Like any other day weekday, I took the train to work. Like any other day at the office, I made myself a cup of hot tea before settling in at my desk. But — unlike any other day — there was a cardboard FedEx box sitting on my desk. The package came from San Diego, […]
Continue ReadingThe previous column on immigrant cooking in Mexico dealt with the Mennonites of Chihuahua, a group that brought Northern and Eastern European culinary traditions to their new country. A far different cuisine came with the Italians, who largely migrated during the Porfiriato, in the last part of the 19th century. The great wave of migration from Europe during the […]
Continue ReadingMany years ago, two young students of mine in California went on a family trip to visit their grandparents in Mexico. When they returned, they couldn’t wait to tell me the funniest word they’d heard: “cacahuates.” Those four catchy syllables really made an impression on them, possibly because of the incessant cry of the peanut vendor at […]
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Chocolate comes from roasting and processing the bean which grows on the cocoa tree. The cocoa tree is harvested in the rain forests of the tropics, notably in Mexico, Brazil, and Ghana. Our global community owes chocolate to none less than the Aztecs, who populated what is now Mexico. In fact, the word chocolate comes […]
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The term “comfort food” — the kind we all crave in the winter, when a bowl of something warm and satisfying is somehow more appealing than the salads of summer — is not usually considered in terms of being particularly healthy. But many of the Mexican guisados, those Mexican stews that are so welcome when temperatures drop, […]
Continue ReadingAs discussed in last month’s column, wild game played an important culinary role in pre-Hispanic Mexico. Although the Aztecs, Maya and other Mesoamerican people relied on corn as the staple food, along with a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, the carbohydrate-rich diet was supplemented by animal protein. The Aztecs had only five domesticated animals, […]
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Coffee, that fragrant morning eye-opener, is considered a daily necessity by millions of people. The degree of that necessity is reflected in the fact that coffee is the second largest legally traded commodity in the world, after oil. The United States is its biggest consumer, downing a whopping twenty percent of all coffee sold in […]
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Last month, the first part of this look at the Mexican kitchen focused on traditional utensils, primarily developed for the grinding and cooking of the Mesoamerican staple, corn. The modern appliances that perform the same basic functions were also described. This month, some essential techniques for the preparation of traditional Mexican dishes will be examined. […]
Continue ReadingAlthough the Mock Turtle sang the praises of “soup of the evening, beautiful soup”, here in Mexico it’s “soup of the day”, that first course that is required on any comida corrida menu. Most Mexicans do not consider their main meal complete without a bowl of soup to start it off. Comforting, nourishing, easy to swallow, soup […]
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Bricks of rich Mexican chocolate are flavored with coconut from Pacific shores. Aromatic herbs are displayed in beautifully arranged baskets, their scent alone whetting the appetite. Sweet local honey is offered for tasting on slices of waxy, pale yellow yams. No, this is not a high-end gourmet emporium or a trendy organic supermarket. This is […]
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