In the spirit of the season, please enjoy this re-post of one of our favorite family recipes. GVC … [Read more...]
Recipe Review: Diana Kennedy’s Lenten Beans
March 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment
I recently purchased Diana Kennedy's book Oaxaca al Gusto, a 400 page tome on the indigenous food of Oaxaca, which, in many cases, is unknown even to many Mexicans outside of these valleys. Here you will find recipes with the fundamental building blocks of the food of the region: chocolate, chiles, and corn. And, as Adriana Legaspi has argued, these meals are not just a means of nourishment, but, rather, an important way to understand how they fit within ancient traditions practiced by the community. … [Read more...]
Rolling Out a New Life with Tortillas de Harina
January 14, 2013 By 8 Comments
On a warm spring day of my youth, a bowl and rolling pin marked the beginning of my new life as an independent woman. I was heading off to college and my mother took me to Woolworth's in Laredo, Texas to make the purchase. The bowl was a sturdy green ceramic that couldn't have cost more than two dollars and the rolling pin might have cost even less, a far cry from some of the things I crave nowadays from places that sell gourmet cookware. Through the years and through all my moves, I carried them around with me like a passport, a reminder of who I was and where I came from, until I finally lost track of both the bowl and the palote (rolling pin). But the shopping trip to buy them remains one of the fondest memories I have of my mother. … [Read more...]
Part 1: Preserving the Mexican Identity Through Prehispanic Cuisine, An Interview with Adriana Legaspi
December 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment
There is a movement afoot in Mexico to preserve the traditions of its indigenous cuisine and the ancient knowledge of the use of curative herbs. It involves the rescue and preservation of the ingredients, methods, and utensils common in the pre-colombian past of Mesoamerica in the hopes that they do not flicker out of existence in our lifetime. With globalization and the proliferation of fast food franchises, it is no surprise that these ancient traditions are becoming a distant memory. In twenty-five years, who will know how to prepare tecorral tea, muicle, tlacoyos, or tamales de atepocate or know what they are, for that matter? … [Read more...]
Our Pecan Tree
December 6, 2012 By 2 Comments
With the arrival of his firstborn daughter, a young father planted a nogal seedling. The land was barren and stony but the nogal thrived. Two more daughters were born and, over time, the three sisters grew to play in the shade of the tree's broad branches, climbing, jumping, and staining their clothes with its caramel-colored sap. The girls gathered the tree's savory pecans, cracking them open and eating them as they played. … [Read more...]
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