Discover and re-discover Mexico’s cuisine, culture and history through the recipes, backyard stories and other interesting findings of an expatriate in Canada
In the Mexican state of Tlaxcala, pigweed - quintoniles, are featured in several traditional dishes, such as soups, stews as tacos; in my kitchen, I have substituted with foraged lamb's quarters - quelites de cocina, to prepare a taco filling, so simple and light, that may be served any time of day, and does not require a lot of ingredients ... click on title for more
Quelite is a generic name in Mexico, from the Nahuatl quilitl – edible green; a close translation to English would be “potherb”. Originally, the name referred just to native plants, such as huauzontle, epazote and quintoniles (pigweed); during and after colonial times, new edible greens brought from Spain and around the world have been making the list, such as purslane, radish leaf, watercress, and lamb's quarters ... click on title for more
A few days ago, I harvested my first large bunch of epazote; I also gathered the first thinning of basil. From my new 2022 seed, I am still getting nice handfuls of "Little Marvel" peas, and I just picked the last of the purple radishes. I also harvested garlic and shallots ... click on title for more
Achiote (annatto) is a traditional flavouring for many dishes from the Yucatan peninsula. In addition to cochinita pibil (pork), tikinxic (fish) and pibipollo (large chicken tamale), chicken is also cooked in annatto sauce, traditionally wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in an underground oven (pib), aptly called pollo pibil. Modern versions of this dish are prepared on the stove, or as in this case, without the banana leaves, in a slow cooker ... click on title for more
Papatzules are a traditional and very popular dish in the Mexican state of Yucatan. The preparation is similar to a basic enchilada, but the ingredients make this dish unique: the sauce is made from ground pumpkin seed and epazote, and hard-boiled eggs serve as stuffing. Using some ingredients from my garden, I prepared my own version of papatzules … click on title for more
My Slice of Mexico 