Pork with Pumpkin Sauce (Puerco con calabaza)
This recipe is a marvel of layered flavors. The combination of cumin and coriander seed is unexpectedly vibrant. The pork is cooked in the pumpkin water. I have changed the method for cooking pork. I now cut it in big chunks, about 2 inches, and place in a...
Stuffed Suckling Pig with Isthmian Fruit Picadillo (Cochinito con picadillo de frutas)
This is not an easy dish to make but it is a great dish. Rather than being difficult, it is time-consuming. It’s the kind of dish you make on a rainy or snowy day when you want a project such as the when we participated in Island Pig or was it Pig Island? We...
Julie Sahni’s Chicken Kabuli
Julie Sahni’s Chicken Kabuli People are always surprised to learn that I don’t eat Mexican food all the time. I, in fact, seldom eat full Mexican meals at home. I regularly have huevos con chorizo (scrambled egg with homemade chorizo), a quick quesadilla, add poblanos...
Langoustines or Shrimp with Garlic and Parsley (Camarones Tia Cuquita)
Langoustines or Shrimp with Garlic and Parsley (Camarones Tia Cuquita) I met Doña Cuquita, an old-fashioned matron with three unmarried older daughters, while I was studying in Guadalajara. Doña Cuquita was stern-looking, with hair in a bun and little glasses on the...
Coconut Shrimp (Camarones con coco)
This is a takeoff on something that I first encountered at Restaurante Diligencias in Tampico. I fell in love with their spicy version of a salsa verde, served on the side with fried shrimp or baked fillet of fish. You will see the family resemblance of this sauce...
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.