La Candelaria (Candlemas Day)
When I was doing research for my book, “Food from my Heart,” I uncharacteristically made a trip to Oaxaca in the winter. On every visit to this magical place that is my spiritual home, my first stop is the Benito Juarez market and a stall that sells all types of...
El Pedimento – New Year’s Eve in Mitla and Juquila, Oaxaca
Curiously of all the items I posted in the last year, this piece on El Pedimento, got the most hits . I imagine that its popularity is rooted in magic or wishful thinking. It would be wonderful if our wishes became our realities though there’s that...
Days of the Dead
I think if I could choose one event to dramatize the spirit of Mexican religion, it would be the Day of the Dead, or actually Days — Los Dias de los Muertos, November l and 2. To begin with, I assure you that this name does not sound in the least ghoulish or...
Green Pumpkin Seed Sauce (Pepian)
Green Pumpkin Seed Sauce (Pepian) This picture is my mother's very simple pepian that she served with green beans, nopalitos, and veal tongue. It was delicious and easy to make if you have the Red Chile Sauce. This is a most useful building block! 8 cloves garlic...
The many lives of Zarela Martínez
Culinary legend Zarela Martínez introduced finely tuned, highly researched regional Mexican cuisine to a national stage, and has continued to blaze trails for more than three decades.