theabroma

Adobo: The basic, universal components of adobo are chiles anchos and mulatos, toasted, seeded, deveined, soaked in boiling water, and ground to a paste, along with some white onion and a few small cloves of garlic, and of course, salt. Beyond that, it can contain Mexican oregano (Lippia graveolens or Poliomentha longiflora), and perhaps some other dried herbs. Sometimes guajillos or chile pasilla are also added to the ancho/mulato base. This paste is diluted a bit with a fruity vinegar - pineapple is common. It is used as a rub on cuts of meat to be grilled or stewed, and acts as a light preservation agent, a tenderizer, and certainly a flavoring. The piles of brick red meats you see in a Mexican butcher's case are smeared with adobo. The New Mexican/Southwestern dish, carne adovada, is meat in a red chile stew. Other than having inherited the adobado name, it is rather different than Mexican adobado meats.

Right you are Raynickben. It's kinda like the Vanilla Ice Cream Proof - when you boil something down to its essential running gears, that's where the acid test is for taste. "The proof of the pudding ... etc. truly does lie in the eating, and there's not too many places you can hide if the holy trinity of bread, sauce, and cheese aren't iin tune. Theabroma

Because New Yorkers don't know bupkis about BBQ or TxMx, much less Mexican food! They think BBQ is piece of flanken drowned in spiced ketchup, and then cooked in the oven, in a tallith of tin foil. And TxMx is made from canned corn tortillas, not reheated, and filled with something lurking in cream gravy tainted with raw/unroasted/unsimmered chili powder. And they use Italian parsley as a substitute for cilantro. The soul weeps. Now, in all fairness, we here seem not to be able to produce a real bagel for the life of us, and the bialys are a sin before Yahweh. So, too, the pies. Badly made dough - it's foccacia dough, for goodness sakes! Bad tomato sauce - here's where we get the ganas for ketchup. The cheeses - both parm and mozzarella are not good quality, and the meats are not good, either. Go to Jimmy's on Fitzhugh and Bryan for the cheeses, and for the Italian canned tomatoes, and for the cold cuts - pepperoni, salami, including the Tuscan one with fennel, that are divine. You don't need much. Pizzas here have far too much stuff all over them. They arrive at the table looking for all the world like they just busted out of a 10x10 storage locker. And then the bad dough - full of relaxers and conditioners, is often not properly baked. The pizzas I was lucky enough to eat in NYC and New Haven (Sally's and The Spot) didn't look like a gypsy wagon just threw up all over them. They were pretty simple, with a few good Italian ingredients, and a good hot oven. They were to be savored - and they definitely were not the kind of over salted, cheezy/greezy stuff that is craved and inhaled at 2:20pm after the bars close on a night of heavy drinking. You didn't ask, but I couldn't hold back. God, I'd love a good slice. Theabroma

I know what you're talking about witht he mole paste, and I have never seen it for sale here. For Tx/Mx, El Ranchito on Jefferson and Llewellyn in Oak Cliff, Herrera's on Maple Avenue, Cuquita's on Henderson (MxTx), Las Cazuelas on Main Street, La Acapulquena on Columbia, Los Huaraches and Los Alebrijes on Northwest Highway (MxTx). For BBQ - everyone has paroxysms over Sonny Bryan's - several locations, but the classic one is on Inwood Road just east of Harry Hines Blvd. Their ribs and brisket are good, but I personally also like Peggy Sue's in Snider Plaza on Daniel and Hillcrest across from SMU. They have good pork ribs. Also, close to downtown, at the edge of the State Thomas district is a place called Sammy's. It will be in the directory. It is very good. Problem is, when I get the ganas for bbq, I head for Central Texas and Austin, so I don't know a lot about bbq in Dallas. Bon Appetit! Theabroma

The mole pastes I have seen in Dallas are the Dona Maria brand in glass jars in the supermarket. I'll be out tomorrow looking for some other items, so I will check in a couple of my more traditional markets to see whether the situation has improved any. Basically, I'd say don't hold your breath. There are a couple of restaurants here that serve a good mole - perhaps they'd be willing to sell you a quart of the sauce? Do you have any interest in making it yourself? I ask because you can purchase all of the chiles and other ingredients here in Dallas - plus a I have a stash of some of the more regionally particular chiles that are harder to find. Be happy to give you some. As for TxMx, MxTx, or BBQ - I'll follow Richard's comment: Will that be for here, or to go? Enjoy your visit. Regards, Theabroma

Cajeta is, in fact, so associated with Celaya and fine qualilty sweetness that the town gave its name to the oldest sweet shop in Mexico City: the Dulceria de Celaya on Cinco de Mayo in the Centro Historico. Although their candies and bonbons are made in the DF, they do sell cajeta de Celaya. Anyway: have you considered dried chiles, especially mulatos which can be hard to find here (they're usually mixed in with the anchos). Good, leathery pasillas (instead of brittle and dry), and little round chile cascabel. Beans: flor de mayo, peruanos, bayos, flor de junio, ayacotes, and azufres. Corn husks for sure - if you can get those big, round ones. Maybe two molcajetes - fine textured basalt, deep bowls, one real big? An aluminum and a big wooden tortilla press Mexican oregano (Lippia graveolens) and Mexican canela sticks A comal de barro Theabroma

In Mexico, mole is traditionally made with poached turkey breast, and now most commonly with chicken - breast to be fancy, and if you can afford it - otherwise, the whole chicken. Mole is the 'Spanishizing' of the Nahuatl (Aztec/Mexica) word 'molli' which translates roughly as 'sauce.' For example, 'guacamole', that much beloved shimmery green dip made from avocados, translates into avocado sauce 'ahuacatl' + 'molli'. But historically, and certainly since the Conquest, moles of all types have been most closely associated with turkey or chicken - so much so that your question as to whether 'mole' refers only to the sauce or to the whole thing, is a very apt one. The chicken is put in water to cover with a clove of garlic, a slice of white onion, maybe a piece of carrot, a sprig of mint, and sometimes a little Mx oregano (Lippia graveolens or L. mexicana). The breast is retrieved and served whole, or sliced on the diagonal and fanned across the plate, the sauce being ladled over it. It is really the chicken broth that is useful: it is the universal medium for thinning a mole paste to thin it to sauce consistency. Everyone has chicken broth hanging around most any hour of the day. That being said, I always buy mole pastes in the markets there and bring them back with me. That way I can pick up a rotisserie chicken (no bbq flavor, please!) on the way home, dilute the appropriate amount of paste into chicken broth (ok, in a rush I'll use Swanson's!) cook it down a bit, thin it, and then pour it over the sliced roasted chicken. It's very good, and it's quick. Once you've made mole a few times, you are in a much better position to evaluate the quality of any prepackaged mole pastes you might want to buy. In the States it's hard to find good ones - in Mexico there are areas where you wonder why anyone usese anything but the pastes sold in the markets. They are that good. Theabroma

The bialys at Sweetish Hill in Austin. Their bagels aren't bad, though I don't think you can find a true NYC 'cement doughnut' in Texas anymore. Theabroma

Mlle Fromage: What a wonderful photo! It emanates the ease of a wonderful meal. Congratulations, and thanks for sending that picture. Glad it worked out. Now I am going to give the duck fat a whirl. ANYTHING but Crisco!!!!!! Regards, Theabroma

I think it might have been a herb blend called za'atar, composed of thyme, sesame seeds, and sumac. It's sprinkled over oiled pita breads and baked, and over foods as a condiment. And it does have a delightful lemony taste. Theabroma

This is making me want to round up the troops and have a tamalada. Yes, Maseca is the current gold standard for nixtamalized corn flour used to make tamales, gorditas, tortillas, etc. There are two varieties, one in a white bag for tortillas, and one in a pink bag for tamales. This 'difference' is a bit of a refinement: the grind for tamal masa is a bit coarser than that for tortillas. Either, however serve both purposes, with the white bag tortilla variety being the most generally useful. Sit down, bleudeauvergne. The first time I was taken to a tamalada, to learn how to make them, there were about 10 'viejas' - little old ladies. They gossipped, cooked, sliced, and diced their way to a stunning 200 dozen in one day ... ok, they had cooked the pig's head the night before. I have seen production kitchens and slam kitchens, and I have never seen anyone in a kitchen who could not have learned a trick or twelve from those grandmas. As for drying your own, yes you can do it. A few problems here, though. The prepopnderance of our corn is sweet corn, whereas the corn needed and used for tamales is field corn - flint, dent, flour. The ears, and consequently, the husks are much larger, as well as rounder - they are cut at the top of the stalk, not at the bottom of the ear. They are scattered out on concrete pads, or else on the roofs of houses, to dry. They are turned daily, and once completely dry, they are stacked and tied in bundles. Theabroma

Not a chance. Agricultural protections and subsidies are very much a bi-partisan thing (witness Tom Daschle's and other Democrats' support of the outrageous farm subsidy bill). And most large agricultural interests tend to give liberally to politicians in both parties to hedge their bets (think the sugar interests in the US gave $100,000 to Bush - and $100,000 to Gore - in the last election). In Florida - we have a Republican governor - 2 Democratic Senators - and many Congresspeople on both sides of the aisle. Never heard one of them speak against state agricultural interests. Robyn ????????????????????????????? That's a lotta sichuan peppercorns, prickly ash, and diaper rash! If the subject is still the sichuan peppercorn, read Barbara Tropp (The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking or China Moon Cookbook) on the subject. Seems in times past in China, courtesans would scatter them in their beds. Presumably for the fragrance. Cannot imagine it would be for the numbness. If, however, the topic is still oranges and Katherine Harris, the woman who stole the 'Hair by WeedEater, Makeup by Crayola' crown from us here in Texas, we could always ponder any uses she might make of the peppercorn ... or the capsicum. Theabroma

New York City: Bialys Dallas/Ft. Worth: steak, Palm Beach sandwich (grilled pimento cheese - Dallas), corny dogs, bbq brisket, bbq pork ribs, Tex-Mex (the mo' yellow cheez, the better!) Theabroma

Okay, Around the Plaza Mayor Calle Tacuba - the Cafe Tacuba for b'fast or lunch, a favorite haunt of Frida Kahlo; Los Girasoles for lunch or dinner, traditional foods (gusanitos de maguey and escamoles in season), heavenly duck breast in blackberry mole, and tamarind margaritas which, due to their supreme sweet-tart drinkability, will undo you. Calle Cinco de Mayo - Dulceria de Celaya, a tiny art nouveau framed bonbonnerie which opened during the reign of Porfirio Diaz. Vitrinas loaded with exquisite sweets and streetfront twin bay windows sporting elegant displays of convent confiserie and buzzing, happy bees. Bar la Opera, where Villa watered his comandantes upon their arrival in Mx City. The bullet holes are still in the stamped tin ceiling to prove it. White hex tile floors, a long, well-appointed bar, dark wood, while lace curtains, and St. Louis whorehouse red flocked velvet wallpaper. The ultimate power lunch establishment for the City's old gard, and, of course, the place to take your, ah, secretary or niece for a little quality quiet time. Do not miss the ensalada de berros or the machitos. Behind the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Las Sirenas, a bar/restaurant with roof-top service and a view of the Mexican trifecta: the excavated remains of the Aztec's Templo Mayor, the Palacio del Gobierno, and the Metropolitan Cathedral - the forces which have bent the Mx population forward or backward over the altar stones throughout their history. Street food: Anything around the Plaza Mayor, especially on Saturdays and Sundays - all freshly made; I've eaten it a thousand times w/out incident. Calle Uruguay - Panaderia La Ideal, the biggest zoo of pan dulce I've yet to see. All of the whimsical shapes of Mexican sweet breadn (including the caiman, or freshwater alligator for which they are famous), and, on the Diesiseis, a wall of intricately layered red/white/ and green gelatines, for the Indenpendence Day celebrations. It's worth a haul up to the mezzanine to check out the display of mutantly huge and fussily furbelowed wedding and quinceanera cakes. Leaving La Ideal, turn right and proceed a block or two to its intersection with a huge boulevard (I think it is Lazaro Cardenas). Take a left across Uruguay, and follow the Boulevard about a half block. The blue-glazed-tile facade of the Churreria los Moros should be in front of you. This is probably the last Mexico City chocolate shop still in existence, 24/7 at that, serving freshly made churros and 4 types of hot chocolate. It is heaven. It also has the most beautiful fry vat this cook has ever seen - a blue tile covered thing the size of a proper bathtub, as well as the oldest pair of scissors in the Western Hemisphere, used to snip the rounds of churros before they are sugared and served. This place is on the endangered traditions list, and must be visited. Zona Rosa: Konditorei (Calle Dinamarca??), good for b'fast, afternoon treats, and people watching. Chalet Suizo for the ensalada de trompa, and Fonda del Refugio, the dama grande of Mx City dining. Since the recent discovery of Spain (especially the Michelin starred temples in the Basque provinces) by the foodie cognoscenti, and the continuing depreciation of Mexico as region worthy of serious gastronomic investigation, may I offer you a big surprise: Tezka. Juan Mari Arzak, of Arzak in San Sebastian (*** since 1986), is one of the owners of Tezka, a Basque restaurant w/New World flavors. Bruno Oteiza is the chef. Arzak comes to the restaurant several times a year to train and keep watch over it. It is NOT inexpensive, but it is a lovely restaurant, serving exquisite food. You will be exceedingly hard put to trump you dinner, and your dining experience, there. Polanco: Isidora's, one of the pioneers of the Nueva Cocina Azteca, raised to a haute pitch, and Izote, a relatively new endeavor by Patricia Quintana. Trendy, chic, and quite good. Some other places - sorry but I am map-challenged at this precise moment! El Bajio, Chef Carmen Ramirez Degollado; Fonda Don Chon, near the Zona Rosa, a temple of traditional, authentic Mexica cuisine, including all manner of entomological delights. Also Jorge and Alicia Gironella de'Angeli's El Tajin, a balance of traditional ingredients and techniques in a current presentation. They are the gastronomic historians of Mexico, have published several books on the subject, and represent Mexican cuisine internationally. What they learn, they infuse into the flavors of their food. It is elegant, yet it is, truly, authentic. Buen provecho! Theabroma

bleudauvergne, what are you using for the masa? can you get Quaker Masa Harina or Maseca there? Easily? Are you making your own? Also, what ratio of masa to fat are you using for the masa? I am curious! Theabroma

Be aware that the duck fat may well be more liquid at room temp than lard or butter. That being the case, you will need to test out amounts, and perhaps consider adding a bit of rice flour or cornstarch to the masa with duck fat to keep it from being slumpy. No reason you couldn't use it, and every reason to experiment. Sounds delicious. Theabroma

1) Yes, there are regions of Latin America where fresh corn husks are used. I have no experience with them, so I can't advise how the tamales would be different. Banana leaves and avocado leaves are also used, but they would likely be even harder to work with. (There is one state in Mexico that instead of individual tamales, features one huge platter-sized one.) Tamal wrappers: Fresh corn husks are used, chiefly, to wrap fresh corn tamales, which are an especial delicacy of the State of Michoacan, and are called uchepos. Read Diana Kennedy in her Art of Mexican Cooking to find out about them. In Mexico they are made from fresh field corn (dent, flint, or flour corns), and the kernels contain sufficient starch to hold together when they are steamed. Here, using our sweet corn, you need to toss in a bit of cornstarch to bind them together. The fresh corn masa is dropped into the husk in the curve at its base, and they are then basically rolled up, as they naturally rolled around the ear of corn. They are steamed just like dried corn masa tamales. I don't know that you absolutely couldn't put dried corn masa in a fresh husk and successfully steam a tamal, but typically you see fresh corn/fresh husk, dried corn/dried husk. Tamales are also wrapped in Swiss chard leaves, and the leaves of other edible plants. There is another tamal, the corunda, or ash tamal (the masa is made by boiling diluted wood ash with the corn instead of cal, or calcium hydroxide). They are pyramid shaped, with rounded sides, and they are wrapped in the fresh leaf of the corn plant. Avocado leaves are hard to come by here - you can buy dried ones in the spice and herb section of a Mexican grocery, and use them with, say, black beans, for flavoring. But the big, fresh leaves required for tamal making are scarce - I have never found them here in the States. Banana leaves are really easy to work with ... if you've got a good source for them. Some markets sell them in packages frozen. They must be 'blanched' by passing them over a flame (stove burner, electric or gas), and as you move the leaf back and forth, you will see it soften, and taken on a gloss. Place the leaf on a flat surface and, using a very sharp knife, cut the central stiff vein out of the leaf. Then cut it crosswise into 10" segments, and you are ready to roll. The huge tamal is a zacahuil, from the Huastec region of Mexico (Hidalgo, Veracruz) and it is constructed on banana leaves, laid out on a banana stalk lattice (looks much like a ladder), and it is baked in an oven. A zacahuil can be large enough to contain a whole hog or some turkeys. It's a big social event, and .... sorry, I can't help myself ... it really does take a community to raise a zacahuil. Sauced or Sauceless: it is traditional to serve tamales with a variety of salsas or mole sauces, or crema and sauteed strips of chile jalapeno or poblano. The best accompaniment to any tamal is a very cold beer and lots of good friends. Regards, Theabroma

Raveline Bakery in Denton, Tx. on Locust Street. Owner is Eric Helland, an outstanding pastry chef. Breads, sweet things, house made truffles, and, well, items of patisserie. It is a joy both to the heart as well as to the tongue. Theabroma

On January 24th, the Dallas/Ft. Worth eGulleteers had their first get together, which included, among other highlights, dragon dances and durian sniffing. We toured Hong Kong Marketplace, a very large, very well stocked pan-Asian market in Dallas. Since it was just past Chinese New Year, we had the extra treat of watching 5 dancing dragons in front of the store. However, the highlight for many was the discovery that some of the durians in the (heavily) refrigerated bin in which they reposed were cracked! We did receive several strange looks as we all clustered around what looks like a cross between an angry pufferfish and a US-issue land mine. Some strange cult, observing some even stranger ritual? 14 of us, taking turns burying our noses as close to those army tent green spikes as possible. As you may well surmise, the owners of HKMP are very, very nice people! The conlusion: many said it 'didn't smell that bad!' It was suggested, however, that refrigeration may well have had a role in keeping the legendary, ah, perfume at bay. I can only imagine the aroma when a fresh one is split open on a hot Malaysian afternoon. Yikes. You will note, however, that no member of our group, including those who felt the durian had fallen short of its rep in the stink department, bought one. Theabroma

Zora - it was my Poblano chef-friend who told me about them. I will have to get in touch with him and find out what the story is ... whether he can get some, how much, etc. I also would like to know the source within Mexico for them. If he can get his hands on a modest amount I can find out how much it would be $$$ to ship them here. You interested?? Theabroma

There are a few other choices: in Mexico City, the Metropolitan Cathedral on the Plaza Mayor, in Puebla, the Cathedral on the Zocalo, in Tonanzintla, Puebla, the Nuestra Senora de Tonanzintla, interior hand-crafted in local indigenous labor, with "pagan" motifs. or in Cholula, in Nuestra Senora de los Remedios on top of the world's largest pyramid (by footprint & by volume). If you want small, discreet, and very old, the Church of Nuestra Senora de Xiloxostla, in Xiloxostla, Tlaxcala - it is a late 16th and early 17th century Franciscan church, with an almost Byzantine decor. Theabroma

Indeed, it IS a calling ... the Committee of Many who meet regularly in one's head, perpetually calling out to you. Thanks God I have never had to regroup as you so handily did from such a freakin' disaster ... reading that exquisitely rendered litany, I laughed until tears started down my cheeks - with sympathy and with a touch of been there, had that done to me ... but the Committee is making so much noise now, I must run. I say bullet proof glass is the answer!!!! Theabroma

Rodolfo's around the corner from the Cine Bahia for pozole. Especially the pozole blanco and the pozole verde. And, if it's still there, Balam's on Basilio Badillo for pescado sarandeado. There was also a place called Los Arboles (I think) that was local Mx, and much beloved by the locals. Also, if you go out towards the Punta de Mita, there used to be a little place across the road from the beach, almost all the way to the Punta, called Fonda las Amapas. It served traditional foods: jabali, iguana, venison, surillo, and tlacuache. It was absolutely wonderful, if a trifle adventurous. Theabroma

New York slang for plain, water bagels is (used to be?) 'cement doughnuts.' They were glossy, tanned, and real tooth-crackers, but worth the trip to the dentist. With the diaspora of the Jewish communities here in Texas who had strong New York ties, the hard, real - oh, hell - authentic bagel has disappeared. Now the luxurious, soft egg bagel of yore would appear fiercely armored compared to those pitiful, dough conditioner infected, swollen and in need of a Lasix things that are sold as bagels here, and are really just euphemisms for flavorless, characterless conveyances for nastily flavored artificial cream cheese. Please do not let me get started on the 'flavored' bagels! The best I've found here in Texas are the frozen H&H bagels from New York. There is, however, one possibility yet to be mentioned, in Austin: Sweetish Hill Bakery. Now I have not had their bagels in eons, however, they make my most favorite of Eastern European Jewish breads: bialys. And their bialys are quite good. I believe they have received the approval of both Mimi Sheraton (author of The Bialy Eaters, and Roy Mirsky (Librarian of the UT Law School & authority on The Supremes - court, that is - whose family was once partners with Kossar's in New York. He remembers as a child in NYC delivering bagels and bialys fresh from Kossar's ovens to bakeries and restaurants. Kossar's is the gold standard for bagels and the platinum standard for bialys). I will drag out my copy of The Bialy Eaters and check - I believe that Kossar's delivers. I do know that Patricia Bauer Slate of Sweetish Hill went to Kossar's to learn bialy making. It hurts the heart (and not from the cardiologist's point of view) to have a valiant bagel, split, toasted, with a schmear, a gossamer veil of Novy laid over it, and a garnish of hair-thin slices of red onion. I leave you weeping, Theabroma

Oooooohh! Violet Crumble. Yumyumyum! And Forever Yours, aka bittersweet chocolate covered Milky Way. Theabroma