Tag Archives: cooking

Hormigas in the Salsa: Cooking in Oaxaca with Chef Pilar Cabrera Arroyo

Posted on Sunday, July 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

People cook and eat in Oaxaca based on what’s available seasonally in local markets — or in their backyard. Today it was huitlacoche that was among the delicacies we could procure at the Mercado de la Merced. This is the neighborhood market where Pilar’s family shopped because they lived nearby. The market tour offers a great orientation to the cooking class.

And what about the hormigas? Pilar and her daughter Ita gathered the hormigas in the early dewy grasses of morning.

After a field trip foraging through the Mercado de la Merced for ingredients, we made our way to Pilar’s Colonia Reforma kitchen, ample enough for all eight cooking class participants to gather, learn and prepare the menu. There sat the hormigas, washed, plump and round in the metate waiting for the grinding stone and hand to pulverize them into the Salsa de Chicatana that would top the Memelitas appetizer. (Do you recognize them, below left?)

Add plenty of fresh squeezed lime juice! Pilar commented that hormigas are a great protein source. (I heard the same about chapulines earlier in the week from my friends in Teotitlan who liberally sprinkle this toasted, tasty treat on just about everything they eat.)

Our group of four Guanajuatecos were joined by two Estadounidenses and two Australians. Pilar easily went back and forth in English and Spanish with her instruction so that all the participants could understand each step. Complete menus in English guided us, too.

Before we sat down at the dining room table to the meal, we all gathered in the living room area for a mezcal tasting. Pilar brought out three different types of mezcal accompanied with orange and lime slices, plus gusano salt (ground worms, chiles, and sea salt) for dipping and sucking before or after sipping.

Menu del dia: 100% Oaxaca–memelitas, sopa de guias, chichilo con pollo or res (chicken or beef with Chichilo mole sauce), salsa de chicatanas, and nieve de mango (mango sorbet with a garnish of fruit of the nopal cactus called tuna).

The tourism and economic development delegation from Guanajuato is interested in starting a cultural tourism program in some of its smaller towns in the state. Organizing cooking classes is one goal they have, which is why we attended to see how the master of the kitchen Pilar organizes her programs.

Pilar’s hospitality and expertise provided a perfect example for them to model!

Casa de los Sabores Cooking School or website.

Mercado de la Merced (corner Murguia and Insurgentes, near Calle de la Republica)

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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Food & Recipes, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Travel & Tourism

Tagged blogsherpa, cooking, food, Mexico, Oaxaca

El Mural de los Poblanos, Puebla, Mexico Restaurant Continues to Please

Posted on Sunday, June 24, 2012 | 2 Comments

“It was wonderful, close to perfect.” That’s what I told NY Times travel writer Freda Moon this morning when she asked how my meal was at El Mural de los Poblanos.

Hollie and I settled in after escaping a particularly violent thunderstorm, rain pellets pounding our umbrellas as we stepped carefully along the slippery paving stones from the Zocalo to the restaurant two blocks away. It was impossible to hurry despite the weather.

First, Isaias welcomed and escorted us to a table, brought fresh baked rolls, butter, two glasses of Mexican Baja Tempranillo-Cabernet house wine (yummy), and an amuse de bouche of spicy, hearty red-broth with chicharrones.

Then, we got into the serious ordering: fresh fish in casserole (cazuela) with garlic and butter. Simple, succulent. I think it was sea bass. Cooked to glossy perfection. We shared this and the ribeye steak (this is beef country), seasoned with just a bit of heat, grilled medium-rare (more on the rare side) to perfection, then topped with grilled, crunchy garlic slices. The dish was accompanied by a skewer of roasted, grilled baby potatoes and baby onions. The sprout salad with walnuts and avocado was big enough to share and a great interlude to entree bites.

After dinner, we ordered the almond tart with a small scoop of housemade vanilla ice cream to share. It was a perfect ending to the meal. But, we brought our own Talavera de las Americas mezcal cups, so topped it all off by sharing a shot glass of El Cortijo Añejo — a smokey, aged mezcal that is one of my favorites.

Total cost of all this, including two entrees, salad, two glasses of wine each, dessert and mezcal was $1,195 pesos for two, not including tip (we left 15 percent). Translated to the current exchange rate of 13.8 pesos to the dollar, we spent $43.00USD each.

Chef Lisette Galicia Solis is offering cooking classes Monday-Saturday with 2-day notice, 1,000 pesos per person, no minimum.

Service by Isaias and Enrique was attentive, not overbearing.

It’s still my favorite Puebla restaurant. We ate there twice during this trip. I would choose dining here before La Conjura or the restaurants at La Purificadora and Casa Reyna any day.

P.S. I pay full price for every meal I eat, take no discounts or complimentary giveaways, FYI.

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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Dining and Lodging, Food & Recipes

Tagged blogsherpa, cooking, food, Mexico, Oaxaca, Puebla, restaurants

Recipe: Squash Blossom Frittata — Garden Edibles Oaxaca Style

Posted on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 | 2 Comments

Squash Blossom Frittata on a Uriarte Talavera Plate

One of my favorite tastes in Oaxaca is fresh squash blossoms. They are so beautiful, a delicious golden-yellow food taste that signals the beginning of summer. In Oaxaca, the markets will be filled with bunches of squash blossoms like edible bouquets.

I’m in North Carolina for a few more weeks before I return to Mexico in mid-June. Stephen, my husband, has been cultivating our organic garden and we have a patch of volunteer squash plants. We are also part of Granite Springs CSA in Pittsboro. Each week we receive a bountiful basket of organic food grown by Meredith and her troupe. This week, the special treat was baby zucchini and yellow crooknecks. Along with our bumper crop of volunteer male (no fruit) squash blossoms, creativity was calling.

For our May 26 wedding anniversary, Stephen cooked us a delicious breakfast –this squash blossom frittata. Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients

3-4 blossoms, rinsed in vinegar water and patted dry
1-2 small zucchini or yellow squash, sliced thinly
4 eggs
3 T. water
3 T. olive oil
3 T. butter
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1/4-1/2 cup Queso fresco or Ricotta cheese
Chopped parsley or cilantro (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Beat eggs and water in a bowl until frothy. Add parsley or cilantro if you are using them. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Pick 3 to 4 blossoms per person and 1 or 2 baby yellow or green summer squash. Rinse blossoms well and drain on paper towels.
Melt butter and olive oil. Sauté the onions and zucchini or squash until soft. Add blossoms and sauté for about 30 minutes. Remove blossoms from pan.
Pour egg mix into the same pan, and add onions, and squash to the pan – arranging evenly. Lay blossoms out like a sunburst radiating from the center to denote 4 equal portions.
Cook over medium-low heat in an 8″ omelet pan until almost set. Dab top with soft cheese in equal parts around top of frittata. Most dairy sections of U.S. supermarkets now carry Queso fresco! Thank you, Mexican immigrants.
Finish under broiler about 3 minutes until lightly puffed and slightly browned.

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Posted in Food & Recipes, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Travel & Tourism

Tagged blogsherpa, cooking, food, Mexico, Oaxaca, recipe, squash blossoms

Carnival in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca: Continued

Posted on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 | 4 Comments

Carnival in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca is a five-day festival that begins on the Monday after Easter. Why is this? Carnival is celebrated around the world, and other places in Mexico and Oaxaca before Lent begins. I asked several local residents who said they did not know. It’s the way it has always been, they replied. Perhaps this timing of Teotitlan’s Carnival predates the Spanish conquest and goes back to an ancient pueblo springtime ritual. Does anyone out there know the answer?

Meanwhile, Day Two, hosted by the Mendoza Ruiz weaving family for their section, continued with the same fervor as the first day. The family invited me as a guest and to take photographs.

Oaxaca Photography Workshops Coming Up Soon!

Market Towns and Artisan Villages starts June 28
Day of the Dead Photo Expedition starts October 28

Cooking teacher and chef extraordinaire Reyna Mendoza Ruiz prepared an incredible mole amarillo , traditional for Teotitlan del Valle fiestas, with the aid of an army of women. (I’m linking you to a recipe, but for the most authentic experience, come to Teotitlan for a cooking class with Reyna.) Her brother, weaver Erasto “Tito” Mendoza and owner of El Nahual gallery with his wife Alejandrina Rios, told me the meat was toro when I was served a bowl laden with the sauce covering a succulent meat, fresh potatoes, green beans and choyote squash.

The women had been up since 6:00 a.m. preparing for about 100 people who gathered for the 2:00 p.m. Teotitlan time midday meal. Alejandrina said the beef had been stewing in an olla since the early morning hours. Reyna offered me a spoon but I preferred the Zapotec way of dipping the fresh made tortilla into the spicy mole and tearing off a bit of the toro to eat together accompanied by fresh horchata.

As is tradition, the men are seated separately and served first. Then, a section of the table is cleared for the abuelos, mothers and children to sit together. Everyone drinks beer and mezcal as the band plays, the host family begins the bailando, the Zapotec line dance that is de rigueur at every function. Then, the masquers who danced in the plaza the night before (and all the next night) make their grand entrance.

Late in the afternoon, around 6:00 p.m. Teotitlan time, the group will exit the Mendoza Ruiz home and begin its procession to the plaza outside the municipal building in front of the rug market.

Again, the crowd will gather to watch the masquers make merry, eat nieves and cream-filled pastries, and sit mesmerized as sun sets. (Oaxaca time for the celebration is 7-10 p.m. through Friday.) Best estimates were a crowd of 500-700 people, so get there early to snag a front row seat!

We made our way there by various modes of transportation: by foot, by tuk-tuk, by car and by truck. I didn’t see anyone on the back of a donkey.

The merriment will continue through the night and into the morning, when the troupe returns to the Mendoza Ruiz family at 6:00 a.m. for another meal to fortify themselves for Day Three. As I write this, it is Day Three and I can hear the band in the distance. Today, the festival is in our section of town and another family will host the meal and merry-making. To be continued: food, beer, mezcal, dancing, music, processions, clean-up, and interconnected community.

P.S. I managed to take over 700 photos between 3:00 and 9:00 p.m. and culled them down to what I am showing you here using Lightroom, my new lifesaver! thanks to the Oaxaca Portrait Photography Workshop we just finished.

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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Oaxaca travel, Photography, Teotitlan del Valle, Travel & Tourism, Workshops and Retreats

Tagged blogsherpa, Carnival, class, cooking, course, digital, food, Mexico, Oaxaca, photography, Teotitlan del Valle, workshop

Rhythms of Making Mole Rojo with Josefina Ruiz Vazquez

Posted on Friday, March 30, 2012 | 3 Comments

We are in the garden at Las Granadas Bed and Breakfast in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca. A huge pomegranate (las granadas) tree is laden with ripening fruit. The fruit is suspended and hanging like Christmas ornaments, their color varying in shade from deep red to lime green, depending upon their maturity.

Grandmother Magdalena is at the comal, the outdoor cooking stove that is fueled with wood. This is her favorite spot in the entire family compound. It is where she prepares the fire for making fresh tortillas and today she is stoking it to fuel the embers that will cook the mole rojo. I have watched her preparing food at this comal for seven years and each time is a new experience.

Magdalena’s granddaughter and Josefina’s daughter Eloisa is trained at the culinary school in Oaxaca. She says she likes this mole rojo recipe because the flavor is very special and part of her family’s tradition. We smell the sesame seeds as Josefina kneels at the metate and incorporates the seeds into the chile paste. The paste is the a rich color of deep purple.

We take our turns at the metate, mano de metate in hand. Pushing the mano de metate requires rhythm, strength and endurance. In the background, Eloisa’s husband Taurino is at the loom weaving a large floor rug. We hear the clapping rhythm of the harness and his weight on the two pedals, back and forth, back and forth. The loom beats to the rhythm of Ranchero music.

Zapotec is spoken between the three women. We are kneeling, trying to learn the rhythm of the ancient metate, used to “se muele”, to mash, crush, grind.

The technique is not easy. Eloisa kneels beside me. Puts her hands on mine to guide the movement of wrists. She is twenty years old and experienced in these things. I push with my upper arms and body, leaning over the metate as I rotate my wrists in a small, rhythmic rocking motion. I feel the work of women over the centuries and know that the women I am with today are strong and will endure. They work beside each other, three generations, in harmony.

Smell the smokiness, I note to myself. Absorb this moment. The chiles are smokey. The wood fire gives off the scent of earthy smoke. Feel the chile paste like clay. Josefina puts her finger to her mouth to taste the paste. Muy rico, she says. See Eloisa making bread crumbs on the metate. See Josefina’s hands red orange from the chile paste.

Hear the grind of the metate stone, stone of the river, piedra del rio. Josefina tells me it is not a commercial stone, but an ancient river stone, natural and shaped by an ancestor’s hand. Watch Magda position the cazuela (casserole) on the comal. I yield to the tradition of making mole rojo and honor the women who feed the generations.