egFoodblog: EatNopales

[Shelby]

Just caught up on the blog -- fascinating! Have always wanted to try nopales. Perhaps the salad prep you showed will be my entry point!

That's exactly the same thought I was just having. Now, if I could only find some nopales.

[Darienne]

The only kind of nopales that we can get in the far frozen north, and then only when friends bring them in from NJ, are either canned or in jars. Are they worth eating at all? Or are they about the same as canned versus fresh asparagus?

[Shelby]

I swear, I have these nopales looking things growing on the edges of our field out here. Maybe I should experiment.

[andiesenji]

The only kind of nopales that we can get in the far frozen north, and then only when friends bring them in from NJ, are either canned or in jars. Are they worth eating at all? Or are they about the same as canned versus fresh asparagus?

They are more like canned green beans. Some stores in the northeast are beginning to carry the frozen ones, which again, are like green beans.

The ones grown around here are the same that produce the prickly pear fruits (tuna).

[EatNopales]

Update... a last minute business trip has me in Arizona for 24 hours... don't worry... I brought my passport

Today's meals...

Brunch... Quesadillas with Organic Jack, homemade Cabbage Escabeche, Sambal Oelek, Bacon Chocolate Bar, Coffee

Lunch... Airport Steam Table Chinese (Brocoli Beef, Steamed Rice, Thai Iced Tea)

Dinner... "Gourmet" Convenience store bought Chicken Ceasar Salad garnished with Pork Chicharrones, cup of Straweberries & Blueberries, Chocolate Covered Cherry.

Edited September 6, 2011 by EatNopales (log)

[EatNopales]

EN, fascinating blog, I'm really enjoying it. A question about Oliver's markets: do all three have grills and serve up cooked ribs and corn? I've never been. When we go to Dillon Beach (as we will be this month) we usually take our own food up but use Petaluma for supplemental shopping; by default that means Petaluma market, partly because we can pop in on my SIL, who works two doors down. But Oliver's sounds intriguing, and Cotati isn't too far out of the way.

Could you elaborate on the elote preparado? Do you make your own with takeaway grilled corn or does Oliver's do the whole number to go?

One more question: do you make your own cajeta or do you buy the stuff in the plastic bottle? If you can get your hands on fresh corn ice cream, cajeta and a bit of salt makes an amazing topping!

And of course, happy anniv.

Thanks Katie... yes I do believe all the Oliver's have a grill setup. In fact everybody and their abuela seems to have a grill setup even lame old Whole Foods... the big summer attraction though are the Bodega Bay grilled Oysters (also offered at Oliver's, at the farmer's market and really anywhere you see a smoker). And although Santa Maria style Tri Tip is not originally from Sonoma County you will find competent versions through out the area (although I haven't seen anyone offer Santa Maria Pinquito beans around town yet).

No Oliver's doesn't have Elote Preparado, sorry about the confusion.. the corn I dressed up was leftover from the Sopa de Milpa. However, Lola's does offer Elote Preparado on the weekend and they have an outdoor grill / smoker setup with split chickens, carne asada, ribs & other goodies offered.

Also, I have never made my own cajeta... my dad (who used to make it often in the 60's) thinks it is hard to improve upon the better bottled version unless you are willing to go all the way.. fresh unpasteurized milk, clay pots etc.,

[EatNopales]

Wow, what a tour. I was struck by the bin of huge dried shrimp (camaron seco) and the enormous fillets of dried fish above them. How are they used in Mexican cooking?

Hi Linda,

The dried fish is bacalao (salt cod).. the most famous application are Bacalao a la Mexicana and Bacalao a la Vizcaina which are served at most Mexico City tables on Christmas eve.

No one I know cooks with it regularly, but my understanding is that in Xalapa they commonly stuff Cuaresmenos (a large varietal of Jalapenos) with Bacalao a la Mexicana or a la Veracruzana to serve as a Botana (Mex equivalent of Tapas) throughout the year. There is also a famous Torta street vendor in Coyoacan known for Bacalao a la Mexicana sandwiches.

The Dried Shrimp are one of those ignored items that are vital to understanding Pre Hispanic Civilization. A quick review of Pre Hispanic history finds that Ancient Mexicans were leery about establishing large population centers along the coasts... hurricanes, tsunamis, scarce arable lands, strategically vulnerable positions, excessive heat & humidity... the high altitude central plateaus were the preferred home-base for all of Mexico's major cultural groups. Nonetheless they did establish coastal communities and today you can find thousands of pre-hispanic towns along the coasts but a little digging quickly unveils that they existed primarily as satellite posts to provide something of strategic value to the power centers in the highlands.

I think most people in the U.S. & Canada think of Mexican cuisine as highly dependent on ag products like corn & beans + some dairy, beef, pork & poultry. However, for most of Mexico's history the native people of the country have established their communities around lagoons, rivers & lakes.. and their daily cuisine reflected that. For example, Mexico City only a few hundred years ago was still a city floating on lakes & water borne protein foods where the primary non veggie component of the diet... frogs, fish, crawfish, salamanders, fresh water eel & snakes, duck & other water fowl (in Xochimilco a famous district in the city's south water born proteins are still the norm & reflected in the market foods).. and perhaps surprising to most... Spirulina was an important pre-hispanic food in the Mexico City area.

Earlier we talked about Jocoque.. which is a hot contemporary topic among the anthropoligical-culinary literati in Mexico today. If Jocoque came with Lebanese immigrants, the Spanish or some other European group why is the name derived from Nahuatl? The general theory is that foods whose names are derived from Nahuatl existed before European contact.. and science has proven this out time & again. Take for example the Peanut... early on it was believed to have originated in Africa (given that Africans brought it with them to the U.S. & Canada were it was largely unknown) but science has proven that Peanuts are native to the North Amazon and Archeologists have found proof that Peanuts were being harvestws in Mexico for more than 1,000 years before the Spanish arrived.. so the fact that peanuts are overwhelming referred to by their Nahuatl name Cacahuatl as opposed to the Spanish name Mani was an indication that they existed before the Spanish.

Similarly Jocoque is derived from Nahautl meaning something to the extent of Bitter & Pungent Earth (Rock) which is interesting given that the Spanish chroniclers, such as Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, described the Aztec spirulina cakes as something akin to pungent cheese all while making it clear they never touched the stuff and they knew no Spaniards who would eat it! According to something I watched on Once Mexico recently.. the prevailing theory is that the Aztecs, Xochimilcas and other Nahautl speaking peoples that lived around Texcoco Lagoon were mixing the Spirulina cakes with Atole or Fresh Corn "Milk" to create a soured, cheesy / pungent, creamy substance such that when modern day cow / sheep milk Jocoque was introduced from abroad they just decided to give it the name of something they were familiar with.

Ah yes... my point. Dried Shrimp trade was serious business in Pre-Hispanic times... today the dried Shrimp continues to be used in indigenous communities (presumably in similar ways as it was 500 years ago) to add a seafood flavor for broths, moles, sauces, tamales & even beans that are served with small quantities of fresh water foods. Today among the river & lake communities you will find that the overwhelming majority of mid morning meals comprise a small amount of fish or shell fish in a sauce flavored with dried shrimp or dried fish (particularly charales), served with a side of beans that are also flavored with the dried shrimp or fish, tortillas & atole.

I should note that shells from dried shrimp & bones from dried fish comprised a major source of calcium in pre-hispanic Mexico... it is hard to imagine how pre-nutritional science societies figured these things about.. their traditions seem to indicate that they did.

[EatNopales]

That duck is beautiful and I love the nopales. I've heard from my Mexican friends about the numerous recipes for duck and turkey in the regions where sheep and cattle are not as plentiful.

I remember when I was in Chiapas that we were strongly urged to shoot all the ducks and turkeys we wished because those non-domesticated fowl were so damaging to the local farmer's crops. The turkeys we found were different from the wild turkeys in the area where I was raised and were much more agile flyers.

I would love to hear your Chiapas / Palenque excavation food anecdotes.. any chance you have written about them... or can be persuaded to do so?

BTW.. the idea that duck and turkey dish exist where sheep & cattle are not as plentiful would be a completely Spanish biased phrase (which I am sure the land owners you were dealing with probably had very well defined & "pure" Spanish ancestry).

I think if you ask an indigenous person in Mexico.. particularly around Mexico State, Eastern Michoacan, Puebla etc., I think they would say they eat Beef and Sheep where Duck & Turkey are not plentiful. Maybe its more ideological than empirical but certainly around Mexico City, the more indian the person the more they talk about Duck, Turkey, Venison, Frog Legs, Crawfish, Trout etc., in almost spellbound, magical tone wheras Beef, Pork, Chicken & Lamb are pedestrian foods.

Another a Bayless quotes is something to the effect that once you come across a bright yellow chicken in a Mexican market you know you are not in Kansas anymore... as you noted the Turkeys are quite different than the birds most Americans know. I don't think once can understand the Central Mexican obsession with it until have a properly raised native Guajolote

[EatNopales]

Aha, fresh chickpeas! In India they are probably most often roasted and salted and eaten as a snack. You buy them from a street vendor and they will still be in their little green jacket. Best thing to do is sit outside your house with some friends and peel and eat them at leisure. I think the season for them is January, February or something like that. That's when I've had them anyway.

Having said that my Dad, living in the UK, is growing some kala chana (small, dark Indian chickpea) that I started to sprout and promptly forgot about. They are doing quite well, as seen in the following pic, so I guess the season varies by country and climate!

In your picture it looks like they are slightly damp so have you steamed or boiled them?

Beautiful.. I have never seen the plant before.

The typical cooking method in Mexico is to rinse them leaving some of the water on them, then salting the damp chickpeas, putting them in a covered clay pot & cooking over low for about 10 minutes... in this way the "steam roast" to an al dente texture and don't get soggy like typical Edamame served at Sushi joints. Can you elaborate with your take on their flavor?

[andiesenji]

That duck is beautiful and I love the nopales. I've heard from my Mexican friends about the numerous recipes for duck and turkey in the regions where sheep and cattle are not as plentiful.

I remember when I was in Chiapas that we were strongly urged to shoot all the ducks and turkeys we wished because those non-domesticated fowl were so damaging to the local farmer's crops. The turkeys we found were different from the wild turkeys in the area where I was raised and were much more agile flyers.

I would love to hear your Chiapas / Palenque excavation food anecdotes.. any chance you have written about them... or can be persuaded to do so?

BTW.. the idea that duck and turkey dish exist where sheep & cattle are not as plentiful would be a completely Spanish biased phrase (which I am sure the land owners you were dealing with probably had very well defined & "pure" Spanish ancestry).

I think if you ask an indigenous person in Mexico.. particularly around Mexico State, Eastern Michoacan, Puebla etc., I think they would say they eat Beef and Sheep where Duck & Turkey are not plentiful. Maybe its more ideological than empirical but certainly around Mexico City, the more indian the person the more they talk about Duck, Turkey, Venison, Frog Legs, Crawfish, Trout etc., in almost spellbound, magical tone wheras Beef, Pork, Chicken & Lamb are pedestrian foods.

Another a Bayless quotes is something to the effect that once you come across a bright yellow chicken in a Mexican market you know you are not in Kansas anymore... as you noted the Turkeys are quite different than the birds most Americans know. I don't think once can understand the Central Mexican obsession with it until have a properly raised native Guajolote

When I was at Palenque in 1971, it was still very remote and the roads were marginal at best. There were no large farms in that area, known as the Lancandon Jungle the local native population was mostly Lacandon people and the farms were fields here and there cleared from the jungle and they hunted as much as they could to supplement what they grew.

There have been tremendous changes since I was there.

In 1988 the area was protected under the Biosphere Reserve act to stop wholesale deforestation and slash and burn clearing for farms. Also some organized revolts.

[Darienne]

EN, your blog is fascinating.

And I really do appreciate the fact that you are giving North American familiar equivalents to your Spanish or Nahuatl terms. It makes it easier to read through your text smoothly...and then go to Wikipedia or somewhere to get the full story on the unfamiliar terms.

[Darienne]

Made the EatNopales Meat Loaf today. DH said, and I quote: 'That's the best meatloaf I have ever tasted'. :wub:

Quoting from EN: ***I do all that grating and chopping of the veggies beforehand because I don’t know how to get my Kitchen Aid Food Processor to successfully puree the raw veggies (particularly the carrot) if I don’t. If you have tips, let me know!"

I simply dropped large pieces of the various vegetables into the food processor, added the eggs and buzzed it until it was pretty well pureed in my estimation. No work. None. The meatloaf is fantastic. (DH just filched another piece and again extolled its virtues.)

Edited September 7, 2011 by Darienne (log)

[EatNopales]

Good Morning (Afternoon, Evening, Night) everyone... I am back and ready to cook... my update for yesterday's meals:

Hotel Breakfast (1/2 Waffle, 4 pats butter, honey, banana, coffee)

Corporate Lunch Delivery (Muffaleta & Bottled Water)

Dinner (Oakland airport In & N Out cheeseburger, iced tea)

[EatNopales]

In your market photos, are those de-spined nopales for sale, near the regular nopales?! If so, I am very jealous.

Yes sir.. and the bag just below the de-spined paddles are diced raw nopales

[EatNopales]

What does one do with aloe vera?

Peter... you are referring to the market pictures correct?

If so that isn't Aloe it is Penca de Maguey (Agave Leaves). One of the most fundamental cooking techniques in Central & Southern Mexico (going back to at least to pits carbon dated circa 4,000 B.C.) is the closed pit. Today there are many day trip touristy locations famous for the pit cooked specialties.. such as Texcoco on the eastern outskirts of Mexico City, Actopan in Hidalgo etc., For those familiar with Hawaiian imu cooked pig.. the process is similar.. volcanic rocks are heated over night then placed at the bottom of a clay pit, the beast is (or not) marinated, then is wrapped in Agave leaves that were previously softened over a fire... there is clay pot with salted water, herbs & legumes put over the volcanic rocks, then the agave wrapped beast is set on top of the pot (not touching the water), finally the pit is sealed & the beast cooks for a long time.

Here is a decently produced video in English about a restaurateur from Texcoco bringing his regional lamb barbacoa, mixiotes & other dishes to the San Diego area.. you can see the cooked agave leaves in the warming tray with the meat (warning lots of meat p0rn not apt for all):

This video is from Restaurante Arroyo, Mexico City's most popular barbacoa restaurant (seats 2,000), has the bull fighting equivalent of karaoke (no bulls hurt), music, folk dancing, playgrounds, face painting etc., They have some fantastic shots of the barbacoa process etc., Warning.. real bull fighting scenes at 2:30 for those who object.

Incidentally, I should share one of my earlier "foodie" memories. Food is so central to a huge portion of the Mexico City populace that when you ask someone how they are doing, what they are up to... aside from discussing the family they will usually tell you what they are planning to eat that day. When you ask someone what they are doing for the weekend they don't say I am going to go on a Dia de Campo (excursion to a national park) in Valle de Bravo they say voy a las truchas en Valle de Bravo (I am going to eat Trout in Valle de Brave).. and that means they drive out.. go hike one of the mountains, get back to town, find a Trout restaurant... do some people watching on the plaza etc.. the key is that the regional food specialty defines the trip more than any other activity.

When it comes to Barbacoa... Mexico City residents like Restaurante Arroyo but most make the trek to nearby towns in Mexico State, Hidalgo, Puebla & Tlaxcala for the best.

Edited September 7, 2011 by EatNopales (log)

[EatNopales]

Lunch Teaser

Duck fat from the Sunday:

Going in to this beauty:

Edited September 7, 2011 by EatNopales (log)

[EatNopales]

I swear, I have these nopales looking things growing on the edges of our field out here. Maybe I should experiment.

Nopales have colonized the world... they grow wild in the Andes, China, Italy, Spain, North Africa, South Africa, Australia and more places. Interestingly of all the places where Nopales now grow around the world the only place were I have learned of it being used as food is China. In a Cuzco restaurant they had them growing in pots in a pation dining room.. when I asked how they cooked them the owner looked at me like I was absolutely crazy... even after I explained Nopalitos a la Mexicana he still didn't quite believe me. Who knows maybe in a decade I will go back & Nopalitos with Rocoto Peppers and Palta will be a regional specialty & there will be some interesting folktale about how the restaurant had run out of food so they decided to improvise with kitchen scraps & the only plant growing on the premises...

Tip.. cut of the most tender, pale looking leaves about the size of your palm... you can purchase specialty tools for de-spining

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Articles/Ethnic-Unique-Foods-Ingredients-645/nopalitos.aspx

Edited September 7, 2011 by EatNopales (log)

[heidih]

Gorgeous pot. I look forward to finding out how it is used.

Duck fat is pretty good looking as well.

[Genkinaonna]

Frijoles de Olla? And with duck fat...my my sounds tasty...

[EatNopales]

[EatNopales]

Beans cooked in a Clay Pot (aromatized with onions, garlic), something a la Mexicana, homemade tortillas, queso fresco)... perhaps the proto-typical meal of Central Mexico

Edited September 7, 2011 by EatNopales (log)

[heidih]

Lovely beans and tortillas. Can you elaborate on the salad?

[EatNopales]

Incidentally, the Zarco bean variety comes from San Jose de Iturbide in Guanajuato state; the beautiful olla is handcrafted, lead-free, in the Alta Mixteca region of Puebla (near the Oaxaca border) and is also a Rancho Gordo import (I would recommend pre-ordering one from them)

The beans may look simple but the dish is so delicious... I would not trade good beans for a steak.

Nopalitos a la Mexicana is such an iconic dish in Central Mexico... almost always served if they are in season. But what do Mexicans do when Nopales are not available? You find something else do prepare "a la Mexicana"... the primary substitutes are Ejotes (Green Beans), Calabacitas (Zucchini), Quelites (Wild Greens) & Cauliflower... however Eggplant is also used regionally in Sinaloa (where most of the country's eggplant bounty is grown) as well as in Xalapa, Puebla & Merida where Eggplant is stocked in the mercados for the benefit of Lebanese immigrants.

So Darienne if you can't source Nopales... don't sweat it, use some beautiful local Green Beans instead. Parboil them them macerate with white onion, chopped jalapenos / serranos & lime juice... add in some diced tomato (or not), cilantro, salt.... voila.

[EatNopales]

Lovely beans and tortillas. Can you elaborate on the salad?

Thanks! Roasted Calabacitas (Mex zucchini), heirloom tomatoes from our garden, chopped jalapeno, chopped cilantro, squeeze of lime, course sea salt.

[EatNopales]

Earlier in my blog I have mentioned the 8,000 year culinary history of Mexico, and the term Milpa. For the benefit of those who live on another continent and are only remotely aware of Mexican food traditions...

In my personal opinion, Mexican cuisine / gastronomic tradition was born the day that people in Southern Mexico first figured out agriculture. Until proven otherwise.. it was circa 6,000 B.C. that nomadic tribes in Oaxaca domesticated Cucurbita better known as Squash, Pumpkin, Zucchini & new world Gourds. In effect, every single Squash, Pumpkin or Zucchini consumed anywhere in the world today.. whether it is Kabosha Pumpkin in Japan, green Squash in the Philippines, Zucchini in Italy, Butternut Squash... you name it.. all these descend from the first cultivars in Oaxaca about 8,000 years ago and then quickly spread to other continents in the 16th & 17th centuries.

Over the next several thousand years the ancient peoples of Mexico continued experimenting with various plants and perfected agriculture. The major break through came when they bred the inedible, thumb size Teosintle in modern Corn. Somewhere between 3,000 BC & 4,000 B.C. the proto Mayan peoples of Eastern Mexico (Veracruz & Yucatan Peninsula) figured out that if you intercrop Squash / Pumpkin with Beans & Corn you get a sustainable farming system that produces ALOT of nutritious food... this system is of course the Milpa.

The first high civilization of the Americas, the Olmecs of Veracruz, emerged in 1,500 BC enabled by the Milpa. Shortly thereafter they exported their technology North, West & South.. influencing as far away peoples as the Pre-Inca populations of Ecuador & Peru.

Cacao (Chocolate) is actually native to the Amazon not to Mexico, but it was in Mexico where these early agronimically advanced civilizations figured out the complex process of turning indedible Cacao beans into the delicious indulgence we know today.

Similarly the Tomato is native to the North Amazon not Mexico... but it was in Mexico where it was first cultivated & bred to be the tomatoes we know today. In fact, the Zebra tomatoes so popular with the heirloom seeking, farmer market fashionistas is one of the oldest known cultivars & a native of Oaxaca.

Mexico is also the birthplace of Vanilla cultivation & elaboration..... as well as Chiles of the Capsicum family... many of the world's favorite flavors & foods originated in Mexico and are a foundation of the cuisine. Think about it for a second... 500 years there were no Zucchinis or Tomatoes in Italy, there were no Chiles in Thailand or India, there was no Chocolate in Belgium, no Vanilla in France, no Beans in Provence or Sicily.... all these foods (and many more) are the legacy of an 8.000 year agricultural & gastronomic tradition.

Elaborating a bit on the Milpa and how all the plants help each other, the soil & achive astonishing yields.... Corn stalks provide the pole for beans to grow on, beans replenish the nitrogen that corn depletes from the soil, squash / pumpkin / zucchini providing soil stability... beans have the lysine missing in corn's amino acid profiles... squash seeds are high quality protein & source of essential fatty acids etc.,... aggresive growing edible greens (known in Mexico as quelites) as well as tomatillo milpero encouraged to colonize the system crowding out inedible weeds... chiles & other strong aromatics planted throghout to discourage cerrtain pests. The Milpa is an ancient organic, VERY HIGH YIELD farming (the yields of the Milpa rival those of very intensive factory farming)... read the fascinating article below for other examples of modern Milpa methods.

The nutritional yield of the Milpa is so high, that such a mountainous country like Mexico (Afghanistan & Mongolia have got nothing on Mex) with really poor soil defied all odds and improbably became the seat of advanced ancient civilizations and accomplished some of the highest population densities in the history of man kind (even today the population density of the Yucatan, Chiapas & Guatemala absolutely pales to the population density during the height of Mayan civilization).

http://blogs.worldwatch.org/nourishingtheplanet/the-forest-gardens-of-quintana-roo-mexico-irrigation-fertilizer-farmers-agriculture-culture-drought-education-food-security-hunger-income-innovation-tradition-trees-water-nourishing-the-planet/