Dinner at Restaurant Tierra Antigua, Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
Like a painting, I call it arte de comer. Carina Santiago Bautista cooks from her heart. For years, Cari prepared food and sold it daily at the village market for carry out. Now, she has a brand-spanking-new kitchen in her new casita on Av. Juarez and operates the restaurant La Tierra Antigua. I organize special […]
Food and Poetry: Writing About Eating, Ingredients and the Kitchen
After our cooking class with Reyna Mendoza Ruiz, Robin Greene, MFA, led us in a writing about food discussion. She referred us to Poet Laureate Mark Strand’s poem, “Pot Roast.” He uses words masterfully: gaze, sit, spoon, “I bend, I raise my fork in praise.” We come to a place where we are ‘eating poetry.’ […]
Oaxaca Cooking: Flavors of the Grandmothers
Written recipes for traditional Oaxaca cuisine are a recent phenomena. As with most cultures that create art through food, the way of cooking is passed through the hearts, hands, and soul of women, generation to generation, a folk-tale. Everything is by hand and by memory, intuited. Measurements are imprecise, to taste and to touch. Add […]
Mole Amarillo (Yellow Mole with Chicken) Recipe by Pilar Cabrera Arroyo, Buen Provecho!
This recipe enthralled me, captivated me, educated me about how easy it can be to prepare a traditional Oaxacan recipe. With Pilar’s permission, I am sharing this recipe with you to enjoy and savor. Buen Provecho! Eat hearty and enjoy! Oaxacan Yellow Mole by Pilar Cabrera Arroyo (serves 6) Ingredients: 1 chicken, cut into 6 […]
Touring the Mercado de la Merced with Pilar Cabrera Arroyo
My first day in Oaxaca was thrilling and something I was looking forward to for quite some time! I walked from Las Bugambilias B&B to Pilar’s cooking class at Casa de los Milagros, operated by Pilar’s brother Rene. (Three beautiful rooms each with private bath @ $120USD each.) Our group of seven included a couple […]
The McAllister Family Whirlwind Winter Holiday in Mexico
Walter and Annette McAllister took their family to Mexico during the Christmas holidays. Walter had subscribed to Oaxaca Cultural Navigator and did his homework. I’ve never met them, but Walt, a chef, would write me periodically with questions or comments. He even sent me his daughter’s blog to read during their trip. When they got […]
Buen Provecho! Cooking Classes in Teotitlan del Valle
Buen Provecho! Bon Appetit! Enjoy the meal! When you come to Teotitlan del Valle why not take a cooking class from Reyna Mendoza Ruiz? Reyna is part of the well-known Mendoza weaving family. Her brother is Erasto “Tito” Mendoza and her cousin is Arnulfo Mendoza. She deserves recognition in her own right for the experience […]
Soup Kitchen With a Bite: Vegetarian Leek and Potato Soup
Friends are coming to dinner tonight. The pond is frozen and it’s a chilly 23 degrees in North Carolina. In four weeks, I’ll be back in Oaxaca. Meantime, it’s supposed to snow on Tuesday! I wanted to prepare a delicious, healthy, warming soup tonight to serve in mugs, no spoons needed, as a first course […]
Whet Your Appetite: Visual Tour of the Teotitlan del Valle Market
The market colors and people are captivating. It is difficult to know what to focus on first! One of the most satisfying experiences for any visitor is to stroll the daily market, open 9:30-11 a.m., across from the church. Traditional dress, food and cooking is alive and well in Teotitlan del Valle. This is a […]
Soup Kitchen: Mexican Sopa Verde — Spicy Cilantro Vegetable Soup
This vegan soup is like drinking your vegetables. It’s a spicy broth flavored with garlic, lemon and cilantro with a few more things from the veggie bin thrown in for good measure. It’s still chilly here in North Carolina and it’s five more weeks until I get back to Oaxaca. What draws me closer is […]
Soup Kitchen: Oaxaca Spicy Sopa de Garbanzo (Chickpea Soup)
We eat this delicious, rich and creamy soup at the home of our friends in Teotitlan del Valle. Dolores, Federico’s wife, prepares it periodically for cena (late supper) accompanied by quesadillas. With a cerveza (preferably Indio) we are in heaven. At Las Granadas Bed and Breakfast, Josefina makes it for comida (lunch) as a first […]
Soup Kitchen: Spicy Red Chard, Spinach and Garlic Soup — Pure Vegetarian!
A hot winter soup a la Mexico — hot and spicy to the taste, hot to warm you on a cold frosty day — couldn’t be better as we curl up in front of the fire dreaming about being in Oaxaca. We’ve been experimenting this week with a lot of vegetables we have on hand. […]
Skip the Hotel and Be Our Experiment
“Skip the hotel and be our experiment.” That’s what my friend Annie Burns wrote to me after I took her up on her invitation to come visit her in Teotitlan del Valle. “You and Stephen can be the first to stay with Josefina and Magda,” she said. Annie has a heart as big as Mexico, […]
Recipe: Elsa’s No-Bake Oaxaca Lime Cake
Elsa Sanchez Diaz, who lives in Oaxaca, has been visiting us. She loves to prepare desserts and one day I came home to find this delicious treat sitting on the kitchen counter, ready to cut for an after dinner delectable. If you’re calorie-watching, think twice! This recipe uses sweetened condensed milk. Ingredients: 1 – 12 […]