Mexico Cooks!

Good Friday Procession of Silence, Morelia, Michoacán :: Viernes Santo Procesión del Silencio

Due to the restrictions of COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, the procession was shown in a different format via virtual transmission.  Like many virtual events during the pandemic, a virtual platform was not the same as being face to face with the enormity of the Crucifixion.  Viernes Santo (Good Friday) fell on April 15, 2022. For the first time in two years, the actual Procesión del Silencio (Procession of Silence) took place live on Avenida Madero, Morelia's main street.  

Hooded drummers marked the beat of Morelia's penitential Procesión del Silencio: Good Friday's silent procession commemorating both the crucifixion of Christ and his Mother's grief.  Only the drumbeat broke the silence along the route.

Nuestra Señora de Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows).  Hooded members of various Catholic confraternities (religious organizations founded in Europe in the 15th Century) carry these life-size statues on their wooden platforms approximately three kilometers through Morelia's Centro Histórico.

Jesus during la Oración en el Huerto (praying in the Garden of Gethsemane), just prior to his arrest on Holy Thursday night.  Boy Scouts (the young man in red at the right of the photo) hold the protective rope all along the route of the procession.

El Señor del Pilar (the Lord of the Column) depicts Jesus, bound to a column, and whipped by Roman soldiers after his conviction.

Roman soldiers.

The majority of Morelia's Procesión del Silencio takes place after dark, by candlelight.  

The Legion of Christ carry their banner and their lamps.  The Procesión del Silencio lasts about four hours.  During that time, all of Morelia's Centro Histórico is closed to vehicular traffic.

Jesus carries the cross a cuestas (on his back) to Calvary.  More than 50,000 spectators stood along the entire route of Morelia's Procesión del Silencio.

Penitents from one of Morelia's confraternities carry their crosses the length of the procession.  Many march barefoot through the city streets.  The procession will celebrate its forty-first anniversary this year.  

Robed and hooded members of another Catholic confraternity carry a small image of the crucified Christ.  As a sign of penitence, tall pointed hoods called capirotes cover the faces of those who march.

Clothed in gold and black, these marching penitents carry huge metal torches.

Six men of all ages carry Cristo Muerto (the dead Christ), while six others follow as relief when the burden of the image, the platform, the lights, and the flowers becomes too heavy.  The man at the far right of the photo carries one of two saw horses used to support the platform during occasional pauses in the procession.

At the end of the Procesión del Silencio, la Virgen de la Soledad (Our Lady of Solitude) follows the body of her crucified Son.  The platform bearing her image holds burning candles, a purple and gold velvet canopy, and banks of fresh flowers.

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Purépecha Food Fair in Uruapan, Michoacán :: Una Muestra de Gastronomía Purépecha en Uruapan, Michoacán

The Purépecha woman in the foreground pats out tortillas while her companion sorts through a plate of golden, freshly cut flor de calabaza (squash blossoms).

The first two mornings of the huge annual Tianguis de Artesanías de Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday artisans' crafts fair) in Michoacán begin with a food fair: la Muestra de Gastronomía.   Fifteen or so outdoor kitchens, set up around a charming plaza just a block from the crafts booths, offer cooking demonstrations and inexpensive meals of representative Purépecha dishes.  The food, strictly traditional home cooking and rarely seen outside a Purépecha home kitchen, is, in a word, heavenly.  The Mexico Cooks! group that I introduced to this 2-day food festival trooped into the food fair just in time for Saturday breakfast.  The crowd could have known who we were by the way our mouths were watering with anticipation.  This event starts TODAY, April 9, 2022, in Uruapan.

Corn is the basis for the indigenous Mexican kitchen, and the tortilla is the basis of its meals.  On the table in front of this woman, you can see the metate (three-legged rectangular volcanic stone grinding stone) and the metlapil (similar to a rolling pin) resting on it, along with the prepared masa from which tortillas are made.  Both the metate and the metlapil are hand-carved from volcanic rock.

To the left of the table is the clay comal (a kind of griddle) that in this instance rests loosely on top of a metal drum inside which the wood cook fire is built.  Prior to use, the comal is cured by rubbing it with cal (builders' lime).  The cal serves two purposes: it gives the comal a non-stick surface and it adds nutrients to the masa as it toasts.

In the past, all of Mexico's women prepared dried corn for masa by soaking and simmering it in a solution of water and cal.  The name of the prepared corn is nixtamal.  Once it's processed, it's ready to be ground into masa for tortillas, tamales, and other corn-dough preparations.  Some rural women still grind nixtamal-ized corn by hand using the metate and metlapil.  Some take the prepared corn to their neighborhood tortillería (tortilla vendor's shop) for grinding, and some prepare their masa using commercial dried corn flour.  In urban areas, the majority of Mexican families buy tortillas hot off the tortilla baker at the tortillería and carry them home, wrapped in a special towel, just in time for a meal.

This woman prepares her stove, made of part of a metal drum with an opening cut away for firewood.  She's spreading a paste made of wood ash and cal on and around the top of the the drum to hold the comal in place.  The white streaks on the red clay comal are cal.  The volcanic rock metate and metlapil are on the bench in the background.  Her well-used clay cooking pots are visible to your left in the photo.

This joyous woman is patting out blue corn tortillas.  The masa and metlapil are on the metate in front of her.  She's toasting the tortillas and roasting tomatoes and chiles on her clay comal.  The comal is set into a clay stove fired by wood.  The haze that you see is woodsmoke.

The Purépecha kitchen repertoire includes numerous atápakuas (literally, a type of thick, soup-like salsa served plentifully over prepared food).  The Purépecha word atápakua has meaning deeper than its simple definition.  Its connotation is food that is picante (spicy), nutritious, and life-sustaining in a spiritual sense.  Mexican culinary historians agree that the preparation of atápakuas dates from as long as 400 years before the Spanish Conquest, around 1100 AD, when the Purépecha were strong rulers in the area of Mexico that is now Michoacán. 

An atápakua is made from the ingredients that are easily found in the region.  The specialty of one tiny village of the meseta purépecha is atápakua del talpanal (wasp larvae).  Another town's specialty is xururi atápakua, the principal ingredient of which is cotton seeds.  More commonly, indigenous cooks prepare their atápakuas of seasonal and readily available vegetables along with a bit of meat, poultry, or fish.

We of Mexico Cooks! didn't eat wasp larvae or cotton seeds.  We inhaled bowls of atápakua de flor de calabaza (thick, soupy salsa served over squash flowers, fresh corn kernels, and chunks of corundas de ceniza (unfilled tamales made with freshly ground masa and wood ash).

In the closeup of the atápakua you can clearly see the corn kernels (closest to the bowl of the spoon), small pieces of calabacita (similar to zucchini), orange squash flowers, and a piece of corunda made of white corn masa.   For flavor and color, chiles serrano and cilantro are blended into the cooking liquid.  The thin, soupy salsa is then thickened by blending a small ball of masa into the hot liquid.  This atápakua is deliciously spicy and tastes as fresh as the garden.  I finished my portion and wanted another bowl.

 
Photo by Steve Sando, www.ranchogordo.com

Churipo, shown above, is one of my favorite Purépecha specialties.  Churipo is a hearty soup, the delicious broth flavored by long cooking with beef, cabbage, calabacitas, xoconostle (the sour fruit of a specific nopal cactus), onion, chile, and other ingredients.  Served with a squeeze of limón (Mexican lime), a sprinkle of coarse sea salt, tortillas hot off the comal and corundas de ceniza broken up in the bowl, it's a wonderful meal in one dish.  If your palate will take the heat, eat some raw chiles serrano along with your bowl of churipo.  Remember that the tip of any chile is less picante than the stem end, where most of the seeds are.

Late in the afternoon, after we'd investigated as many of the crafts booths as we could, we were all in need of something very light and fresh for our comida (middday meal).  We ordered a fruit plate and a plate of guacamole with totopos (triangular fried tortilla chips) at a local restaurant.

For dessert we found a traditional dulce: limones, with the pulp scraped away, candied and stuffed with cocada (coconut candy).  They're so sweet that half of one of these is plenty!

This was such a sweet finish to a fascinating day in Michoacán.  If you'd like to travel to this event in 2022, be sure to email Mexico Cooks! in time to save your place on a fabulous food tour.

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Fresh Blackberries Grown in Michoacán :: Rica Zarzamora Producto de Michoacán

Here's another wonderful dessert for a Lenten Friday: American-style blackberry cobbler, made with super-delicious blackberries grown in Michoacán, Mexico.  When you're shopping, look at a 'clamshell' of blackberries.  Most blackberries that you buy today in the USA and Canada are exported from fields almost in Mexico Cooks!' back yard!

Blackberries are one of the staples of the Mexico Cooks! kitchen.  In season nearly year-round, Mexico's blackberries are primarily grown in the state of Michoacán.  This bowlful of delicious blackberries is being crushed with Splenda® and a pinch of salt to add to breakfast yoghurt. 

In 1994, the commercially cultivated blackberry first arrived in the area around Los Reyes, Michoacán.  High in the mountains, Los Reyes offered a perfect climate for the Brazos variety of erect blackberries.  The original commercial growers planted only three hectáreas (about 6 acres) of berries.  

Developed at Texas A&M University and introduced in 1959, 'Brazos' has been the Texas standard for years and is still a great variety. The berries are large and the plants produce heavily.  In Michoacán, this variety starts ripening early in May.  The berries are a little acid and are better for cooking and canning than fresh eating. This variety has more thorny plants and larger seeded fruit than many of the improved varieties.  In fact, the blackberries offered in Mexico's markets are huge, about an inch long by half an inch in diameter--as big as the ball of my thumb.


Brazos blackberries 'on the hoof'.

Since those 1994 beginnings, local growers have learned a tremendous amount about the cultivation of blackberries.  Today, the fruit fields cover more than 4,500 hectáreas in the area of Los Reyes, Tocumbo, and Peribán--almost all in the west-central highlands of Michoacán.  The 2009 production reached a weight of 30,000 tons of blackberries--tons!  Ninety percent of those were exported to the United States, the primary foreign market.  The rest went to Europe and Japan.  This quantity of blackberries represents 95% of those grown in Michoacán and 90% of those grown anywhere in Mexico.  This rinconcito (tiny corner) of Mexico produces more blackberries than anywhere else in the world.


Shortly before Christmas, Mexico Cooks! was unable to find unsweetened, unflavored yoghurt in our neighborhood shops--and there was a liter of blackberries in the refrigerator that needed to be eaten immediately.  They had been destined for breakfast, but one morning se me prendió el foco (the light bulb went on in my brain) and I thought: COBBLER!  In the bowl is the entire liter of berries, mixed with sugar, the juice and some grated zest of a limón (key lime), and a bit of cornstarch.

Blackberry cobbler, as you might have guessed, is not in the Mexican food repertoire.  However, when all of the ingredients are grown or made in Mexico, maybe it should be.  In the photo are salt, baking powder, an egg, two limones, standard-grade sugar, milk, and freshly rendered pork lard.  During Lent, I make the topping with butter.

Pre-heat the oven to 425ºF and butter a glass baking dish.

Scoop the blackberry mixture into the pan and gently even it out.

Measure the shortening (you can use solid vegetable shortening or butter if you prefer not to use lard).  I always use the displacement method to measure solid shortening: for this 1/4 cup of lard, I started with 1 3/4 cups of cold water in this clear measuring cup.  I added lard until the water rose to the two-cup level, then emptied out the water.  Bingo, 1/4 cup of lard and no mess.

The flour mixture that will become the dough for topping the cobbler.  You see the lard on top of the flour mixture, ready to be worked into it.

The flour mixture should look like this when you finish working the lard into it.

Break an egg into the milk and beat with a fork till blended.

The cobbler, topped with raw dough and ready for the oven.  Sprinkle the raw dough with sugar to give it a finished look after baking.  The cornstarch that I mixed with the raw blackberries and sugar thickens the juices as the cobbler bakes.

Bake the cobbler for about half an hour, or until the dough is light golden brown.  Your house will smell heavenly!

Here's the entire recipe:

Blackberry Cobbler
Ingredients
4-6 cups fresh blackberries
3/4 cup sugar, divided use
1 Tbsp lemon juice
zest of 1/2 lemon
1 Tbsp cornstarch

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup shortening--I usually use lard, but for Lent I use butter
4 Tbsp butter
1 whole egg
1/2 cup milk

Preparation
Preheat your oven to 425ºF.

Butter the glass baking dish.  Mix blackberries, 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl.  Reserve.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking powder, and 1 or 2 Tbsp sugar.  Add the shortening and butter and work them into the flour with your fingers, until the mixture looks like coarse corn meal. 

Measure 1/2 cup milk into a large measuring cup; break the egg into the milk.  Beat with a fork until well blended.  Pour the milk/egg mixture into the flour/shortening mixture and stir until smooth.  The dough should not be sticky; if you need to add more flour, start with just an additional tablespoon.  When the dough is smooth but still quite damp, it's ready.

Pour the blackberry mixture into the glass baking dish and gently even out the berries with your fingers.  Put large spoonfuls of dough all over the berries, leaving some small spaces on top for the juice to bubble through.  Flatten the dough a little--use your fingers, and don't worry about how it looks.  Sprinkle the top of the dough with a tablespoon or two of sugar.

Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.  A serving of your cobbler, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, will look like this--truly a thing of beauty.

The finished product: blackberry cobbler, hot out of the oven and topped with rich real-cream vanilla ice cream.  The red in the background is a countertop trastero (dish shelf), meant to be used for storing small kitchen items.  Mine is filled with miniature kitchen-related local artesanías (crafts).

What could be better on a chilly winter evening--a taste of Mexican blackberries, from a recipe straight out of your grandmother's kitchen! 

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Chile Poblano Strips with Onion, Corn Kernels, and Cream, A Classic of the Mexican Kitchen :: Rajas de Chile Poblano

Delicious and eaten at any time of the year, rajas de chile poblano con crema, cebolla, y elote (strips of poblano chile with cream, onion, and young tender corn) is the perfect dish for a Lenten Friday!

The mild-to-not-so-mild chile poblano is one of the most commonly used fresh chiles in Mexico's kitchen.  A very large, fleshy chile, it can measure as much as seven or eight inches long.  The stem end is much wider than the point, and the color ranges from dark green to almost black-green. Shopping tip: if you buy chiles poblano that are flat on all sides, they will roast more quickly than if they are deeply creased in spots.  The flat sides will evenly touch the roasting surface.

The chile poblano is commonly used for preparing main dishes such as chiles rellenos, including the seasonal and festive chiles en nogada.  It is also used for making rajas de chile poblano con crema (strips of chile poblano with cream), a marvelously flavorful vegetable side dish.  All photos by Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.


Chiles poblano roasted with skin removed, showing the interior of the opened chile (left) and the exterior (right).  These are two of the four chiles I used to prepare this dish. To prepare chiles poblanos for use in any recipe, wash and roast them.  Don't try to use them with the peel on; the peels will be as tough as trying to chew through plastic.  Mexico Cooks! uses a cast iron comal (griddle) placed over a high flame to roast as many as four to six chiles at a time.  Other cooks prefer to roast these chiles one or two at a time over an open flame, or on a broiler pan in a slightly open oven. No matter which roasting method you use, the roasted chiles should look like the ones in the above photo.

Once the chiles are roasted, put them in a plastic bag, twist it shut, and allow the chiles to 'sweat' for 10 to 15 minutes.  You'll easily be able to remove the blackened peels.  It's best not to rinse them--or rinse them only a little--as rinsing removes a good bit of the delicious chile poblano flavor.  


The slit-open chiles with the seeds still inside.  At the foreground of the photo, you can see that I removed the stem with the bulk of the seeds.  Simply cut around the stem and pull it and the seeds out of the chile.


Two of the chiles still on the cutting board, with one of my 60+-year-old Sabatier carbon steel knives.  


All four chiles, seeded and cut into rajas (strips about 3" long and less than 1/2" wide).


Half of a large white onion, thinly sliced and ready to sauté. The ingredients include half a white onion, sliced very thin, and about half a cup of fresh (or canned) white or yellow corn kernels.


Sauté the onions in oil first, until they are soft and translucent.  Then add the rajas and continue to sauté until they are soft, but still have a bit of crispness.


Add the corn and continue to sauté briefly.


Add Mexican crema de mesa (table cream, not sour cream) if you can find it.  Crema Aguascalientes is the one I prefer to use.  If Mexican table cream isn't available, use sour cream instead. 


Salt to taste and let the cream and vegetables simmer briefly. The cream will become a thick sauce for the vegetables.  The chile poblano is generally quite mild and flavorful, but once in a while you will come across one that is surprisingly spicy.  There's no way to tell by looking at them whether they are mild or hot, and either way they're delicious and not overly 'hot'.

The recipe as you see it written here, using four large chiles, will serve 3 to 4 people as a side dish.  It's excellent served hot or at room temperature.  I've never met anyone who doesn't love rajas de chile poblano served this way!

Provecho! (Good eating!)

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More Marvelous Meatless Meals for Lent!

Atole de grano, a Michoacán specialty made of tender young corn and wild, licorice-scented anisillo, is a perfect cena (supper) for Lenten Fridays.


Tortitas de papa (potato croquettes, left) and frijoles negros (black beans, right) from the state of Chiapas in far-southern Mexico are ideal for a Lenten meal.

Roman Catholic Mexicans observe la Cuaresma (Lent), the 40-day (excluding Sundays) penitential season that precedes Easter, with special prayers, vigils, and with extraordinary meatless meals cooked only on Ash Wednesday and during all Lenten Fridays.  Many Mexican dishes--seafood, vegetable, and egg--are normally prepared without meat, but some other meatless dishes are particular to Lent. Known as comida cuaresmeña, many of these delicious Lenten foods are little-known outside Mexico and some other parts of Latin America.

Many observant Catholics believe that the personal reflection and meditation demanded by Lenten practices are more fruitful if the individual refrains from heavy food indulgence and makes a promise to abstain from other common habits such as eating candy, smoking cigarettes, and drinking alcohol.  

Lent began this year on February 18, Ash Wednesday.  Shortly before, certain food specialties began to appear in local markets. Vendors are currently offering very large dried shrimp for caldos (broths) and tortitas (croquettes), perfect heads of cauliflower for tortitas de coliflor (cauliflower croquettes), seasonal romeritos, and thick, dried slices of bolillo (small loaves of white bread) for capirotada (a kind of bread pudding). 

This common Lenten preparation is romeritos en mole.  Romeritos, a slightly acidic green vegetable, is in season at this time of year.  Although it looks a little like rosemary, it has the texture of a succulent and its taste is relatively sour, more like verdolagas (purslane).


Beautiful fresh romeritos at a market in Morelia, Michoacán.

You'll usually see tortitas de camarón (dried shrimp croquettes) paired for a Friday comida (midday meal) with romeritos en mole, although they are sometimes bathed in a caldillo de jitomate (tomato broth) and served with grilled and sliced nopalitos (cactus paddles).


During Lent, the price of fish and seafood in Mexico goes through the roof due to the huge seasonal demand for meatless meals.  These beautiful huachinango (red snapper) come from Mexico's Pacific coast.


Caldo de habas secas (dry fava bean soup), delicious and thick even though meatless, warms you up from the inside as if your days are still frigid at the beginning of Lent.  Easter Sunday marks the end of Lent; this year, Easter falls on Sunday, April 17.


Uchepos (fresh corn tamales) and other ingredients used to make chiles rellenos de uchepos, a meat-free dish typically from Michoacán.  Split open roasted, seeded, and peeled chiles poblanos.  Then remove the green (not dried) corn husks from the uchepos and break them into medium-size pieces to stuff the chiles.


The completed chiles poblanos rellenos de uchepos.  These are often bathed in a creamy white sauce just prior to serving.  

Chef Martín Rafael Mendizabal of La Trucha Alegre in Zitacuaro, Michoacán, prepared trucha deshuesada con agridulce de guayaba (boned trout with guava sweet and sour sauce) for the V Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán held in Morelia in December 2008.  The dish would be ideal for an elegant Lenten dinner.


Caldo de fideos--angel hair pasta cooked in a thin tomato broth.  This delicious soup is a wonderful first course to a Lenten comida.


Classic chiles rellenos can be stuffed with shrimp, cheese, tuna fish, mashed potatoes, or anything meatless that sounds good to you.  Served with black beans and a thin caldillo (tomato broth), these are simple to prepare and truly delicious.

Last week's Mexico Cooks! was all about capirotada--a classic dessert here in Mexico during Lent.  Look back at Mexico Cooks! for March 12, 2022 and prepare this dessert for your family and friends.  Everyone will be delighted.

Try very hard not to eat the entire cazuela of capirotada at one sitting!

A positive thought for this Lenten season--and God knows we need a positive thought right now: give up discouragement, be an optimist.

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Capirotada :: Traditional Dessert for Lent in Mexico

Pouring miel de piloncillo (spiced raw brown sugar syrup) over the second layer of capirotada.  The cazuela (clay dish) measures about 14" in diameter at the top.

Capirotada is the iconic Mexican dessert during Lent.  It has its origins as long ago as the fourth century, in Rome.  The history of the Roman dish is similar, but the dish itself is completely different from the capirotada we know in Mexico today.  The list of Roman ingredients included bread soaked in vinegar and water, layers of chicken livers, capers, cucumber, and cheese.  Only two of the ingredients that the Romans used 1600 years ago are the same as the ones we use today: slices of bread, and cheese--and even the cheese is optional today.  


The cofradía Siervo de la Nación (association members of the Nation's Servant) makes the silent, many blocks long pilgrimage over Morelia's main street on Viernes Santo (Good Friday).  The groups of the cofradías all walk in similar costume; each cloak may be a different color, but their sole purpose is to give anonymity to each individual in the group as they walk the length of this profoundly spiritual and humble procession.

Even the name capirotada has an unusual origin.  It's derived from the word "capirote", the tall pointed hat that is part of the cloak used by the cofradías (religious individuals who form a church-associated group with pious ends) as they walk the Procesión del Silencio on Good Friday evening.  The Procesión del Silencio takes place in cities and towns all over Mexico and in Spain.


The primary ingredients for capirotada.  Clockwise from nine o'clock: toasted peanuts, 2 large cones of piloncillo, Mexican stick cinnamon, raisins, fresh orange peel, whole allspice, anise seeds, cloves--and in the center, finely diced acitrón.


Here's the queso fresco I bought for the capirotada.  It's a milder flavor than the queso Cotija. This small cheese weighed about 120 grams and was just the right amount to crumble over the layers of bread.

The recipe came with the Spanish to Nueva España (what is today's Mexico) and has changed over the course of 500 years until it has become the dessert that we know today.  Since long ago, the recipe contains:
--densely textured white bread, thoroughly dried and hard.
--optional stale tortillas to line the bottom of the cazuela or other dish you use 
--freshly rendered pork lard
--vegetable oil
--cones of piloncillo (Mexican raw brown sugar)
--fresh orange peel
--fragrant cloves
--Mexican cinnamon stick
--allspice
--anise seeds
--shelled and skinned peanuts, toasted
--filleted almonds, toasted (optional)
--acitrón, a kind of crystallized cactus (optional)
--about a teaspoon of sea salt or table salt
--raisins
--queso Cotija or queso fresco (Cotija or fresh farmer's cheese (optional)

I purchased this already dried and buttered bread, ready for making capirotada, in a market in Michoacán, where I live.  Numerous vendors offer the slices by the kilo (2.2 pounds) or by the bag.  I bought a bag of about 10 very wide slices, which I sawed in half with a serrated knife so that I could fit them into a medium-size clay cazuela.  

The recipe is simplicity itself.  If you are using fresh bread, you'll need to slice it into 1/2" slices and let it dry for up to four nights, turning it every little while, until it is very hard on both sides.  Then you smear both sides of the dried slices with butter and fry the slices in a liberal amount of freshly rendered pork lard mixed with vegetable oil.  In many cities and towns of Mexico, one can buy pre-sliced, pre-buttered, pre-fried bread to use for capirotada.  I did, its photo is just above.


Canela (Mexican cinnamon) sticks can be as much as a yard long.  They're much softer and flakier and flavorful than the sort of short, hard, unbreakable cinnamon sticks sold packaged in most of the United States.  One can buy Mexican cinnamon sticks at a Latin grocery store; look for one near your home.  In the photo, you see raisins to the right of the cinnamon.


Here's a steamy shot of the miel de piloncillo as it simmers in a stainless steel pot.  You can see the orange peel, the raisins, and the cinnamon stick.


I used two of the large cones of piloncillo (on the left).  With this amount of piloncillo, the sweetness of the syrup was perfect.  Piloncillo is available in a Mexican market near your home--and you might even find it packaged in your favorite supermarket, in the Mexican canned and dried food aisle.

Once the bread is prepared, make the miel de piloncillo.  I used two large cones of piloncillo and a liter of water to start the process.    Put the piloncillo, the water, about 10-12 inches (broken into two pieces) of a Mexican cinnamon stick, 2 or 3 fragrant cloves, the fresh orange peel, about 1.5 teaspoons of anise seed, and 2 or 3 whole allspice into a medium-size pot.  Bring the pot to a boil and then lower the heat until the water is just simmering.  Allow it to simmer until the piloncillo is completely dissolved; this might take as much as 10 minutes.  You can allow the syrup to reduce just a little bit; you'll need the full amount of thin syrup to pour onto the layers of the capirotada.  Turn off the fire and set the pot aside.

Next, liberally grease your cazuela or baking dish with freshly rendered pork lard.  You can see in the photo that 'liberal' is what you want: don't stint.  Smear the lard, on the bottom of the dish and right up the sides!  Pork lard adds flavor to the capirotada that you can't get with any other fat.  TIP: the lard you want is available by weight at a Mexican market and maybe at your supermarket.  But DO NOT buy that cold brick of white hydrolyzed lard that's sold in your supermarket's meat or dairy case.  It has no flavor and excuse me, is basically disgusting.


Now you will put a single layer of bread into the cazuela and top it with the amount of peanuts, raisins, acitrón and crumbled cheese that you like.  I used about 50-60 grams of each per layer--maybe a few more peanuts.  Once the first layer was assembled, I poured about a cup of the miel de piloncillo over it, soaking it well.  The quantity of bread I bought made three layers; three fit very nicely into my cazuela.  On each layer of bread, I scattered approximately the same amount of the ingredients I'd put on the first layer, and poured about the same amount of miel de piloncillo over each successive layer.  The kitchen smelled fantastic!  


The finished product!  Once the capirotada was completely assembled, I put it into a pre-heated 180ºC (350ºF) oven for about 10-15 minutes.  The oven is optional; your capirotada will be just as delicious if you don't bake it at all.

Not only is capirotada a traditional Lenten dessert, it also has a strongly spiritual essence.  The Spanish are said to have used it as a teaching tool to give the indigenous population of Nueva España an understanding of the death and resurrection of Christ.  

--the bread alludes to the Body of Christ
--the miel de piloncillo represents His blood
--the cinnamon stick looks like the wood of the cross where He was crucified
--the clavos (cloves) have the same shape and the same Spanish-language name as the nails in His hands
--the white cheese reminds us of the sheet that remained in the tomb when He arose from the dead

Although capirotada is richly delicious, and its history is also rich, today's reality is that home-made capirotada is not prepared as often as it was in years gone by.  Yes, you can buy it already prepared in many towns in Mexico, and it's important to support the women who prepare it.  Nevertheless, little by little the tradition is being lost.  It's important that each of us do her/his part to make and eat something this significant and delicious--and with a five hundred year history on our Lenten tables.  When one prepares it, it brings back so many memories of our childhood, our families, and our friends.  It preserves the long tradition.  Truly, it's well worth the time to prepare this simple recipe.  During this Lenten season, let's commit ourselves to making capirotada and sharing it with those dearest to us.  

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

Cuaresma (Lent) Has Begun! Help! I Need an Easy and Delicious Meatless Meal!

Cuaresma (Lent) started on Ash Wednesday, March 2, 2022.  Many people all over the world are searching for something delicious to serve on Lenten Fridays, when abstinence from meat is still required in some religious faiths.  The ingredients for home-style chilaquiles with egg are very simple.  This easy-to-prepare, traditionally Mexican dish makes a perfect breakfast, lunch, or supper for a Lenten Friday, or for any day.

Many years ago, long before the Internet burst onto the world scene and long before writing Mexico Cooks! was even a glimmer in my eye, a close friend from Michoacán taught me to prepare several platillos caseros mexicanos (home-style Mexican dishes).  I've written about my dear friend Sister Celia Gutiérrez Cortés before; more than 30 years ago, she introduced me to many of Mexico's joys that continue to reward me today. 

Sister Celia Gutiérrez Cortés in 1982

Chilaquiles are one of Mexico's most comforting of comfort foods.  A mere mention of the word in casual conversation with Mexican friends will bring forth memories, stories, and recipes for their favorite ways of preparing them.  They can be como mi mamá los hacía (like my Mom used to make them),  estilo el restaurante en donde almorzábamos en aquel entonces (the way the restaurant where we had brunch in the old days prepared them), or--like these--como me los enseñó mi querida amiga (like my dear friend taught me).  Enjoy!

Chilaquiles Caseros con Huevo
(Home-Style Chilaquiles with Egg)

Ingredients
10 to 12 eggs
1/4 cup milk
Sea salt to taste
Bottled red salsa to taste (the salsa in the photo is Chapala brand, but you can use salsa Cholula, Valentina, or something similar)   
2 fresh chiles serrano (use just one, if you prefer your food less picante (spicy)
1 medium white onion
16-20 stale tortillas, the staler the better.
Vegetable oil

Utensils
12" non-stick skillet
Mixing bowl
Wire whisk
Spatula

Procedure

Break eggs into your mixing bowl.  Add milk, sea salt, and bottled salsa.  (I give the bottle 6-8 thumps on the bottom.)  Whisk thoroughly until all ingredients are completely mixed together.

Finely mince the chiles.  Cut the onion into 1/2 inch dice. 

In your skillet, heat oil until it shimmers.  Add the diced onion and minced chiles and sauté until the onions are soft and translucent, but not browned.

While the vegetables are cooking, cut or rip the tortillas into 1.5" squares, into triangles, or into 2" X 3/4" rectangles.  The shape doesn't matter and each tortilla piece does not have to be exactly the same as the other.

Once the vegetables are soft, add the tortilla pieces to the skillet and sauté until they are browned and moderately crunchy.  The onions will caramelize during this step.

When the tortillas are moderately crunchy--and they don't need to be as hard as packaged chips, just nicely crisped--add the beaten egg mixture to the skillet. 

Cook over medium heat until the eggs are well-set but not hard.  You will notice that, as the eggs begin to cook, the surfaces of the tortillas will appear to be slick and shiny.  That's the egg mixture.  The tortillas will lose that shine; when it's gone, you'll know that they are done.

If you're preparing this recipe for a day other than a Lenten Friday and there is half a chicken breast left over from a previous meal, you can cut it into strips or shred it and toss it into the chilaquiles.

Divide the chilaquiles onto four plates.  Drizzle with Mexican crema para la mesa (table cream--not sour cream, it's more like crême fraiche), if you can find it.  Serve with refried beans, sliced ripe avocado, and a refreshing cold beverage.

Makes four generous servings.  Provecho!

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The Best Signage EVER at Mexico City's Mercado de Jamaica. What? The SIGNS?

In late October just a few years ago, Mexico Cooks! went to the Mercado de Jamaica specifically to find flowers and decorative items to build a home altar for the Day of the Dead.  We found exactly what we wanted, but that became our secondary objective once we passed into the produce section of the market.

Many of Mexico City's markets use this sort of printed sign to advertise the price of what's for sale--in this case, vine-ripened Roma tomatoes--and every sign has a bit of advice to offer about your potential purchase.  I've loved these signs since long before living in Mexico's capital.  On this market jaunt, the lightbulb went on: all of you would love these typical and sometimes funny signs, too.  This one urges, "Don't think about it too much...take home a little kilo!".

For already-cut-up calabaza de castilla (a huge, hard-shell Mexican squash): 'money well spent'.

For limón criollo (Mexican Key limes): I'll be right with you!

Limas--and there really is no translation for this uniquely Mexican fruit.  They are neither limes nor lemons, nor are they oranges.  But as the sign says: it's scrumptious!

Chile jalapeño: pretty and cheap, at four pesos the quarter kilo. 

White potatoes for 10 pesos the kilo: smile.

Beautiful crisp cucumbers: ask for more.


At six pesos the kilo: 'Don't look any further!'


These are tunas--fruit of the nopal cactus--that the sign says are "chingonas".  Chingonas is Mexican slang for bad ass!

This merchant is offering his chiles jalapeños at 14 pesos the kilo: 'Like you saw on TV'.

This sign is my current favorite. "Ni hablar mujer" means 'Lady, don't even talk about it!'.  The phrase is also part of a Pedro Infante song.

Next year, plan to come along with us to this marvelous market.  Ahorita la atiendo!

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

Mexico and Her Marvelous Music :: And The Band Played On

Trio Los Panchos, from the 1950s.  They're still playing today and everyone of every age in Mexico knows all the words to all the songs they've sung since their beginning.  You can hear them here: 

  
A few nights ago some friends and I were having dinner at a local restaurant. A wonderful trio (lead guitar, second guitar, and bass) played a broad selection of Mexico's favorite tunes while we enjoyed our food and conversation. From the table behind us, a woman's voice rang out in English, "Boy, these mariachis are really good."

Her comment, one I've heard over and over again, made me think about the many varieties of Mexican music. Not all Mexican music is mariachi, although many people assume that it is.

It's just as incorrect to classify all Mexican music as mariachi as it is to classify all music from the United States as jazz. Mariachi has its traditions, its place, and its beauties, but there are many other styles of Mexican music to enjoy.

Ranchera, norteña, trio, bolero, banda, huasteco, huapango, trova, danzón, vals, cumbia, jarocho, salsa, son--€”the list could go on and on. While many styles of music are featured in specific areas, others, like norteña, banda, ranchera, and bolero, are heard everywhere in Mexico. Let's take a look at just a few of the most popular styles of music heard in present-day Mexico.

Norteña
Música norteña (northern music) will set your feet a-tapping and will remind you of a jolly polka. Norteña had its beginnings along the Texas-Mexico border. It owes its unique quality to the instrument at its heart, the accordion. The accordion was introduced into either far southeastern Texas or the far north of Mexico by immigrants from Germany, Czechoslovakia, or Poland. No one knows for sure who brought the accordion, but by the 1950s this rollicking music had become one of the far and away favorite music styles of Mexico.

A norteña group of musicians playing a set of trap drums, a stand-up bass, and the accordion produces an instantly recognizable and completely infectious sound. The songs have a clean, spare accordion treble and a staccato effect from the drum, while the bass pounds out the deep bottom line of the music.

Música norteña is popular everywhere in Mexico. Conjuntos norteños (bands) often play as itinerant musicians. These are the musicians who are often hired to play serenades in the wee hours of Mother's Day morning, who play under the window of a romantic young man's girl friend while she peeps from behind the curtain, and who wander through restaurantes campestres (country-style restaurants) all over Mexico to play a song or two for hire at your table.

Here's a great norteño by one of my favorite groups, Bronco:

Banda de Viento and Banda

Banda de viento and banda are similar musical styles: both have a military legacy. Each has moved in its own direction to provide different types of entertainment.  Banda de viento (wind band, or brass band) originated in Mexico in the middle 1800s during the reign of Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlota. Later, Presidents Benito Juárez and Porfirio Dí­az commissioned the creation of brass bands in their home state, Oaxaca, in imitation of the brass bands that entertained at the Emperor's court.

The huge upsurge of popularity of brass bands in Mexico came in the early 20th Century. After the Mexican revolution, local authorities formed "Sunday bands" made up of military musicians who played in municipalities' plaza bandstands all over Mexico.

In Zacatecas, many bandas de viento specialize in leading callejonadas, street processions that exist for the joy of the music--if you're in Zacatecas, don't miss the fun!

Here's the Marcha de Zacatecas, one of Mexico's most famous marches: 

There are regional differences in banda de viento style, but you can still take a Sunday stroll around many rural Mexican plazas to hear the tuba oompah the bass part, the trumpets blare, squeaky clarinets take the lead, and the tamborazo (percussion) keeps the beat.  Sunday municipal band concerts no longer exist in some large cities, but you can still hear weekly concerts in smaller towns.

Banda music, which exploded onto the Mexican music scene in the 1990s, is a direct outgrowth of the municipal bands of Mexico. Banda is one of the most popular styles of dance music among Mexican young people. In small towns, we're often treated to a banda group playing for a weekend dance on the plaza or at a salón de eventos (events pavilion) in the center of the village. The music is inevitably loud, with a strong bass beat. You'll hear any number of rhythms, from traditional to those taken from foreign music. It's almost rock and roll. It's almost-well, it's almost a lot of styles, but it's pure banda.

Few foreigners go to these dances and that's a shame, because it's great fun to go and watch the kids dance. You might want to take earplugs; the banks of speakers can be enormous and powerful.

 
Banda El Recodo plays "El Sinaloense".  Hang onto your hats!

The dancing will amaze you. Children, teenagers, and adults of all ages dance in styles ranging from old fuddy-duddy to la quebradita. La quebradita is a semi-scandalous style of dance which involves the man wrapping his arms completely around the woman while he puts his right leg between her two as they alternate feet and twirl around the dance floor. Complete with lots of dipping and other strenuous moves, la quebradita is a dance that's at once athletic and extremely sexual.

Bolero
In the United States and Canada, it's very common for those of us who are older to swoon over what we know as the 'standards'. Deep Purple, Red Sails in the Sunset, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, and almost anything by Ol' Blue Eyes can take us right back to our youthful romances. Most of us can dance and sing along with every note and word.

 
Here in Mexico, it's the same for folks of every age. The romantic songs from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s are known as boleros. The theme of the bolero is love--happy love, unhappy love, unrequited love, indifference, but always love. I think just about everyone has heard the classic Bésame Mucho, a bolero written by Guadalajara native Consuelo Velásquez. This timeless favorite has been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and The Beatles, among countless other interpreters of romance.

Here's Luis Miguel, one of Mexico's modern interpreters of bolero, singing Bésame Mucho:

  

Armando Manzanero, born in 1935 in Mérida, Mexico, was one of the most famous writers of bolero. His more than 400 songs have been translated into numerous languages. More than 50 of his songs have gained international recognition. Remember Perry Como singing It's Impossible?  Armando Manzanero wrote it long ago as "Somos Novios".

Crowds memorialize Pedro Infante, one of Mexico's greatest stars.

"Amorcito Corazón" is one of Pedro Infante's his most famous songs.  His voice--and the words to the song--make me sigh for joy.

Agustí­n Lara was another of Mexico's prolific songwriters. Before Lara died in 1973, he wrote more than 700 romantic songs. Some of those were translated into English and sung by North of the Border favorites Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and yes, even Elvis Presley. The most famous of his songs to be translated into English included You Belong to My Heart (originally Solamente Una Vez), Be Mine Tonight (originally Noche de Ronda), and The Nearness of You.

Ranchera
The dramatic ranchera (country music), which emerged during the Mexican Revolution, is considered by many to be the country's quintessential popular music genre. Sung to different beats, including the waltz and the bolero, its lyrics traditionally celebrate rural life, talk about unrequited love and tell of the struggles of Mexico's Everyman.

Ana Gabriel is one of today's reigning queens of música ranchera.  Listen to her sing one of her all-time great songs: Y Aquí Estoy   

Ranchera finds its inspiration in the traditional music that accompanies folkloric dancing in Mexico. Its form is romantic and its lyrics almost always tell a story, the kind of story we're used to in old-time country music in the United States: she stole my heart, she stole my truck, I wish I'd never met her, but I sure do love that gal. Pedro Infante, Mexico's most prolific male film star, is strongly associated with the ranchera style of Mexican music. One of the original singing cowboys, Infante's films continue to be re-issued both on tape and on DVD and his popularity in Mexico is as strong as it was in his heyday, the 1940s. Infante, who died in an airplane accident in 1957 when he was not quite forty, continues to be revered and is an enormous influence on Mexican popular culture.

Ranchera continues to be an overwhelmingly emotional favorite today; at any concert, most fans are able to sing along with every song. This marvelous music is truly the representation of the soul of Mexico, the symbol of a nation.

Ana Gabriel is the queen, but Vicente Fernández, who passed away on December 12, 2021, was the undisputed king of ranchera. Listen to him sing one of his classics: "Volver, Volver"


Don Vicente Fernández, whose ranch, huge charro ring and concert venue, huge restaurant, and large charro-goods store are located between the Guadalajara airport and Lake Chapala, was for years the reigning king of ranchera--indeed, he was considered by many to be the King of Mexico.

Mariachi
Mariachi really is the music that most folks think of when they think of Mexico's music. Mariachi originated here, it's most famous here, and it's most loved here. The love of mariachi has spread all over the world as non-Mexicans hear its joyous (and sometimes tragic) sounds. At this year's Encuentro Internacional del Mariachi (International Mariachi Festival) in Guadalajara, mariachis from France, Czechoslovakia, Canada, Switzerland and the United States (among others) played along with their Mexican counterparts.

In the complete mariachi group today there are six to eight violins, two or three trumpets and a guitar, all standard European instruments. There is also a higher-pitched, round-backed guitar called the vihuela, which, when strummed in the traditional manner gives the mariachi its typical rhythmic vitality. You'll also see a deep-voiced guitar called the guitarrón which serves as the bass of the ensemble. Sometimes you'll see a Mexican folk harp, which usually doubles the base line but also ornaments the melody. While these three instruments have European origins, in their present form they are strictly Mexican.

Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán is the most famous mariachi in the world.  Every year in Guadalajara they honor the festival with their presence at the Encuentro Internacional de Mariachi.  It's an unforgettable experience.  Listen to them now, and watch the audience singing along: 

 
The combined sound of these instruments makes the music unique. Like the serape (a type of long, brightly striped shawl worn mainly by Mexican men) in which widely contrasting colors are woven side by side--green and orange, red, yellow and blue--the mariachi use sharply contrasting sounds: the sweet sounds of the violins against the brilliance of the trumpets, and the deep sound of the guitarrón against the crisp, high voice of the vihuela; and the frequent shifting between syncopation and on-beat rhythm. The resulting sound is the musical heart and soul of Mexico.

One last video: you simply can't talk about Mexico's music without a deep bow to Juan Gabriel, one of the most beloved Mexican singers of all time.  He first recorded the lovely Amor Eterno, written for his deceased mother, in 1991.  It is a legendary classic.  Once again, the audience sings along with every word.

 

Next time you go to your local music store, look on the racks of CDs for some of the artists and styles of Mexican music I've mentioned. You may be quite surprised to see how popular the different styles are in the United States and Canada. As the population of countries North of the Border becomes more Mexican, the many sounds of Mexican music follow the fans. Next thing you know, you'll be dancing la quebradita.  

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

A Pre-Hispanic Treat in a Modern Kitchen :: Alegrías, A Sweet Joy from Mexico

 
Lots of people are like Mexico Cooks! when it comes to cookbooks.  We own hundreds of them, but actually cook from very few.  For well over a year, I 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 are the English meanings of the Spanish word alegría.


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

A couple of weeks ago, friends at the superb web page Cocina al Natural invited Mexico Cooks!' household to a wonderful comida casera (main meal of the day at their home).  For dessert, they proudly carried a big tray 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 these delicacies down.

According to Ricardo Muñoz Zurita, legendary Mexico City chef and author of the Diccionario Enciclopédico de Gastronomía Mexicana (Encyclopedic Dictionary of Mexican Gastronomy), among other books, 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 syrup.  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 gift to take to Betty!

Now, alegrías often have ingredients that were brought to this country during the Spanish occupancy--grapes which became raisins, sugar cane, limónes, and others, which are of course cultivated here.  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 the syrup 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 overly crispy and difficult 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 some of the remaining pieces with our hosts, but we had to bring a few pieces 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.