Mexican and Diana Kennedy

[rancho_gordo]

Those large ceramic ones don't transport well, though, and I've tried to bring back even some of the smaller ones with varying degrees of success.

I've never known anyone who actually used one. Are the differences great? I imagine they break even after you get them home, just from use. But I do really want one. You're lucky!!! Or determined!

I have a really nice cazuela from somewhere in central America but I just use it for serving as I'm too afriad I'll break it putting it right on the gas flame.

[Jaymes]

I've never known anyone who actually used one.

And I did, too. "Use one." But sadly, not for cooking.

You see, in my travels, I have primarily lived in homes with electric stoves. And I didn't want to set a comal directly on the burners. So my plan was to get one of those rings that they sell in Asian stores -- to use with a wok.

One thing and another, and I never got around to it, so never actually cooked in the comal. It was just easier to grab my cast-iron skillet.

But I did "use" the comal. It looked just great in the middle of my dining room table, holding fruit.

[Lisa J]

Cool. What fresh chiles can you get in France? Jalapenos? Serranos?

i know i have seen jalapenos. i am not sure about what other specific varieties are here. sometimes they are just labeled "poivre piquant". they are obviously not a big part of the native cuisine. i will see what i can find and report back.

[Cynthia G]

But I did "use" the comal. It looked just great in the middle of my dining room table, holding fruit.

Thanks for that image, Jaymes.

I tried to find pear vinegar yesterday at the markets in Santa Fe, with the exception of Whole Paycheck... I mean Whole Foods. They will probably have it and I will probably gasp at the price.

But I am now determined to make a batch of salsa this weekend using it, so I might have to pay what they want. Or drive all the way to Albuquerque, thus negating any price differential on the actual product.

[Jaymes]

We seem to have come far afield from the initial question regarding which of Diana Kennedy's fabulous recipes to try first, but here is another "typically Mexican" preparation that offers enormous bang for the effort involved.

All over Mexico, when you request a Shrimp Cocktail, or "Coctele Camarone," what you get is flavorful shrimp swimming in a tomato-based broth. Think "shrimp gazpacho." This is traditionally served in a "copa," which is a large heavy goblet, like a beer schooner. There will most likely be one or two generous slices of avocado garnishing the top. You eat it with a spoon. Sometimes you'll see "Coctele del Mar" or "Coctele Campechana" or something else that indicates that the cocktail contains mixed seafood. "Campechana" refers to the state of Campeche, which is on the Gulf coast. So a "Coctele Campechana" means "in the style that a woman from Campeche makes it." These mixed seafood cocktails contain the same broth but, in addition to shrimp, feature other varieties of fish and seafood, most often squid.

These proportions are approximate. I just tried to come up with some guidelines to follow:

Coctele Camarones (Mexican-style Shrimp Cocktail)

1 lb boiled, cleaned medium shrimp (see below)

1 1/2 C tomato juice

juice of 1/2 large lemon

1/2 C catsup

1/2 C chopped green onions

1 ripe tomato, seeded & chopped (you can peel them and when I have homegrown tomatoes with their skin a little tougher, I do, but most of the time, I don't bother. In winter, when you can't get flavorful tomatoes, I use those 'Nature Sweet' cherry tomatoes)

cilantro, chopped, to taste

1 jalapeno (or other chile, minced, and this is optional -- many people don't like biting into raw hot peppers, so consider who's going to be eating it. You'll be serving hot sauce alongside, so those that want more heat can add it later)

Dash or two Worchestershire

Tabasco, or other hot sauce

avocados

Combine all ingredients except avocadoes. Chill for several hours. Traditionally served in large goblets, like beer schooners, called 'copas' in Mexico. Pour the cocktails into copas. Slice your avocadoes in half. Hold the half with the seed in one palm, and with a sharp knife, whack into the seed. Twist and pull and the seed should come out easily. Now whack the knife holding the seed onto the side of the sink, and the seed should fall into the sink. Now cut your avocado halves lengthwise again. Starting at the narrow end, you should be able to easily pull off the skin just like peeling a banana. On top of each copa of shrimp cocktail, arrange two crescents of avocado. You can also decorate with a sprig of celery. Serve with saltines, extra slices of lime, and a selection of hot sauces.

Boiled shrimp:

I usually just make these with cooked shrimp I buy from the store (because I'm always rushed for time, it seems), but it is better when you boil the shrimp yourself.

24 shrimp, shells on

1 C water (often I use beer)

1 clove garlic, chopped

dash pepper

1/3 C limejuice

1 jalapenos, chopped

Put everything in pot and boil until liquid reduced to approx 3/4 C. Toss in shrimp and cover and simmer 2-3 minutes, until shrimp are just beginning to curl. Remove shrimp immediately to cold water. When cooled, clean shrimp and chill.

This recipe is an absolutely great starter course for entertaining a la Mexicana. When I'm having folks over for Mexican, I start with a big bowl of chips, my salsa, another bowl of my guacamole. Then everyone gets a coctele camarone. I have a pretty little basket I got in Mexico and in it I arrange a selection of hot sauces to pass. We all talk about the various hot sauces and where they're from and how hot they are. In addition to several Mexican brands, I include some Marie Sharp's from Belize.

For a tablecloth, I use those brightly-colored Mexican sarapes that everyone turns their nose up at in the Mexican markets. But on the table, it's very festive and fun. I've collected shot glasses from all over Mexico and everyone has one at their place, with a couple of brightly-colored Gerber daisies. It looks spectacular.

Mucho bang for your entertaining peso.

Edited February 28, 2004 by Jaymes (log)

[Jaymes]

At some point, fairly early in the process, you'll want to make a salsa that involves a base of dried chiles--either guajillos or pasillas, most likely. This becomes my basic red sauce for enchiladas. I know that Diana has several recipes along these lines, it usually consists of the chiles, which are seeded, dry fried, and soaked in boiling water, pureed with pan-charred onions, pan-roasted garlic cloves, and water. Sometimes nothing else (well, salt). This salsa is then fried in lard, like Jaymes described, and simmered a bit.

It is a great tomato-less red sauce for multiple applications, and there are a million variations/elaborations on it.

In my opinion, I think this is excellent advice. And when you start making your enchiladas, you'll need to know this. I brought it back up because I didn't want it to get lost in the shuffle.

[Msk]

Jaymes,

I had a bunch of tomatoes lying around that my father-in-law dropped off and were on their way out. I remade your salsa using those tomatoes broiled (as Diana Kennedy suggests in several recipes). The result was goot but basically not discernable from the canned tomatoes. Certainly not worth the effort, though I will try again at the peak of tomato season to make my final decision.

More support for your "Do it this way first." suggestion.

Msk

[Dana]

I made Jaymes yummy salsa yesterday. Served it over beef and bean tostadas, and again this morning on my scrambled eggs with cheddar. Super delish!!

Thanks so much

[purplewiz]

I also made Jaymes' fabulous salsa tonight, and it was perfect. Even though, like most folks, I'm a recipe tinkerer, I followed it to the letter, and it was amazing. And it did take more garlic salt than I would have supposed.

I served it over simple broiled chicken breasts, and it was so good, we just had a late night snack of quesadillas with a healthy dollop. I keep sneaking back into the kitchen to have another spoonful, just to see how sitting in the fridge is affecting the flavors. (Or so I tell myself.)

Thank you SO much for this recipe/set of instructions!

Marcia.

[Jaymes]

Thanks folks! I'm feeling MUCH better about this whole thing.

I certainly understand that taking the very best fresh ingredients, and following very carefully laid out traditional methods, would probably produce something marginally better.

But as a busy working mother with a family of five, it was a blessing to have something so tasty and versatile that I could whip together. We ALWAYS had that salsa in the fridge. In the summer, I often add a chopped fresh tomato. I experiment with different herbs and powders and chiles. I've tried carrots for sweetness, and onions and fresh garlic. Sometimes I do make salsa from scratch. But for a "fall back" version, I personally think it's pretty hard to beat, and I am more thrilled than you will ever know that you all are enjoying it as well.

That's really what eg is all about, isn't it?

[marie-louise]

Another fan. Thanks, Jaymes. Made it yesterday (w/ lime juice), tried it plain w/ some chips, then added oil, green onion, and cubed avocado & served it as the sauce for a shrimp cocktail.

PS How long can I expect it to keep in the refrigerator? It is already looking a little runny.

[Jaymes]

Another fan. Thanks, Jaymes. Made it yesterday (w/ lime juice), tried it plain w/ some chips, then added oil, green onion, and cubed avocado & served it as the sauce for a shrimp cocktail.

PS How long can I expect it to keep in the refrigerator? It is already looking a little runny.

The avocado might well cause it to disintegrate a little faster than without. When I make it with just the tomatoes, chiles, garlic salt, oil, acid and cilantro, it keeps very well. Easily up to a week. When I do add chunked avocado, I usually eat it right away.

Edited March 3, 2004 by Jaymes (log)

[marie-louise]

Thanks, and thanks again. Somehow, I am craving chips and salsa for breakfast!

I only added avocado and onions to the shrimp cocktail portion, so I should be okay. Somehow I don't think it's going to last a week, though.

[bleudauvergne]

Wow I love that recipe for shrimp cocktail. Thank you!

rancho_gordo - thanks for posting the photo!

and jaymes thanks for sharing the recipe.  i am going to try it (following your exact steps).  i am in france and good mexican food is hard to find, so i love the idea of making it myself.  i used to live in california and i miss the supermercados... fortunately your recipe has ingredients that are easy to find.

lisa

Hi Lisa, I'm in France, too. I've been obscessed with Mexican recently too, that's so bizarre!

Here's a link to a recent discussion where people talked about tamales, when you're ready to do them. The big task would be to find the masa harina. I still can't find it here.

-Lucy

[Msk]

Bleu,

Can you give me some insight on your use of parchment for making tamales? Im interested since finding corn husks is a challenge. Any helpful hints?

Msk

[bleudauvergne]

Bleu,

Can you give me some insight on your use of parchment for making tamales? Im interested since finding corn husks is a challenge. Any helpful hints?

Msk

The first insight I can give you is that as discussed in the other thread, it's really a great idea to continue to seek out other materials too for wrappers and experiment because the wrappers can instill a certain flavor. And I will reiterate that I am not an expert tamale maker.

That said, I can say baking parchment works just fine if you're in a fix. You don't need to oil it, because once they're cooked they don't stick, due to the final consistency of the dumpling and the fats incorporated into the dough and consequent sauce that is generally produced by the cooking process.

From the roll I'd say I take about 10 inches of paper. Then on the paper, I spread my dough, which is the consistency of a brownie batter, thickly (as thick as a 1/2 inch) in a square smack in the middle, leaving some room on the sides, top, and bottom. On that, I spoon my filling in a line on the center of that rectangle, from top to bottom. I lift the whole thing from the edges on the side,m bring the edges together, and let the sides fold over the filling. I then roll the two joined sides, which I have put together, until the tamale is enclosed into a sort of tube. It does not have to be perfectly cylindrical. I fold one end over several times to seal it, and place the tamale, along with the others, into the steamer basket with the open end up (this is done by loading the steamer while it is laying on its side). Steaming these with the top end open lets them expand. They're done when they don't stick to the paper anymore. They've released some oil and have firmed up a bit, and the paper easily comes from them.

I serve them at the table from the basket, still in the paper in the spirit that one might serve a papilotte. Last time, it was nice to watch my friends' rather apprehensive look at being passed these rather ugly little packets to find that once they'd bitten into them the tamale inside, it was beautiful. I think though, that I must do them with corn husks soon since others rave about another certain umph that corn wrappers can give. I appreciate that and will do them with corn soon.

I hope that helps you, and that you're not afraid to try them even if you can't find the authentic wrappers. For me tamales fall into the category that they could actually be sublime when done authentically with no subsitutions but extremely fulfilling and delicious and even -cathartic- when done with substitutions for the wrappers.

-Lucy

[Msk]

Bleu,

Thanks for the insight. I purchased some dry husks when I recently bought my tortilla press from mexgrocer.com. I plan to try the first time using them. I do plan to try and get an appreciation for the traditional way before making substitutions and assesing the tradeoffs.

Knowing that I could use parchment in a pinch is important to me since I could decide to make tamales without multiple days thinking ahead.

I occasionally see Foil also suggested as a substitute as well, have you tried that?

Thanks again.

Msk

[Jaymes]

Re parchment tamales...what a great idea!

I do have one question, though... Generally, with the regular corn husk variety, when they are done, one just grabs them by the "tail" and hoists them up over one's plate, whereupon they fall out. Am I correct in assuming from reading your recipe that in the case of your parchment tamales, that wouldn't work? They're completely folded into the parchment, right?

[bleudauvergne]

Re parchment tamales...what a great idea!

I do have one question, though...  Generally, with the regular corn husk variety, when they are done, one just grabs them by the "tail" and hoists them up over one's plate, whereupon they fall out.  Am I correct in assuming from reading your recipe that in the case of your parchment tamales, that wouldn't work?  They're completely folded into the parchment, right?

Jaymes, they unfold without much effort, the parchment's rather oily and they almost start to unfold on their own once you've removed them from the steaming rack. Since one end is open, you grab the edge of the paper and give it a light shake. Some people were rather ceremoniously opening them up, folding things back, and eating the insides from the paper where the tamale was cradled, some were letting the tamale tumble down on the plate and discarding the paper right off. The steamer became a nice basket for the paper.

-Lucy

edited to say that I transferred them from the steam rack with chopsticks

Edited March 4, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[Jaymes]

Very clever, Bleu.

[badthings]

At some point, fairly early in the process, you'll want to make a salsa that involves a base of dried chiles--either guajillos or pasillas, most likely.

Terminology rears its ugly head. This is, I suspect, what Bayless calls the "michoacan nomenclature predicament".

Pasillas (long, thin, blackish) are indeed a common dried chile. But they are not as common -- particularly, I think, for enchiladas -- as the ancho (shorter, wide, red/brown), which is the dried form of the poblano. And the poblano is called a pasilla in California.

So do you mean pasillas or anchos?

Notwithstanding their current chain-y-ness, chipotles are a good dried chile to make salsa out of. Bayless has an excellent one with nothing but chipotles, tomatillos, and garlic.

Also, Msk:

Knowing that I could use parchment in a pinch is important to me since I could decide to make tamales without multiple days thinking ahead.

I recommend a couple days thinking ahead for tamales regardless of how you make them. And fresh masa too, but that might be a problem if you have to mailorder the harina.

You could also wrap them in banana leaves, which would be easier to come by if you have SE asian stores in your neck of the woods.

EDIT: shit, I somehow missed two whole pages of this thread. sorry if that was redundant. Though since I now see that you're in france, I imagine that you should be able to track down some banana leaves. You would of course want to fill them with an appropriately tropical tamal, e.g., from the Yucatan.

Edited March 4, 2004 by badthings (log)

[badthings]

also re: comals, many of the ones I've seen people use in mexico are made from the cheapest sheet metal you can imagine. I got the cheapest one they had ($3?) at my local mercado, made out of "blue steel" I think (like a french omelette pan, but flimsier), and it's still way more hardcore the the ones I saw there.

Also, there's a very cool picture, from the Codex Mendoza, I think, showing a ceramic comal in action -- i.e., in the fire. I'll see if I can track it down somewhere. I too am leery about ceramic + direct flame but people swear it's no big deal if you're gentle.

[scott123]

Hello...

Being new to the site, I just took a moment and read through this entire thread - there are some great ideas here.

Jaymes, I know the subtopic of your 30 year old book goes back quite a few posts, but I was curious about something. Does this masterpiece of yours exist in digital form? Knowing that 30 years ago Bill Gates was just a pimpley faced teenager, the odds are slim, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

[Rachel Perlow]

Her most recent book is ... (not an eGullet link, someone PM how to do this):

Here are eGulletified Amazon links for Diana Kennedy's books:

The Essential Cuisines of Mexico
My Mexico : A Culinary Odyssey
From My Mexican Kitchen: Techniques and Ingredients

Out of print, but you may be able to buy them used:

The Art of Mexican Cooking
Recipes from the Regional Cooks of Mexico
Mexican Regional Cooking
The Cuisines of Mexico
Nothing Fancy: Recipes and Recollections of Soul-Satisfying Food
The tortilla book

In Spanish:

Mexico: Una Odisea Culinaria
Cocina esencial de México

Please support eGullet by making Amazon links that give eGullet a commission. Click here for instructions. Thanks.

[badthings]

I mean anchos. The terminology is confusing, and I get influenced by the grocery stores here which refer to poblanos as pasillas, and the whole thing gets all muddled in my head. Anyway, I am referring to anchos.

However, as an aside, I picked up some Oaxacan smoked pasillas which I've been making a version of this sauce out of, and its killer. The smoky flavor is delicious on my eggs in the morning.

Whoa, where did you find pasillas de Oaxaca? They are hard to come by even in Mexico, and I've never seen one in the US. (because they're smoked, you can't bring one back and plant it; or you can, but it won't germinate).

They are, for the record, a different variety than "regular" pasilla, which is a dried chilaca. In california, they call it chile negro (or, sometimes pasilla negro).

Mark Miller's the great chile book [egulletized link!] is very useful for sorting out the different varieties. But this website might just do the trick.

Further aside: Anyone ever used fresh chilacas?