Christmas in Mexico City

Everybody knows that New York City is a traditionally magical place during Christmas. After three years of living in New York, the crowds, the cold and the cost can really get to you, and while I can't get rid of the crowds in Mexico City (it's the 2nd most populated city in the world), I can at least enjoy a plethora of free, government-sponsored events in the pleasant, temperate Mexico City winter weather.

For the past 5 years, the DF government has been providing its citizens with holiday events and free activities as part of their "Magia de la Navidad" (Magic of Christmas) program throughout the city. This winter's events included the traditional free pop concert at the Angel de la Independencia (Britney Spears - I passed, but I did see Marc Anthony last year), two holiday parades, the main street lined with lights and various nativity scenes, and a recreation of the entire city of Bethlehem with a life-size nativity in the Estadio Azteca.

But, the place to be, just like for all big events, is the zocalo, Mexico's town square and home to the Palacio Nacional (where the government "works") and the Catedral Metropolitana (the biggest church in Latin America). The main attraction is the hour-long sessions of free ice skating, but there was also the Cheetos movie trailer, which was showing film festival animated shorts, extreme sports simulators (snowboarding and biking), bouncy boxing rings, arts and crafts, and various displays for photo opportunities (all free!).

Last year, I spent hours in the airport and had my flight delayed for several days because of a White Christmas. This year, I'm dreaming of a Free Christmas with Temperate Weather.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

 So, this past week, I went to a Mexican wedding (my own, in fact, thank you), and I thought I was being clever by making Mexican wedding cookies for dessert. Unfortunately, no Mexican  that came had ever had such a cookie or heard such a name (although they were so enamored with the cookies that they asked me to make more), which made me realize that I have never seen a Mexican wedding cookie in any of the bakeries that I've been to. That then inspired me to go online and do some research, which pointed me in the general direction of New Mexico's official state cookie, the biscochito, which here in Mexico, we call polvorones, and at any rate, they're made from a pretty different recipe (for another day). So, Mexican wedding cookies are not as apt for an Old Mexican wedding as I thought.

However, in my American family, we never called them that anyway; we always just referred to them very uncreatively as pecan balls, and like Russian Tea Cakes, we eat them around Christmas time, so at least the season was apt. As for the wedding, we had a nice, homemade (by my husband) 3-tier tres leches cake, which was very familiar for our Mexican guests.

Ingredients
1/2 pound butter, softened
2 cups flour
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups ground pecans
1/2 tsp. salt
powdered (confectioners') sugar for rolling

Directions

1 - Put the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Mix together until they come together and form a very greasy ball of dough. Add more flour if necessary.

2 - Wrap the dough in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

3 - Remove from the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 325* F.

4 - Remove pieces of dough from the ball and roll them into circles. They should be at least as big as bouncy balls, but they can be bigger if you like, just be consistent in size for an even baking time.

5 - Place on a baking sheet, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

6 - Carefully remove the hot cookies from the tray and immediately roll them in powdered sugar.

7 - Enjoy at Christmas, New Mexican weddings or any other time you like.

Ponche

Imagine warm fruit salad suspended in twice sweetened liquid with the typical holiday aromatics. That's ponche, a very popular holiday drink in Mexico. Ponche is enjoyed particularly during the posadas (the nine days before Christmas, starting on the 16th), Christmas Eve, Christmas itself and all the way up through New Year's Eve. It is usually made in one or two very large quantities so that it can last throughout all of these celebrations.

Ponche can be made with a variety of fruits, but tejecote, a specifically Mexican fruit, is the key ingredient. And, even though most Mexicans will leave this small bland fruit uneaten in the bottom of their glass, everyone agrees that without it, it would just not be ponche.

Ingredients
2 gallons water
2 1/2 pounds piloncillo
10 whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
1 pound tejecote
1 pineapple
3 whole oranges
8 guavas
2 pounds sugar cane
3 pears

Directions

1 - Prepare the tejecotes. In a medium saucepan, boil the tejecotes in water for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow them to cool, and then peel.

2 - Peel all of the remaining  fruit. Cut the pineapple into small chunks. Cut the sugar cane into 3-inch sticks. Cut the guavas in half. Cut the pears into small chunks. Divide the oranges into quarters.

3 - In a very large pot (we use a tamale pot), put water, piloncillo, cinnamon sticks and cloves, and bring to a boil over high heat.

4 - Add the tejecotes, pineapple, oranges, guavas, sugar cane and pears. Cover the pot with a lid, and return to a boil.

5 - Lower the heat, and simmer until the fruit is soft, about 2 hours.

6 - Serve warm with equal parts of liquid and fruit, and a spoon. (Do not eat the sugar cane! You just suck on it and then throw it out, or else be prepared to be really embarrassed in front of your Mexican friends.)

Taco Night

Traditionally stateside, taco night comes from opening a pre-fab kit made by Old El Paso,  but, like most things, the authentic taco night is so much more delicious, and in this case, it's just as easy and still really fun.





There are a few simple guidelines you have to follow to make your tacos authentic Mexican tacos:

1 - You must use soft corn tortillas. If you can find tortillas taqueras (specifically for tacos), even better. You can recognize these because they are about an inch or two smaller in diameter than the average tortilla.

2 - Dip your tortillas in manteca (lard) before heating them up on the comal or griddle.

3 - Build your taco on top of 2 tortillas stacked together. Every taco always has 2 tortillas here; it helps support all of the juices of the meat, salsa and lime and is more filling.

4 - Shredded chicken is used for a lot of things down here, but, despite the leftover Thanksgiving turkey tacos in the photos, poultry is never found at the taco stands. Try steak, chorizo, or any imaginable part of pig for the real deal.

5 - Serve with raw onion and cilantro on top and lemon wedges, salsa and salt on the side for each person to add to taste.

6 - Garnish the plate with charred cebollin (like a giant scallion) or, failing that, roasted or sauteed onion wedges. These should be eaten beside the taco, not on top (but that is one custom that I like to ignore).

7 - To accompany your authentic taco dinner, orange drink (like Tang, not soda) is very popular down here and my personal favorite, but tepache, jamaica and Pepsi (and probably Corona, too, for any drinkers) will also complete the meal nicely.