I usually don’t use this space to write about things that are not related to food or photography. But today I want to make an exception (I promise it won’t be long) as my country celebrates the 199th anniversary of its Independence from the Spanish crown. I am proud of my nationality, my cultural heritage and my country in general, even though I know things could be a lot better.

Yesterday, I posted a comment on facebook about this celebration and I received a couple of replies from friends that said that the state of affairs in Mexico made it very difficult to celebrate right now. I agree that things are bad. I love my country, therefore I know its not perfect and many things could (and should) be improved. I refuse to suffer from patriotic blindness. But Mexicans still have a lot to celebrate: our Independence, our culture and food and, over all, our mexicanidad (national identity). I believe that the day a nation stops celebrating these things, that’s the day that nation starts to die.

With this out in the open all I have left to say is: ¡Viva México! and I hope you enjoy the following videos.

This is the traditional Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores) that initiated the War against the colonial government. Every year the President of the Republic leads the celebration from the National Palace in Mexico City in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s a video about our food:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s a promotional video from the Ministry of Tourism:

Click here to view the embedded video.

And a promotional video for Mexico City (my vibrant city):

Click here to view the embedded video.

And finally a couple of beautiful mariachi music videos. The best way to celebrate today:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2009. | Permalink | 8 comments |
Post tags: Celebrations, Mexican traditions

On my last post I mentioned that the reason this blog was unattended was because June had been a very busy month for us. Among all the things we did in June, the one we’ll remember for a long time was our trip to the magnificent city of Chicago. Although I had been there a couple of times before, this time I experienced the city in a new and exciting way. Jon had never been there before, but the few things we could see and do in four days were enough to make him fall in love with the city. We loved this trip so much that we are already making plans to move there in the future. Some people have told us that the city is nice only when it’s warm, but we both love winters and snow so the harsh Chicago winters wouldn’t be a problem (I hope) for us. But pictures say more than a thousand words so I leave you with some photographic memories of this trip:

This was the view from our hotel room in downtown.

Our first meal in Chicago was at this small establishment around the corner from our hotel. The food was good and inexpensive.

Our next stop was the observation deck at the Hancock tower were we had a breathtaking view of the city.

After that we walked down Michigan Avenue to the river were we took a boat trip to the lake and around the city.

Some pictures taken along the Magnificent Mile.

One of my favorite Mexican presidents have his own spot on Michigan Ave.

This kind of t-shirts and memorabilia were all around the city. This is definitely Obama country.

Compare this picture with the one below taken in May 2002 on the same bridge. Wow, time flies!

That night we had dinner at the famous Gino’s East of Chicago Pizzeria. One large deep dish pizza is enough to feed a small army!

The second day we visited the Pride festival on North Halsted St.

And ate some delicious food at Halsted Cafe.

That day we had dinner in Chinatown. Sorry I didn’t take pictures of this meal

The following day we saw the very long (more then 3 hours) Pride parade…

And ate some damn good Mexican food at a restaurant on Broadway that I can’t remember what it is called.

We then headed to Millennium Park…

…and Grant Park where we had some Taste of Chicago…

…and took some pictures of the beautiful Buckingham fountain.

As the day grew dark and our trip came close to an end, we rode the L train around the city to take a look at the amazing skyline…

…and some famous Chicago landmarks.

Unfortunately our trip came to an end, but it opened new doors of dreams and future opportunities for us. Hopefully in the future, working hard of course, we’ll be able to move to a big and exciting metropoli such as Chicago. I am a big city boy and after living in Mexico City Jon learned to appreciate the vibrance and life of a big city. Chicago, here we come!

¡Buen provecho!

© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2009. | Permalink | 23 comments |
Post tags: Chicago, Travel

I have mentioned before that I love history and Mexico is a country with a lot of history, especially the central states of the country. Many years ago my dad took us to San Miguel de Allende, a beautiful colonial city in the eastern part of the state of Guanajuato. I was very young then, but I still remember the beauty of the cobblestone streets, the colorful houses and the 18th century mansions. San Miguel is a magic mix of history, culture, art, architecture and beauty. Since 1926 the city has been considered a National Historic Monument and city officials hope it will be named a World Heritage Site soon.

One thing many Mexican small towns and cities have in common are the central squares where people gather to buy food from street vendors, watch children play, listen to folklore music and just relax. San Miguel de Allende has its own jardín (garden) where locals and tourist from all over the world come listen to local bands, buy ice cream at a horse drawn buggy and have a great and relaxing time.

But the city is more than that. It’s beautiful buildings, hotels with surrounding gardens and churches are a site of their own. The Instututo Allende (Allende Institute) and Instituto de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Institute) offer restuarants, galleries and classes you can take, from language lessons to writing and cooking. What a great way to learn more about Mexican cuisine.

And of course, the food you find in San Miguel de Allende is great. You can dine at a rooftop restaurant with great views of the city or taste street food at the central square or local markets. For these and many more reasons San Miguel de Allende has been a tourist and retirement destination since the end of World War II. Come and enjoy the beauty of this Mexican colonial town.

© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2008. | Permalink | 7 comments |
Post tags: Mexico, Travel

This celebration, like Mexican people, food and culture in general, varies from region to region, but the thing they all share is the remembrance of friends and family members that have passed away. Most people visit their lost ones at the cemetery where they bring flowers, decorations and pray for their souls. They also built private altars in their houses where they set offerings for the deceased.

The altars are decorated with cempazuchitl (marigold flowers that are strongly associated with this celebration), pictures of the deceased, candy (and in some parts of the country chocolate) skulls, candles, pan de muerto (bread of the dead) and the favorite food and beverages of the departed. It is believed that that day the dead raise from their tombs and these items are offerings for their souls.

This day Mexicans defy death by making fun of it. I know this might sound creepy to some people, but Mexican culture accentuates this practice. Even kids join the fun by writing calaveras (roughly translated skulls) that are stories written in verse about how la flaca (slang for death that translates as the skinny one) will take away friends and family members.

One of the best things about this holiday, like any other Mexican holiday, is the food. People prepare all kinds of food to use as offering for the departed family members. Bun one food that is always served this day is pan de muerto (bread of the dead). This is a soft and sweet bread that is made with anise seeds. Lately, orange has been added to the original recipe. The bread I remember from my childhood was always covered in sugar, but there are some variations that use an orange glaze or sesame seeds. Either way, it is a bread you need to try.

I was planning to make it myself this year, but life got in the way and I had to buy it from the Mexican market where I found these two beautiful kinds of  bread. They will be eaten tonight with a big cup of hot Mexican chocolate, just the way it is supposed to be devoured.

If you want to learn more about this colorful Mexican holiday, I invite you to visit this site where Mary J. Andrade shares her stories and beautiful photography about the day of the dead.

For the bread of the dead recipe please visit Meryl’s site. She has a step-by-step and easy to follow recipe to create this delicious bread.

¡Buen provecho!

© Guest Blogger for What's Cooking Mexico, 2008. | Permalink | 14 comments |
Post tags: Baking, Bread and Baking, Mexican food, Mexican traditions

There are so many things to see, do and eat that time flies when we are there. One of my favorite exhibits is the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-in. This year’s biggest pumpkin weighed 1,375.5 lbs, though it didn’t come close to the 1,524.5 state record holder from last year. Just imagine all the pumpkin pies, breads, chilies, and donuts you could make with those babies!

Like in every street fair, food is abundant at the pumpkin show. I ate enough food this weekend to last me the rest of the month. My favorite foods at the pumpkin show are pumpkin chili, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin crepes, pumpkin dumplings, burbuon chicken with beans and rice, shredded chicken sandwiches… the list could go on and on, but I don’t remember everything I ate, yeah it was that bad. I also tried corn dogs for the first time ever and I must admit that I liked them. This, and Thanksgiving, are the times of the year that I pig out, LOL.

There are many other things to see at the pumpkin show, arts & crafts galleries, cooking exhibitions, cook off and baking competitions, parades every day, street vendors, music bands and tens of thousands of people. The pumpkin show is the 6th largest in the country with an attendance of over 300,000 people during the 4 days and nights that it lasts every year, and the best part is that there are no admission charges. That’s why it is called the “Greatest Free Show on Earth”.

The Circleville Pumpkin Show is held the third Wenedsday through Saturday of October in the streets of Circleville, Ohio. For more information and pictures visit the Official Circleville Pumpkin Show Website.

¡Buen provecho!

© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2008. | Permalink | 17 comments |
Post tags: Pumpkin, Reviews

Nerdiness apart, as a foodie I got excited that this month’s featured article was about food (I am really a nerd!). The cover has a picture of a plant which roots grow deep into the soil with the words Where Food Begins next to it. The article touches a topic that most of us probably never think about because it is not a “hot” topic. Neither the media nor politicians talk about it. This topic doesn’t win elections or gets a spot in the evening news and yet it is something so important that our own existence as a species depends on it. We are running out of arable soil.

Deforestation, compaction, salinization and desertification are only some of the problems that contribute to soil degradation. Experts say that humans have degraded an area of land the size of the US and Canada combined. This process transforms productive zones into wastelands with tragic speed.

With the world’s population booming farmers will need to produce 30% more food by 2030 when 8.3 billion people walk the earth. “Political stability”, says Rattan Lal, a prominent soil scientist at Ohio State University, “environmental quality, hunger, and poverty all have the same root. In the long run, the solution to each is restoring the most basic of all resources, the soil.”

This is true in the most impoverished country in the western hemisphere, Haiti. Since the arrival of Christopher Columbus to Hispaniola island in 1492 the ecosystem has been razed to the point that the country has lost its means to feed itself. Three quarters of its food is imported and prices have skyrocketed making them unaffordable to most inhabitants. In their desperation, many Haitians turn to cakes made of clay, salt and shortening as a substitute for food.

Haiti is not the only place on Earth that is losing its precious soil. From the Midwestern U.S. plains to the Chinese Loess Plateau the soil is being degraded at alarming speed. Only 11% of the earth’s surface sustains the more than 6 billion people alive today, but even less ground (only 3%) offers highly fertile conditions for farming.

However, not everything is lost. Simple and inexpensive low-tech techniques like mixing charcoal with the soil, could offer farmers around the world a low-cost way to improve poor soils. If we want to ensure a future for the future generations we need to start caring for our most important resource, yet often overlooked, soil.

This post was based on Our Good Earth by Charles C. Mann published on the National Geographic magazine issue of September, 2008 . To read the complete article and learn more about this problem and ways to help, please visit the National Geographic Magazine website.

© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2008. | Permalink | 6 comments |
Post tags:

But bitterness apart, I was pleased to be at a market surrounded by fresh produce and food. As a foodie that is one of the best experiences to have on a Saturday morning, right? For a moment there I felt like I was in a market back in Mexico, only 10 times smaller and 3 times more expensive.

Unfortunately we got there kind of late and didn’t see what I was looking for, figs. I made Jon promise that this coming Saturday he is going to get up early so we can get there before the fresh produce is gone. But at least I got a delicious watermelon and two huge cantaloupes the size of basketballs. I am going to be eating cantaloupe for a while. I already made cantaloupe ice cream (oh so good!) and have been eating it in my fruit salads every morning.

If you ever visit Columbus, Ohio, you have to come to the North Market. The farmer’s market is there every Saturday morning during the summer, but the market is open all year long. Inside you can find many different products, from the delicious Jeni’s ice creams to bakeries, pastarias and even Mexican food. My favorite booth is Curds and Whey that offers more than 300 imported and domestic cheeses and a bunch of other delicious products. It might not be the largest market I’ve visited, but it is a really neat place to spend a Saturday morning and get a bunch of fresh products for your kitchen.

¡Buen provecho, Columbus!

© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2008. | Permalink | 13 comments |
Post tags: Columbus, Markets, Ohio, Reviews

Read the rest of Pollo asado and yellow rice with vegetables

© Guest Blogger for What's Cooking Mexico, 2008. | Permalink | 19 comments |
Post tags: Beans, Cereals, Chicken, Cuban food, Guest post, Vegetables

Read the rest of Camarones al Mojo de Ajo for Cinco de Mayo

© Guest Blogger for What's Cooking Mexico, 2008. | Permalink | 23 comments |
Post tags: Cereals, Herbs, Mexican food, Mexican ingredients, Mexican traditions, Seafood, Vegetables

Read the rest of Pil Pil Codfish and a trip to the Basque country

© Guest Blogger for What's Cooking Mexico, 2008. | Permalink | 13 comments |
Post tags: Beans, Guest post, Seafood, Spanish food