Mexican Ingredients Shopping Frenzy

[Chris Amirault]

I'm going on a trip to southern Arizona to visit the in-laws and will be able to purchase lots of Mexican ingredients in Tucson, Bisbee, and the surrounding area that I can't get here in RI. I plan to stock up on a wide range of chiles and to try to find some huitlacoche, but I expect to be overwhelmed with the choices.

So, instead of pouring through Diana Kennedy recipes, may I invite you to participate in this little game? Pretend you have $100 of my hard-earned cash, and you want me to bring back to Providence a healthy larder of goods that travel well, are hard-to-find back here, and will reward me in the kitchen.

Gracias.

[sladeums]

Don't know what you can get in one place but can't get in the other...but off the top of my head I'd think:

annato (achiote) seed

mexican oregano

epazote (but might as well grow your own, dried is useless)

chiles: ancho, guajillo, pasilla, arbol, cascabel (in order of importance)

canela

piloncillo

tamarind

some packaged/bottled/canned stuff:

el yucateco or goya habanero sauce

cholula or tapatio hot sauce

bufalo hot sauce

cans of herdez salsa (good in a pinch when too lazy to make your own)

ibarra chocolate

if you're up for it you can also look for some utensils: tortilla press, molcajete, tamale steamer, comal, tortilla warmer

[shelora]

Not knowing what you can or can't get in Providence, let's say you can't get anything. I suggest then the following:

A brand of corn tortillas you have never seen before, taco size preferable and as much as you can physically carry. Better yet, get a box, so you can stack the freezer.

A few fresh cheeses (please take a cooler)

Fresh looking dried chilies:

- chile arbol

- chile ancho

- chile guajillo

- chile negro (pasilla)

- anything rare (chilhuacle)

Fresh chiles like chile manzano

- canela

- piloncillo

- a good molcajete

- annatto seeds

- a big bag of dried corn husks, I prefer bigger over smaller

- 100% agave tequila

- a good comal

- flor de jamaica

- garden seeds to grow your own epazote or purchase any hoja santa plants you might see.

- a few super duper mojo candles (I recommend the Indio Poderoso and the Run Devil Run variety - they have the corresponding graphic on the front).

- Virgin of Guadalupe car ornament.

- Mexican wrestlers mask or El Santo video - just because.

You may have money left over, so treat yourself if the store also doubles up as a cafe. Check out their tamales, elotes or tacos.

Have a great trip.

Shelora

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks for the replies -- and sorry I wasn't more clear in the initial post. Here in Providence, while there's a pretty small Mexican population, there's a substantial Puerto Rican and Dominican population, so I can find some basic Mexican things and decent basic produce. There's also a tortilleria that makes passable tortillas. But finding things that are more particular to Mexican cuisine -- a wider range of chiles, fresh masa, fresh epazote, huitlacoche -- is basically impossible.

edited to add: Shelora, corn tortillas freeze decently? I'm surprised. Then again, my wife's nana made a jillion green corn tamales for our wedding and they were in the freezer for two years before they started to taste anything other than magical....

[shelora]

edited to add: Shelora, corn tortillas freeze decently? I'm surprised. Then again, my wife's nana made a jillion green corn tamales for our wedding and they were in the freezer for two years before they started to taste anything other than magical....

If I'm not making my own, I prefer the Don Pancho brand out of Oregon. I stock up when in Vancouver - especially the taco size - and stack the freezer or give to friends who are just as hooked as I am. And they do freeze wonderfully.

s

[judiu]

Um, not to rain on your parade, but have you checked Customs regulations about importing some of that stuff ? I'd hate to see your good money in the airport trash can...

[ludja]

I love roasted green chiles from New Mexico, so if I was traveling to Arizona, I would see if they were available. They may also grow them in Arizona, I'm not sure. They are a variant on Anaheim chiles but have more heat and a more distinct flavor. They're perishable though, so one needs means to bring them back frozen, in some type of cooler.

High quality red chile powder is easier to bring back. This is made from the the ripened versions of the green chiles above. One source of good quality red chile is Chimayo (also in New Mexico) but there may be good Arizona versions as well.

You can probably buy canned pozole in Rhode Island, but you may enjoy comparing it with the dried pozole you can buy in Arizona.

Sladeums already mentioned a lot of good options, including canela (Mexcian cinammon).

[trillium]

Um, not to rain on your parade, but have you checked Customs regulations about importing some of that stuff ?  I'd hate to see your good money in the airport trash can...

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Last time I checked Rhode Island and Arizona were in the same country...believe it or not... hee hee.

regards,

trillium

[nickarte]

Um, not to rain on your parade, but have you checked Customs regulations about importing some of that stuff ?  I'd hate to see your good money in the airport trash can...

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Although I think he was talking about Arizona so customs isn't an issue, I have brought a lot of things from Mexico (where I am fortunate to live) to the USA:

jamaica and dried chiles, for example, are no problem, nor would be fresh tortillas.

I even brought all the ingredients for sopes once, ie. the fresh sope shells from the market, the salsa, the queso fresco (OK I hid it in my bag) etc.

And while I'm confessing, I also bring stuff from Europe - had a few sausages from Lyon in my bag at Kennedy and that infernal beagle didn't sniff 'em! But there one is taking a risk...

God only knows what the rules are these days between mad cow and terrorists...

[Jaymes]

Cajeta. Get a jar of the regular 'quemada,' and also a squeeze bottle.

And if you go down to Nogales, as you should, I'd suggest some cheese, although there are some markets in the Mexican sections of Tucson that sell excellent cheese.

In 'Nogo," the coffee is a good buy. And Rompope, too, which I'd think might be tough to come by in RI. Get the Santa Clara brand. So good for making Tres Leches cake.