Miahuatlán-Style Tamales (Tamales Miahuatecos)
María Concepción Portillo de Carballido, the well known Oaxacan cooking teacher, introduced me to these pumpkin-enriched tamales from the neighborhood of Miahuatlán in the Sierra Madre de Sur. I included an adapted version of the recipe in my first book, but it is so...
Gorditas (Little Fat Ones)
Gorditas were a favorite way to entertain in Juárez. My sister Clarissa had friends who would hire a woman to come to their house and make gorditas for parties. So I started doing them for my clients, with great success – people love watching a steady stream of fresh...
Blackberry Atole (Atole de mora)
I don’t know anything more truly Mexican, or more baffling to foreigners, than atoles. It’s a concept that we who grew up with them have trouble describing in English. I’ve tried calling them “gruels” and seen otherwise broadminded Anglos look pained at the thought....
How to Make Masa
Photo Laurie Smith Many centuries ago, Mexican cooks discovered that as good as corn is when eaten fresh or dried, it takes on an exciting new identity when treated with a solution of wood ashes, burnt seashells, or some other natural alkali. The process is called...
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.