Taking Tacos to a New Level

February 21, 2011 By 2 Comments
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The idea of a taco, even a shrimp taco may not conjure up Mexican haute cuisine, but recently, at the Hacienda de Guadalupe in San Miguel de Allende, my husband and I were treated to a regal plate of shrimp tacos. The evening had started out a bit disappointingly. We had expected to meet a friend at the busy, noisy and well-known hang-out next door to the Hacienda de Guadalupe. Getting an earful of the clamor within, we instinctively ran for the door, away from the noise. But we were hungry and didn't want to walk far to look for a quiet place to eat. Just one doorway away, at the Hacienda de Guadalupe, we found ourselves lured into this combination boutique hotel/restaurant, an eclectic but somehow congruent mix of twenty-fifth century modern and seventeenth century colonial design. The ambiance, in fact, is very peaceful and inviting. On the menu, we ordered the shrimp tacos. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Appetizers/Aperitivos, Fish/Pescado, Gilda V. Carbonaro, Tacos Tagged With: , , ,

Good Cooking

February 14, 2011 By 2 Comments
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Living in the Nation’s Capital has its perks.  Among them, the springtime.   A variegated season whose spectrum of color is highlighted for a few weeks by cherry blossoms that sprout across reaching branches and then blanket entire neighborhoods in cupcake pink as the blossoms flutter to the ground.  There is also the magnificence of the historic monuments scattered around the city.  Especially notable at night is the Washington Monument, a chalky-white obelisk rising to the heavens to pierce a midnight-blue sky. But, as the seat of American government, Washington can be a formidable place to live and work.  Lobbyists work lengthy hours when Congress is in session and working parents remain “plugged in” while they read nighttime stories to their kids.  During rush hour the collective mood on the Metro can be dour, as worker bees make their way to windowless offices in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gilda (Dini) Karasik, Musings Tagged With: , ,

For the Love of San Miguel de Allende

February 10, 2011 By 4 Comments
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It would be easy to be selfish and keep the secret of San Miguel de Allende to myself.   But what the heck, Martha Stewart "discovered" it several months ago.  Granted, American GIs started going in droves to this colonial town in central Mexico in the late 40's when Stirling Dickinson, the larger-than-life American expatriate impacted the life of this town forever after.  In 1948, Life Magazine published a three-page spread entitled “GI Paradise: Veterans go to Mexico to study art, live cheaply and have a good time.” This was Stirling Dickinson's legacy. In the intervening years, this sleepy town—and the cradle of Mexican independence—grew and became flooded with expats from all over the world, especially Americans.  It also became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Unfortunately, in 2009, stories of the spread of swine flu discouraged tourism.  This was compounded by the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Desserts/Postres, Gilda V. Carbonaro, Musings, Places, Recipes, Reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Black Beans for the Young and Restless

February 5, 2011 By 1 Comment
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I have a friend, Liz, who is a half-Egyptian, half-Cuban beauty.  Tall and fit, she more like glides when she walks, ever mellow but always in step with the world around her.  The color of her eyes exactly matches her burnt-caramel skin.  The corona of springy, black curls that frames her face is her signature feature. She is blithe, guarded and possesses a disarming, sardonic wit. And she reminds me of beans, so hard and stoic until you cook them down, slowly.  Patiently.  What is impenetrable at first eventually becomes velvety smooth, full of texture, hearty and dependable.  Also, we ate a lot of black beans and rice together when we were low-budget law students living in Baltimore. It was 1995.  Our first year of law school.  We spent time on campus feigning self-confidence, eating free pizza and drinking cheap beer in the student lounge, and surreptitiously stalking the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Beans, Entrées/Platos Fuertes, Gilda (Dini) Karasik, Side Dishes Tagged With: , ,

Never a Year Without Tamales

February 2, 2011 By 4 Comments
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On this day a year ago, my mother, Floria Valdez, became suddenly and unexpectedly ill. I managed to leave Washington in the midst of the worst snow storm in years and was there at her side until she departed on her birthday, February 8. It is still difficult to think about what this loss has meant to me. At the most unexpected moments, I remember her...when I hear a special song, when I want to brag about a personal achievement, when I want to talk about the funny things my students do, when I need to talk about my son. But most of all I think of her...when I'm in the kitchen. My mother loved to cook and was a purist about the things she made, for example, her tamales. She was a stickler for making them just like her own mother had made them. Recently, my paternal cousin, Cotis, from Monterrey, Mexico, sent me a message on Facebook asking me if my tamales recipe came from her mother's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gilda V. Carbonaro, Musings Tagged With: , ,