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Posts from the ‘Corn’ Category

May 3

8 Comments

Pupusas de Flor de Loroco y Queso

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A couple of springs ago, I went behind the Solber Pupusa stand at Ft. Geene’s Brooklyn Flea to learn how to palmear or shape their famous corn flour cakes.  I loved the process of mixing up the dough with my hands, tucking in the filling until it looks like an overstuffed dumpling, then passing it back and forth until it was a smooth disc again.  They were like the play-dough cakes I would have made as a kid except they turned into something you’d actually want to eat.  The first one weren’t very pretty but they improved with practice. Read more

Jul 11

9 Comments

Porotos Granados

I always hope that someone will see a recipe on my site and decide to try it out for themselves.  In the case of these porotos granados, I absolutely understand if they wait for the cooler days of summer.  I came across the Chilean recipe months ago when fresh cranberry beans seemed very far away.  With origins going back to the pre-Columbian Mapuche Indians, it brings together my summer favorites- fresh beans, tomatoes, and corn.  Available year around as dry Roman beans, I could have made the dish with frozen corn, and canned tomatoes but decided to wait.  Finally, last week the cranberry beans made their appearance at my Sunday farmer’s market, right around the time someone turned the heat up to a 100 degrees. Read more

Mar 23

19 Comments

Harina con Cangrejo

Despite a lifetime of research, I’m always discovering something new in Cuban food.  While it reminds me not to take anything for granted, less pleasant is knowing that my nearest and dearest have been holding out on me.  That’s how I felt when I discovered that harina – cornmeal simmered to a creamy state and topped with peppery sofritos and poached or fried eggs, ham or chorizo, shimp or crab – was a Cuban comfort food staple that everyone was having but no one was talking about.  I’d enjoyed Italian polenta prepared this way, but I  hadn’t realized there was a take on it that was much closer to home – just not my home. Read more

Jul 21

6 Comments

Grilled Corn and Quinoa Salad

The last couple of weeks I’ve been indulging in early Saturday market runs. Loaded down with corn, currants, peaches and herbs, I head home with my haul, spread it out then have a moment of what now. As inspring as the weekend farmer’s market can be, sometimes the summer goes to my head and I overbuy (or just haven’t found a gooseberry recipe to love). That’s partly why I was so happy to make this grilled corn and quinoa salad, the first recipe I’ve tried from Lourdes Castro’s new book,  Latin Grilling. Read more

Mar 22

6 Comments

Arepa de Dominó

I was working on a post on the Latin pantry for Devour the Blog when I decided to take a look at my own. I’m constantly straightening and organizing my shelves in the on-going game of kitchen Jenga that my limited New York storage space forces me to play.  I can’t complain though because a few years ago my cupboards would have been bare. It took me awhile to figure out what I like, how I should store it, and how often I would use it. I hate waste and there were a few forgotten items staring at me resentfully from behind the much loved olive oil and sea salt, but I think I got it down to the essentials. I don’t know if it’s pure projection or all those chiles and peppers, but Latin American products seem to vibrate just a little bit more than others. I feel like if I winked at the woman on the P.A.N. Harina bag she just might wink back and I’m also absolutely terrified of the Abuelita on Nestlé’s Mexican chocolate discs though I’m sure she means well. Read more

Jul 18

5 Comments

Humitas Ecuatorianas


I’m a little late in posting this recipe for humitas.  Though I read about them weeks ago and made my first batch a couple of days ago, a lot of have-tos (and a few want-tos) have gotten in the the way.  Initially, I didn’t recognize them as the tamales I’d grown up with.  They were of course and they weren’t.  Depending on whether you’re in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela or the Caribbean, they’re known as humitas, humintas, tamales, tamalli, tamalitos verdes, chapanas, bollos, choclotanda, chumales, cachapas, chapanas, chiguiles, envueltos de mazorca, ayacas, hallacas, juanes, pamonhas.  The filling can be sweet or savory, made with fresh or dried corn, plantains or potatoes, wrapped corn husks, banana leaves or parchment paper,  steamed or baked, served as a snack, side dish, casserole or heavy stew. Read more

Jul 3

5 Comments

A Grilling Alternative

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. Read more

Jun 28

2 Comments

Arepitas Dulces

It’s always the little things that trip me up.  I was thinking of making arepas last weekend when I came across a recipe for Venezuelan arepitas dulces.  Also known as arepuelas or anisitas in Colombia, they’re smaller arepas sweetened with melado de papelón and fried for breakfast or dessert.  Infused with whole anise seeds, they seemed as soothing and comforting as the candies in your grandmother’s purse. Read more

Mar 30

1 Comment

Lucky Coins

I decided to skip last month’s ñoquis del 29 post on a leap year technicality.  Picking up in March, I decided to make cornmeal ñoquis baked in béchamel.  I had never associated ñoquis with Cuban cuisine but, after finding several references in a few older Cuban cookbooks, I wanted to try it.  The cooked cornmeal is shaped into small discs then baked with white sauce or cheese and put under a broiler.  Though not like any ñoquis I’d had before, I thought their similarity to gold coins fitted with the Argentinian tradition of putting a coin or peso under your plate while you ate them to attract greater prosperity.  I was a little up in the air about doing another one and questioned whether I really wanted to make ñoquis again so soon. As with most resolutions, the first time is all zeal, the second time may be a fluke, and the third time is when you decide whether or not to stick to it.  After some starts and stops, I realized that I looked forward to answering the same question in a different way every month.  Hopefully, with some consistency, I can be consistently lucky. Read more

Oct 22

1 Comment

The Running People

“They seemed to move with the ground,” said one awestruck spectator.  “Kind of like a cloud, or a fog moving across the mountains.”

This time, the Tarahumara weren’t two lonely tribesmen adrift in a sea of Olympians…they were locked in formation they’d practiced since childhood, with wily old vets up front and eager young buck pushing from behind.  They were sure-footed and sure of themselves.  They were the Running People.

-Christopher McDougall, Born to Run

If anyone has read Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run, they know what it’s like to have images of Mexico’s Tarahumara racing through their minds.  A story about “a hidden tribe, superathletes, and the greatest race the world has never seen,” it’s really about all of us and none of us.  A story of our evolution and ability as runners that may be largely lost, except to a few who never forgot how. Read more

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