ChocoMilk

Whenever my sister sees ChocoMilk, she texts me about how much the little boy looks like my husband. And while the dark hair, brown eyes, round head, and goofy smile are a dead-on cartoon match, what's inside is even more enjoyable.

Basically Mexican Nesquik, ChocoMilk (pronounced choco-mil) is the favorite brand of powdered chocolate mix south of the border. While chocolate milk is delicious anyway you mix it, here, it's almost always done smoothie style, with ice and in a blender, which makes for an extra frothy, cold and refreshing drink.

Though awesome just plain, I've been told bananas and nutella are also popular mix-ins.

Ingredients
2 heaping Tbsp. ChocoMilk (or any powdered chocolate drink)
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 ice cubes
1/2 Tbsp. sugar

Directions

1 - Put milk, ice, ChocoMilk, and sugar into the blender.

2 - Blend on high speed about 2 minutes, until you no longer hear ice chunking in the blades.

3 - Serve immediately.

Pay de Queso

At first, I was curious about how a country so painfully lacking in bagels could be so in love with cream cheese, but queso crema (or queso philadelphia, as it's frequently referred to since it's the only brand they use down here - hey, they know what's up) is very popular.

Cream cheese can be blended with very hot salsas to cool them down and make them creamy, but more importantly and most common  is its use in pay de queso (or cheese pie), the Mexican equivalent of cheesecake. Pay de queso is similar to traditional cheesecakes that are full of cheese flavor and have a dense-ish texture. So, you get that great flavor, but don't have to worry about the annoying water baths or cracking on top that comes with making a traditional cheesecake.

Ingredients
1 packet (340 g) Maria cookies
2 Tbsp. sugar
6 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 14 oz. can Lechera (sweetened condensed milk)
1 12 oz. can Carnation Clavel (evaporated milk)
6 eggs
2 8 oz. packages Philadelphia cream cheese
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
pinch of salt

*makes 2 pays*

Directions

1 - Crush the Maria cookies (with a rolling pin or in a blender) and mix the crumbs with the sugar and melted butter. Press the mixture evenly into 8-inch pie plates.

2 - Blend the lechera, carnation, eggs, cream cheese, vanilla, lime juice and salt together until creamy.

3 - Pour the cream cheese mixture into the pie crusts.

4 - Bake for 40 to 50 minutes at 350*.

5 - Enjoy! (Yes, that's all; it's that easy.)

Ribs in Chile Seco

Memorial Day, 4th of July, summer is in full swing, and so is barbecue season. Burgers, steaks, ribs...well, here in Mexico, I might pass on the burgers and steaks, but I'll take some pork ribs in chile seco.

As I reviewed my blog history, I noticed that I had no pork, which is not an accurate reflection of Mexican cuisine, where pork head in pozole, pork cheek on tacos, and pork loin at Christmas are all so beloved, just to name a few. But, this dish is actually all about the sauce - a homemade, smoky sauce made from chiles secos (chipotles). Here, I cooked ribs in the sauce, but usually in my or my in-laws' house, it just gets stirred up with some mayonnaise and eaten with eggs, rice, sandwiches, etc.


Ingredients
15 chiles secos (dry chipotles)
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 onion
3 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying

1 kg. (2 lbs.) pork ribs
salt and pepper
oil for frying

Directions

1 - Heat about three tablespoons of oil in a saute pan over a low flame and fry the chiles secos for about 3 minutes.

2 - Remove the chiles secos and put them in a bowl with the chicken stock for about 10 minutes (to soften them up).

3 - Put the chiles secos and chicken stock, onion, garlic, pepper and salt in a blender and blend until only slightly chunky. Set aside.

4 - Salt and pepper the ribs.

5 - Heat some oil in a saute pan again over a medium flame and fry the ribs, about 3 minutes on each side.

6 - Add the chile seco salsa, and turn down the heat. Simmer until the salsa's liquids evaporate and the salsa takes on a bit of a pasty texture.

7 - Serve with spaghetti (boiled with quartered onions and fried in margarine...it's how they do it down here, it's authentic!) or rice.

Simple Salsa Verde

I don't know if living in a place with incredible heat increases your resistance to food with incredible heat, but this spicy salsa is practically standard on every Veracruz table (that I've been to) for every meal. (I have never seen it in Mexico City, where I guess cooler heads and more cautious stomachs prevail in this temperate mountain region.) Ultimately, this simple salsa verde is a chile serrano puree. And it's delicious.

And spicy, spicy, spicy.  Ooh, boy. In my past 5 years as an honorary Mexican, my chile tolerance has steadily improved, but I wouldn't dare use more than a few drops of this salsa...and still usually make a scene (to the amusement of my in-laws). However, if you de-seed and vein, though still very spicy, this salsa verde will be perfectly delicious for a more sensitive stomach.

Ingredients
200 g chile serrano (like 20 chiles), de-seeded and veined
6 large garlic cloves
2 tsp. salt
2 cups water
oil for frying

Directions

1 - In a non-stick pan (with maybe just a spritz of pam) over low heat, par-cook the chiles, about 10 minutes.

2 - Put the water, chiles, garlic and salt in a blender. Puree on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 4 minutes.

3 - While the chiles are blending, heat some oil in a pan over medium heat.

4 - When the chile puree is ready and the oil is nice and hot, pour in the chile puree (carefully; it will splatter). Turn the heat down. Fry the salsa on low heat for about 20 to 30 minutes.

5 - Enjoy on quesadillas, tostadas or empanadas (the most traditional uses, but go ahead and try it on anything).

The Cheesy Review - Fritas, Quesadillas and Sincronizadas

 Fritas is short for tortillas fritas, or fried tortillas, and that's exactly what they are (fried corn tortillas, that is). Eaten mostly for dinner (remember in Mexico that lunch is the big meal and dinners are smaller), some slightly stale tortillas are commonly filled with cheese or mashed potatoes and are then lightly fried and simply served with salsa.

 Sincronizadas are made from flour tortillas specifically and are truly a handheld snack - since they require no frying and get no salsa or any of the traditional garnishes. Just heated through on a comal, the most popular option (and even available in some stateside delis in the right neighborhoods) is ham and cheese.

Quesadillas are not made from tortillas here in Mexico; they are made from corn masa (the same kind from which you would also make tortillas) and are enjoyed as a meal, whether in the home or on the street. They are stuffed with cheese and meat or vegetables and can then be topped with salsa, more cheese, lettuce, cream, etc... (that's what makes them meals).

Any questions?

Quesadillas

Authentic Mexican quesadillas - not what you were expecting, are they? Unlike what we generally refer to as quesadillas in the US, these are exactly the type of quesadillas that you find handmade from masa and sold by street vendors in Mexico City. (Well, not exactly, I'm still a novice quesadilla maker, so the ones you buy from professionals will be rounder, more uniform, and quite a bit prettier.)

Of the cheesy antojitos I've posted about over the past month, quesadillas are the only ones really considered a meal. The dough is thicker and must be made from the more substantial yellow masa. In addition to cheese, other fillings like longaniza (my personal favorite), mushrooms like huitlacoche (Mexico City's personal favorite), and picadillo can be stuffed into the folded dough, among other things. Fill the remaining space inside with the usual garnish suspects of lettuce, crema, queso fresco and of course salsa, and just two will leave you completely stuffed (although, you will still try to force the third one down, just because it's so delicious).

Ingredients
1 kilo yellow masa
1 Tbsp. salt
2 cups queso de hebra, shredded (or any good Mexican melting cheese, grated)
1/2 pound (200 g) longaniza, cooked and crumbled
oil for frying
salsa verde
shredded lettuce
media crema (or sour cream)
queso fresco, crumbled

Directions

1 - Add the salt to the masa and knead well, for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and workable.

2 - Divide the masa into clumps slightly smaller than tennis balls. Roll them into smooth balls with no cracks (like if you were building a snowman with play-doh).

3 - Put the dough in between 2 sheets of plastic (we cut circles out of a ziploc bag, and it works very well for us). Begin to flatten the dough ball and stretch it into a large, flat circle. If you are good, use the palm of your hand; if you want to be faster, just use a rolling pin. In the end, you should have a very large disc of masa that is about the thickness of a quarter.

4 - Heat the masa disc on a comal (or griddle) over low heat for about 2 minutes on each side. You want it to cook, but not get crispy or take on color because it still needs to pliable enough to fold without breaking.

5 - Add about a tablespoon of vegetable oil to a large skillet over low heat.

6 - Once the oil is hot, add the masa. Cook for about 30 seconds on one side, and then flip it over. Add some cheese, longaniza, and some more cheese onto one half of the masa disk and fold the other side over the filling.

7 - Fry over low heat for about 2 - 3 minutes on each side, until the cheese is melted and the masa begins to take on color.

8 - Drain on a paper towel.

9 - Repeat Steps 3 to 8 until you have no more masa.

9 - Stuff the inside with the salsa verde, lettuce, crema, and queso fresco.

10 - Enjoy!

Sincronizadas

 In a lot of delis at Queens, you can get freshly sliced meats and cheeses, sandwiches, and the Mexican snack of sincronizadas, of course. (It is Queens, after all.) A sincronizada is just like a warm Mexican ham and cheese sandwich, and I've been fortunate to enjoy them in Queens, and I continue to snack on them in Mexico, at home and on the street.

A sincronizada, at its most basic, is a flour tortilla with cheese, usually queso de hebra. (I think that most people in the US would consider this a quesadilla - not here though...To be continued.) Ham is usually added, and the whole thing is thrown on the comal to heat up the tortilla and melt the cheese. These are meant to be handheld snacks, so salsa and garnishes do not generally accompany them. Great, great, great for kids for lunch (and even easier to make than a ham sandwich).

Ingredients
flour tortillas
sliced ham
queso de hebra (or any cheese you like), shredded or grated

Directions

1 - Heat a comal (griddle or frying pan) over low heat.

2 - Place the tortilla on the comal for 10 seconds. Flip it over.

3 - Cover one half entirely with cheese, put some ham on top, and then sprinkle on some more cheese over the ham.

4 - Cook until both sides have the slightest bit of browning and the cheese is melted.

5 - Enjoy!

Fritas

In the United States, when bread goes stale, we have back-up plans to put that bread to use. If it's gone really stale, french toast is the best option, but when it's just starting to get hard, sure, maybe we don't want a fresh ham and cheese or egg salad sandwich, but a grilled cheese or some toast will work just fine.

The same theory applies to corn tortillas. When tortillas get really old and stale, we fry them up crisp in a lot of oil and make tostadas or cacalas for chilaquiles. However, when they're just starting to turn, and are just at that point when you don't want to eat them fresh anymore but are still pliable, there is a different set of options, and my favorite is the frita.

Fritas, short for tortillas fritas (fried tortillas), are just that.  Corn tortillas  folded frequently over a white cheese or mashed potato filling are fried in a tiny bit of oil. With just a simple salsa side, fritas are super easy to throw together and ideal for late night snacking.

Ingredients
slightly old corn tortillas
white melting cheese (queso asadero, queso de hebra, or Monterrey Jack), shredded or grated
oil for frying
salsa

Directions

1 - Heat a teaspoon of oil in a small saute pan over medium low heat.

2 - Put the tortilla in the saute pan and cook on one side for about 30 seconds.

3 - Flip the tortilla. Put a fair amount of cheese (or a scoop of mashed potatoes, if that's what you decide)  on one side. Fold the other side over the cheese.

4 - Continue to cook until the cheese is melted and the tortilla is just crisping. Repeat with as many tortillas as you want (which will be a lot - I have like 6...for a snack).

5 - Enjoy with just a simple salsa on the side for dipping.

Cebollin

Be it a barbecue at home or a stop at the taqueria, these cebollin (or cebollita), or small onions either way, are standard accompaniments for meat in Mexico. While these extra sweet onions are readily available throughout this country, I've been unsuccessful finding them in the U.S., outside of a few Mexican groceries in Queens. So, for everyone else, you may just have to search out the most bulbous scallions you can find to give that extra authentic flair to your Cinco de Mayo BBQ or your middle of the week taco night.


Ingredients
1 bunch of cebollin (or scallions)
1 Tbsp. oil
salt to taste

Directions

1 - Cut the tips of the green ends and any roots off of the cebollin.

2 - Rub oil over all of the bulbs. Sprinkle some salt on top, and rub the salt and oil evenly over all of the bulbs again (with your fingers...or with a brush, if you're fancy).

3 - On a grill, griddle, or saute pan over medium heat, cook the onions for about 3-4 minutes on each side. (I know the bulbs are round and have no sides, but the point is just brown it all around.)

4 - Serve alongside some corn tortilla tacos or steaks and pico de gallo at a barbecue. (But do not eat the green part, just a heads up.)

Tortas - Take 2

A while a back ago, I gave you a good look at traditional Mexican tortas - so full of a variety of meats, cheeses and vegetables that they often stand 4-6 inches high. Now, these are the other kind, smaller but cheaper, I refer to these as taqueria tortas.

As you may have guessed from the name, these sandwiches have everything that you would get on a tortilla if you were eating a taco, except it's now all on a bolillo (roll). There's the traditional taco toppings of cilantro and onion, with salsa and lime juice to taste, and the small pieces of meat, which at a taqueria is usually al pastor, but at home, longaniza (or chorizo) is best.

This type of torta may not be as pretty, giant, or complex as the other type, but if my 12-year-old nephew likes it (who only really likes to eat lettuce with lime juice and salt), then it's sure to please anyone.

Ingredients
4 bolillos (or kaiser rolls)
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 lb (1/2 kilo) longaniza (or chorizo)
1/2 lb. (200g) white melting cheese
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 cup salsa verde
1 lime, cut into wedges


Directions

1 - Heat a small amount of oil (1 tsp.) in a saute pan over medium heat.

2 - Remove the longaniza from it's casing, and saute, breaking up the longaniza into small pieces with a wooden spoon (think ground beef). Cook for about 10 minutes.

3 - Butter and lightly toast all of the bolillos. Add the cheese to one side and let the heat of the bolillo slightly melt the cheese.

4 - Put mayonnaise on the other side. Add scoops of longaniza until it covers the bottom piece of bread. Top with the raw onion, cilantro, salsa and lime juice (to taste), and finish it off with the cheesy top piece.

5 - Enjoy hot, and for an authentic taqueria experience, serve up some sauteed or grilled cebollin on the side.

Cinco de Mayo

A common misconception, Cinco de Mayo is not just like Mexican Fourth of July. Mexican Independence Day is September 16th, so what is May 5th all about? On May 5th, 1862, the Mexican forces in Puebla won an unlikely victory against the invading French forces, turning them back...briefly, but it was a symbolic victory that the people of the state of Puebla still cherish and celebrate annually. However, even here in Mexico City, where there are massive numbers of people from all 31 states, especially from neighbor to the east, Puebla, nothing is done to celebrate (and this is the 150th anniversary - the sesquicentennial - so you would think something).

Is it ironic that a holiday that is so associated with Mexico in the United States is only celebrated in 1/31 of the country, or just weird? What is a great excuse to drink Mexican beer in the United States is also just a great reason to drink Mexican beer here, as well. Even the PubliMetro (the free newspaper in DF) said as much, writing that May is a month full of holidays, the month when mothers (Mother's Day), workers (Labor Day), and borrachos, or drunks, (Cinco de Mayo)  get to celebrate.

While I myself don't drink, I suppose that beer is probably a part of a culture and cuisine as much as any other drink, like horchata or tepache. Tecate, Sol, XX, Indio, Modelo and Corona are the big brands down here, and I hear that Mexican beer is the cheapest of all beers over there, so enjoy a Mexican beer today and celebrate the defeat of the French (in one battle) in Puebla. Viva!

Strawberry Licuados

Although banana licuados are the most common variety (a fact influenced by financial motives - like many things in Mexican cuisine), most people would considerate a licuado made of strawberries a special treat for a lucky day.  Ours was decided by a stop at the Cuatro Caminos subway station while running errands, where there is a regular strawberry vendor hawking his goods for 10 pesos/kilo (a steal for strawberries)!

The basic formula for making a licuado stays generally the same, no matter what the fruit. The quantity of milk and ice and the procedures will be constant, but the amount of fruit and sugar may vary. For a strawberry licuado, you will want 400 g of strawberries and 3 tablespoons of sugar for 500g whole milk and 4 ice cubes for a thick, creamy, cool treat (which is more apt as dessert than breakfast, in contrast to the banana one).

Licuados - Banana Breakfast Shakes

When I go into whatever Mexican City office I'm teaching class in every morning, I always see the same break room staples - a water cooler, a coffee pot, and a blender. A blender? Yes, of course, because one of the most beloved breakfasts (and most beloved drinks) here is the licuado - a cold, thick, fruity shake. A licaudo, called such because it is made in a licuadora (blender), is translated as milkshake, but this is misleading because there is no ice cream. On the other hand, it's also quite apt because it is literally shaken milk.

Forget about diet shakes for breakfast. Here, people blend ice, whole milk and fruit to make a homemade breakfast shake for kids and parents on-the-go. The most popular fruit is bananas, but any fruit can be blended in, and some people even include oats and eggs to give themselves a more complete breakfast.

I have discussed my dislike for fruit before, but the ways that some fruits are being prepared here are really making me change my mind.

Ingredients
500 g whole milk (2 1/2 cups)
3 bananas
2 Tbsp. sugar
4-5 ice cubes
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

Directions

1 - Put milk, bananas, ice, sugar, and vanilla (if using) into a blender.

2 - Pulse on low speed 5-6 times. Then, blend on the highest speed for at least 30 seconds to let it get really frothy.

3 - Drink your licuado immediately (or else the frothiness from blending will become flat).

Flor de Calabaza (Squash Flower)

Or pumpkin flower? Or zucchini flower? The Spanish language does not really specify, and while I had always believed they were pumpkin flowers (because of the orange), my source (Rick Bayless's Authentic Mexican glossary) does indeed say that they are called squash flowers in English.

The flavor is similar to the vegetable from which it comes, and these flowers are found in a variety of Mexican dishes, though I have usually seen them in soups or, most commonly, quesadillas. I have never actually seen them in the United States, but flor de calabaza quesadillas are often the daily special at lots of Mexican restaurants in Queens (so you must be able to get them somewhere).

To use fresh flor de calabaza, there's a bit of prep work involved. You must first clean them of course. Then, remove the woody stems and the center from the flowers (my biology lessons and internet are failing me - stamens? pistils?). If you want to make them into the oh-so-beloved quesadillas, the flores get sliced and fried with onions, chile, tomato and garlic to become the filling.

Mexican culture and cuisine is overwhelmingly carnivorous, so when my uncle-in-law told me that the best thing he had ever eaten was a flor de calabaza quesadilla that he bought on the side of the road in some pueblo in Veracruz, well, that says a lot about the flavor of this little flower.

Milanesa Tortas

As a child, I always hated "Sandwich Night"; a few slices of cold cuts and some American cheese on a kaiser roll never really piqued my culinary interest. And while I have yielded on the cold cuts a bit in my culinary maturity (which would have happened a long time ago if my parents had involved roast beef and swiss cheese in the equation), the Mexican option of the "milanesa" sandwich has really changed my attitude towards sandwiches in general.

"Milanesa" is the term used to refer to a very thin piece of meat (any kind, beef, pork, chicken, etc..) that is breaded and fried (schnitzel, according to the dictionary). Milanesa beef or pork is most popular in the torta carts, and these are "torta cart" style of tortas (vs. "taqueria" style torta", which I will save for another day). That means more vegetable toppings, whole pieces of meat, and refried beans.

Ingredients
4 pork cutlets, pounded super thin and flat
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 cup breadcrumbs (or Panko, if you like to be trendy)
salt and pepper
oil for frying
4 bolillos (or kaiser rolls, I guess)
butter
mayonnaise
1 cup refried beans
1/2 pound of quesillo (or any mild white melting cheese), sliced or shredded
1 tomato, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
1 can of chiles chipotles or jalapenos in vinegar

Directions

1 - Fry up your milanesas. Fill three shallow dishes with the flour, egg, and breadcrumbs, respectively, all seasoned to taste. Heat a half an inch of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip the pork in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs. Cover completely. Fry the milanesas for about 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Set aside.

2 - Fold/cut milanesas into sandwich size/shape pieces. Return each milanesa stack to a dry skillet over low heat. Place the cheese on top and cover the pan with foil to melt the cheese. Turn the heat off after a minute or so, and let the cheese keep melting.

3 - The rest is pretty much al gusto, but a complete sandwich (in my home) would have the bolillo toasted with a bit of butter; a smear of refried beans on one half and a smear of mayo on the other; a row of sliced onions, the meat and cheese; topped with tomatoes, avocados, and the chiles of your choice (but not both).

4 - The best way to do "Torta Night" is to set it up buffet style and let everyone put as much or as little of each of the toppings as they like, and then truly enjoy their torta milanesa.

PS - These have nothing to do with Milan; I have no idea why they are called that.

Mexican Rice

Rice and pasta, known as sopas, are standard side dishes here in Mexico, and they are usually kept pretty simple - margarine, onion, or pureed tomatoes, usually. In all the meals that I have eaten and then all that I have made, there is a clear pattern in which rice goes with which meal. Simple white onion rice goes with chile seco, ribs or salsa verde; arroz amarillo (rice cooked in tomato puree) is absolutely necessary for chiles rellenos and pretty common for mole.


This rice recipe is a much more substantial rice, a traditional Mexican vegetable rice. It's also the kind of rice that you find on the side of your enchiladas at On The Border and other Mexican chain restaurants.


While this recipe is traditional, in my experience, it's not an everyday recipe. Too many ingredients, too expensive, too time-consuming, but this rice is a great thing to make when you have a lot of leftover vegetables. It's satisfying as a side dish, but after all that chopping work that you've done, go the extra step, throw in some shrimp or shredded chicken and make it a meal. (Or throw in both and some chorizo, and have yourself a nice little fake-out paella-esque dish).


Ingredients
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
4 roma tomatoes, finely chopped
2 cups rice
1 cup frozen peas
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt (more or less, but be careful; some stock can be really salty)
3 1/2 cups chicken stock (or water and a stock cube)


Directions


1 - Heat the oil in a deep pot with a lid.


2 - Add the onion, and cook for about 10 minutes or until translucent. Add the jalapeño and the tomato and cook another 5 minutes, until softened.


3 - Add the rice, and toast for about 5 minutes.


4 - Add the oregano, cumin, black pepper and salt. Stir well.


5 - Add the chicken stock, stir well, and bring to a boil over low heat.


6 - Put the lid on, turn to low heat, and cook the rice for 25 minutes.


7 - Add the peas, and put the lid back on for about 5 more minutes (or until peas are defrosted and heated through).


8 - Fluff with a fork and serve.

Mexican Cheesecake

OK, so there is very little Mexican about this recipe. In fact, Mexico has its own style of cheesecake all its own, pay de queso (cheese pie), which you will see in this blog one day, but for now, I just need to brag on my Mexican husband a bit.

Now, there are three Mexican-specific elements to making a New York style cheesecake here in Mexico City. First, lemons are fairly pricey and annoyingly difficult to find, so we use limes.
Second, I have never seen a graham cracker in any of the supermarkets or warehouse stores that I have been to, so we use Maria cookies or this great nuez-flavored cookie (nuez literally means nut, but refers to pecan here), called Marianitas - which really adds this great level of flavor.

Third, squeezee bottle dulce de leche is pretty much a standard staple here, so we went ahead and swirled some of that in, too.

So, it's not Mexican, but my husband is...and it looks so pretty!

Proper Piñata Protocol

So, it's that birthday time of year again (well, for me and Benito Juarez and springtime, at least), and after writing about mañanitas and diving head first into tres leches, it's about time for some piñata facts.

1 - I have never seen the rainbow donkey (in piñata form...or in real life, for that matter) that seem to be the traditional American piñata. It may be popular up north, but here in South Central, it is all about the traditional form of the five pointed star. Dora, Santa, and other human shapes are also common enough (but there's something weird about beating those ones).

2 - Piñatas are for birthdays, but also for other holidays, like the Posadas (9 days before Christmas), Christmas and New Year's Eve, but much to my dismay, hitting the piñata and knocking children over for candy seems to be only for other children.

3 - The best and most popular piñata candy is the Damy, a hard candy of milk and peanut flavoring, or its brother, Tomy, a caramel hard candy. (You can get them online and in highly Mexican areas, and I would recommend finding and trying them.)

4 - The number one rule of the piñata is that the youngest/smallest kids go first, the biggest/oldest ones last; that way, everyone gets at least one at bat.

5 - In the United States, we have the blindfolding, the spinning, and the moving of the piñata all right, but we lack the song. And the  piñata song is really quite important because it keeps the time of each child's turn.

Dale Dale Dale, Hit it, Hit it, Hit it,
No pierdas el tino, Don't lose your aim,
Porque si lo pierdes, Because if you lose it,
Pierdes el camino. Then you lose your way.

Dale Dale Dale, Hit it, Hit it, Hit it,
Dale, No le dio, Hit it, No you didn't,
Quitenle la venda, Take off the blindfold,
Porque sigo yo. Because it's my turn.

Ya le diste una, Now you hit it once
Ya le diste dos, Now you hit it twice
Ya le diste tres, Now you hit it three times
Y tu tiempo se acabo! And your time is done!


OK, so the song really does not translate well into English, but the idea is that when the song ends, so does your turn.

(Note: I know most of these pictures are inside, but that's because it rained all Christmas week in Veracruz this year. Generally, you want to do this whole piñata thing outdoors.)

Café de Olla

Despite the sweltering heat, coffee is very popular in Veracruz, and while there are a few cafés, you certainly won't find coffee makers in most homes. In any market, tianguis or baratero, you can get fresh ground local coffee, which is then boiled in an earthenware pot (an olla) with piloncillo and cinnamon to become Mexico's unique brand of coffee, café de olla.

In my experience, the beverage is just skimmed from the top of the pot (or made from Nescafé - also very popular in Mexico), but just to be sure that you don't get a mouthful of some very bitter coffee grounds, strain, STRAIN, STRAIN!

Ingredients
1 liter water
1 cinnamon stick
100g piloncillo (or brown sugar, but it's not the same)
50 g ground coffee (or Nescafé it)

Directions

1 - Put the water, coffee, cinnamon stick and piloncillo into a pot.

2 - Bring to a simmer, and stir to dissolve the piloncillo.

3 - Allow the coffee to steep for about 5 to 10 minutes.

4 - Take out the cinnamon stick, and strain the coffee through a fine mesh strainer (twice).

5 - I probably don't need to mention it, but serve hot.

Molcajete

This Christmas, I received a wonderful Mexican food gift - a molcajete and tejolote, which is like the Mexican equivalent of what in English is called a mortar (molcajete) and pestle (tejolote). The molcajete is used to grind herbs, but is most commonly used to crush garlic and chiles for salsa recipes. (Surprising, right?) Proper molcajetes and tejolotes are made out of lava rock, and a fair amount at market are painted with little pig heads near the top rim (I'm not entirely sure why).

If you are lucky enough to receive such a gift, make sure that you listen to the guy at the market (or this post) and season it before use. To season the lava rock, put 2 tablespoons of dry, raw rice into the molcajete and grind it nice and good (about 10 minutes), wash it, let it dry, and repeat. This makes the porous rock scratchy and irregular, which helps to crush and smash the bigger type ingredients usually put in here.

And now you can make some really rustic salsa in your molcajete (which everyone down here agrees tastes better than salsa in a blender - it's the taste of effort, I guess).

Día de la Candelaria

What started on January 6th with the sharing of the rosca de reyes ends today, February 2nd, with the Día de la Candelaria (which is evidently called Candlemas in English) and the sharing of tamales. When I asked one of my students what the celebration was about after one of his co-workers peeked his head in with the announcement of tamales, his response was simple: I know today is the Candelaria and we eat tamales. And, really, what else do you need to know?

As far as religion goes, the Candelaria celebrates the day that Jesus was presented at the temple, but the culinary tradition here in Mexico obviously overshadows the religious meaning behind it. The Mexican tradition begins on January 6th, when the rosca de reyes is split amongst family and friends. Whoever finds the doll in their piece of the rosca is supposed to cater the party on February 2nd (although others usually chip in and help). Tamales are eaten any day of the year, but are generally enjoyed on special occasions and are definitely required for the Candelaria celebration. 

 
Whatever type of tamale is served (they're all good), atole is served as the accompanying beverage for this authentic Mexican Día de la Candelaria. 

Tamales Oaxaqueños: Step by Step (in Pictures)