I once read that Montezuma would pour melted chocolate over bowls of snow brought to him from the mountain tops. The image made me swoon though it has to be boiling outside for me to give up my scorching espresso or spiced hot chocolate. This weekend we actually did reach the boiling point so I decided to try it the Emperor’s way. Continue reading ‘Chocolate Covered Snow’
Archive for the 'Mexico' Category
Chocolate Covered Snow
Published 25 July 2010 Beverages , Breakfast/Brunch , Desserts , Drinks , General , Mexico 5 CommentsTags: Harold McGee, chocolate frio, iced chocolate, Mexican chocolate, On Food and Cooking, cacahuatl, Aztec drinking chocolate
Taking Off, Cooling Down
Published 6 July 2010 Desserts , General , Mexico 2 CommentsTags: Paletas, Gaby Camacho, popscicles, heat wave, paletas de duraznos con miel, peach & honey ice pops
When the heat broke last week, I thought we’d finally been granted a reprieve from the brutally hot New York summer. Little did I know that it was only recharging. From the number of friends posting screen shots of the weather forecast on Facebook, I know I’m not the only one mildly hysterical at the prospect of a 102° week. At least I had rocket pops on standby.
A Grilling Alternative
Published 3 July 2010 Appetizers , General , Light Lunch , Mexico , Vegetarian 3 CommentsTags: steamed corn, Mexican crema, corn with chili, summer recipes, esquite, elote en vaso, Steamed Corn with Crema, Chile, and Cheese, Elote con crema
I was looking for grilling recipes when I heard about a great non-grilling suggestion from my Tio Raul. After giving me instructions on how to make grilled elotes slathered in crema and covered with cheese, he mentioned this version he’d had at the end of a long Mexican wedding where the reception ended with a second meal. Continue reading ‘A Grilling Alternative’
Mexican Chocolate Crackle Cookies
Published 21 May 2010 Cookies , Desserts , General , Mexico 2 CommentsTags: Ancho Chile, Chocolate, Cindy Mushet, Mexican Chocolate Crackle Cookies, The Art & Soul of Baking
I hadn’t planned on re-posting this recipe until I my sister asked for Mexican Chocolate Crackle Cookies for a reading she was doing. It was a last minute request on a busy day. I gave good reasons for not making them and they were all accepted, then I decided to do it anyway. It was a chance to go through one of my favorite recipe posts and make sure I’d gotten it all down correctly, try some adjustments and maybe find some of the typos that play hide and seek when I first hit publish (though I rarely feel like playing). Click here for the original post.
Chilaquiles
Published 15 May 2010 Basic Techniques , Breakfast/Brunch , Light Lunch , Mexico 7 CommentsTags: Chilaquiles, Chilaquiles Veracruzanos, Diana Kennedy, Julia Child, Lourdes Castro, Simply Mexican, The Essential Cuisine of Mexico
I’ve wanted to make chilaquiles for awhile but was a little overwhelmed by the choices. I love the precision of cooking and there was no set way to go about making these. The tortillas can be fried or baked, topped with chicken, chorizo or eggs, sprinkled queso fresco or Cotija, sauteed or covered on Oaxacan cheese then baked, the sauces can be red or green or mole, the peppers fresh or dried. Elbow deep in books and online recipes, I saw a an opportunity to throw in some staples that I overbuy but under use testing the tips and side notes that the cookbook obsessed pick up and file away. They can be a breakfast or brunch dish, a perfect way to use leftover tortillas, and a sometimes cure for hangovers. A generous dish. With no set path, there was no way to fail. Continue reading ‘Chilaquiles’
Frida’s Fiestas
Published 25 March 2010 Appetizers , Basic Techniques , Light Lunch , Main Course , Mexico 3 CommentsTags: Fijoles Refritos, Frida Kahlo, Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo, Guadalupe Rivera, Marie-Pierre Colle, Papas en Salsa Verde, Potatoes in Green Sauce, Tomatillos
A few months ago a friend recommended Frida’s Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo. Written by her step-daughter Guadalupe Rivera and Marie-Pierre Colle, it’s part cookbook and part food memoir. Organized by month, each chapter centers on the holidays and seasons as they were celebrated in the Blue House in Coyoacán. Describing a trip with Frida to the pyramids of San Juan Teotihuacán, the author writes:
After offering us the traditional refreshment of agua de chía, doña Rosa invited us to eat. She had prepared a number of Lenten dishes typically served throughout the central Mexican plain, where the gods that Frida invoked in her paintings had once upon a time resided. As it turned out, doña Rosa and don Tomas extended their hospitality to us for three more days, days in which reality was inseparable from magic. Continue reading ‘Frida’s Fiestas’
More Than Salsa
Published 17 March 2010 General , Mexico , New York 1 CommentTags: Julia Moskin, New York Times, Rediscovering Salsa, Salsa out-sold ketchup, the Soul of Mexico in a Bowl
In 1992, salsa out-sold ketchup in the United States. I’ve heard that statistic for years, referenced it a few times, and read it again in Julia Moskin’s “Rediscovering Salsa, the Soul of Mexico in a Bowl” in this week’s Dining & Wine section. By now, most Latinos in the United States have claimed salsa’s success as our own. I have friends who’ve worked it into sales pitches and if anyone brings it up around the chip bowl, Mexican or not, we nod knowingly. Yet I’m not sure what kind of legitimacy we feel this confers on Latino cuisine or the growing market for Latino products. What does it say about us? What does it say about them? What does it say about ketchup? With so much baggage, it was great to read an article about salsa that was just that.
Picking Peppers
Published 5 February 2010 Breakfast/Brunch , Cuba , Light Lunch , Mexico Leave a CommentTags: Chiles/Chilis, Chipotle, Diana Kennedy, Eggs Poached in Chile-Tomato Broth, Huevos en Rabo de Mestiza, Poblanos, The Essential Cuisine of Mexico
I’m not used to very much heat in my food. Though most people associate chili peppers with Latin America, food in the Caribbean is more often spicy than hot. While I love having a choice on one menu between caipirinhas and mojitos or lomo saltado and carne asada, trendy pan-Latin restaurants can add to the confusion. Friends insist that chipotle belongs in a Cuban sandwich, and ask me if I had elotes covered in chili powder growing up because they ordered it at Habana Outpost. The answers are complicated. I don’t want chipotle anywhere near my Cubano, but I look forward to my chili covered corn every summer (though not because I had it growing up, but because it’s so good).
December Daze
Published 10 December 2009 Appetizers , Brooklyn , Light Lunch , Mexico 3 CommentsTags: Albondigas al Chipotle, Chipotle Meatballs, Holiday parties, John Waters, Mexican Everyday, Muppets, Rick Bayless, Stephen Colbert
Decembers are a blur whether or not it’s snowing. With no plans to host, I’ve decided to spend the holiday party season as a kind of foreign exchange student. I’m just showing up when asked and however they’re celebrating, I’ll just go with it. Last Christmas was my family’s turn to have Noche Buena dinner and before that I had a party for friends before everyone went their separate ways, so it’s just not my year. Continue reading ‘December Daze’
Figure Eights
Published 6 December 2009 Argentina , Bread/Baked Goods , Colombia , Cuba , Desserts , Mexico , Puerto Rico , Spain 1 CommentTags: Anise, Arab, Buñuelos de Yuca y Malanga, Bunuelos, Bunyols de Quaresma, Catalunya, Christmas, Cocina al Minuto, Iberia, Malanga, New Year's Eve, Nitza Villapol, Oaxaca, Sephardic, Turkey, yautia, Yuca
There’s always a point when I finish a post and choose a country category that feels a little dishonest. Well not so much dishonest but not the whole elephant either. When I decided to write about Latin food, I knew that it would be a fuzzy focus and difficult to define. Buñuelos, fritters popular throughout Spain and Latin America, are a good example. Originally from the Iberian penninsula, they’re either Arabic or Sephardic, or maybe both. Typically made from a wheat-based dough that’s flavored with anise, they’re rolled into balls or discs and deep fried then topped with a syrup or honey. Continue reading ‘Figure Eights’
