Scallops in Chile-Garlic Sauce (Callos de hacha al ajillo)
Scallops in Chile-Garlic Sauce (Callos de hacha al ajillo) I first tasted this dish with shrimp at the Mexico City outpost of the Veracruz restaurant, Pardiños, where they use powdered chicken base instead of salt. I normally would too but did not have any on hand...
Crimped Corn Tartlets (Picadas)
“Picada,” literally “pinked” or “pricked,” refers to the way you’re supposed to crimp up the edges of a small tortilla so as to form a shallow tartlet shell for spreading with a few simple toppings and serving as either a breakfast or supper snack. You may have...
Ceviche en Chamoy
Ceviche en Chamoy When I was young, we used to go to Mexicali, Baja California, every summer on our way to visit my grandmother in La Jolla. It was also our yearly trip to Disneyland. We’d stock up on saladitos (Chinese plums cured in salt and sugar), and chamoys,...
Eggs with Shrimp (Huevos con camarones)
Over breakfast at the Hotel Doña Lala in Tlacotalpan I had a stimulating conversation about the regional food with the dignified and beautiful seventy-eight-year-old patrona, Doña Debora Iñiquez Vives, and Tlacotlalpan’s handsome young mayor, Hilario Villegas Sosa....
La Parroquia’s Special Omelet in Turkey Broth
La Parroquia’s Special Omelet in Turkey Broth For me, this omelet invented at the Gran Café de la Parroquia in the port city of Veracruz sums up the boldness and depth and simplicity of Veracruzan cooking. It starts with a basic onion-and-potato omelet much like the...
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.