Chicken Noodle Soup Veracruz-style (Caldo de pollo con fideos)
I always loved the brothy soup with pilaf-style noodles (you brown them in hot oil before cooking them in the broth) that I grew up with up in the north of Mexico. No canned chicken noodle soup for us! So I was delighted to find a closely related dish from the...
Plantain “Lasagna” with Refried Black Beans and Mole
Plantain “Lasagna” with Refried Black Beans and Mole My Facebook friend, Joyce Colon, told me about a layered plantain dish she grew up on in Puerto Rico. It occurred to me that I could do something similar with plantains, refried beans, mole, and shredded cheese atop...
Five Different Stuffed Chiles (Chilles rellenos)
Photo Emmanuel Bastien When people in this country talk about chiles rellenos they usually mean the batter-fried, cheese-filled chiles below. But the words chile relleno simply means a stuffed chile and it can be any kind of chile with any filling. The chile above is...
Mexican Seafood Frittata (Torta de mariscos)
This seafood frittata (torta de mariscos) would have to be close to the top of any list of classic, peerless, sensational Veracruzan dishes. You find different versions everywhere, but it belongs mostly to the central southern coasts and waterways of Sotavento. I call...
The many lives of Zarela Martínez
Culinary legend Zarela Martínez introduced finely tuned, highly researched regional Mexican cuisine to a national stage, and has continued to blaze trails for more than three decades.