Mexican Cooking Tools

[Jaymes]

I've frozen lard. Seems to work just fine.

Wow, really? Besides ice cubes and ice cream, I so rarely freeze things.

Okay, now that I've actually thought about it, I have bought frozen caul fat in the past, so yeah, why not frozen lard.

You know, I have to say, the Mexican forum is so relaxing. I have told you lately that I love you?

We love you too, Shelora!

And my theory has always been that the freezer is your friend. I came from a big family that moved around a lot. Often we lived at least an hour from a grocery store. The men in my family hunted. And my dad raised cattle. We had a huge deep freezer and it was always full -- at least a side of beef, lots of 'mountain oysters' (since my mother wouldn't cook the things, they just gathered frost, smashed up against their frozen plastic bags), fresh fruits and veggies we bought from farm stands in the summers, freezer preserves, jellies and jams, deer roasts, etc.

Then I had a family of my own. I was a wife and mother of three. We also moved around a lot and, because of my husband's profession, we entertained constantly. I needed to have a ready supply of stuff that I could use to whip together dinner parties for 20, 30 and more. Often at the last minute. I couldn't have done it without my freezers.

For example, when we lived in Panama, the Panamanian beef was horrible. The "meat barge" came in once a month from New Orleans. We always ordered a side of beef to keep in the freezer.

In Alaska, the freezers were full of salmon and halibut and a few moose roasts.

Then, one day, I found myself alone. Kids all grown and gone. Husband got dumped somewhere along the way (okay, so it was Austin). And now that freezer is still absolutely invaluable. I can't go through an entire pack of much of anything by myself, so I shop at Costco for stuff that freezes. I still cook for a family of five (and five or more impromptu guests, just in case), but now I carefully spoon it into single or double proportions and into the freezer it goes, carefully labeled as to what it is, and date I froze it.

So many recipes don't work, or wouldn't be worth the time and trouble, to make just for one. And I sure can't eat a big pot of, say, chili all by myself. But I've got plastic ziplock bags of the stuff just waiting for me to heat up when I get home on a cold, blustery day.

Right now, in my freezer I have individual servings of: pork roast, chuck roast, spaghetti &meat sauce, sauerkraut and ribs, a Moroccan lamb dish, chiles rellenos casserole, chili, vegetable soup, cochinita pibil -- among other things -- like a couple of chicken carcasses waiting for me to turn them into stock.

Not to mention that packages of a great many things go rancid before I could eat them -- bacon, butter, lard, bagels, cream cheese, loaves of bread, corn tortillas, cheeses, pound cake, pies, wieners, wurst or sausages -- so I keep them in the freezer.

Like I said, the freezer's your friend.

It's mine, anyway.

Edited July 14, 2005 by Jaymes (log)

[caroline]

Thanks will. And Jaymes, since I am beginning to compile the thousand things I never experienced as a counterweight to all those I am supposed to have, a party at your house is high on the list. You sound like you knocked them off with ease (ha, I bet not) but better that you loved them too.

And I agree about the freezer friend: beans, bolognaise sauce, cooked beef cubes, toasted almonds, tomato sauce, mexican sauces, breadcrumbs, etc etc. My friends in need.

Rachel

[bjcohan]

In addition to all the equipment described in this thread, I also couldn't live without my molinillo, or my big tamalero with the spout on the bottom for adding water, the sturdy rack to hold the tamales, and that deep, tight lid. And, of course, the moneda in the bottom.

I've also grown inordinately fond of the two-sided, round, multi-bladed cutter thing to press designs in conchas and other types of pan dulce.

My poor DH gets a shopping list every time he goes home to see his family.

And since my own trips to México have turned into cookware-and-food shopping trips, I have purchased a wonderful insulated bag that fits nicely into my suitcase and is guaranteed to maintain temperature for 48 hours. I bring that, two boxes of zip-lock bags (quart and gallon size), and an extra suitcase. I remove all the stems and seeds from my dried chiles, pack them into the zip-lock bags, sit on them to squeeze out all the air, and pack them flat among clothing. Same with flor de jamaica, chile piquin, chicharrón from Jojutla, etc. Other zip-lock bags are filled with fruit pureés (especially pitahaya when I can get it, and mamey) and frozen flat. I freeze my favorite mole paste from a little village in Morelos that makes the best I've ever tasted (10 kilos last trip!), a couple of kilos of carnitas from El Doc in Cuernavaca, chorizo toluqueño, longaniza, my mother-in-law's tinga, some fresh epazote, masa, etc. etc. You get the idea. I declare EVERYTHING (the sin is not in bringing, but in failing to declare). If I'm bringing something that *might* cause problems, I still declare it but I write it in Spanish ("silly me, I forgot what it's called in English!" - yeah, right.) The inspectors look at my list, shake their heads, and tell me to just GO. The only problems I ever had were overweight charges on the luggage. Must have been the queso oaxaca my mother-in-law sent!

I read this thread envying those of you who live driving distance from México. I dream of flying to Texas and then renting a truck to fill with everything I want to buy, including one of those gorgeous fountains from Xochimilco. One of these days I may do it!

And, Jaymes, you are so right about the freezer. Mine holds all of the goodies described above, as well as Mexican butter (makes U.S. butter taste like wax) and other delights. If I didn't have my freezers, we'd have to eat all the stuff I bring back ... too quickly!

Barb

Edited September 24, 2005 by bjcohan (log)