Cover image : atole street vendor atole (Spanish) from atolli : a beverage made from finely ground maize, mixed with water. “a gruel made of maize, which they call atolli . . . agreeable, harmless, and provides a pleasant and healthy food . . . for those suffering from a hot, dry fever; it calms the chest, is very nutritious, strengthens and fattens the emaciated, … Continue reading Atole de Grano
A tlaltequeada is a kind of vegetable based rissole (1) typically made with vegetables, fruits, flowers and seeds. It is the perfect example of a quilitl (quelite) based dish and it could be argued that it is representative of a vegetable based cuisine as it would have been practised by prehispanic Mesoamericans. rissoles are what an Australian might call meat patties that include some grated … Continue reading Prehispanic Veganismo – The Tlaltequeada
This is just a quick entry. One of my regulars, a delightful Peruvian woman by the name of Lyda, dropped by today to give me some of her alfajores as a Christmas gift. Lyda is a naturopath/nurse who came to Australia a few decades ago. Joyous Yuletide. An alfajor (plural alfajores) is a traditional sweet biscuit.. In South America alfajores are found most notably in … Continue reading Alfajores
This Post combines two of my favourite things when it comes to Mesoamerican food science. Quelites and mole. Now by and large quelites are plants we would (in some parts anyway) consider to be weeds, both agricultural and urban, but these plants are some of the most nutritious and medicinal that nature has to offer us. We underestimate these plants at every turn. Mole is … Continue reading Quelites y Mole
Cover image via Antojitos Mexican Curious on Facebook Typically tacos al pastor are made with marinated pork which has been stacked onto a vertical spit known as a trompo and cooked much in the same was as the Middle eastern doner kebab (1). The doner kebab (and tacos arabes) are of course not made with the forbidden flesh of the swine but the meats more … Continue reading Recipe : Al Pastor
Alrighty then whingers, it turns out there is a growing undercurrent of distaste for food blogs that expound unnecessarily. This does not bug me at all. I want the story. I want the history. I want some kind of cultural understanding of the dish (if this is relevant). The recipe is the climax. I want foreplay. I want the whole experience. My Recipe Posts however … Continue reading Recipe : Mole Colorado
also called : chepil, chepilin, cascabel de vibora, chapilin, chinchín de zope, chipilín de zope, chipilín de caballo, chipilino, garbancillo, parrajachel, tcap-in, tronador, longbeak rattlebox. Some 600 or more species of Crotalaria are described worldwide, mostly from the tropics with at least 500 species known from Africa: 19 species are native to Australia (Ryan etal 2011). The common name rattlepod or rattlebox is derived from … Continue reading Quelite : Chipilin : Crotalaria longirostrata
Amaranth was an important grain in Mesoamerica. Known to the Aztecs as huauhtli they are believed to have dedicated more than 5000 hectares of land to its growth and produced between 15 and 20 tons of grain per year (1). This is just the Aztecs. Amaranth was in high demand as a tribute and annually 20 provinces supplied amaranth to Tenochtitlan as part of their … Continue reading Recipe : Alegrias de Amaranto : Amaranth Joys.
Aguas frescas (1) are fresh (non-alcoholic) drinks made from various fruits (2), cereals (3), flowers (4), or seeds (5) blended with sugar and water. They are ubiquitous in Mexico and Central America and are regularly purchased from street vendors. “cool waters”, or literally “fresh waters” : also called refrescos. Refrescos are also a name for commercially bottled carbonated drinks mango, pineapple, guava, kiwi fruit, cucumber, … Continue reading Recipe : Agua de Jamaica
Soy la mariposa negra del fin del mundo danzo feliz sobre sus tumbas. I am the black butterfly at the end of the world I dance happily on their graves. Mictlanpapalotl : excerpt of a poem by Maria De La Luz Carillo Romero / México These insects belong to the Lepidoptera order, Arsenura armada C. genus/species (1). Arsenura armida Syn: Phalaena armida Cuetlas (1) are … Continue reading Edible Insects : Cuetla
Masa Americana 