Fruta con chile

Ground chili pequin peppers, with their glorious 100,000 scoville units of pure spicy bliss~

…alternatively, “100,000 units of pure eternal damnation”, if you’re a wuss B/

Along with added salt and lime juice, the chile is generously spread atop your rabbit food of choice, from the citric pineapple and oranges to the refreshing wateriness of cucumbers and watermelon, this stuff goes with anything, and that anything will become your hot summer fruity romance~ - A-

Cut them all in any shape and size you want: slices, dices, triangles, cubes, stars, butterflies, that flower like shape mangos got there, the only limit is your imagination. And self-respect probably. I mean who the hell puts chile on bananas and berries? People who stoped loving themselves that’s who - .-

Taco Tuesday: Al Pastor

Estos si son tacos y no chingaderas ♥`w´♥

La carne al pastor is the result of a careful blend of many spices, such as achiote, pepper, chiles, paprika, and many more, applied to multiple layers of steaks for marinating, which are then stacked one over the other in a vertical metal stick to form what is known as el trompo and cooked sideways with an open flame.

Only the outer side is seared, and el taquero cuts thin slices of it which fall straight into the tortilla, along with a slice of pineapple that helps tenderize the meat further, as well as provide a wild mix of sweet and spicy tastes we mexicans love.

these are small taquitos, so they serve as a full meal or a snack no matter what, and can be enjoyed with both salsas verde and roja, minced onions, coriander and lime juice everywhere, no city nor pueblo is safe from having at least one tacos al pastor stand~

Camotero

Ah, the oven on wheels that crosses the city by nightfall, offering the baked goods within: sweet potatos, either regular or caramelized; platanos machos and nopales. When it’s whistle pierces the air, you know the camotes are coming, so you better get the milk ready.

Get ‘em while they’re hot, steaming straight out the oven, and enjoy them with condensed milk, jam, honey, chocolate, cinnamon… a treasure trove of sweetness for any night at the city~

Pan Mexicano: La Rosca de Reyes

A yearly tradition, eaten either at breakfast or at night, along with a steaming cup of hot choco goodness - 3-

In Mexico, the spongy dough is covered with crystalized figs, ates (that’s ah-tehs. A candy, not a verb. We’ll talk about those later.) cut into strings, cherries and… that sweet powdery topping from conchas… does it even have a name idfk.

Hidden inside are one or more “monitos”, small plastic figurines in the shape of a toddler. The tradition in Mexico dictates that whoever gets a slice with a monito inside has to host a fiesta on el día de la Candelaria (february the 2nd), or buy/make tamales for it.

There’s also traditions around it in Spain, Argentina, Colombia, Portugal, but hell if I know the full extent of those - .-

Aguas Frescas

Soft drinks made from fruits, flowers, cereals, seeds, your mom, all blended with water and sugar. Simple, quick to prepare, refreshing and all-natural, and always present in fondas, markets and juice bars.

The flavors are nothing like what powders and concentrates can offer, and being all natural means they also are healthier than processed juices and sodas.

The most prevalent are lemon, orange, horchata, hibiscus and tamarind; meaning you can find these almost everywhere.

But other flavors that you can find, at juice bars and ice cream shops mostly, are cantaloupe, pineapple, strawberry, guava, mango, papaya, alfalfa, cebada, soursop, passion fruit, watermelon, cucumber, or any wild combination of them all that the maker can come up with.

Served ice cold, they’re perfect life partners for summer~

El Pozole

A favorite classic of the holiday season, commonly seen at after-party breakfast tables.

The basic recipe calls for cacahuazintle maize, nixtamalized and boiled in water, with optional meat and seasonings. Simple as that. Any other thing is open to the imagination.

During cooking, the maize slowly pops much like popcorn, except nothing like popcorn at all. It just embiggens and fractures, becoming a flowery shape. After it does this the meaty ingredients can be added to the mix. Spicing it up during cooking is what makes it have a characteristic color, either red or green depending on the spices used.

And then there’s white pozole, a blank canvas for anyone eating to decide the flavor. Unless the cook forgets to provide salsas and condiments, cuz then you’re left with a plate full of bland shit and anguish.
SERIOUSLY WHO EVEN SERVES WHITE POZOLE AND DARES CALL IT A COMPLETE MEAL BY ITSELF??

Corn tostadas, oregano, limes, coriander, radish slices and julienned lettuce are often served to accompany the dish.

Los Tacos de Cabeza

Tortilla wraps offer a myriad of posibilities, of recipes and of course flavor in the filling. And oh boy, I can not do justice to these in a single post, so let’s have a weekly taco talk, ok? Ok.

Let’s start it off with the steamy meat delight of tacos de cabeza: made with the steamed meat from a whole cow’s head. All of the meat.
Tongue, eyes, cheeks, ears, brains, snout, you got them all.

Because it is cooked by steam, the meat conserves more of its nutrients and avoids the added fats from oils, as well as being prone to overcooking and burning. The meat is elastic and soft, since there’s an abundance of collagen that doesn’t quite break down while cooking.

A common dish for late night dinners, los tacos de cabeza can be eaten at taco stands all over the country, since there is always at least one, no matter how small the town may be. As such, local butchers will normally have the heads reserved for them, so if you want to make your own, for a huge fiesta (one head alone can easily feed about 30 people) you gotta request the head in advance to them.

El Atole

Más vale atole con risas que chocolate con lágrimas.

Gee willikers, it sure gets cold this month out here, so what better way to counter it than a hot steaming cup of sweet blessings? :y

Atole is a drink made with water and corn flour, and is way different to your average hot cocoa in that it contains a bountiful amount of other flavor spices: vanilla, cinnamon, orange flower and leaves water, fruit pulp, and so on.

It is sweetened by using either honey, piloncillo or sugar; and is a staple of mercados everywhere, where it’s sold early in the morning as a breakfast option to both merchants and customers, being the perfect companion for all kinds of breads like bolillos, conchas and tamales.

If made with wheat or rice instead of corn flour, it supposedly works as a cheeky little remedy for diarrhea and other digestive ailments.

And seriously guys, it’s cold as balls right now.
So I’m gonn’ go get myself one rn - 3-

Los Bolillos

15 centimeters of white bread, plain and simple.

Much like a French baguette, bolillo buns are crunchy on the outside and spongy on the inside, which is known as “migajón”; the difference being the thicker crust of bolilos.

Teleras (shown left) are another kind of bolillo, wich is divided in three segments and has a thin crust, barely crunchy, basically a white bread bun. Birotes are a special kind of bolillo from Jalisco that have a salty taste to them, fit for making tortas ahogadas.

Get them while they’re hot in the morning, right as el panadero wakes you up with his yelling. The perfect partner for all kinds of food in the form of tortas, molletes, and as accompaniment to seafoods.

El Piloncillo de Panela

Brown sugar, how come you taste so good?
Brown Sugar, just like a young girl should.

The main ingredient in the making of mexican candies, as well as sweetener for many beverages.

It is basically whole cane sugar; derived from the boiling and evaporation of sugarcane juice that’s just a purification step away from being muscovado sugar. You know, it’s things like this that make you realise how sugar makes no sense and is more complicated than it needs to be -_-

In Mexico, panela is known best as piloncillo (“little pylon”) after the shape it is usually sold in; and since the name panela is already used to call a type of mexican cheese.

It’s uses are mostly for making desserts, candies and as sweetener for beverages, but there’s also recipes for salsas that call for it.