Category: The Kitchen

Curanderismo, The Kitchen

A Naturopathic View of the Aztec Diet : Part 2 : Appendix 1 : Atole

I briefly look at the masa based drink called atole in my Post Mexican Cooking Equipment : The Molinillo but lets go into it in a bit more detail here and in another related Post I’ll investigate a range of chocolate beverages based on this ingredient called masa. Atole (Spanish) from atolli (Nahuatl) which, according to the definition, is a beverage made from finely ground maize, mixed … Continue reading A Naturopathic View of the Aztec Diet : Part 2 : Appendix 1 : Atole

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Curanderismo, Herbs, History, Native Plants, The Kitchen

A Naturopathic View of the Aztec Diet : Part 2 : Diet

“We must repeat it: Mesoamericans do not plant corn, Mesoamericans make cornfields. And they are different things because corn is a plant and the cornfield is a way of life. The cornfield is the matrix (womb) of Mesoamerican civilization. If we really want to preserve and strengthen our deep identity, not only agroecological but also socio-economic, cultural and civilizational, we must move from the corn … Continue reading A Naturopathic View of the Aztec Diet : Part 2 : Diet

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The Kitchen

Carnitas

Carnitas, literally translated means “little meats”. This is a dish made by braising, simmering and frying pork in its own fat, lard or cooking oil. It is often called a confit (1) but it really isn’t. A confit (as it refers to pork and not a fruit preserve for instance) involves immersing the pork completely in fat (lard) and slowly simmering it until very tender … Continue reading Carnitas

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The Kitchen

Tepache. Part Two. The Recipe.

There’s also some medicinal info at the bottom so check that out too. Brief recap. What is tepache? Tepache (from nahuatl “tépiatl” or “tepiatzin” (1), related to maize variety “téplit” (2) is a Mexican prehispanic fermented beverage originally prepared with maize (Pérez-Armendáriz and Cardoso-Ugarte, 2020). Ulloa and Herrera (1982) do (kind of) back this up though (the corn/water drink that is) by noting “Although this … Continue reading Tepache. Part Two. The Recipe.

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Herbs, The Kitchen

Flor de Jamaica : Tacos dorados con Crema de Aguacate

This dish resulted from a challenge given me by my friend Juan. I am known amongst my Mexican friends as Jamaica Man because I bring agua de jamaica to all of the FOMEX (1) events held in our city. At our last event (Mexican Independence Day celebration) which we held the day the Tallship Cuauhtemoc departed the Port of Fremantle (2), Juan regaled me of … Continue reading Flor de Jamaica : Tacos dorados con Crema de Aguacate

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The Kitchen

Tlaxcales : Prehispanic Corn Biscuits

The prehispanic biscuit known as a tlaxcal (also tlascal : plural tlaxacales) has the same etymological root as the tortilla. The name of the region known as Tlaxcala is derived from the Classical Nahuatl Tlaxcallān, from tlaxcalli (“tortilla”) + -tlān (place of), although some historians note that the toponym (1) for Tlaxcala comes from another Nahuatl word texcalli which meant ‘stone, rock, crag (2)’ and … Continue reading Tlaxcales : Prehispanic Corn Biscuits

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Herbs, History, Native Plants, The Kitchen

Prehispanic Drinks – Bate

The beverage, bate, is a traditional beverage of the state of Colima made from toasted and ground chan, beaten with water and sweetened with honey or a kind of molasses prepared from piloncillo, or hard brown sugar. The chan seed is an interesting pseudograin that hails originally from the Mexican state of Colima. Suchitlán is a small town around 20 kilometres outside of the state … Continue reading Prehispanic Drinks – Bate

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Herbs, History, Native Plants, The Kitchen

Ixchel and the Legend of Chepil

I have posted on the herb chipilin previously and noted both its culinary and medicinal uses. Check this out at Quelite : Chipilin : Crotalaria longirostrata I want to expand upon my original Post with some cultural background on the herb and a legend on the creation of the plant. Many plants have creation myths, usually involving death, violence and/or a tragic love story, and … Continue reading Ixchel and the Legend of Chepil

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Herbs, The Kitchen

Quelite : Mafafa : Eating the Taro stem

I have briefly written of this plant (or one of its ilk). See my previous Post Quelite : Mafafa. It is important you check the WARNINGS in this Post as all varieties of this plant contain highly irritant calcium oxalate crystals which need to be removed (by cooking) before the plant can be safely consumed. A couple of months ago I noted an African person … Continue reading Quelite : Mafafa : Eating the Taro stem

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