After a long break What’s Cooking Mexico is back! Things have been quiet around here for almost a month, but we’re ready to start posting again. In order to give the readers of this blog a more complete picture of Mexican cuisine, we’ve decided to highlight a Mexican ingredient (or other ingredients that are very important in Mexican cooking) for several weeks. We’ll write about its history, nutritional properties, cultural importance and, of course, recipes. We’ll start with the single most important ingredient in Mexican cuisine, corn or maize. Jon introduces us to this crop that has been an essential part of many American civilizations for thousands of years.

Read the rest of A brief introduction to corn (maize)

© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments |
Post tags: Corn, History, Mexican crops, Mexican food

Read the rest of Cajeta

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Post tags: Cajeta, Confections, Mexican ingredients, Milk, Sweets, Travel

Read the rest of Pears

© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2009. | Permalink | 24 comments |
Post tags: Fruit, Health & Fitness, Healthy food, Pear, Salsas and sauces

If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you might have noticed that I used these little guys in my cooking a lot. Tomatillos are a fruit native to Mexico and Guatemala and are close cousins to one of the most famous Mexican ingredients, tomatoes. In central Mexico tomatoes are known as jitomates (from the Nahuatl word xitomatl) and tomatillos are known as tomates verdes or simply tomates. In other parts of Mexico and Central America they are also known as tomate de cáscara (husk tomato), miltomate, tomate de fresadilla and tomate milpero.

Tomatillos are the fruit of the plant with the same name that belongs to the Solanaceae family. They have been consumed in America since pre-Columbian times. Some excavations in Tehuacan (in the Mexican state of Puebla) have discovered that its used dates as far as 900 BC. Native peoples of Mesoamerica mixed tomatillos and chillies (in what we know now generically as green salsas)  to improve the flavor of meals and stimulate the appetite.

Even though the production of tomatillo has been marginalized and even discontinued in some parts of the world, they are still a staple food in Mexican kitchens. A great array of green sauces and salsas use tomatillos as a based, just take a look at some of the recipes I have published on this blog.

One of the most common uses of tomatillo is in the preparation of the basic salsa verde. When eating tacos, gorditas, tostadas, tamales, tortas or any other Mexican snack and fritanga on the street or a restaurant you usually have the option to choose between a green or red salsa to “spice things up”. The preparation of this salsa is very simple. Just roast 3 large tomatillos and 1 jalapeño pepper (more if you want more heat). Then blend them with 1/2 onion, 2 garlic cloves and a dash of salt. You don’t need to add any liquids since tomatillos become very juicy after roasting.

During the last decade tomatillos have gained popularity in the U.S. It is easy to find them now fresh or canned in many grocery stores and markets all around the country. So if you happen to come across these green guys, give them a try. You’ll be introduce to a whole new tomato experience.

¡Buen provecho!

I am sending this picture to Click, a monthly event dedicated to Food Photography. This month’s theme is Wood.

This post is also my entry to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging.This week the event is hosted by Yasmeen of Healthnut.

© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2009. | Permalink | 19 comments |
Post tags: Mexican ingredients, Salsas and sauces, Tomatillo

If you are a regular visitor of this blog, you probably have noticed that I use chipotles adobados (or chipotles in adobo sauce) a lot. But until today I have failed to write about these amazing little guys and for that I apologize. Up until I moved away from home I always gave them for granted.

Like onions and garlic, they were always there. My mom used them for many recipes and sauces, but I never gave them that much of a thought. I didn’t even know how they were made until I missed them in my diet and decided to look for them in my new home country. It wasn’t easy finding them at first, but once I knew where to get them they were back in my cooking. Oh you little devils, what would I do without you?

But what are they? Chipotles are ripe, red jalapeño peppers that have been dried and smoked. It is believed that this process was created by civilizations living in the Mexico valley before the Aztecs. They dried and smoked peppers in order to store them for long periods of time. This process is still used today to preserve peppers, but now some chipotles are canned in an red adobo sauce made with seasoned tomato broth.

The smoking process and the adobo sauce give these adobado chipotles a very unique and delicious flavor. They are hot, but just one or two give sauces, salsas, stews and anything in what they are used a lot of flavor with just the right amount of heat. Go ahead, give them a try and fall in love with this Mexican delicacy. You can find them in the Mexican/Latino section of your grocery store or online here.

Here are some of my favorite recipes that use chipotles adobados:

• Entomatado de pollo
• Camarones al mojo de ajo
• Spicy sweet potato soup
• Pastel Azteca
• Fried Quesadillas

¡Buen provecho!

This post is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, an event that I always follow closely, but in which I have never participated… until today. This week the event is been hosted by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2009. | Permalink | 18 comments |
Post tags: Chipotle adobado, Mexican ingredients, Peppers, Salsas and sauces

This past Día de muertos I had a piece of pan de muerto with some hot Mexican chocolate. The perfect combination for a cool autumn night. How is a hot cup of Mexican chocolate any different from a cup of hot cocoa? I will let my good friend Teresa of Mexican Chocolate Lore and More answer that question:

Mexican Chocolate is flavored with cinnamon, sugar, and cacao nibs. It’s gritty but melts just like the smooth American and European chocolate you’re used to. The flavor is intense. It can be used for baking breads and desserts, for sauces, and in beverages.

The history of chocolate, like any other food, is a very interesting one. Did you know that the Aztec emperor Montezuma drank thick chocolate dyed red? The drink was so prestigious that it was served in golden goblets that were thrown away after only one use! I would love to write an essay about chocolate history, but that would be too long for this blog and there are great sites out there that already have timelines of the history of chocolate. This link is one of my favorites.

Hot Mexican chocolate was one of my favorite drinks when we visited my dad’s little town in the Mixteca Sierra. I remember we used to buy circular chocolate bars from a very old lady who made them by hand. My dad and grandma prepared theirs in boiling water, but I always demanded milk for mine, which had generally been milked that same morning. That was truly a very prestigious drink.

Now, I always keep Mexican chocolate in my pantry. I usually get Nestle-Abuelita brand, although Ibarra is another popular brand I’ve seen in grocery stores up here. Don’t be scared by the old lady’s picture on the package. Her name is Sara Garcia, a beloved actress from the Mexican cinema golden age back in the 1920′s and 1930′s. She’s Mexico’s abuelita (grandma).

Mexican chocolate is used for many things, but to make hot chocolate you only need to bring one liter of milk to a boil in a saucepan, add one chocolate bar and stir constantly until melted. Hot Mexican chocolate is a delicious and timeless beverage for the emperor and empress of the house.

¡Buen provecho!

© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2008. | Permalink | 25 comments |
Post tags: Chocolate, Mexican food

Here’s another fruit I grew up with that haven’t seen very often in the U.S., mamey. What is mamey?  it is a fruit the size of a big potato with a hard, leathery, brown skin that grows in big trees (some of them reach 40 feet high). The flesh of the fruit is pink/salmon in color and creamy. If you ask me I would say that it is a sweeter version of avocado, but some people say that it tastes like  pumpkin, only richer and sweeter. 

How do people eat mamey? Although it is original to southeast Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, I don’t remember it being very popular in Mexico City. The most common way to eat mamey there, that I remember, is in milkshakes and ice creams. However, I’ve read that many people eat it raw out of hand. I personally don’t like it very much like that, but I love mamey milkshakes. The smell and flavor of a mamey milkshake is a very delicious experience. 

Yesterday when I was at the Mexican market, a very familiar and delicious aroma that filled my noistrils guided me to where this guy was waiting for me. I knew I wanted to make a milkshake and maybe a gelato with it, but I eneded up using half of it in a cake. I was in the mood to bake a cake and and the result was amazing. I will post the recipe later this coming the week along with whaever else I decide to use the other half of my mamey in. But for now enjoy this beatiful view.

¡Buen provecho!

© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2008. | Permalink | 31 comments |
Post tags: Fruit, Mexican ingredients

That’s just the fruit of the prickly pear cactus. You might remember nopales, the pads of the same cactus that I used for this salad. Well, these little guys are the sweet counterpart of the pads. I saw them at the Mexican market last Monday and I immediately picked some up. It’s been a long time since I’ve had tunas (not the fish, we are clear on that) and I just wanted to remember their sweet flavor and their crunchy and slimy texture.

If you want to try them you have to eat them cold. Throw them in the fridge for a couple of hours before eating them and they will be perfect for a hot summer day. Prickly pears have a very thick skin. The easiest way to cut them is to cut the ends and then make a cut lengthwise through the skin. Pull apart the skin where you made the cut and the edible part will stare right at you. Make sure that the prickly pears have been cleaned. It’s not fun when a thorn gets in your skin.

There you have it. Another delicious and nutritious Mexican ingredient that will refresh you this summer. I think agua fresca de tuna (prickly pear juice) sounds perfect right now.

¡Buen provecho!

© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2008. | Permalink | 15 comments |
Post tags: Fruit, Healthy food, Mexican ingredients

To keep the healthy and frugal air that this blog has taken this summer I want to talk about one super food that most of us love. Yup I am talking about those naughty guys from this post, potatoes. Here are 13 facts about them that will make you love them even more:

1. There are about about 100 varieties of edible potatoes. They are often classified as either mature potatoes (the large potatoes that we are generally familiar with) and new potatoes (those that are harvested before maturity and are of a much smaller size).
2. They originated in the Andean mountain region of South America between 4,000 and 7,000 years ago and were introduce to Europe by Spanish explorers who “discovered” them in the 16th century.
3. At first many people in Europe were suspicious of them because they were not mentioned in the Bible and some others thought they were poisonous.
4. It is thought that potatoes were brought to the U.S. by Irish immigrants in the 18th century, but they didn’t become popular until the 19th century.
5. An historical event centered around them when in 1845 and 1846, a blight ruined most of the potato crop in Ireland and caused major devastation: this event is known as the Irish Potato Famine
6. Analysis of Red and Norkotah potatoes revealed that these spuds’ phenolic content rivals that of broccoli, spinach and Brussels sprouts, and includes flavonoids with protective activity against cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems and certain cancers.
7. UK scientists at the Institute for Food Research have identified blood pressure-lowering compounds called kukoamines in potatoes.
8. A cup of baked potato contains 21.0% of the daily value of vitamin B6, which is involved in more than 100 enzymatic reactions.
9. Vitamin B6 plays numerous roles in our nervous system, many of which involve neurological activity.
10. A single baked potato will also provide you with 11.7% of the daily value for fiber, but remember that the fiber in potatoes is mostly in their skin.
11. Vitamin B6 is also necessary for the breakdown of glycogen, the form in which sugar is stored in our muscle cells and liver, so this vitamin is a key player in athletic performance and endurance.
12. Methylation is important to cardiovascular health and the vitamin B6 found in potatoes plays a critical role in this chemical process.
13. 2008 has been declared the International Year of the Potato by the United Nations. Potatoes, the website claims, is the crop of the future that could feed and increasingly hungry world.

There you have it. Thirteen facts about potatoes that will make you love them even more (but try not to eat them as French fries, fried chips or with tons of butter and sour cream, that kinda defeats the purpose).

Sources for this post:

• International Year of the Potato 2008
• The World’s Healthiest Foods

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© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2008. | Permalink | 18 comments |
Post tags: Healthy food, Potato, Thursday Thirteen

…or are changing the world. First I want to explain that when I say Mexican ingredients I am talking about ingredients native to the part of the world where now Mexico sits. When these ingredients were discovered/engineered/domesticated there was not a place called Mexico. That would come many centuries, and thousands of years, later. So here they are, 13 Mexican ingredients that changed the world:

1. Let’s start with my favorite one, cocoa. Can you imagine a world without chocolate? I wouldn’t like to live in a place like that. Cocoa beans were used by the Mayas as currency, yeah cocoa was that important, and then Olmecs, Toltecs and Aztecs cultivated them. There is so much more I could tell you about cocoa (like the fact that Montezuma was excessively fond of a drink made with cocoa and vanilla sweetened with honey), but I have 12 more ingredients to go.
2. Maize (Corn, Maíz) was first domesticated in what is now known as Oaxaca, Mexico, almost 9,000 years ago (according to some scientists). Corn has become one of the most widely used crops in the world. Here in the U.S. you can find it in almost every processed food (which is not very good for you, but that will be another TT)
3. Although nowadays most of the modern vanilla is produced in the island of Madagascar, vanilla is native to the American continent, specifically the Mazatlan Valley in what is now the state of Sinaloa, Mexico. What would we modern bakers do without this little, sweet and aromatic pod?
4. Tomatoes are another great addition to cuisines from all over the world. Some evidence points that the first domesticated tomatoes were cultivated by the Aztecs in the form of a small yellow fruit they called Xitomatl (shi-to-ma-tlh). What would Italian cuisine be without tomatoes?
5. Squash and all its varieties (zucchini, pumpkin, chayote, etc.) was first domesticated and cultivated in Mesoamerica (southern Mexico and Central America) some 8 to 10 thousand years ago. They were usually grown with corn and beans in a crop growing system called milpa (also referred as Three Sisters) That method is still used in many small Mexican farms and it is a great example of sustainability.
6. Although chillies are vegetables, many people used them as a spice. Some evidence points out that they were well domesticated more than 6,000 years ago in South America. Some scientists believe they were domesticated by different cultures in different eras at least 5 times. Want some heat or flavor in your food? Use any of the many varieties of chilli pepper for a unique taste.
7. Can you imagine a game night without guacamole? Avocados popularity has been growing tremendously in the past years and now it has become a favorite fruit for sweet and savory dishes. Filled with good fats avocado is a delicious addition to your dinner table.
8. I have talked about beans in another post. If you want to eat healthier and help reduce the impact of our species on the planet. Eat more beans!
9. Papaya was cultivated in Mexico and Central America for probably thousands of years. However, it wasn’t until last century that it started to make its way into the U.S. Now papaya is grown in tropical countries all around the world.
10. Nopal (prickly pear) is one of those ingredients that slowly is making its way into the world’s kitchen because of its delicious flavor and health benefits. Here’s a delicious Nopal salad you can try.
11. Annatto is a seed native to the Yucatan peninsula and the Caribbean that is used today as food coloring for many varieties of cheese, rice, margarine and many other ingredients. It is also used for flavor and it can be found in many Mexican and Caribbean dishes, like in chochinita pibil.
12. Tobacco is not a food ingredient, but I wanted to mention it here because of it’s historical and cultural importance. It was first domesticated and cultivated by the Mayas. By the time Europeans “discovered” The New World, tobacco was widely used in the whole continent and quickly became very  popular in Europe (and then the rest of the world) after its introduction.
13. Now it is time to introduce to you one of the best kept secrets of Mexican cuisine: huitlacoche (whee-tla-KO-cheh) a.k.a. corn smut. It is not very known because many U.S. and European farmers treat it like a pest (in fact, it is a corn disease). It is a fungus that appears on ears of corn as they ripen after a heavy rain or period of high moisture. Although many governments and high profile chefs have tried to introduce it to U.S. and European diets, the efforts haven’t been very successful. Even in 1989 the James Beard Foundation tried to rename it the Mexican truffle. Until now, this delicious corn fungus is still a very expensive Mexican delicacy not known to many. If you come across it, don’t miss the opportunity to experience it.
    

That’s it for this Thursday Thirteen. I hope you enjoyed this post and learned a little bit about some of the ingredients that region has given to the world. After researching for this post I feel very proud of my roots.

Buen provecho!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2008. | Permalink | 22 comments |
Post tags: Beans, Mexican ingredients, Thursday Thirteen