Fun Fact Friday: Undoing the myths of Mexican Food that you've believed all your life

There is a saying in Oaxaca,

“Para todo mal, mezcal, para todo bien, también” 

For everything wrong, mezcal; for everything right, too.

Empellon Inside: New Dishes Today, Cocina

We put a couple of new dishes on the menu today.

Both are very simple and super delicious.

Mangalitsa Pork with White Beans and Green Mole.

Oaxacan style green mole is a stew of tomatillos, green chiles, spices and fresh herbs. Traditionally it almost always contains pork and white beans.

We got in some beautiful mangalitsa rib loins in and we were excited to use them right away. Mangalitsa are pigs raised for their lard so the meat is incredibly well marbled. We are cutting thin slices off of the loin and giving them a quick sear on a hot plancha. The pork is surrounded by white beans that have bean simmered in a pigs foot broth thickened with masa. Otherwise the dish is dotted with green mole made in the traditional way with hoja santa an parsley.

The other new dish we have created is a Fresh Chickpea Salad with Burnet, Burnt Chile Hummus and Parmesan

A new technique for us is taking jalapenos and roasting them in an oven until the have turned to cinders. It may sound strange but it tempers the heat of the chile. When the jalapeno ashes are pulverized and folded into hummus it imparts a wonderful, almost coffee like flavor.

We are producing dishes faster then we probably should but I have made the decision that I want to expand the menu at Cocina over the next couple of months. Ive decided that as a Chef I simply do not like small menus so Im not going to have them anymore.

Kitchen Recipes: Lobster Tacos

Our Lobster Tacos, shared with you!

Serves 4

Ingredients:
8  tortillas
2 cups cooked lobster meat
1 recipe Hominy (see recipe)
1 recipe Epazote Mayonnaise (see recipe)
1 recipe Epazote Cream (see recipe)
Cotija cheese, for garnish

For the Hominy:

Ingredients:
4 tbsp butter, divided in half
2 garlic, minced
1 serrano chile, chopped
1 cup plum tomatoes, cut into small dice
1 epazote branch
½ oz. mezcal
2 cups hominy
1 tsp salt

Method:

For the hominy, start a pot of boiling water.

In a saucepan over medium heat, add the first half of butter and cook until brown.  Add the garlic and cook until golden, add the Serrano chiles and sauté for one minute before adding the diced tomatoes.

Meanwhile, pick all the leaves off the epazote branches.  Chop the leaves finely before adding to the Serrano chile/tomato mixture.  

Continue cooking the mixture until almost dry, about 10 minutes.  Add the mezcal and let cook until the alcohol dissolves.

In the pot of boiling water, add the corn and blanch for 2 minutes before immersing it into a bowl of ice water. Drain the corn and add to the saucepan with the chiles, tomatoes, and epazote.  Season with salt, remove the pan from the heat and add the second half of butter.  Serve.

Epazote Mayonnaise:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp epazote leaves

Method:

In a blender, place the mayonnaise and epazote leaves and puree until smooth.  Pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve and serve.

Epazote Cream:

Ingredients:
1 oz olive oil
4 garlic cloves, halved
¼ cup jalapeños, with seeds, chopped
¼ cup Tomato Base (see recipe)
1 qt. heavy cream
1 tsp salt
½ tbsp epazote leaves

Method:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the garlic and jalapeños and cook until just starting to brown, about 4 minutes.  Add the tomato base and continue cooking the mixture down to a paste, about 20 minutes.  Add the cream, salt and epazote and bring to a simmer.

Remove the cream from the heat and cover with a lid.  Allow it to infuse for 30 minutes and strain.  

Tomato Base:

Ingredients:
1 cup plum tomatoes
½ cup roasted onions
4 cloves garlic, roasted

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.  Transfer to a bowl, stir thoroughly.  

To assemble:

In a pan, heat the epazote cream and the corn.  Add the lobster and cook 2 minutes to warm through.  Garnish with epazote mayo and cotija cheese.

Mat in Mexico, Week 3

Week 3- On my own…sort of.

So, with the prior two weeks’ worth of shenanigans and immersion into everything Mezcal having come to an end, the Canadians boarded a plane back to their motherland, and the rest of the crew went off to their respective abodes throughout Mexico.  It was now time for me to take a deep breath and venture forth solo.  First challenge:  find a place to call home for at least the upcoming month. 

As daunting as that proposition was initially, good fortune found me in the way of Joseph Mortera, a fellow bartender and Brand Ambassador for Hendrick’s Gin.  As luck would have it, Joseph and his lovely girlfriend Lina coincidentally happened to have a room in their apartment available precisely when I needed it.  Since my arrival in this beautiful country, I’d been staying at the Hotel Roosevelt, a nice little place that was only setting me back about $50 per night.  This comfy lodging met my needs, is very clean, and has a tremendously helpful staff - check it out if you ever visit this area, you won’t be disappointed. 

I'd met Joseph at “Tales of the Cocktail” in New Orleans last summer; we both had arrived not really knowing what to expect, as neither of us had never attended the event. We met up through a mutual friend and did what one does at “Tales” -  we joined forces and proceeded to become incredibly intoxicated by the wealth of spirit knowledge (and spirits) from some of the most influential bartenders and fellow industry comrades from around the world.  When I first contemplated this Mexico adventure, Joseph was the first person I contacted. Not only is Joseph a genuinely good person, but when it comes to the cocktail scene in Mexico City, no one knows more about it than Joseph. 

My temporary housing needs having been met, I was gearing up to explore this vast city on my own when, once again, good fortune found me, this time as Cecilia Murrieta.  Cecilia is a great friend of mine who produces a lovely mezcal of her own by the name of La Niña de Mezcal http://laninadelmezcal.com/, and it was great to reconnect with her in Mexico.  I was also very pleasantly surprised when she introduced me to Ceci Norman, who works with T.I.P, aka: Tequila Interchange Project.  Let me clarify:  T.I.P. is an incredible “not for profit organization comprised of hospitality professionals, academics, and agave enthusiasts who believe in preserving and promoting sustainable, traditional and quality practices in the tequila and agave distilled spirits industry.” They are the remarkable and notable organization responsible for drawing attention to NOM 186 (http://www.tequilainterchangeproject.org/2012/07/05/nom-186-press-release/) and preventing it from passing the initial phase. You can read more about NOM 186 here: http://www.diffordsguide.com/class-magazine/read-online/en/2012-01-24/page-7/nom-186:-news-report

(Pinball Wizard, Tequila/Mezcal Museum Bottle & Glass Holder, Plaza Garibaldi Mariachi)

Our first destination was a e restaurant called Limosneros http://www.limosneros.com.mx/ in the Centro Histórico, where we shared a few plates.  The food was good, but what really grabbed my attention was a grouping of amazing hand-blown glass mezcal dispensers, each in a teardrop shape and suspended by a single chain attached to the ceiling.  Each was identified with a placard denoting the specific mezcal contained inside. It was a great look, classy and elegant, drawing attention to the spirit without being gaudy or pretentious.

We later headed to Fiebre de Malta https://www.facebook.com/FiebreDeMalta, a brew pub boasting a great selection of beers on tap and their very own selection of artisanal beers brewed in-house.  I treated myself to their Tempus Red, a delicious accompaniment to Papalote (Agave cupreata) Mezcal, one of the funkiest mezcals I have ever smelled or tasted.  Imagine; meaty, stinky cheese, brine. The funk gripped the room as soon as the bottle was opened and it was glorious.

The following day, Joseph and friends took me to the Central de Abasto, a massive market which covers approximately 810 acres.  Yeah, 810 ACRES of meat, veggies, fruits, fish, nuts and everything else under the warm Mexican sun.  From what I am told it is the largest market of its kind in Mexico and is meant to be the axis of food distribution not only in Mexico City but for the entire country as well. As Joseph put it, “it isn’t pretty and it doesn’t smell great (outside), but the best, freshest ingredients are found here,” he was right, especially about the outside portion of the broadcast.  (I would love to bring the kitchen crew from Empellon here and just let them loose to see how many dishes they’d be able to create from the vast array of amazing ingredients at their disposal.) After walking around a bit and basking in the enormity of it all, we grabbed a few items and made our way back home where we indulged in some delicious homemade tacos, chorizo and quesadillas.

(Starfruit CDA, Capulines CDA, PapayaCDA, Porque No CDA, Hoofin' It CDA)

On to more cultural pursuits, I met up the next day with La Niña and Ceci who took me to the Museo Nacional de Antropología (Museum of Anthropology) http://www.mna.inah.gob.mx/, a 21-acre museum housing one of the largest collections of archeological artifacts from Mayan civilization to the Spanish conquest. It was a neat place to check out, even if there were no artifacts pertaining to ancient distillation, which is what we were initially looking for. It was incredible to see how important death was to the development of Mexico; ritual sacrifice, wars, the afterlife and deities all played a large part in its evolution.

Up to this point, I’ve been fortunate to have traveled through this country with extremely knowledgeable people who know the lay of the land, and who have graciously been willing to show me around.  However, there have also been numerous occasions for me to venture out on my own, mainly because I have a horrible sense of direction. I get lost riding the subway in NY all the time, and I have lived there for 2 years.  Being in an unfamiliar environment and (dare I say it yet again) not speaking the language doesn’t help.  Oh, and Google Maps only works with Internet connectivity, so kiss that safety net goodbye.

So far, however, I’ve managed to find my way to several great monuments and have successfully returned to my apartment.  Granted, sometimes it takes me several hours, but that is neither here nor there. Allow me to share some cool sights I’ve visited:  El Ángel de la Independencia ("The Angel of Independence"), which was built to commemorate the centennial of the beginning of Mexico’s War of Independence, stands 118 ft tall and is one of the most recognized landmarks in Mexico City.  The Plaza Garibaldi known as the home of Mariachi in Mexico City is literally a plaza where these guys (dressed in their “Charro” attire) hang out soliciting gigs from the hundreds of people that visit daily.  At 100 pesos a song, most people opting for 5 songs, it isn’t a bad gig at all. I had them play a song so I could record it and send it to my mom for Mother’s Day.  My selection was, “Guadalajara”, not because it is her favorite song, but because I had no idea what he was saying when I asked him to play for me.  No matter, she still dug it.   Plaza Garibaldi is also home to the Museo del Tequila y el Mezcal, which is nothing special, but for 50 pesos, why not? The admission price includes a tequila and mezcal, which I clearly needed if I was to muster up the courage to waltz up to the Mariachi and ask them to play a song.  Estela de Luz (Pillar of Light) was built in 2011 to commemorate the bicentenary of Mexico’s independence from Spanish rule.  It stands at 341 ft, is covered in marble and cost a staggering 1,304,000,000 pesos.  This is not a typo.  This amount roughly equates to $107 million USD.   Ask most locals and they’ll probably say the same thing my buddy said:  “It’s a monument of shit and shit politics.” 

(El Angel de la Independencia War, El Angel de la Independencia Door, El Angel de la Independencia Top, Estela de Luz)

On my many solo excursions, I’ve noticed a few things that are a little surprising to me, including that a lot of people in Mexico running or spend considerable amounts of time engaging in outdoor activities.  I don’t know, perhaps it’s mostly in the area where I’m staying (La Condesa – for those keeping score) but I find it a bit intriguing.  There’s even a park next to me that features an outdoor gym, and from what I’ve read, it isn’t the only one. 

Random fact and travel advisory: Nail clippers are almost impossible to find in Mexico City.  This isn’t a joke. I visited three supermarkets and two pharmacies with nary a clipper to be found.  Why am I telling you this? Because it took me 4 days to find them and, should you decide to visit, I don’t want you to have to traverse Mexico City in need.  Bring your own.  Not even the people that walk around selling random goods had a pair, and they sell everything. I saw a young man carrying around lap tables the other day, followed by his buddy selling rugs!  You’ll be relieved to know that I finally found them in a little Mom’n Pop store. They were $45 pesos and are “pearl” handled, nice blue, silver and purple hue. Sassy.

Walking is pretty entertaining in the evenings as red lights don’t exist, or, people figure they’ll stop twice next time. It isn’t blatant zip through red light running, it is slow creep stop with the other cars and when no one is looking run through. Just a heads up if you plan on walking about at night.

One final thought -

Perhaps I’m just paranoid, but ordering street food, deliciously rewarding as it is, can be ridiculously intimidating. As I relentlessly continue to mention, I speak very little Spanish and the culinary terms I know don’t necessarily apply here. As most street vendors don’t speak much English, this food-ordering has proven to be a most entertaining venture, well, entertaining to everyone except me. My routine has become the following:  I find an item on the menu that sounds appealing, I order said item, the vendor asks me a follow-up question, I give him/her a blank stare, they give me a blank stare back, good times indeed.  It’s getting better though.  I’ve become quite proficient at saying: “Lo siento, poco español, hablo Ingles.’