In Honor of Barak Obama

IN HONOR OF BARACK OBAMA
44TH  PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
AFRICAN INSPIRED MEXICAN DISHES
JANUARY 20, 2009

CALDO DE CAMOTE
Sweet potato soup garnished with crisply-fried pork tendrils
8.50
TAMAL DE CALABAZA
Corn masa mixed with pumpkin and then filled with pork.  Steamed in a banana leaf.
9.50
CHILE RELLENO DE SALPICÓN DE RES
Anaheim chile stuffed with a flank steak salad
with cheese and avocado [...]

New Year’s Menu 2008

NEW YEARS 2008
SOUP
CALDO DE CANGREJO
Intensely-flavored crab soup topped by a stuffed crab and cotija gougers
11.50
ANTOJITOS
CLAYUDA DE HARINA
Toasted thin flour tortilla topped with bay scallops and shrimp in a cilantro, almond, garlic and jalapeño sauce with shredded cheese broiled until bubbly
12.00
TAMAL DE MORA
Corn-blackberry masa filled with shredded pork cooked with
blackberry liqueur and peanut [...]

Tortillas

Tortillas
Article from the Oldways Table, Oldways Preservation Trust, http://www.oldwayspt.org/
Daily bread is a window on the soul. At least that’s true of Mexican tortillas. They were the people’s bread centuries before they received a Spanish name meaning “little round cakes.” Like French loaves, Arabic pita, or Indian chapatis, they have powerful symbolic meaning for the entire [...]

Mexican Education Foundation and masany.org

While doing research for my new updated www.zarela.com web page, I discovered Angelo Cabrera and his work though Congressman Vann’s office in New York City and became painfully aware of the tremendous dropout rate and woefully low college graduation statistics for our Mexican-American youth. It became an immediate necessity for me to help [...]

The African Face of Veracruz

In honor of Barak Obama’s Inauguration tomorrow we will feature specials of African-inspired Mexican dishes.  You did not know htat there were Africans in Mexico?   Read this article I wrote for the Los Angeles Times in 2001.
When Hernan Cortes first landed in Mexico in 1519, he brought with him an African slave he’d bought in [...]

Preparing Dried Chiles

Almost always, this simple procedure is the prelude to using dried chiles for my recipes. Very tiny chiles are toasted or blanched whole before cooking, and I have seen Oaxacan cooks fry larger chiles before soaking them, but the following method is the one I find best for chiles to be used in [...]