Tamales with Corn and Poblano Chiles (Tamales con elote y chile poblano)
I long for the flavor of tamales de elote, made with puréed fresh corn kernels. But our starchy, flavorful Mexican corn cannot be replaced with United States sweet corn, which creates a terribly insipid, watery effect. So I evolved something a little different using a...Green Chile Con Carne (Carne con chile verde)
Green Chile Con Carne (Carne con chile verde) This dish of my mother’s is great for doubling. It freezes well, and she recommended to keep a few pints of it on hand. It’s good as a filling for burritos, tostadas, and crisp taco shells (just drain it well first), and...Duck with “The Curé’s Sauce” (Pato con salsa del cura)
My inspiration was a recipe by Débora Iñiguez de Vives, published in that wonderful book La Cocina Veracruzana. She uses the true canate (a kind of migratory wild duck that winters in the Papaloapan River Basin), cut into serving pieces and braised in the flavorful...
“Swaddled Baby” Seafood Omelet (Niño envuelto)
I’ve seen this name used for a dessert rolled around a filling like a jelly roll. But it isn’t (or wasn’t) familiar in a savory context. I had no idea what to expect when we picked it from a menu at the La Viuda restaurant in Alvarado. What they brought us was a...Shrimp Filling (Relleno de camarón)
A recipe like this is really an invitation to play around. The choice of herbs, the amount of pickled ingredients, tomatoes, and seasonings are all up to your judgement. Are you planning to serve something else with a lot of olives, like Pato con salsa del cura? Then...
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.