Mexican beef chichilo is probably the least known of Oaxaca’s moles. It is one of the only instances where nearly burning the chile gives an intense, smoky taste to the finished product. Pilar Cabrera shares her recipe with us. Ingredients 3 pounds beef rump roast, cubed ½ medium onion ¼ medium garlic bulb 1 medium chayote 1 […]
Continue ReadingTo call estofado a “stew” would be like calling Carmen Solis merely a “cook.” She is an artisan in the kitchen – in fact, two kitchens, for Carmen has a modern indoor kitchen as well as the traditional outdoor kitchen, where she prepares many dishes, including beans, over a wood fire. Just as her kitchens and techniques […]
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The milpa, or cornfield, is probably the most important element in the life of the rural Mexican farmer, apart from his family, or maybe alongside his family, because the milpa represents generations of his people working the soil. Even in places where agricultural production has been industrialized to the point of overshadowing any importance a milpa might have had before, the […]
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History of Oaxaca Part 2 – Colonial Era See, also: Part 1 Pre-hispanic Era Part 3 Modern Era Welcome to the continuation of an overview of life in Oaxaca, past and recent. In this article, we will look at Oaxaca in the colonial period from 1521 to 1821, when Mexico received its independence from Spain. […]
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For one night of the year in Oaxaca, Mexico, the Raphanus sativus, or radish as it is more commonly known, escapes its destiny as root vegetable side dish and becomes art. Thousands upon thousands of radish revelers turn out on December 23rd to check out the newest vegetable-turned-art creations on display in the Zocalo. The artists have […]
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Arroyo Guacamaya is one of the closest ecotourism sites to the City of Oaxaca, accessible by private vehicle in about an hour, or via public transportation. La Guacamaya has most if not all of the features and attractions of the more distant ecotourism locales in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, including mountain biking, nature trails […]
Continue ReadingI went through several versions of Mexican scrambled eggs with dried shrimp, a common dish in Oaxaca’s Isthmus region, to find my favorite. In the Isthmus, it is made with camarones oreados, or partially dried shrimp, described in Diana Kennedy’s Oaxaca al Gusto, where the recipe uses epazote and chiles. This take on dried shrimp and scrambled eggs uses […]
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Timothy J. Knab Mescal, mescaline, mescal bean, mescal button; what are they? They are all intoxicants, which was what the word mescal meant in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Today mescal generally refers to a type of aguardiente – water with a bite, firewater, a liquor distilled from the agave, a relative of the century plant or maguey commonly used to […]
Continue ReadingThis recipe for white beans with dried shrimp from the southern Pacific coast of Oaxaca is adapted from Susana Trilling’s wonderful regional cookbook, Seasons of My Heart. Use other beans, such as fava, and try substituting cilantro for the traditional hierba santa used in Oaxaca. Ingredients ½ pound whole dried shrimp, peeled, with heads removed and reserved 2 tablespoons […]
Continue ReadingWhen we lived in Oaxaca, I liked to go the food stands that were right outside the university faculties downtown, especially the school of architecture, which was right next to a small park, with plenty of room for the food vendors to set up their ingredients and comales. Students are usually on limited budgets and know how […]
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