theabroma

Scott, Nick, Devotees of lo mexicano ... What WOULD you like to see in a white tablecloth Mx restaurant? Hacienda Los Morales or Fonda del Refugio? Isadora's or Izote? Please comment at great length. What would your ideal white-T Mx have on the menu? What would be missing? I mean, I don't have any problem seeing sopes, panuchos, garnachas, etc. on a white table cloth as an app, and paying for them (presuming plastic is in shape!). A favorite place of mine in Puebla is the dining room in the Hotel Royalty. It is white-T, and it reminds me a little of FSM in that it has some great things, and the rest are good to very good, but over all it is not whoohoo!. But there is a rabbit dish that is killer, and in season (Oct through Dec) they serve Mole de cadera or Guaxmole - spine and hip of sheep or goats in a red chile sauce. It is rather simple in its ingredients, and consequently quite treacherous in its preparation - it must be just right, or else it's totally unremarkable. Still I like Royalty much better than the smaller, chic-er Meson de la Sacristia - which has all of the trappings, and is beautiful, but has no soul. What makes it white-T? Tableware from Talavera Uriarte? Cutlery from Los Castillo? The wealthy in Mx have typically affected European food styles - pushing the ruddy indigenous complexion off the center of the plate. You know, Basque food has evolved into a fine cuisine in the last several years. But lord knows the Basque country never was in a position to develop a court cuisine like Barcelona or Madrid, or Paris, or Istanbul, etc. But now you find Juan Mari Arzak's restaurant Tezka in Mx City. It is Basque & Mexican. Maybe that is something to look hard at as a point of departure towards Mexican as a white tablecloth cuisine. Theabroma

Sometimes you will see it here denominated as 'barbacoa de res', and less frequently 'barbacoa de cabeza'. I seem to remember that the 'de cabeza' term was used more in the Rio Grande Valley, and on the East Side of San Antonio (ie: in the barrio, in general). I have been told that the term 'de cabeza' provided a little more information than most gringos wanted to have. Well, maybe guys we should start a barbacoa thread (if so, I say we do it in Mexico and x-ref it to the Texas forum). Some issues to consider (just popped up for me): 1. Typically, it is the cow's head which is made into barbacoa - so in areas where the need for euphemism is nil, barbacoa de cabeza tells you right away which animal, and which part. 2. That's because heads are not the only thing "barbacoa-ed." (sorry!) However, mostly what is made into barbacoa is the head. 3. In rural Mexico you will find barbacoa de borrego (mutton) or cerdo (pig). I have never seen b. de chivo (goat). When I say "... you will find ..." I am referring to markets, and to homes and communities in ranch areas where I have been invited. The latter definitely would not constitute a scientific sample. 4. What is meant by barbacoa? I have been given to understand that it refers to meat, usually beef, and typically the head, which is cooked in a stone lined pit, over coals, surrounded by pencas (leaves) de maguey, covered with wood or metal, and buried under dirt for 12 or so hours. That is a ranch barbeque. The meat is roasted, but the fact that it is in an air tight chamber means that there will be a certain amount of water retention, and therefore, steam. So it steam-roasts. Usually the meat is set on a pan in the pit - to steady it, but also to catch its drippings. The drippings are served as consomme on the side. Obviously, in larger towns and cities, these pits are not so easy to come by, so the oven becomes the focal point of making barbacoa. Cows heads, while easy to come by in Mx cities, are difficult to fit whole into the typical Mx oven. This may, in part, explain the switch to briskety-like cuts done low and slow in an oven. 5. Now it gets a bit jiggy if you throw in the Yucatan, Campeche, Tabasco area: pibil, or Mayan 'pit' cooking. There the protein of choice is pig, preferably a whole baby, which will have been lovingly massaged with a red recado (spice and herb paste diluted with the juice of sour, or Seville, oranges, and allowed to sit for a while), then wrapped in fresh banana leaves, and then placed in the traditional barbeque pit in the ground, called a 'pib' in the Mayan tongues, covered, buried, etc., etc. Chicken is also preared this way, but it is ... at least in my experience ... rare to find beef so done. The focus is on the whole piglet, and that failing, something like the pork shoulder, or Boston butt. I do not have the impression that the pig's head is specially cooked, as is the cow's. That may not be much of an answer ... but I think that this requires some discussion. Oh, by the way (and you guys know this already, but for those who may be confused: THOU SHALT NOT TOUCH BARBACOA WITH FLOUR TORTILLAS! IT SIMPLY IS NOT DONE!! Bad things will happen if you do. If you have ever had out of the pit on Sunday morning barbacoa de cabeza de res, freshly pulled, and served with fresh corn tortillas and a sharp singing, smoky salsa, you will know the oven-cooked variety, no matter how well prepared, in an instant. Theabroma

Mayhaw Man's right about the food being better at Los Barrios, but ... Mi Tierra's, especially on the weekends at about 3am was the best people watchin' place for 5 states around: good migas or huevos rancheros, nice pan dulce, and an incredible mix of San Antonio PD's finest having coffee and doughnuts next to a group of San Antonio's finest drag queens. It was a portrait on velvet with sequins of 'The Peaceable Kingdom." A little more expensive, but not overly so is the Liberty Bar on Josephine St. just west of Hwy 281 - it's not too far from the old Pearl Brewery. Quail in green mole is wonderful, they have freshly baked white and wheat bread, wonderful rosemary scented, olive oil brushed grilled potato slabs, and my favorite salad: cress & arugula, bosc pears and stilton cheese. Sometimes for dessert there's lemon curd with rose geranium shortbreads. They also have a great bar, they used to serve grilled calf's sweetbreads, and besides all that, the building, an old German dry goods store, leans a an angle that would give the Pisan tower vertigo. Theabroma PS: This gives me an excuse to call an old friend in SA and see what his latest 'finds' are. If there's anything major, I'll let you know. T.

A while ago I lost a flip of the coin to my cousin, and instead of going to Veracruz like I wanted to, we went to Vallarta. At the last minute I decided to drive (my first foray into Mx with a Golf). We were to stay 1 month - he had rented a house in Gringo Gulch - and then drive back. When the month was up I very generously drove him to the airport ... and stayed 5 more months. In PV: Tony Balam's (which I have heard is no longer in business), pescado zarandeado with a vinaigrette of garlic, olive oil and anis de mono. Rodolfo's Pozoleria around the corner from the Cine Bahia - had red, white, and green. The green was to die for. Helados Bing - cajeta ice cream. Munguia's Bakery - bread as well as pastry Gutierrez Rizo grocery - the mango counter (4-7 varieties at any given time), and the crema mexicana tubs, sweet through sour in 6 steps, generous tastes of each gratis, and enough banana examples to drive a musaologist nuts The big 24/7 tortilleria next to Gut. Rizos where the guys sat up all night cooking 500 gallon tanks of nixtamal, and playing poker. Any street corner in PV after 7pm - the tamal ladies appeared. Sweet tamales of strawberry, coconut, or pineapple. And the place I so would love to take Tony Bourdain: Fonda Las Amapas, 30 kilometers from PV, near the Punta de Mita. The menu was "whatever crawled out of the jungle that day." Iguana in capers and tomatoes - it was exquisite - nothing like that gross iguana segment on Cook's Tour. Also jabali/wild pig, deer, possum, and armadillo. An amazing education on the plate. And on the coast highway going from PV to San Blas - the marinated, grilled chickens with freshly made corn tortillas, sliced cabbage, radishes, and pickled red onions, and the fire pits where they were roasting whole fish - in little palm thatch palapas all the way up the coast to Mexicaltitan. Or, you could eat in the hotel .... Theabroma

www.bimbobakeriesusa.com will explain everything ... and probably some things that you did not even know required explaining. It's a HUGE company. But in Mexico everyones seems to be eating corn tortillas from the tortillerias - including the tortillerias de comal - where they are individually hand pressed, and cooked on a clay or metal comal, or else bread in the form of bolillos, teleras, and pambazos - all variations on French bread - a lean dough baked with a crisp crust - and a galaxy away from Bimbo. Yes, they bought Ms. Baird's - but they have closed down the flagship Ms. Baird's bakery ops on Mockingbird and Central Expy, and have moved their North Tx operations to Ft. Worth. Theabroma

It used to frustrate me a lot: hearing the received wisdom of the "don't drink the water/don't touch the food" crowd. Always wanted to shout the question "Then why in the hell did you come here?" I've seen American kitchens in action, including the fine establishments stocked with culinary school grads should know better, and where 'out of sight, out of mind' is a mantra. Bourdain picked only some of the stuff ... the stuff that would get the biggest laughs. So everyone feels safe eating in their hotel in Mexico, and will smugly tell you that you are shortly to be damned for eating off the carts, and sucking up those tamales with a cup of atole on the street corner. I have never gotten sick (I have had some Beowulfian hangovers, though) eating in Mexico, many I know who only eat "in the hotel" have ended up quite ill. Eating from the 'out of sight out of mind', time & temperature abusing, if it's smell rivals a durian, brine it, 10 second rule using, behind closed doors kitchens will get smug sorts what they probably deserve. Anywhere in the world, including the US. Maybe more especially the US. A lot of our food, especially animal flesh, is 'hot' by the time it enters the kitchen's receiving dock. Common sense and good hygiene - the cook's and the diner's - will go far towards protecting you anywhere. Again, 'anywhere' includes here. I think I mentioned the market taquito lady in Acuitlapilco, whose young daughter took the orders, and whose husband, the money. She wouldn't touch either thing - because all she did was wash her hands and prepared the food. When we get to that market with a camera, we should shoot extra footage of her, and turn it into a sanitation training film! I realize that this has a rantesque quality, however ... it is, frankly, a racist thing to be so ignorant of what Mexico is (or any of a number of non-Western European countries, for that matter), and yet bound about quite confidently playing at being a cultural Dementor. Open the eyes, and open the mouth (but only to eat the proffered delicacy), then let that open the mind, and, should there be one, the heart. Theabroma PS: a solution of 1 pt of cool water to 1TBSP of household bleach (eg: Clorox) as a hand dip is usually sufficient to disarm the capsaicin in a chile.

I know what you mean ... but on the upside, it can be sooooo much fun to watch other people spotting the "BIMBO" truck driving down the street. They look like they've been goosed and then freeze-framed!!!! Yes, it is quite scary that Pan Bimbo has invaded us. We have them here in Dallas occasionally. Friend of mine thought it was a mobile spare parts, botox, and implant re-inflation service. Refused to believe that it was bread. Theabroma

Omigod, Shelora! That's right where my hotel (Colonial) is! I have photos of that tamale lady and the orange juicer!! That tamalera also serves atole. That's where I saw the guy in the Beamer stop off on the way to work for a power breakfast - they're the ones I wrote about in my Mexico 'blog! I can't believe it! And when you go down the street between the University buildings, do you remember the man who sells sliced fruits and vegetables in little bags with lime and chile? And are you a fool for those potato chips with Salsa Valentina and lime? Man, I gotta stop this. I'm gonna be in tears soon. When do you think you'll be going back? I know I'll be in Chihuahua in August, and then in Tlaxcala and Puebla towards the end of August. Theabroma

That was a real jolt .. that article. But then I began to want to know more about who did the study, how they did it, etc. I was fairly recently in Mx City and in Puebla and Veracruz, etc., and let me tell you, I love the Luna family here, and I know that they make the masa there, etc. but I'm sorry. The corn tortillas here ARE NOT better than the ones in Mx City. Unless, of course, they bought them in the Mx City Sam's! Did you note that they mentioned in passing that the gov't had reduced their corn and tortilla subsidies? And how did they determine in areas outside of cities whether the consumption has dropped? Maybe more people are making them at home in the rural areas, and maybe Pan Bimbo is making inroads in the big cities due to advertising. But giving up tortillas for white sandwich bread is scary. I agree. We need to study this properly. theabroma

You don't find many overt 'food guides' in Mexico: Mexicans writing about their food write for each other - or those who either grew up with it, have had it possess their very souls, or have genuinely approached its study with a pure heart, and open mind, and neither a marketing nor a pr firm in sight. Mexicans write Mexican food guides for foreigners to Mexico so they won't be afraid to eat outside their foreign hotel chain. That being said, Marco Buenrostro and Cristina Barros have a weekly column, 'Itacate' in La Jornada, an excellent Mexican daily that is also available on the web. Book series on the Mexican kitchen such as those put out by CONACULTA (Concilio Nacional de Cultura y Arte - www.librosyarte.mx.com, or Ediciones de Fonda Economica - EFC). Search by subjet through Howard Karno Books' collections (www.karnobooks.com). Of what's available in English that is worthwhile, well, Diana, Bayless, and to a large extent Zarela and Trilling. Jim Peyton has some solid books on the kitchens of the Frontera. And that's about it. The rest - Two Hot Tamales, Star Canyon, Coyote, Lobster Tacos, and gloppy tortilla soup at $14/bottle without the chicken, avocado, cheese, or tortilla strips are all highly successful marketing and pr events. Doesn't mean they aren't tasty to eat; doesn't mean they don't utilize some 'traditional' or 'authentic' ingredients; but they simply are not mexicano del mero corazon. The true Mexican food guides are ... Mexicans. Like my friend Fernando the mad hunter who knows every crease and fold in the geography of Mexico. He hasn't a clue as to which is the business end of a can opener ... but he is an brilliant eater, and knows every real place in every town and burg where you can eat wonderful things, old things, new flights of fancy from someone well grounded in the tradtional. The best tacos and quesadillas to be had in all of the City of Puebla are found at lunchtime only in a mechanic's taller on the north edge of the centro historico. They may heat them on the various exposed manifolds in the shop - I don't know and who the hell cares? They are a complete education in Mx gastronomical history. Which of the market ladies are good and which aren't and why. I have been very lucky in finding guides: not only Fernando, but Francesca who comforted me and taught me when the Pobre Coche was on its deathbed in Ixtlahuaco, Hidalgo early last October. The 'pig stand' family at the Friday market in Acuitlapilco, Tlax. who explained more than I ever wanted to know about pig slaughter, cleaning, and processing. Etc. Etc. Maybe Nick, you and Shelora and I should eat together in a selection of places to get to know where we line up vis a vis regional foods of Mx, and then the three of us take pen in hand and give it a go. I don't know if a real guide could be written - that is, one that would satisfy us. But there is lots of room for one ... especially one that remembers to photograph the food and the location, not the eater, or the digital detritus left behind by a food stylist. The way that we speak of 'white tablecloth restaurants' sounds like our version of the Gault or the Michelin. The cuisine must be deserving, and another discussion seeks in vain for 'white tablecloth' Mx restaurants. Maybe that is part of the problem. Maybe we need to learn that while a well made mole merits a 5 in the world of white tablecloth ratings, it just looks damned silly sitting on one??? Selora, you name the date and place for our tamalada, and I'm there with my big, fat Mx cornhusks, my vaporeras, and my big frog molcajete!!! Nick, you coming? Theabroma

No, not yet on Lanny's. And interesting on La Fonda. That is probably one of the prettiest restaurants around anywhere, but it has never quite lived up to its promise. Besides the problem of having so many regional things hit you at once - like the jangle of cochinita right up against the mole negro, chased by the capirotada. And Scott, I think that most 'barbacoa' that you will find in Texas is oven-roasted pot roast. When I lived in San Juan, near Pharr, I had friends and neighbors who used to pit cook cow heads on the weekends (there were always at least two people who liked the eyes, so I let them get in line ahead of me. What?? All gone!!! Oh my!!!), and a lot of the tienditas and tortilleras had the genuine article - but outside a setting like that, the real stull is hard to come by. Which gets me back to FSM in your example, and any other place - white tablecloth or not - if you're not going to dig a hole out back and do it right, then don't put it on the menu!. Please. And maybe the critical mass for a restaurant like Fonda del Refugio, Nuu Luu in Oaxaca, Hacienda los Morales, Izote, Isadora, Girasoles, etc. just isn't present in Texas - or really anywhere else in the US yet. Hugo's was really quite good. FSM is bright (for me) only at the buffet ... and that is not uniform. Guero's in Austin, which once upon a time when it was on Oltorf was good, but now is an El Fenix putting on airs, Mario's in San Antonio, before he got so enamored of arming whoever in Mx that he had to go on permanent vacation in Spain had potential. Bayless, remember, has a MA in Latin American Studies, focus on Mexico. He came from a restaurant family. Those places were a labor of love for him. It is so incredibly rare to find someone like that, and you know them because their passion lights up the night sky. The only other person that comes to mind who did something like that was Barbara Tropp with her books and with China Moon. But an evil dealer at the gene bank robbed us of her two years ago. I cannot think of anyone in Texas, with the possible exception of Monica Greene, who has had that kind of fire in the belly. That's why I mostly go sniffing at cazuelas in the little joints where the home cooking is going on. They more frequently produce a return on gastronomic investment which exceeds that of the fancier establishments. Maybe for now eating in Mexico just ruins you for eating Mx. food here??? Is that a possibility?? Theabroma

I guess Abigail does not have the best rep around. She pulled a real stunt on Elaine Gonzalez about a tejate making demo. Wanted a pile of money for it. We went past Teotitlan and way up a hill to a woman named Jovita - who did the whole thing. Had the rosita de cacao tree in her yard. Anyone know why Abigail is so crochety? And have you met Soledad Diaz or eaten at her El Topil in Oaxaca City? Do you travel to Mx often? Any particular area? Theabroma

Here, Ciudad. Austin, La Fonda San Miguel. But for the absolute gold standard, the margarita - especially the margarita with tamarind, on the rocks, at Las Girasoles on Calle Tacuba, Centro Historico, Mexico, D.F. Bar none. Theabroma

I did not know that Abigail Mendoza taught classes. I have had the great privilege of eating at Tlamanalli and I found it wonderful. I am still trying to get my mitts on some chepil seeds (Crotolaria longirostrata - to those of you out there who undoubtedly are hoarding a dowry's worth!! Fess up) When people ask me what it is about Mexico that has stolen my heart and soul, I am often at a loss of how to bottle lightning and explain to them. One of the images that comes to mind, however, is a dinner I had at Tlamanalli. One of the sisters was kneeling on a petate (ubiquitous straw mat), bent over a metate, grinding roasted, dried, soaked chiles into a paste. There was a telephone call, and someone handed her a cell phone. She tucked it between her left ear and shoulder, grinding away, while speaking to her caller in the language Sahagun said was like the singing of birds - Zapotec. It is the confluence of those things - the ancient, unwritten language still spoken, the ancient food still lovingly prepared, the retention of the traditional - the metate - and the additional of the (hopefully) rational new technologies. It is wonderful to see them all playing so well together, and to realize that they can co-exist. The adoption of the new helpers does not, independent of and attitude, obliterate the old. I need to be aware of this in my own life. I think we all do. Theabroma

Oh, yeah. While you are around the Juarez market in Oaxaca, let your nose lead you to the chocolate row just outside where Chocolates Mayordomo and Chocolates Guelaguetza have their shops. They will grind to your order of cacao, sugar, cinnamon, and almonds. If you make it to the Central de Abastos, find Molinos del Sol for chocolate. Also Iliana de la Vega's restaurant El Naranjo is excellent. There is another restaurant, the name of which escapes me just now, in Za'achila, right on the road. It is set in a grove of trees. Specializes in mescal and roast meats, and has hammocks in the trees to help nurse you through wretched excess. It is about a 40 minute cab ride south of Oaxaca. Theabroma

The real hoot for me on the waterpipe angle was wandering into Afrah one afternoon and there were two group smokin' like a Sonny Bryan's franchise. Then, there there was this one guy, off to himself, dressed in the long white shirt-like garment MidEastern men often wear, with a cup of the "sweet as love, black as night, and strong as a motherlinlaw (or, something like that)" coffee in front of him on the table, one hand holding the pipe hose, and the other giving a credible imitation of an orchestra conductor in a rush. When I saw the little black cord running from his ear to the table I realized that he was heavily engaged in conversation with someone on his cell phone. I love those little moments where the traditional and the techie collide - and you realize you don't have to throw the baby and the bathwater out together, and remake yourself into a "suit" just to partake. What was it little Rosa in Dicken's Hard Times told Mr. Gradgrind? Something to the effect that she fancied a house with a carpet with roses on it on the floor, and a place for Queen Mab's chariot among the steam engines???. I say amen. Theabroma

The ancho oscuro is likely a chile mulato - basically originally a poblano, with some slightly different expression of the color genes - it is a rich tobaccoy brown rather than the deep ruby wine red of an ancho. Since chiles are air pollinators, who knows? But it sounds like a puya, a subvariety of a puya. The chile amarillo is likey a chilcoztli, coztli meaning 'yellow' in Nahuatl. I know what you mean. I've got BAGS of chiles from Mx markets that have not been well marked. I probably should just grow them out and then try to figure from there. There's a British guy named Graham Casleton who has a stunning web site of photos of hundreds of chiles. That would be a help. Theabroma

Deal! You've got a pretty classy stash of chiles there, ma'am. Do you get them from Mexico or can you find them here and in Canada? Theabroma

I am trying to locate a recipe I have scribbled down someplace that is a very simple yellow mole (basically onions, chicken, and chile chilcozti, which renders a sauce that is almost saffron yellow. It is served with a puree of hoja santa, which utterly, totally makes the dish. It is, interestingly, a very old, traditional, pre-conquest dish. When/if I run it to ground, I'll send it along. I think I have some chilcoztli, and if not, I think I know where I can snag a few for you. Theabroma

Nessa, let me know when you are available for a smoke ... or watching someone else do it. Althougn I shouldn't say this, I kinda prefer Afrah, but ... I like Jasmine. I'll be delighted to meet you at either place if you'd like a partner in crime. We can stop off at Poshak's over by Taj Mahal Grocery on the west side of 75 and Belt Line and pick up some of those embroidered shoes with the turned up toe tip!! Theabroma

Cannot wait to hear the post mortem. Will cover laptop keypad with plastic to prevent drooling onto keyboard. Very happy smokin' and grillin' Theabroma

Wow! You'll have the BC hoja santa leaf trade sewn up! Good for you. In retrospect, let me take another stab at the brown leaf tips and edges. Central heat and (here in TX, since it's a religion) air conditioning dry the air terribly ... so, of course, the plants become very dry as well - the soil in the pots and the leaf moisture loss into the hyper dry air. This is true to varying degrees of all interior heating systems. So it may be that regular waterings will cheer up the plant enormously. I may have overstated the water on the leaf thing. Generally, any out of doors plant that has the slightest water trapping ability on the leaf can develop burned spots - but that's here in the blasting S'west sunlight. You just have to remember not to give the poor plant a shower in the late afternoon in July or August. So don't fret about that one too much. Tamales are good made w/hoja santa. Also fish like small snapper or trout, seasoned and wrapped in hoja santa, then in a soaked corn husk, and steamed or cooked on the grill are really good. Also, check Diana Kennedy's Art of Mx Cooking for the green mole recipe - it uses hoja santa, too. Theabroma

Yum yum pork brisket. If you want to smoke/bbq it -massage it with your favorite rub, let it sit for a couple of hours in a cool place, then put it on the smoker or grill. In the case of the grill, stay with it because it takes a while to cook, but you can dry it out. But an alternative is to brine it over night with a slash of good quality liquid smoke in the brown sugar brine, dry it, wrap it in foil, and toss it in a 500F oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Then drop the heat to about 225F and cook it for 4-6 hours, or until very tender. Remove it, open the foil, let it cool a bit, and then pull it for sandwiches. You'll eat most of it before you even get the bread out. You can also season it, brown it all over in a bit of fat, and then braise it. Applejack, apples, shallots, garlic, and a bit of gingeroot is one good combo. It's satisfying like beef brisket, but unlike beef brisket manages to be not so rich and heavy. Theabroma

Yes. Soledad Diaz' El Topil, which is close to Sto Domingo, on the town side. Classic Zapotec regional cooking. And if you want to take a taxi out to Teotitlan del Valle - worth it for the weavers and the rugs, go to Tlamanalli. The segesa and sopa de chepil are holiness in a bowl. Also, Sra Fili's stall in the Mercado Comedor next to the Mercado Benito Juarez in the center of town for pan de huevo and chocolate. Theabroma

Shelora, Hi! I've grown them in Dallas - in the ground, and they wintered over. Mine had a north/west exposure, and sometimes it looked real limp in the afternoon sun. They need a moist, well drained soil, and although they need light, the blast of Texas summer afternoon light will cause them to droop (they will recover). It sounds like yours needs more regular watering, best done early in the morning. Try to avoid gettnig water on the leaves - they have a peach fuzz on them and will trap and hold water against the leaves. They propagate by sending out suckers, and can be quite aggressive in growth. Mine got to about 6 feet in height and was really luch. As I said, it wintered over successfully for 3 years. My roommate's boyfriend mowed it down to the ground - twice, and that was it. They will freeze, though. Where are you located? \theabroma