand, or taste.

About 20 years ago, I was looking at a homestyle restaurant menu and the lightbulb finally went on in my brain.  I asked the waiter for a bowl of caldo de res (beef and vegetable soup), and he nodded as he wrote the order--and said, "Cocido para usted, señora."  Wait!  What?  He smiled and said, Sí, cocido.  O como dijo usted, caldo de res."  ('Yes, 'cocido', or as you said"--well, you get it.)  Like many things in Spanish, this is an example of their being more than one word for the same thing.  Part of cultural literacy is learning what is colloquially used as a name for something that also has a more formal name. 

Now that I knew what cocido is, I found someone to teach me how to make it, and today--if you don't know how already--I'm going to teach you.  It's the simplest thing in the world, very healthy, and truly a Mexican home staple.  An all-but-boiling bowlful is just the ticket for a warming meal in the winter, or conversely, a cooling meal when the weather is hot.

Cocido (Caldo de Res) from Michoacán

Ingredients
Medium white onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 head of garlic (sliced horizontally across the head, skin and all)
1 medium bay leaf
2-3 Tbsp sea salt
4-5 liters cold water
1 kilo (2.2 pounds) meaty, bone-in chambarete (beef shank), cut across the bone
1 kilo chuck meat, in large cubes
.5 kilo (1 pound) bone-in costilla de res (meaty beef ribs), cut into 2" to 3" pieces


3 or 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
250gr green beans, ends removed and each bean cut or broken in half
3 or 4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks or thick slices
1 middle-size chayote, cut into eighths, seed and all
1 small chile serrano, slit from tip almost to the stem end (optional)
4 small calabacitas (or zucchini), cut into thick slices
A quarter kilo (half pound) white cabbage, coarsely cut into chunks
A good-size fistful of cilantro, stems and all
5 or 6 sprigs of fresh hierbabuena (mint, and optional but you will love the flavor it adds)
2 or 3 ears of fresh corn, each ear cut into thirds (optional)

Special equipment
A 12-to-14 liter lidded pot 
Long wooden spoon 


Bring 4 or 5 liters water, the onion, the half garlic head, the salt, and the bay leaf to a boil.  Turn the heat down to a simmer.  When the meat begins to produce foam on the surface of the water, scoop out and discard the foam.  This will clarify your beef broth.


A portion of the beef and its trimmings, rinsed, patted dry, and ready to go in the pot.


One piece at a time, quickly add the beef to the boiling water.  In just a minute or two, the beef will take on a deep brown color.  After skimming away the foam, allow the beef to simmer for about two hours.


Remove the ends of the green beans and cut or break each one in half.


Carrots and calabacita (zucchini), ready to go in the pot.


When you're ready to chop the chayote, try to pierce the skin with your fingernail.  If it pierces easily, there's no need to peel the chayote, just chop it skin and all.  The seed is flat, round, white and soft.  The whitest part of the already cut chayote in the photograph is the seed--your knife will slide right through it, no need to remove it and cut it separately.  Now, let's chop the other half of this chayote!


Coarsely chop the white cabbage, or leave it in narrow wedges, as in the photograph above.


Peel and cut up the potatoes.  These are the standard white potato in Mexico: the papa Alfa.  I started with three and added another.  You can use a different kind of potato: russet, Yukon Gold, Red Bliss, whatever potato you prefer will be delicious.

For the tomato seasoning for the broth: put the coarsely chopped tomato, the 1/4 onion, a clove of garlic, and the chile serrano (if you're using it) into your blender.  Add the 2 cups water.  Cover and blend until smooth.   Pour this mixture into the boiling pot.

Add all of the vegetables, including the cilantro, to the pot.  Allow the pot to return just to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer and cover, leaving the cover slightly ajar.  After 15 minutes cooking, stir the pot--the vegetables will have softened enough to be completely under water.  Simmer for approximately 45 minutes.

Correct the salt to taste. 

Prior to serving, remove the cilantro and the mint from the pot.


Freshly patted tortillas, toasting on a clay comal (griddle).  They're supposed to inflate as they toast!



An all-but-overflowing bowlful of cocido.  The house smelled delicious as it cooked, and the cocido itself was wonderful.  And there's plenty left for the next few tomorrows!

Serve with limón (Key limes) to squeeze into the broth, hot tortillas, with corn tostadas, or with toasted bolillos (white flour, super-dense Mexican rolls).

Serves 6 to 8 as a main dish.

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

WE'RE BACK! It's Time to Take a Tour with Mexico Cooks! :: Book NOW for the Dates You Want.

Tourism to Mexico is definitely back!  After over a year of waiting for tourism to be possible again, Mexico Cooks! has recently booked and completed three tours and has more in the works.  If you'd like to visit Mexico this summer or in early fall, contact me ASAP to save the dates you'd like to travel with me.  We can tour in Michoacán--off the beaten path and fabulous--in Oaxaca, in Guadalajara, or in Mexico City: each of those cities and their surrounding towns has the GREEN LIGHT for visitors!  Make plans now so I can reserve your tour dates.  And PS--as of April 28, 2021, I am fully vaccinated against COVID-19.


A market tour in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. I'm holding a mamey fruit.  The mamey's scientific name is poutería sapote.  I've never seen a mamey in the USA or in Canada, have you?  Ask me about its dark-brown seed...

One of the great pleasures of my life is the number of tours Mexico Cooks! gives to lots of excited tourists.  Small, specialized tours are a joy to organize: the participants generally have common interests, a thirst for knowledge, and a hunger for--well, for Mexico Cooks!' tour specialties: street and municipal markets, food and the preparation of food--and of course eating!  Touring a food destination (a street market in Michoacán, an enclosed market in Guadalajara, a crawl through some Mexico City street stands, or meals in a series of upscale restaurants) is about far more than a brief look at a fruit, a vegetable, or a basket of freshly made tortillas.

A Pátzcuaro street vendor holds out a partially unwrapped tamal de trigo (wheat tamal).  It's sweetened with piloncillo (Mexican raw sugar) and a few plump raisins, wrapped in corn husks, and steamed.  Taste?  It's all but identical to a bran muffin, and every tour participant enjoyed a pinch of it.


This is the single best dish I have eaten in 2021.  Aguachile de ribeye (frizzled leeks, locally grown avocado, and mildly spicy aguachile atop a large, perfectly cooked ribeye, at my favorite restaurant in Morelia, Michoacán. Order it as an appetizer to share, or as your personal main dish.  The owners say it won't be on the menu for long, so come the minute you can and we'll have our tour's opening dinner there.  Honestly, you'll crave it when you get back home!  (And no, those aren't beans on the plate--it's the knobby texture of the plate!)

A tour planned to your specifications can lead you to places you didn't know you wanted to go, but that you would not have missed for the world.  Here, Donna talks with the man who makes these enormous adobe bricks.  He let her try to pick up the laden wheelbarrow.  She could barely get its legs off the ground!  He laughed, raised the handles, and whizzed away with his load.

Several times in recent years, small groups wanted to tour traditional bakeries in Mexico City.  The photo shows one tiny corner of the enormous Pastelería La Ideal in the Centro Histórico.  Just looking at the photo brings the sweet fragrances back to mind.  And never mind the taste of the delicious pastries!

Ramon and Annabelle wanted an introduction to how ordinary people live and shop in Guadalajara.  We spent a highly entertaining morning at the Tianguis del Sol, a three-times-a-week outdoor market in Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara.  Our first stop was for breakfast, then we shopped for unusual produce, fresh spices, and other goodies that they don't often see in their home town.  Annabelle said she felt right at home because so much of the style and flavor of this market was similar to what she experienced in the markets near her home town in the Philippines.

We went for comida (main meal of the day, at around 3:00PM) to the original location of Guadalajara's Karne Garibaldi.  The restaurant does one thing--carne en su jugo (meat in its juice)--and does it exceptionally well.  The food is plentiful, delicious, and affordable.  The place is always packed, and usually has a line to get in!

Ramon wanted to try tejuino, a regional drink specialty in the Guadalajara area.  Mixed when you order it, the refreshing, barely fermented drink is thickened with a bit of masa de maíz (corn dough) and served with a pinch of salt and a small scoop of lemon ice. 

Pillars of nopal cactus paddles, each pillar taller than a man, at Mercado de la Merced, Mexico City.   La Merced is the largest retail market in Mexico, if not in all of Latin America.  It's the ultimate market experience and just a partial tour takes the better part of a morning.  Comfortable walking shoes are a necessity--let's go!

A more intimate, up-close-and-personal Mexico City market tour takes us through the Mercado San Juan.  The San Juan is renowned for its gourmet selection of meats, fish and shellfish, cheeses, and wild mushrooms--among a million other things you might not expect to find.

Pepitorias are a sweet specialty of Mexico's capital city.  Crunchy and colorful obleas (wafers) enclose sticky syrup and squash seeds.  Mexico Cooks!' tour groups usually try these at the Bazar Sábado in San Ángel.

Lovely and fascinating people and events are around almost any Mexican corner.  The annual Festival Internacional de Música de Morelia opens every year with several blocks of carpets made of flowers.  Residents of Patamban, Michoacán work all night to create the carpets for the festival.  This piano is made entirely of plant material.  Enlarge any picture for a closer view.

Entire flowers, fuzzy pods, and flower petals are used to create the carpets' ephemeral beauty and design; these carpets last two days at most. 

In November 2012, one of Mexico Cooks!' tours was dazzled by a special Morelia concert given by Tania Libertad.  With Tania is Rosalba Morales Bartolo, a fabulous traditional cook from San Jerónimo Purenchécuaro, Michoacán, who presented the artist with various handcrafted items from the state--including the lovely coral necklace and rebozo (shawl) that Tania is wearing.

What in the world is THAT?  A tour at a major Mexico City market offered this laugh to my clients: me swinging a cow tail!  No matter where we start our tour and no matter what we plan together for your itinerary, a Mexico Cooks! tour always includes a terrific surprise or two, special memories to take home, and the thirst for more of Mexico.  

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

Adobo de Cerdo Huasteco :: Pork in Huasteca Adobo Sauce), from "Verde, Blanco, y Rojo" by Ricardo Muñoz Zurita

Roasting roma tomatoes and onion quarters on a comal (in this case, a cast iron griddle).  That little tomato on the right looks downright happy to be toasting.

Several years ago, Mexico Cooks! was thrilled to receive a copy of Chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita's newest recetario (cookbook), titled Verde, Blanco, y Rojo en la Cocina Mexicana.  Due to the pressures of moving and settling into a somewhat more frenetic life in Mexico City, the very attractive book sat patiently in the kitchen bookshelf with its 150 or so brother and sister cookbooks, waiting to be chosen.  'Choose me, choose me!' it whispered each time I passed by the shelf.  And finally I listened.

Fairly large pieces of maciza de cerdo (lean, fresh pork leg) simmering with onion and garlic.

My friends and I are very fond of traditional Mexican cuisine.  Like most people, we have our favorite dishes.  And like most people, I have a hard time breaking habits and wading into a new cookbook: it means learning a new format, a new organization of ingredients, and a new dish that I have never prepared. 

The first task was reading the recipe all the way through to the end to make sure that I had all of the ingredients and utensils on hand prior to starting to cook and that I understood the order of cooking.  It's really no fun at all to start the preparations and discover at the time of need that oops, there is no garlic in its basket and ouch, that one bowl I really wanted to use is full of last night's stew.  You'll want to organize yourself and prepare your mise en place well before you turn on the stove. 

Differentiating between dried chiles ancho and chiles mulato, which look similar on the outside, can be confusing.  If you open a chile ancho and hold it up to the light, it looks from the inside like red stained glass.  The mulato, on the other hand, looks brown when held to the light.  It's immediately apparent which this is.

Adobo de Cerdo Huasteco
Serves 12

Ingredients
2 kg (approximately 4.5 pounds) lean pork meat, cut into serving-size pieces
1 white onion, cut into quarters
1 head of garlic, split in half
4 liters water
4 tsp salt
8 chiles guajillo
5 large chiles ancho
3 large tomatoes, roasted
1/2 white onion, quartered and roasted
5 garlic cloves
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dry Mexican oregano, crumbled
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves
3 Tbsp pork lard (you can substitute oil if you can't get real rendered lard)
1/2 cup white vinegar
  

Toasting the chiles ancho on the comal.

Utensils 
Comal or griddle
Mesh strainer
Several small or medium-size mixing bowls
Mixing spoons
Heavy-bottom pot with lid
Blender

 
Toasting the chiles guajillo on the comal.

Procedure
Put the pork, onion, and split-open head of garlic in a large pot.  Cover with water, add 4 tsp salt and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat until the water is simmering and cook until the pork is tender, about an hour to an hour and a half.  Remove the pork from the water, drain the liquid into a bowl, and reserve both the meat and the cooking liquid for later use.

Remove the stems, seeds, and veins from all of the chiles and discard them.  Lightly toast the chiles on the comal, being careful not to burn them.  If they burn, they will be bitter.  Soak the toasted chiles in four cups of the reserved cooking liquid from the pork.

Blend the soaked chiles with enough of the cooking liquid to make a smooth, somewhat liquid paste. 

Roast the tomatoes, onions, and remaining five cloves of garlic on the comal, then blend them until they make a very smooth sauce.  If necessary for blending, add just a little of the reserved meat cooking liquid.  Using the wire mesh strainer, strain and reserve. 

Grind the cumin, the oregano, the pepper, and the cloves together until they are powdered.  Set aside for later use.

Over a high flame, heat the lard or oil in a heavy-bottomed pot until it smokes slightly.  Add the ground chiles (splatter alert!) and fry for about 15 minutes or until the mixture is reduced by about one-fourth.  Add the blended tomato mixture, the spices, and salt to taste.  When the mixture comes to a boil, lower the fire and allow to simmer until the sauce has reduced a little.

Add the meat, the vinegar, and three cups of the reserved meat cooking liquid.  Correct the seasonings and cook with the lid ajar over low heat (or bake covered in a 350° oven) for about an hour.  The finished sauce should be thick enough to cover the meat without sliding off the pieces.  Correct the salt and serve.

The finished recipe also freezes very well.  Mexico Cooks! served half the recipe as comida for six and froze the rest for a later meal. 

Both types of toasted chiles then soaked for a few minutes in some of the freshly cooked hot pork broth.

The mix of various seasonings (foreground), the blended and strained chiles (left rear) and the blended tomato/onion/garlic mixture (right rear). 

The pork now needs to simmer in the adobo for an hour or more, either in the oven or over a very low fire.  The fragrance will drive you crazy, it is so tantalizing.  Mexico Cooks! prepared this recipe on top of the stove using the cast iron comal as a heat diffuser. 

Adobo de cerdo huasteco, ready to eat!  Serve the dish with steamed white rice, the green vegetable of your choice, and plenty of hot-off-the-comal corn tortillas.

The wonderful Spanish-language Verde, Blanco, Rojo en La Cocina Mexicana, by my friend Chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita of the three Mexico City Restaurantes Azul.

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