Yes! You can eat at Mexican food at Zarela if you’re on a diet!

Thanks to Tex-Mex, all Mexican food has gotten  the reputation of being greasy, heavy and fattening at least among those who haven’ t  traveled in Mexico or haven ‘t dined at restaurants such as Zarela and other fine Mexican dining establishments around the country.
This is especially unfortunate at this time of the year when everyone [...]

Pastel de Carne del Istmo – Oaxacan Meat Loaf

Pastel de Carne del Istmo
Isthmian-Style Meat Loaf
No one can say that this meat loaf is boring!  It absolutely explodes with intense flavors, including various smoked, canned, or pickled ingredients that are popular in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.  This dish is a favorite there at the parties accompanying the velas (patron saints’ fiestas) of the neighborhoods [...]

Our Lady of Guadalupe

The next big celebration in the Mexican and Mexican/American calendar is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12.  The festivities begin around midnight with a serenade by groups of mariachis and other singers that is kicked off with Las Mananitas, the Mexican birthday song. The Virgin of Guadalupe has symbolized the Mexican nation [...]

Ask Zarela: Where can I get hoja santa?

Question: Hi, I love your books!  Do you know anywhere to order Hoja Santa online?
Answer:
Generation Farms1109 North McKinney,Rice, Texas 75155
telephone 903-326-4263; fax: 903-326-6511
www.generationfarms.com
I had written the following post on the subject but it bears repeatimg:
Hoja Santa.  I have been trying to bring true Mexican flavors to the U.S. for almost fifteen years and have had [...]

Brussels sprouts with chorizo

You either love or hate Brussels sprouts but for those who love them here is an exceptional way fo preparing them  that my son Aaron came up with it. At my restaurant Zarela we use our homemade chorizo instead of the Spanish.
2 pounds Brussels sprouts
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces Spanish hard chorizo, diced into 1/4-inch [...]

Eggplant – Berenjena

We seldom ate eggplant at home when we were little though it was always a favorite at Italian restaurants. But it’s eggplant season and they are glorious now and I’ve been experimenting.  I’ve turned eggplant parmigiana into berenjena a la veracruzana and dropped the cheese, resurrected a recipe my first chef Tony Collicchio created at [...]

Tomates de Milpa- Currant tomatoes

Well it’s finally tomato season in New York and Tim Stark of  Eckerton Hill Farm , a frequent contributor to Gourmet Magazine who sells an amazing variety of chiles and heirloom tomatoes will soon probably have currant tomatoes or tomates de milpa (literally field tomatoes,) as they are called in the Catemaco region of Veracruz.
This [...]

Squash Blossoms – Flor de Calabaza

As I’ve mentioned before in this section, in Mexico there is an age-old tradition of using every part of a plant.  Squashes in particular yield a wealth of delicious dishes.  The  tendrils go into sopa de guias, a light chicken broth seasoned with a sauteed recaudo of tomatoes, onions, chile and garlic and cubes of [...]

Jicama

Jicama is the tuber of a plant indigenous to Mexico and Central America.  The botanical name, Pachyrhizus erosus, is derived from the Greek pachys  — thick and coarse, as in “pachyderm!”  It has a crisp texture, somewhere between an apple and a raw potato, and a mild, nutty flavor.  Low in calories, it is always [...]

Blackberries or Moras

Bret Thorn wrote an article on blackberries  for Nations Restaurant News and posted it on his Facebook profile.  Of course no Mexican recipes were included because no one associates blackberries with Mexican cooking but they are very much used in both the cooking of Michoacan where they make delicious tamales with a type of wild [...]

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