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esperanza

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Posts posted by esperanza

  1. I've been shopping for a new digital camera for a few months and it's great to find this thread with all of your experiences and recommendations. I'd be interested to know if anyone uses or has used the Konica Minolta Dimage A1, which is, at the moment, the camera at the top of my list. Thanks...

  2. Tamales in most parts of Mexico are made using dried corn husks (soaked for several hours before using) as the wrappers. Banana leaf wrappers are used primarily in southern Mexico--Oaxaca, the Yucatán, etc. The banana leaf imparts a distinct flavor to the tamal that may not be the flavor you are dreaming of.

    Depending on how many tamales you're making, you'd best invite your friends in the morning to make them. The last time I did this with a neighbor, we made 200 and it took us 10 hours--and we've done it a LOT. Tamales are the sort of thing you want to make a lot of to make the work worthwhile.

    A wonderful stuffing for vegetarian tamales is cheese (unless you don't eat cheese) with small strips of roasted chile poblano. Monterey Jack would work for the cheese. Canned green chiles would replace the poblanos, although the taste would be different.

    The biggest trick to light, fluffy tamales is beat, beat, beat the shortening until it is fluffier than you think possible. Then mix the shortening with the masa harina and continue to beat it by hand until it is fluffy. When your arm is worn out, it will be almost done.

    Rather than roll the masa, you take two or three of the soaked corn husks, overlap them slightly in your hand, and lightly spread about a tablespoon or so of masa with your fingers on the husks. Put the cheese and/or chile strips on the masa and spread another tablespoon or so of masa on top. Wrap the husks around the uncooked tamal, fold one end flap of the husks over to the middle, and stack on a rack in a steamer containing 2 cups of water. Repeat until you've made all the tamales.

    Steam for 1 1/2 hours (checking frequently to be sure your steamer is not running dry. Check the tamales after this cooking time see if they are fluffy and done--if not, steam them about 1/2 hour longer. Replenish water as needed with boiling water.

    It's not a good idea to do this in a pressure cooker.

  3. Well damn, I just read this entire Costco a-go-go thread this morning. Here I am in the middle of Mexico--and there is a huge Costco only an hour away! I have to go there on Tuesday, just a little late for the go-go.

    Here's what I usually buy there: TP, paper towels, paper napkins, evaporated milk, wines, liquor. I've not bought meats or fish, but others swear by them. The standard array of products available in the USA is available here, for the most part, with some country-specific differences: all the books are in Spanish, the dry and canned goods are heavy on the things we use here: rice, beans, fideos, chiles en escabeche, etc. We get delicious pitted green olives stuffed with anchovies; I'm not an anchovy lover, but I love these.

    Here's a point to ponder: Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in Mexico. Scary, huh?

  4. I'm new to eGullet and I've been reading this thread. Many of you are quite knowledgeable about regional food in Mexico. I live here in Mexico's Central Highlands and offer, among other things, a 'Cook's Tour' of at least two regions. There is so much to know--more than you can imagine--about equipment, ingredients, methods, etc. Just last week I was privileged to have a private cooking class with a woman in the town where I live who gave me her great-grandmother's recipe for a mole dulce that includes ingredients I've never heard included any other mole.

    By the way, the name of the city in Michoacán that's mentioned here (the one with the great market food) is spelled Uruapan. That is a great market for food--but the street food in other places in Michoacán is even better, IMHO. The corundas rellenas con queso y rajas , the uchepos con salsa verde y crema, the enchiladas placeras, the diablitos--ay ay ay. Michoacán has the greatest cuisines in Mexico: the traditional recipes of the Purhépecha will knock your socks off. Soups you never heard of: atapakua, for example.

    As a bilingual, bicultural food professional, I'm glad to be on board here at eGullet.

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