La cucina mexicana

Mexico. Un pais meztizo... The big cousin of the Philippines, born out of indegenous and spanish cultures. A country who's culinary exports, more often than not, are restricted to the three O's: tacos, nachos and burritos. Thanks to Taco Bell and the easy commercialization of Tex-Mex "let's-put-some-guacamole-and-call-it-mexican" fare most of us have a greasy, not so refined vision of Mexican cuisine.

Last november, we attended one of the most extraordinary weddings ever. Our two great friends were married in Querétaro, a beautiful

colonial town about three hours from the capital. We didn't have much time but we managed to squeeze all the best culinary delights in five days.

Mexican cuisine is distinct. It is pure Mexican and not meztizo. The flavors and ingredients stay true to the home land and recall the times of the great, ancient Mayan and Aztec civilizations.

Five days and a multitude of dishes: here's a peek into la cucina mexicana verdadera.

Thursday, October 31, 2007: Upon arrival

We arrived tired, weary and bloated (not due to the flight, but to the greasy, all-american cheeseburger we ate gluttinously at Houston Airport's Ruby's Diner). The filipino ambassador to Mexico happens to be one of my parent's very good friends. The welcome dinner was grand and if I had not been so engrossed with the fabulous dishes, I would have taken some pictures.


Ambassador Guingona was kind enough not only to offer lodging but invited the chef of a well known restaurant, favored by painter Diego Rivera: Amor. Within the first five minutes of our arrival, I headed straight to the kitchen to spy. On the menu was: Pescado a la veracruzana, a fresh turkey salad loaded with cilantro, and non-mexican but excellent dish made by the Ambassador's cook: bacalao.

Veracruz is the largest seaport on the Gulf of Mexico. Known not only for it's seafood but it's carribean musical scene and it's authenticity. Pescado a la veracruzana is is it's most famous dish and excellent, especially for those who are not afraid of the spicy spicies! Made usually with red snapper, the fish is marinated in lime juice, then sautéed in a pan with garlic, onions, fresh chopped tomatoes, capers, green olives and of course some spicies: jalapeno and a green chile. It's served with some rice and peas to sop up the sauce and with a fresh sprinkling of parsley, or as the chef here did: with cilantro. After a long flight and that greasy burger... It really hit the spot.

I love the mix of rich and hot chile, tart lime and fresh cilantro!

Friday, November 1, 2007: Barbacoa

Lucky enough we were travelling in style with my mother who hired a car and a driver to take us to Querétaro. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Mexico City. Our driver, Antonio, was an extremely nice, soft spoken guy, who had the same face as Mr. Solis from Desperate Housewives. We told him to take us to his favorite place to eat on the road. We went to a typical Barbacoa or Barbecue along the highway, a hundred kilometers or so from Mexico.

In Los Arcos, a row of about six or so barbeuce houses lined the highway all with sizzling sounds and exciting smells emanating from their porches. Tortilla making ladies outside lured customers in with their swift hands transforming little balls into flat, smoking hot tortillas. Once you've tried a real fresh tortilla, you won't ever touch the stuff in vacuum packs sitting for five months on the grocery shelf.

The Barbacoa is made up of slow, cooked meat, wrapped in maguey leaves and roasted in a pit with hot water and coals. We weren't sure what to order so we just asked for the Ranchero plate and few coronas. My mother was looking for mole and though it wasn't the place for it, the waitress was absolutely adorable and invited us to her place to try her home cooked mole! She also brought me some kernels of blue corn to show me where the funky green tortillas came from. Yaya Terry took them home to be planted in her province...

Since I don't have the good habit of writing things down in a notebook, I completely forgot the names of the different things made out of the Barbacoa meat. There were a variety of things made with tortillas. There were quesadillas, nothing at all like the Tex-Mex ones. Made with fresh tortillas and served straight from the grill. One other thing was a small, round discs of masa with frijoles and melted cheese. I think they're called sopes. (Please correct me if I'm wrong) I sort of invented things, wrapping them up with meat, adding onion, spicey sauces, lime and lots of cilantro! The small little crisp rolls are tacos. They had some barbaco meat in it and once again I slashed on every sauce and condiment there was. I also put fresh guacamole on everything I saw.

Too full, I slept all the way too Querétaro...

Upon arrival in Qurétaro, we were awestruck by the beauty of our hotel, Meson Santa Rosa. I'm guessing it was once a convent that was converted into a spacious and charming hotel. It had three lovely patios with fountains and greenery. the third one had a sort of a large fountain which was a pool. Our rooms were enormous and decorated tastefully. Two little, white skulls with our names on it were waiting for us on the coffee table. It was la Fiesta de la Muerte. All over the quaint city of Querétaro, little and big altars to past loved ones occupied each corner and plaza. Everything was colorful, with garish skeletons smiling and dancing. Paper cut-outs hung from every awning. The idea is to celebrate the memory of your departed love ones and also to remind yourself not to be afraid of death.

That night we ate in a little resto beside in front of the hotel. I had what they call molcajete. Molcajete is a large stone bowl, traditionally carved entirely out of porous basalt volcanic rock. Normally used like a mortar and pestel to grind spices, make sauces and such, it can also be heated and used to serve dishes. I ate a Molcajete 1810: it was made of shrimp wrapped in bacon and cheese, fried crispy, with nopales or cactus leaves and some avocado. It had some salsa roja on top and was strangely good. This is not a place to go on a diet.

Saturday, November 2, 2007: The wedding day

I was already too stuffed from the day before to eat anything truly consistent for lunch. I just had a salad and some nice cilantro soup. Dinner was quite an adventure though. We had some very traditional cuisine for the wedding. I didn't eat much of the hors d'oeuvres but I do remember dinner.

It started out with a crêpe with zucchini blossoms and a sauce made out of hibiscus flowers, jamaica. It was really different from anything I've tried before. The sauce had a slight tangy taste to it, it was just as delicate as the petals.

The main course was chile en nogada. It's a stuffed green chile with a walnut sauce and grenadines. The stuffing is made of ground pork or beef with spices and raisins. The sauce is creamy and pleasantly nutty. It is a rather sweet dish and the only thing that bothered me in the beginning is that it's served at room temperature. Oh! And 1 in 10 chiles are hot... My was not just hot but flaming! I finished it all anyway. This dish has some interesting history to it. It was created for the Mexican independence day on September 16 and is the country's national dish, representing the mexican flag: chile for green, white creamy sauce and red grenadines.

After lots of dancing, pretending to a mariachi with only one marracas and a few too many rounds of tequila... 3 am struck and they brought out the Chilaquiles!!! This has to be one of my favorite things in Mexico. Fried crispy corn tortillas topped with salsa verde or salsa roja, frijoles and some queso panela. It's apparently a remedy for la cruda or the hangover... No wonder they brought it out then. The ultimate bite it that perfect mix of crisp and soggy, with cheese, beans and sauce... Pure heaven.

Sunday, November 3, 2007: More chilaquiles... and mole

The Sunday buffet brunch of the hotel, held in the lovely patio, had an even lovelier site... more chilaquiles!!! I loaded my plate with some along with a poached egg in a fiery red sauce and has the chef whip me up some fresh quesadillas. I'm going to miss Mexico.

That day we just roamed around in the car, doing a quick sight seeing tour of the city. The main square is impressive, with a mssive flag waving in the wind. It was full of people: doomsday sayers, native indian dancers, witch doctors, priests, families with kids blowing bubbles, young lovers, laughing teens, two huge, gaily dressed blown up skeletons holding hands in the middle of the square... All the faces of Mexico were shown to us in a matter of ten minutes.

That night we ate in Amor. A rather kitschy decorated restaurant with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's painting adorning the walls... This restuarant is a tribute to their love and their favorite recipes... Excellent food!

<- Fish Tacos

To start with we had fish tacos... Little pieces of white fish cooked in curcuma and lime rolled up in a mini tortilla with onions and cilantro. Then of course... Escamoles. Ant eggs. They were in season at the time and we were an adventurous group. Known as the caviar of Mexico, escamoles is the larvae of a special type of ant, harvested from the roots of the agave (tequila) or maguey (mezcal) plant. White little pearls sautéed in garlic, parsley and butter. The first thing that entered my mind was escargots! Soft but firm, very rich and a tad nutty. You wrapped them in tortillas and ate them with some cilantro and onions. I also ate them with a fork. They're really good, just writing about them make my mouth water!

Escamoles!

For our main course, we decided to try different moles each. My mother had mole poblano, I had mole verde and Victor, a mole with tamarind. A pity I don't remember the name because it was really good.


Mole is probably one of the most famous dishes in Mexico. It literally mean "sauce". The most famous is Mole Poblano for the town of Puebla, made with a rich and dense mix of crushed dried chiles, almonds, sesame, dark chocolate, cinnamon, charred avocado leaves.... It is usually smothered on a piece of grilled chicken and served with rice. I love the sauce... but personally I always find the chicken breast too dry. It is traditionally served with grilled or roast turkey breast. This is perhaps juicier. If I were to try one day... I'd make a mole stew... Letting the chicken absorb the sauce and become tender...

The Mole verde was truly yummy. Made with crushed pumpkin seeds, tomatillos (a husk tomato or green tomato), lettuce, green chiles,, cloves, cilantro and cumin. It was fresher and tarter than its more famous counterpart. Something also easily achievable in the kitchen. It would be a great sauce for a grilled fish!



The next day we flew out full and slightly sad to be leaving this wonderful country. It's so close to home. The people are friendly and they treat you like family, the food is excellent and music is everywhere! It's amazing how proud they are to be Mexican, they're culture is distinct and their history is rich. The cuisine truly reflects its unique heritage and its link to its land: corn, avocado, chiles, limes, cilantro... the basis of Mexican cuisine is not imported but is taken from the earth under their feet. I'll never call nachos mexican food again!