Although there is a tendency to think of Mexican fruit in terms of tropical varieties like mango and guava, apples do well in the higher elevations of Mexico, and are valued for their flavor, shelf life, and nutritional properties. The journey of apples to Mexico was part of the long relationship between apples and humans, […]
Continue ReadingOnce again, the time to talk turkey has arrived, and in Mexico this can inspire quite a bit of talk indeed. Over thirty words for the bird have been used at one time or another in various parts of the country, twenty-one of which were still in use when Dr. Lawrence B. Kiddle wrote “The Names […]
Continue ReadingLiving in southern Mexico and making frequent trips to visit family and friends north of the border, we have taken many different routes to the frontera. From Tamaulipas, which connects the tropical south to the northern plains, to Sonora, where the vistas range from colonial towns to picture-perfect cowboy country, we have enjoyed all of our travels […]
Continue ReadingAt this time of year, baskets piled high with a variety of nuts are prominently displayed in Mexican markets. Incorporated into many holiday dishes, both sweet and savory, nuts have been eaten in Mexico since the Spaniards introduced them nearly five hundred years ago. Most nuts originated in Asia, Asia Minor and India and, like […]
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At this time of year, whether you find yourself warming up with a hearty soup or stew in the cool Mexican highlands, or enjoying a fish taco on a winter beach vacation on one of the country’s coasts, chances are that your meal will contain cabbage. From the Central Mexican stew called puchero — which uses a […]
Continue ReadingA chunky sauce like this is best served with a shorter pasta shape, such as penne, shells, or rigatoni, which will “hold” the sauce, rather than spaghetti, from which the ingredients will slide to the bottom of the plate. Like all of the following recipes, this one can easily be doubled, tripled, etc., using the […]
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Mexican Kitchen Mexican markets, especially the open-air variety, still bear an uncanny resemblance to their pre-Hispanic predecessors. The colors and aromas of carefully arranged piles of fruit and vegetables, bundles of herbs, and all manner of corn dough-based food baking on the comal is not that much different from the descriptions given nearly five hundred […]
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Mexican Kitchen by Karen Hursh Graber Read Part I – Beef Continuing a look at meat cuts and how they are named and used in Mexico, we will first consider pork. The old saying that you can eat every part of the pig but the squeal is especially true in Mexican cuisine. In addition to […]
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The state of Zacatecas is part of the Northern Mexico Region, along with the states of Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, and San Luis Potosí. The state has an area of 75,200 square kilometers and a population of 1.7 million (2017). The state capital is the beautiful colonial city of Zacatecas, noted for its […]
Continue ReadingThe northwestern Mexican state of Durango, a fantasyland of rugged mountains, pine forests, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, fertile valleys and yucca-strewn desert is perhaps best known as the location for the many movies shot under its startlingly bright blue sky. Because of the diversity of its landscape, Durango has been the setting for films ranging from […]
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