If I were to tell you making tamales is easy, I would only be telling you a half truth. Tamales are not easy. Tamales are not difficult. Tamales are something you are either devoted to, or have no interest in ever making. There is no in between. You do not meet the non-comital tamal maker…
Tag: mexican food
Tortitas de Papa y Maíz
This recipe couldn’t be simpler, yet it demonstrates how little is required to make a meal out of corn flour. Served simply with crumbled queso fresco and chile colorado as is shown here, the soft tortitas easily soak up the sauce. The corn flour referred to here, is of course harina de maíz para tortillas,…
Celebration Food: Bacalao a la Vizcaina Estilo Mexicano
It’s hard to say there is any one food which heavily represents Mexican Christmas tradition. Like everything else in Mexican cuisine, this is heavily dependent on region and class. Tamales are hugely important, but so are pozole and turkey. In some central and souther areas, Spanish dishes such as paella and bacalao are preferred and…
A No Tajín Home: Seasoned Chile Flake
I’ll put chile powder on almost anything, but not just any chile powder. Store bought Tajín? Never. Nothing technically wrong with it, but also not the greatest. This recipe is based on a seasoned chile flake I bought at a spice shop some time ago in Magdalena de Kino, Sonora. The puya chile used in…
Paletas de Agua de Coco y Limón
If there is one flavor I instantly think of when I think of my childhood it is the bright tartness of lemons (limes to you), with a hint of sweetness poking through a salty, smoky, spicy layer. My childhood had complicated and yet extremely simple tastes. Watermelon with salt and chile. Lemon if you want…
Pickled Jalapeños, Or How to Use Many Jars
Did I mention before I have a jar hoarding problem? I have a jar hoarding problem. Fortunately, I also have a jam and pickling problem, and a giving jams and pickles away problem, so things generally even out. The jar count for the last few months has been this: Pineapple marmalade: 3 8-oz jars Pineapple…
Tortillas de Manteca
There was a time in Mexico’s northern states when the use of rendered lamb and beef fat to make flour tortillas was as common as the use of pork lard. The fat of one animal is just as good as another, even if the taste may be slightly different. Tortillas made with tallow, manteca de…
Sebo y Manteca de Res – Suet and Tallow
While lard has enjoyed a revival in the last few years in this country (Praise the Lard t-shirt, anyone?), rendered beef fat, or tallow, remains mostly in obscurity. Unless you’re really into grass fed lip and body balms. I blame poor marketing. Suet, or sebo in Spanish, the large fat deposits near the kidneys, is…
Lenten Recipes: Capirotada
To say there is a definitive version of the dish capirotada would be to blatantly lie. There are as many variations of this lenten sweet bread pudding as there are ingredients in it. Ingredients such as buttered toasted bread, brown sugar syrup, dried fruits, garlic, onions, cilantro and tomato…. Wait, what? Yes, and all topped with grated…
Atole de Pinole con Vainilla
It is not difficult to become hooked on pinole. It is not a food for those fearful of carbohydrates, but thankfully, I have never been one of those people. If its food group can be forgiven, it is an energy dense food used for centuries by in the American continent not just for survival in…
How To: Pinole from Scratch
Ready made pinole isn’t difficult to find, but making it from scratch is a rather enjoyable experience. Though blue corn is most popular for pinole, any dried corn suitable for popping can be used, no matter what the color. The steps for pinole are simple: toast and pop the corn, and grind to a fine powder. Sweeten…
Video How To: Coricos Sonorenses
Some of us are visual learners. Watch the recipe video for coricos Sonorenses. Doesn’t everything look better in slow mo?
