Although I have had the privilege of working with many fine chefs and cooking teachers here in Mexico, my favorite culinary experiences have been with home cooks in their own kitchens. From humble outdoor kitchens in the Sierra, where all cooking is still done over an open fire, to state-of-the-art cooking centers in upscale homes, […]
Continue Reading Bordering on the Pacific Ocean, and nestled up against against Jalisco and Michoacan, the small state of Colima enjoys the best of both culinary worlds: the ocean’s bounty of fresh seafood, and the typical ranch dishes of Western Mexico. In addition, it boasts a legacy of over 3,000 years of continuous civilization, and the attendant […]
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The center arch of the wall contains the Mexican eagle holding a serpent that showed the end of the Aztecs’ migration. Included on the current Mexican flag, the eagle also represents a resurgent Mexico with resistance and self-assertion. Above the eagle Rivera painted the leaders of Mexico’s independence from Spain: Father Hidalgo, Salvador Allende, and […]
Continue ReadingQuetzalcoatl was coming. Moctezuma had already sent wizards, magicians and seers, to cast spells that would destroy or at least deter the Spaniards from continuing toward his capital. Their failure had re-confirmed the emperor’s opinion that these were indeed the gods of the legend. He had also sent ambassadors with gold and other treasures to […]
Continue ReadingPerhaps the most startling thing revealed by the Aztec account of the Conquest of Mexico, is that unknowingly, the Conquistadors had invaded the country at a perfect time. Superstition had produced self-doubt and smallpox was already in the incubation stage. In a sense, the victory of the Spaniards was a self-fulfilling prophecy based on omens and legends. […]
Continue ReadingThe Spanish returned. With Cuitlahuac, the brother of Moctezuma who had advised against welcoming the Conquistadors, now elected as their king, the Aztecs were confident that any attempted return would be met by force and repelled. For some eight Aztec months (a month was 20 days and 18 made a year) all went well. The […]
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Long before the first European set foot in what is now Mexico, indigenous women not only followed their male fellow-tribesmen into battle but in many instances took up the arms of those killed or wounded and stood shoulder to shoulder with the tribe’s warriors. Archeologists believe that over a period of time the most valiant […]
Continue ReadingThe Declaration of Independence of the United States eloquently states in its introductory paragraph: “When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…. a decent respect for the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel […]
Continue Reading Mexico City in the 1920s stood on the threshold of a new era. Although the country had won its independence from Spain in 1821, it became obvious by the early 1900s that the economic gap between rich and poor—and the social gap between the Spanish-descendant and Amerindian-descendant—had only increased following the departure of the Spanish. […]
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From the book “CASA MEXICANA” ©1989 Tim Street-Porter, published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York. Reproduced by special permission of the publisher and author. The haciendas were the landed estates of Mexico, some with territories as big as Belgium. For visitors to Mexico, they conjure up surreal images of ruined palaces; still possessing a faded […]
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