Discover and re-discover Mexico’s cuisine, culture and history through the recipes, backyard stories and other interesting findings of an expatriate in Canada
The poinsettia plant (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is native to Mexico’s Central and Southern regions, where it was domesticated in pre-Hispanic times, often used to dye textiles and was treasured as a tribute to gods, such as Tonantzin (Our Lady, Our Mother). Last year around this time, I got a large pot with three poinsettias as a rebate at the supermarket, and they are still alive and well ... click on title for more
One of my nieces and her husband live in Guadalajara, capital city of the Mexican state of Jalisco. She just shared with me a photo of their Christmas tree, all decorated with Mexican crafts. Here in Canada, the government has issued an advisory against international travelling, due to COVID19, so no hope for me to join them, but I wanted to imagine how it would be to plan a holiday menu to go with my niece's decorations ... click on title for more
Turkey and pork loin roasts are some of the most popular choices on the Christmas menu for many Mexican families, as well as more traditional dishes, such as revoltijo (a red mole-based stew), bacalao (a cod stew), tamales, and last, but not least, pozole (hominy soup). I have shared recipes for pozole blanco (clear broth, "white" pozole), and for pozole verde (green pozole), but for Christmas time, nothing like a delicious pozole rojo (red pozole). There are several recipes for red pozole, primarily form the states of Jalisco, Nuevo León, and other Northern states. For this post, I have chosen a recipe from Jalisco, which uses the Mexican staple of hierbas de olor (bay leaf, marjoram and thyme), and only one kind of dry red pepper, either regional chilacate, or the more readily available guajillos ... click on title for more
A selection of traditional sweets and hot beverages for this Christmas season ... click on title for more
Spending Christmas away from Mexico sometimes made me miss some of the things I used to do as a kid, such as eating turrones (nougat) and figuras de mazapán (marzipan shapes) ... click on title for more
My Slice of Mexico 