Category Archives: food culture

… some thoughts on Mole

Posted on by Sofia Larrinua-Craxton
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My blogger chum Chad asked me recently to write something on Mole.  At the time I was a bit busy and I think this was also a subconscious excuse not to write on the subject… The reason is that for a Mexican to write on Mole is getting into sticky ground; every Mexican has his/her views on the matter and they are the best, full stop!

In the UK people relate the word to little creatures that live underground, to The Wind in the Willows, to that ‘Mexican chocolate sauce’, or worse still to eating little animals that live underground covered with a chocolate sauce!  Nothing could be further from the truth; to write about Mole is to write about our identity as Mexicans, to write about our history, to touch on many aspects of our folcklore, it is to write about flavour combinations and even to write about food science, it is to challenge families and to create rivalries through recipes…. it can become a telenovela… yes we Mexicans are a complicated lot.

In fact I did think to write my dissertation on Mole… but since this is just a blog, I am going to say just a few simple things.  For instance, did you know that it is believed the word ‘mole’ is derived from an indigenous word, possibly nahuatl: ‘molli’ or ‘mulli’ which means sauce? I have also heard it is derived from the Spanish verb ‘moler’ which is to grind… see? it is not that easy with this sauce.

The origins of mole are also unclear, some say that it existed well before the arrival of the Spaniards and yes many of the ingredients are original to Mexico and the american continent.  There are tales of Spanish and creole nuns, like Sor Andrea de la Asuncion, who was famed for her ability to create perfect food -a kind of 17th century Heston Blumenthal, who concocted this divine dish for the viceroy in turn and other celebrities of the time.  This story might well be true; it could also be related to an appropriation of the indigenous by the colonials… The story that I like best, because is full of folklore, it touches on the kitsch and again it is similar to a telenovela (soap opera) involves a nun, a saint, a draw full of spices and a bit of magic of course… The nun might well have been Sor Andrea de la Asuncion, and how she was completely burnt out from so much cooking and therefore felt uninspired; the guests were coming to eat her latest delicacy and she just did not know what to cook that day.  As it was the norm, she asked San Pascualito-the patron saint of cooks and of the kitchen to help her. Then she turned, stumbled against a draw that was full of spices that went on the pot and hey presto: Mole anyone?  I wonder what do they do on a stressful day at The Fat Duck? maybe we should tell them about San Pascualito.

Whatever story you go for, the truth is that Mole is a kind of national dish to Mexico, the state of Puebla is famed for its Mole and the state of Oaxaca is called the land of 7 moles.  If you go to any Mexican market you will find mole sold by the kilo and of course families pride themselves in making their own family recipe which is usually a secret.

A good Mole can have up to 40 different ingredients, but the basic ones are: chillies, usually ancho, pasilla and mulato, garlic, onion, sesame oil, sesame seeds, oregano, marjoram, some day old tortillas, bananas, raisins, almonds, possibly a little stale bread and many more.  Traditionally all these ingredients are ground on a metate, by hand and then fried with lard.  The final ingredient is a little bit of bitter chocolate, which is essential to add flavour and a velvety texture.  This will resemble a heavy paste and to make the sauce, we add stock from a poached bird; turkey being the traditonal one to use -although these days more eclectic birds like duck and even other kinds of game are used.  The poached bird is covered with this sauce and served decorated with sesame seeds; this is a far cry to some people’s ideas of eating a chicken mixed with hot fudge sauce!

Being someone that really goes more for the sensation that food has on my tastebuds rather than for the looks of the restaurant or who is sitting at the next table; I’ll have to say that poached turkey topped with a heavy Mole sauce scattered with some sesame seeds in some busy convent like restaurant is not my favourite way of eating this… to me Mole can be one of those memorable food moments that I would take to a desert island…in fact Mole is included in my funeral!   At least to me the best way is to eat it is in the shape of Enchiladas de Mole.

In my next post I will write on Enchiladas de Mole and why I like them.  This might not be the aristocratic or trendy way of eating mole… but it is so very good!

Tarta Pascualina / Easter Pie

Posted on by Sofia Larrinua-Craxton
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As Easter approaches fast, I would like to share a seasonal recipe for a delicious pie that is eaten in Italy as well as in South America: Tarta Pascualina.  I first came across this dish in Mexico City, at an Uruguayan home, the one that belongs to the family of my very good friend Ana.

One day she offered us a spinach pie with eggs that was very different to anything I had eaten before ‘La Tarta Pascualina’ they called it.  Later on I found out that this dish originates in Genoa, port from which many migrants sailed off to find a future in the new world.  To distant lands these intrepid travellers went, and so to Argentina and Uruguay they arrived.   These migrants took with them the nostalgic flavours of home, particularly those which are linked to celebrations like Easter and they therefore took with them Tarta Pascualina.

This dish contains the word spring all over; it is made with the first young tender spring greens and it contains a high symbolic value because it is served at Easter time, hence the word ‘pascualina’: Pascua = Easter.  Since it is an easter/spring dish, it contains eggs which are folkloric symbols of resurection.

I first had this pie, not at Easter but as part of a South American buffet that my friend’s family hosted.  Julio her father was known for making this dish his speciality and delicious it was.  I remember eating this warm pie with a little tomato salad and it was very good.

My friendship with Ana has survived many years in spite of us being separated by thousands of miles and the memory of this pie stayed in my mind always.

Below is a recipe that is similar to the one Julio makes, however I have changed the pastry and here I use hot watercrust pastry, which is one of the easiest types of pastry and one that produces spectacular results.  I make a raised Pascualina pie by putting it inside a springform cake tin, filling with a spinach and pepper mixture and by placing some eggs inside, then the whole thing is baked, left to cool down and eaten with some garlicky tomato salad with basil, when you eat this, you will be transported perhaps to Genoa, but certainly to Montevideo.

An Easter egg from Rococo Chocolate

An Easter egg from Rococo Chocolate

Tarta Pascualina

For a deep cake tin about 20 – 23 cm in diameter:

450 g flour

1 tsp salt

100 g lard

100 g butter (you can use 200 g butter only)

225 ml milk and water mixed in equal proportions

Warm a mixing bowl and sift in the flour and salt, make a well in the centre

Heat the lard/butter or only butter in the milk and water until just boiling

Pour this mix into the well in the flour and stir quickly with a wooden spoon until thick

Continue working by hand to a smooth dough.

Cut in two, wrap in cling film and chill for about 30 minutes

Roll the pastry in two sheets of greaseproof paper until it is about 5 mm in height and the pastry fits the size of your tin, one is for the mould itself and the other one for the lid.

For the filling:

1 kg leaf spinach

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 medium onions, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 red peppers, char-grilled and skinned, finely chopped

6 eggs

100 g grated Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese

Salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste

Wash the spinach and place in a pan, heat up without adding any water, cook stirring until it completely collapses.

Sauté the onions with some olive oil until soft, add the garlic and continue cooking until soft.

Add the spinach, salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Cook and season accordingly

Take off the heat and add the grated cheese, 2 beaten eggs and the peppers.  Mix very well.

Put this mixture on the baking tin filled with pastry; make 3 spaces in the filling.  Break an egg and put its contents in this space, repeat with the other 2 spaces.  Put the pastry lid on the pie seal.  Using a fork prick the pie avoiding the eggs.  Brush with a beaten egg.

Put in the oven and bake for about 40 – 50 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. To un-mould, loosen up the sides using a knife and open the hinge (or spring). Brush with egg all over the sides and put in the oven for another 10 minutes so that the pie goes golden brown all over.

A wine event

Posted on by Sofia Larrinua-Craxton
1
François Rabelais University, Tours, France
and the European Institute for the History and Cultures of Food, Tours, France (IEHCA)
announce the Ninth summer school in Tours, France
August 28 to September 4, 2011
Wine, economy and social norms
In most cultures, alcoholic beverages have a symbolic function. For various reasons, the place of wine is quite special. Consumed regularly, wine has profound economic and cultural connotations. The choice of a wine defines the nature of an occasion (solemn, official, convivial or intimate) and the relationship between drinkers. Whatever the occasion, the social and cultural meanings of various wines and “crus” are quite complex, following subtle rules (connected to ordering and context, etc.), such that the drinking of wine has given rise to its own vocabulary and related discourse. As a powerful marker of social status, wine choice and consumption may also be used as a means to identify oneself with a community, or nation. Drinking wine is therefore a means of affirming ones identity, as well as communicating, associating, and sharing with others.
Following on the proliferation of historical, anthropological and sociological works on the production, trade and consumption of wine, this Summer School will view wine through the lens of the long-term, exploring a range of methods and concepts while encouraging interdisciplinary approaches.
Thibaut Boulay, Maître de conférences, ancient history, University François-Rabelais, Tours, France
Allen J. Grieco, Senior Research Associate, Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, Villa I Tatti, Florence, Italy
Marc Jacobs, Director FARO, Flemish interface centre for cultural heritage, Brussels, Belgium,
Peter Scholliers, Professor of History, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
Harry West, Professor of Anthropology, Chair Food Studies Centre, SOAS, University of London,
If you are interested, please contact Marie-Claude Piochon at: mc.piochon@iehca.eu who will forward a program (latest update) and the registration forms.

Rosca de Reyes / Galette des Rois / Epiphany Bread

Posted on by Sofia Larrinua-Craxton
1

… On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love left his shoe by the door and waited for the three wise men to leave a present.

Yes this is what happens on Epiphany night in many countries.  In Mexico many people celebrate this night almost as much as Christmas eve, because this night is also loaded with symbolism, it is the night when the three wise men finally arrived to give gifts to the baby Jesus; and as such it is expected that the men will arrive and deliver a present to children… you just need to leave your shoe by the windowsill or by your bed or by the Christmas tree and the morning after there will be something there for you.

Of course this follows the previous night of families gathering to drink hot chocolate and cut the ‘rosca’. This is a bread/cake that is made on this night and it has the shape of a large ring, inside of which there is a token like a bean, a coin or even a plastic baby or person.  When you cut the bread, if you get the token, that means that you have to host a party on the 2nd of February that usually features tamales.

These breads used to contain one or two tokens or babies, as the world keeps turning, it seems that these have reproduced and now at least in Mexico City  roscas’ you can find as many as ten or more.  Personally I prefer the cakes that contain one or two tokens because then, the one who gets it, becomes ‘special’ a king for a day I guess.

This is not an exclusive Mexican tradition, it is an adaptation from other countries like Spain and France where they eat Roscon de Reyes and Galette des Rois, respectively.

Below is a simple recipe for a Mexican Rosca, this is followed by one for Galette des Rois.

This is another excuse for getting together, gather on the last night of this period, drink hot chocolate and have a slice of this bread, if you get the token, then make tamales at your place and invite more people.

Mexican Rosca

For the Bread

500 g strong white flour

100 g caster sugar

10 g salt

100 g softened butter

3 medium sized eggs

2 sachets or 14 g easy blend yeast

200 ml water

zest of 1 lime

zest of 1 lemon

zest of 1 orange

2 plastic babies for the rosca, or substitute with a dried bean

100 g acitron [this is a candied cactus] if you can’t find this, substitute with candied fruits

Cover:

100 g soft butter

100 g icing sugar

150 g flour

2 Tbsp caster sugar

In the bowl of  an electric mixer, add all the powdered ingredients for the bread mix, then add the softened butter and cream, add the eggs, water and the zest of the citrus fruits, mix using the bread hook for three minutes at a slow speed, increase to a medium speed and mix for six minutes or until the dough is very elastic, you need to develop a lot of gluten here, leave to rest for 30 mins or 1 hour is your kitchen is cold.

Take out of the bowl and roll into two balls that you are going to shape into two long saugages that you are going to link into a ring, don’t forget to insert the tokens.

Place on baking trays that are covered with greaseproof paper.

Mix the ingredients for the cover by beating them in a bowl to fully incorporate.  Decorate the roscas by alternating the candied fruits and placing strips of the bread cover.

Leave to prove for another hour and place on greased in a medium hot oven 160 C fan, 180 C conventional Gas Mark 4 for 35 minutes.  The roscas are ready if they sound hollow when their bottoms are gently tapped.

Galette des Rois

Make about 250 g puff pastry [or rather buy...] and roll it out into two round shapes about 2 cm thick.  Place these on a baking tray that is covered with greaseproof paper.  Push a bean into the dough. Sandwich them together with frangipane cream before baking.  Trace a pattern on the top of the dough with the pint of a knife and brush it with egg.  Bake in a very hot oven at 250 C conventional oven, 230 fan oven, Gas Mark 9, until the top is golden brown.

Below is a simple recipe for frangipane:

125 g butter

125 g sugar

2 eggs

200 g ground almonds

½ tsp vanilla essence (optional)

Cream butter and sugar until white and fluffy

Add eggs one at a time add vanilla essence and fold in almonds

With thanks to Ingrid Vargas-Cessa for giving me her version of this recipe for Rosca de Reyes that I have adapted.

Galette des Rois Taken from Larousse Gastronomique

Recipe for Mexican Ponche de Navidad

Posted on by Sofia Larrinua-Craxton
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The evocative power of food, its flavours and aromas can be used to take us back to long and forgotten corners of our mind.  Periods like Christmas are of course charged with a variety of memories, so each one of us have our personal catalogue of food experiences that relate to certain moments of our lives.

It is no surprise that for some, the aroma or roasted chestnuts on a cold corner is equivalent to Christmas and for others, the flavour of ginger biscuits or of Bacalao is the marker of this time.

For some of us, the smell of tropical fruits slowly poaching in a syrup are instant reminders of this period.  In Mexico ponche de Navidad is a delicious and warming drink that takes me back to posada parties.

What is a posada? The word literally translates as inn, and this is a representation of the journey that the Virgin Mary and St Joseph did at the time of the birth of baby Jesus, that culminated in barn and manger.

Like most things, these parties have changed with time, but the format remains the same: a street procession that stops and chants a litany which culminates at the house of the hosts of the posada –or the place where the party is going to take place.  The joyous entry to the house by those outside and the subsequent pinata breaking, food sharing and ponche drinking!

It is the combination of fruits and the sweet aroma of a lightly spiced syrup, simmering somewhere that gives this drink a particularly strong power for memory of cold nights in Mexico.  The smell of sweet sugar-cane and guavas, tejocotes and cinnamon, always take me right back to my childhood and I can again see and hear things that lie otherwise dormant in my mind: my younger parents, the unique feeling of attempting to break a pinata, the sounds of children laughing.  Sometimes it is worth forgetting about food miles for once and make some proper ponche just for the memories.

Here is a simple recipe, if you live away from the tropics, it might be difficult to find some fruits, I give alternatives in the recipe below.  Try doing this at this cold time of year, repeat doing this and you will see how with time, this evocative drink will take you back to good memories.

Cultivate your future memories by having good times now!

Recipe for ponche de Navidad

Makes about 3 litres

20 tejocotes –these are quite particular to Mexico, if you can’t find substitute with 10 quartered apricots and 4 green apples in chunks

7 guavas, cut in wedges

3 Tbsp raisins

10 prunes

about half a kilo of sugar-cane chunks –found in caribbean shops

4 Tbsp dried apples

2 sticks of cinnamon

3 litres of water

muscovado sugar

Begin by making the syrup, dissolve sugar in water –I have deliberately omitted quantities here, add enough so that it tastes nice and sweet to you.

Add the fruits and bring to below boiling point, simmer gently until the fruits soften and poach, the syrup should be slightly thicker at this point.

Before serving add some piquete a dash or rum or brandy to give it extra warming properties.

Serve in cups with a few fruits.

** If you have a memory of ponche that you want to share here, please add a comment.  My memory now is of a posada at secondary school aged 13, with my friend Marcelita, on a very cold day and how my father threw himself to get some goodies at the pinata with the kids!

Save our corner shops

Posted on by Sofia Larrinua-Craxton
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Save our corner shops / NO to Sainsbury’s in Stoke Newington!!!

 

This is an old rant on corner shops, but surprisingly or rather NOT surprisingly, nothing changes, please say no to Sainsbury’s in Stoke Newington by signing this petition,just click here

Last week, I heard somewhere that if trends carry on as they are, the corner shop will disappear in a few years… I remember now, I heard this on Radio 4.  There was a slightly sarcastic comment saying that it will be a ‘shame’ to loose those shops that sell overpriced and dusty tins of rice pudding…

…the corner shop contains features that makes us remember dusty, half empty shelves of expensive items that are near their sell by date, and maybe the owners  of these shops will need to review their stock in more ways than one in order to keep their shop and not to sell it to a developer that will transform it to a ‘charming flat with a shop front feature’.

However there are other kinds of corner shops, and these are the ones that I feel we should support.  I happen to live in an area that thankfully has not yet been invaded by hypermarkets, supermarkets or their ‘city/express’ equivalent.  My nearest supermarket -if it can be called that, is an organic one where we can find fabulous produce and all eco-friendly-organic goodies that cost a lot of money.  There are as well a myriad of small shops that sell produce aimed at the local Turkish community, and it is these type of shops that I think we should try to support.  In my part of London these are mainly Turkish, but depending on the area where we live, these shops can be Indian, Bangladeshi, Greek or Portuguese.

What I like of these shops is obviously the things they sell, in my case we can find large chunks of fetta cheese, wonderful yoghurt, freshly baked flat breads and the usual basket containing bunches of fresh dill, coriander, parsley, basil, mint and spinach.  These goodies sit happily next to neat rows of dried pulses, nuts and rice, Turkish tea and coffee as well as the usual -often dusty, packets of breakfast cereal and digestive biscuits.

The staff at these shops are usually friendly and welcoming, sometimes they give me free chillies, other times they let me pay later, once I was even able to use their fridge! These guys are always there, 365 days open from 9 to 9, many times they are glued to the blasting Turkish version of the Oprah show; other times they are just chatting to their mates and -especially in the summer, this seems an OK existence.  However what we don’t see is that in order to keep their shops running, they have to get up at 4 am and buy fruits, veg and herbs.  I have been to Spitalfields to buy fruit and veg at that time in the winter and I know that is not exactly fun.  Then they have to be there in the shops all year round.  For the place to look open, they need to have their doors fully open too and that means living in the cold for half the year.

Then, there is also the problem of prices, at markets like Spitalfields, the price of the produce varies everyday, so our friendly shopkeepers are constantly having to juggle with prices, often making very little money if any at all.  As an example, my local shop sells avocados at 70p each, he buys at 50p so his profit is hardly what we can call a profit.  The bullets that resemble an avocado in a supermarket -the ones that have obviously not been ‘ripened for flavour’ cost the same amount.  I wonder how much to they get these at? it is certainly not 50p, otherwise the profits would not be so healthy for these guys.

There is the question of choice, for some strange reason, we are led to believe that a large supermarket has a large range of items, well think again; next time you go into a supermarket look into the stock and ask yourself the question if there is really a large selection, or are you really being sold what they are telling you what you buy… I don’t want to portray large supermarket chains as evil guys that are planning your life, dictating what you should consume; however, it is extremely annoying to go to these places and then find that the only kind of cocoa powder they sell is their own brand, that you can only find ‘the most popular’ of meat cuts i.e. mince and two others, that their fish counter looks like a fishmonger but they cannot sell you the heads of the fish to make stock.  Instead they have oversized rows where they sell oversized ‘family’ bags of all kinds of flavoured crisps… if we are not careful our families will be oversized in a very short time.

We complain and mock that the stock at local shops is nearly out of date and that they don’t often have what we want, and the reason for this is exactly because we don’t buy enough stuff from them. It is very difficult to always have the same selection of produce if half of it goes to waste, when there is really no need for that to be so.  If we bought more from these shops, then the stock rotates more often and we will find more choice and fresher stuff as well.  Regarding choice, well, my local shop does not sell 27 varieties of tortilla chips but they sell amongst other things medjool dates, white onions, shallots and large white eggs by the piece (10p each), and frankly I prefer this kind of choice, I like my ‘totopos’ (Mexican for tortilla chips) plain thank you.

What I am trying to say here is that I think there is enough room for both kinds of shops to survive, yes it is nice and comfy to take the car and buy a whole year load of dishwasher tablets and toilet paper, yes it is nice to buy two for the price of one items like chicken breasts… although we should ask if this is actually an ethical thing to do… and yes it is nice to be able to get cashback when we pay and to buy very cheap wine.  But it is also nice, very nice to be greeted by the local shopkeeper and to feel like a human being there.  It is nice to find weird and wonderful seasonal produce, pomegranates in September for instance, but it is nicer to feel that one is contributing directly to keep somebody in business.  Next time you think that your local shop is a weird place packed with dusty and expensive items, think again, yes things might cost a little more, but not much more and also think that this extra price keeps these guys in business and this includes the community feel that these shops bring.

Yes, there is the question of lifestyle, of living busy, of our life being made easier by doing all the shopping in one go, but have we actually stopped and thought how little we need to buy in a week? how much waste we create by buying lots of veg in one go and then spending all week eating out or eating take aways? Maybe, just maybe if we divide our shopping and spend 10 minutes at the local shop we will end up buying things that we did not know existed and we are prompted to use our imagination, we might find things that we have not seen in years -white eggs for instance.  Just doing a little bit of shopping at these places will help save them.  So why don’t we do it?

Last Saturday pm I had the misfortune to go to a large supermarket and just when I was feeling lost in the family size crisp department, amongst many upset people that looked more like lost robots than actual human beings; there was a cute Spanish girl having a fit, she said to her mother: ‘there is nothing I like about this shop and the only thing I like you won’t buy’.  Obviously she wanted to get some crisps, but what I thought interesting is that she did not like that place, and it seemed that most of us seemed unhappy there.  Then the question is, why do we carry on buying like if there is no tomorrow, when there is an option to buy stuff from our local shop? if we carry on like this, there won’t be a tomorrow for our little shops and we might come to regret that.

How to make Mexican pan dulce

Posted on by Sofia Larrinua-Craxton
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One aspect of Mexican cuisine that seems to be a little overlooked is that of bread-making.  Although Mexico is not a country that has strong associations to bread as it is the case in many other places around the world, and although we are mostly associated to tortillas; there is actually quite a strong tradition of bread making that we inherited through European colonialism and which became firmly established during the years of Empire in the nineteenth century.

It is particularly during the short period in which Mexico became subject to the puppet emperor Maximilian, where traditions of European influence became adopted by the elites.  This included the introduction of bread-making, particularly that of making sweet confections that included pastry, elaborate biscuits and a variety of other items made out of sweetened dough.

As it tends to happen in Mexico, these items were adapted to locality and they took their own shapes and names; so it can be an amusing and strange experience for a foreign person to go and buy ears, gendarmes (or policemen), banderillas (or a hurting device that gets stuck on the back of a bull during a bull fight), shells, bows, rhombs and of course the once yearly Bread of the Dead.

It is not difficult to recreate these confections and recently I made a batch of conchas or shells that we consumed with gusto whilst accompanied with my Mexican parents.  They the big judges actually loved them.

The recipe is taken from Diana Kennedy’s El Arte de la Cocina Mexicana. I have done very small adaptations.  Be aware, this recipe takes a long time to make, but if you have time and with a little preparation you can have a fun weekend of making bread with delicious results at the end of the day.  Since the recipe is so long you might want to make a large batch and then freeze the bread.  To enjoy from frozen, simply place in a warm oven to defrost and warm through and enjoy with a cup of steaming coffee or hot chocolate.

Makes about 16 conchas

Begin by making a first ferment or siembra for the bread, many Mexican breads begin by making a first ferment that is used for the confection of the various types of sweet bread including bread of the dead:

250 g strong bread flour

one sachet [8g] of dried yeast

2 Tbsp warm water

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Put the flour in a bowl.  In a small bowl, crumble the yeast and mix with the warm water, beat well to obtain a paste, add this paste to the flour and eggs, beat well using the dough hook attachment of a food mixer for a couple of minutes, the dough has to be soft and sticky.  Add a tiny bit more flour so that the dough comes off the bowl, take out and place on a lightly floured surface, using your hands, fold it so that it looks like a round cushion and put on a baking tray that has been covered with some greaseproof paper, make three diagonal cuts across and leave to rise in a warm place for a couple of hours, until it doubles its size.

Use half of this ferment and freeze the rest, if you want you can use all the ferment, in which case it will be necessary to double up the quantities below.

Now you are ready to make the main dough:

Cut the ferment into large chunks, place in the mixing bowl and add the following:

500 g strong flour

180 g sugar

½ tsp salt

45 g soft butter

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

60 ml warm water

Beat the ferment and the ingredients using a dough hook for 8 minutes at a medium-high speed, the dough needs to be soft, sticky with a shiny gloss and it should stick together.  Add a little flour so that the dough comes off the mixing bowl.  Again place on a lightly floured surface and fold to make a round cushion shape.  Butter a large bowl and place the dough in it.  Sprinkle with a little flour and cover with cling film and a tea-towel, leave in a warm place for 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.  After this period, place in the least cold part of the fridge and leave it to ferment for 8 hours or overnight.

Before finishing with this process, make the butter and sugar cover for the breads, for this you will need:

125 g plain flour

125 g icing sugar

60 g butter at room temperature

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Sieve the flour and icing sugar and add the butter, mix well using your fingers or whiz using the food processor, you are aiming to have a soft dough.  Divide in two portions, add the cocoa to one and the cinnamon to the other one, incorporate well.  Cover and set aside.

After the long fermentation period, put the dough on a lightly floured surface and turn it into a cushion without pushing too hard, you don’t want to lose the bubbles formed during the fermentation period, divide the dough in four and then in four again in order to obtain 16 pieces, it is wise to weigh the pieces, they should be about 60 g each:

Place some greaseproof paper on three baking trays.  Make a dough ball rolling the pieces of dough and place on the trays, leaving a space of about 8 cm in between each piece.                                                                                                                                                     Divide the chocolate and cinnamon sugar mixtures in eight small pieces each and roll into rounds that you will flatten using the palms of your hands, press until you have a sheet that is slightly larger than the bread ball:

Place this over the bread ball and press firmly over the dough ball, flattening it a little and repeat with all the bread pieces. Once you have done this, proceed to make the cuts; using a sharp knife, cut into the sugar paste making diagonal incissions:


Leave to rest in a warm place for –yes you guessed another two hours, or until the bread rises once more from this:

To this:

Heat up the oven to 190C.  Place the trays in the oven and bake for twelve minutes or until they puff up and turn golden brown:

Now they are ready to be eaten!

Although this process seems interminable, it actually works perfecty for a weekend at home, start on Saturday morning, carry on with your life and do the fermentations during the day, leave the dough in the fridge overnight and continue on Sunday am, you should have bread ready to dunk into hot chocolate sometime around brunch time!

Pan de Muerto / Bread of the Dead

Posted on by Sofia Larrinua-Craxton
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Pan de muerto / Bread of the dead

It is that ime of the year again, the one where evenings get longer and when spooky ghosts will knock on our doors.  In the area where we live, it seems that the number of ghosts grow exponentially each year, we started with 10 and now there seem to be hundreds of kids knocking for tricks or treats.  This is a nice thing and I like to see our road full of little witches, ghosts and vampires, I like to see carved lanterns and it is all quite picturesque.

What I also like is to put a small altar with flowers to my ‘abuela’ Enriqueta, to my second  mother Alisi and to my ’muertitos’ to our dead ones, to remember them with a small and colourful offering which will include pan de muerto, this bread is typical of Mexico and it has lots of symbolism, it made in a round shape to signify the world, it has small pieces of dough attached and these signify bones, and it is always made only at this time of year.  It is very nice served with Mexican Hot Chocolate or Cafe de Olla here is a recipe:

Pan de Muerto  (Bread of the Dead)

Makes 1 large bread

1 x 7g sachet ‘fast action’ dried yeast

100 ml warm milk

500 g flour

150 g plus 2 Tbsp caster sugar

4 eggs, beaten

the juice and zest of 1 small orange, about 35 ml juice

1 tsp vanilla essence

50 g soft butter

½ tsp crushed caraway seeds (optional)

Put the oven to 180 C conventional /  160 C fan / Gas Mark 4

Activate the yeast by dissolving it in the warm milk and add 2 teaspoons of the sugar.

Sieve the flour into the bowl of an electric mixer such as a Kitchen Aid or Kenwood, add the sugar and salt plus the optional caraway seeds and the orange zest.  Add the yeast mixture and mix well.  Add the liquid ingredients except for the butter and using the flat paddle or the attachment for bread, mix at a medium speed for 5 minutes. Add the softened butter and continue mixing for 10 more minutes.  The dough should look very elastic and translucent.  Cover the bowl with cling film or a moist tea towel and leave to rise for a couple of hours in a draught free place or overnight in the fridge.  Punch the dough and put on a floured surface.

Cut ¼ of the dough and with the rest form a ball and flatten on the edge.

Separately make ‘bone’ shapes, you will need 4 long bones plus one ball that represents a skull.

Put the bread on a non-stick, floured baking tray or on some baking parchment.

Leave the bread and bones to rise for another ½ hr and when ready, decorate with the bones making a cross pattern and putting the ball on top.  Brush the whole of the bread with beaten egg and sprinkle with 2 Tbsp of caster sugar.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes at the indicated temperature, then lower the temperature by 20 C and leave for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature again by 20 C and leave for a further 20 minutes.

To see if the bread is cooked, it should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, and should look golden brown and it should have risen quite a bit too!

Note.  This recipe makes a rustic version of bread of the dead which is more dense than commercial varieties.

It is a funny thing that whilst outside the street is a vampire party with everyone dressed mainly in black, inside the house the place is full of vibrant colours with a more solemn atmosphere, a funny contrast which seems go to well in our diverse society.

How to eat a taco and the best taquerias in Mexico City.

Posted on by Sofia Larrinua-Craxton
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Like mole, the subject of tacos is enormous, there are tacos for all occasions, and for all types of people.  Small children in Mexico begin their taco-eating journey from an early age, most likely with ‘flautas de pollo’ which translates as chicken flutes the name being related to the similarity of these crispy tacos to a small flute or piccolo.  Some kids are brave enough to pour salsa on theirs, but many people, little or large enjoy eating these with guacamole, topped with lettuce a dollop of ‘crema agria’ and some crumbled ‘queso fresco’ and of course the ubiquitous optional salsa.  As we continue on our life journey, the palate matures -or in the case of many, it toughens; so more chilli, complex textures and flavours are required and here is where the taco subject extends massively.

To complicate things further, tacos are also associated to different occasions and they can be eaten at christenings, at private parties called ‘taquizas’, for lunch, as a snack just before going out, or as a perfect accompaniment to a long night on the tiles and of course as a good cure for the hangover that develops afterwards.

To attempt to classify tacos according to class, gender, race and festive occasion, would go beyond the scope of my simple blog, so I am not going to do that, not yet.  In fact I think that those outside Mexico who are interested in eating tacos, could perhaps start their own taco-journey by going to places like Taqueria -see my entry below, or its equivalent in whatever city you are.  If you are either in Mexico or are planning to visit and eat like the real Mc Coy, then you can follow these bits of advise:

1.  If you have Mexican friends join them, ask them to take you to their favourite taqueria, do ask what are you going to be eating, we tend to eat everything and although everything is delicious, it might not appeal to all, so ask first.  Then copy your friends add salsa, lime, coriander, onion, whatever takes your fancy, but remember that there is a code here and your friends will guide you, for instance a taco al pastor has to be eaten with onion, coriander and ‘salsa borracha’.  A taco de bistec should have lots of lime and perhaps a tomatillo or pico de gallo salsa. One taco topped with different salsas is a no, no, and don’t dip your tortilla chips (totopos) on salsa it is not quite the done thing… follow your friends or those sitting next to you.

2.  If you are a just a tourist and don’t know of anybody, then this guide might help you.

First of all go to a reputable place, don’t be mislead by the tourist thinking: if I am going to a stall that is full of people, food is being sold quickly so I might not get sick, well this might not be the case, also you might be eating things that are not necessarily of your fancy, so I would recommend going to a proper taco restaurant, or taqueria.  I will give some suggestions below.

Your taqueria should be clean, busy and it should have a ‘maestro taquero’, a master of the art of making tacos: this is a man (apologies for stereotyping people), he is usually in his thirties/forties, generally with a rounded belly and the proud owner of a bushy-black moustache.  He usually wears a white shirt, a white cap or paper hat and and apron and is extremely skillful in the art of taking orders, preparing meat, slicing, grilling, chopping, serving, making a mental account of how much each person is consuming, and then telling you exactly how much you need to pay.  Unlike sushi chefs, a ‘maestro taquero’ does not train for sixteen years before he can make his first taco, this trade is a ‘learn as you go’ job, but an advanced skill it is indeed! So much so that when I see them working so hard, so accurately, and always with a smile, I feel like giving them a round of applause -I won’t do that, I am not that ridiculous!

If you are a novice, go for simple tacos, things like bistec, chuleta, costilla, choriqueso (mexican chorizo and cheese), al pastor (pork in guajillo salsa and grilled pineapple), nopales (cactus), rajas (poblano strips, onion and cream) and alambre (poblano strips, char-grilled onions, bacon and steak). These should come on two tortillas piled with fillings and you need to divide these to make two tacos.  Then you add lots of lime and the salsa of your choice.  Fold the tortilla in half and in half again… if you want to look like a pro, then follow these simple steps:

  • Eat the taco with your hand, placing fingers like this: thumb and fourth fingers underneath the taco, index and middle fingers on top of the taco and little finger sticks out like when you drink a posh cup of tea.
  • Body position is very important.  Gentlemen, remove your ties! Tacos are better eaten while standing up.  To avoid spillages, chest sticks out a little and so does the bottom, this is in order to keep balance!  Tilt your head to face the taco and then you are ready to go.  Remember, practice makes perfect!

Most important is to enjoy the taco and for that you could go to:

El Califa.  Altata 22, corner with Alfonso Reyes in Condesa. Tel. 5271 7666.  London prices but the ‘Gaonera’ is delicious, go for the simple ‘taco de bistec’ which is very good, this is a post-modern establishment with videos, music, fancy deco and exhorbitant prices.  If you are in the area, go and mix with the in crowd, with luck you might spot Gael Garcia Bernal or Diego Luna

Los Panchos -since 1945.  Tolstoi 9, Anzures between Leibinitz and Dante, round the corner from Camino Real Hotel Tel: 5254 2082.  This is a traditional place which is always busy and where you can eat standing up, go for the carnitas, which are yum.  This is great to watch working Mexicans at lunch.

El Rincon de la Lechuza -since 1971.  Located in Miguel Angel de Quevedo almost corner with Insurgentes Avenue, very near Coyoacan district.  Tel: 5661 0050.  My parents used to bring me here when I was little and yes it is a family place, take mum, dad, cousins, brothers, sisters and granny.  Visit on a Sunday for lunch so that you can watch the other families; the grilled meats are very nice and so it was the chicken soup.

El Charco de las Ranas, in Rio Mixcoac 209 Tel 5598 6597.  In the middle of nowhere touristy, yet slightly close to Condesa, this place is a must, their pastor tacos are generous and delicious. In fact all their tacos are very generous.  This is a sui-generis place with slides for the kids, noisy, full of families and it looks like Mc Donald’s goes to Disneyland, but forget all that and enjoy the food, which is not only delicious but generous with fantastic salsas.   Also drink the rice drink (horchata) which is a favourite.

El Tizoncito in Tamaulipas 122, Condesa.  Tel. 5286 7321.  A beloved place that is full of memories, when I used to visit with my friends, where they used to have an ad hoc ‘park in’: people would park all over the place and someone would come and take the order and serve us in the car.  In my university days are full of memories where we used to all eat crammed inside my VW Beetle, and the smell of coriander would linger for days in the car!!  Sadly nowadays this place is a chain with franchises, more of a ‘concept’ now and their tacos do taste formulaic, however it might be worth visiting because they are in Condesa, because they are cheap, and because that first bite of a hot taco al pastor with all the trimmings is a fantastic experience.. and also because to watch Mr. Taco Master at work is something worth watching.

*this guide was partly borrowed from Chilango magazine and also from my own experiences and memories… enjoy!

Tacos al Pastor and Shawarma

Posted on by Sofia Larrinua-Craxton
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One of the things I like of the post-modern world as I understand it, is the fact that we can move from world to world in a similar way to that of opening windows whilst we surf the net.  Well at least that is how I feel life in London is, one is able to enter and leave worlds and move countries and nationalities in no time.

Not many years ago one was only able to move worlds by moving physically and that meant exile for many… how did people in exile continued with their memories of the lost land and dealt with their present in space and time?   I imagine that this meant moving nearby people that lived in the same conditions and people from the same country.  This seems to be one of the things that have happened in large cities and London is a showcase of many areas where people of so many nations live clustered together sharing spaces, a language, culture and food as well.

The other day I had to go to Divertimenti in Brompton Road and whilst I was cycling there, I was -once more, watching all the different pots that simmer in this incredible city, I went from Turkish Green Lanes in the north of London, through various districts that included gorgeous Bloomsbury where my beloved Birkbeck College is, through the trendy Marylebone area with all its shops and restaurants and I ended up in Lebanese Edgware Road, at this point I was quite hungry so I decided to stop at Maroush.  The Edgware Road I imagine, is like some part of Lebanon, full of spotless restaurants that are full of gorgeous, delicious goodies, amongst them lovely salads and dips, fresh and juicy shawarma straight from the grill, juices, a syrup drenched cakes.  Whilst having my shawarma I was thinking about how it is made and how similar is to Tacos al Pastor or Shepherd Tacos and it is funny the link here, maybe Tacos al Pastor are a Mexican adaptation of a migrant food of middle eastern origin.

As it happens, in Mexico we have the same contraptions where piles of marinated meat are put in front of a grill and turned to cook, whilst very skilled chefs cut bits of it and put them inside a bread and serve with salad, a gherkin, chilli sauce and a yoghurt dressing …yum! These are served rolled on sheets of paper and these are delicious washed down with a fresh juice.  These are called Arab tacos, and they can be eaten at ‘‘Taqueria El Greco’ in colonia Condesa in Mexico City and they are really similar to the shawarma I have had in Lebanese London.  However there is another dish that is similar in the way it is made and that is Tacos al Pastor.

I have no idea if these tacos existed when my parents were young, I doubt it.  What I am sure about is that when I was at university these were the rage and funnily enough the principle to shawarma is very similar… a Doner Kebab contraption, using marinated meat, in this case a mix of guajillo chilli, oranges, oregano and other ingredients, grilled until slightly charred and served skillfuly on a corn tortilla, not fogetting to add a little slice of roasted pineapple that has been flicked from the top of the turning grill.  In true Mexican tradition, these are served with fresh lime juice, a little chopped coriander and onions and salsa borracha, a hot salsa that contains pasilla chilli, vinegar and sugar amongst various ingredients.  I don’t know what it is, but these tacos are fantastic and at 7 pesos each from El Tizoncito in Condesa they certainly made very good fare for empoverished students like I was back in … um… back in the 80′s

What is great is that you can order a taco at a time and everyone else does the same -customers usually gather in front of the grill; there is only one man doing all the job and somehow he is able to track what is needed, who ordered what, who needs an extra taco.  Best of all is that each taco is served on a little piece of paper and at the end of your meal, your meal is sorted by counting the pieces of paper left on your plate.  Don’t try to be too smart though, they DO know how many tacos you have had and cheating with the number of papers is just not on.

I love tacos al pastor and I love shawarma, they are very different from each other maybe they have a common ancestor, maybe they are a refection of migrations, of different ways of experiencing something that could be the same, of the way we live nowadays, whatever it is, when in Mexico City do eat some Tacos al Pastor, they are great.