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 Baja California Sur, there are short harvesting seasons of abalone in late spring and during the month of July; fresh abalone is shucked, cleaned, and tenderized before eaten raw, or cooked in seafood platters and dishes, such as Beach Cocktail - Coctel playero ... click on title for more
Although coconuts are not native to Mexico, but were brought after the Spanish conquest, they quickly became endemic to coastal regions, and nowadays there are many ways to cook with them. Curiously, Puebla is an inland central state with relatively cool weather, so coconuts are not cultivated there, but these sweets have been around for many years, with the recipe mostly unchanged; people in Puebla still make them commercially or at home, for the sheer pleasure of tasting their “doraditas” – “goldies” ... click on title for more
This potherb soup is an excellent vegan soup, and very nutritious. Green hot peppers, such as serranos or jalapeños, may be offered at the table, or omitted for a completely mild, yet flavourful meal ... click on title for more
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
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
My Slice of Mexico 