#miaskitchen

Follow the Smithsonian Latino Center on Instagram @slc_latino, the Smithsonian Latino Center Facebook page or via twitter @SLC_Latino.By Xánath Caraza

Mexican cuisine was declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010 by UNESCO.  The diversity of flavors from region to region, ingredients and cooking methods are what make Mexican cuisine a treasure.  This is a vital inheritance from nuestras familias.  Often we acquire recipes just by watching or helping as our family members prepare a myriad of dishes prepared in kitchens in Mexico or our Chicana kitchens here in the U.S.

Pipián vegetariano is a taste from my childhood. I remember anxiously sitting at the table and simply devouring it.  This exquisite Indigenous dish, made of pepitas, shelled squash or pumpkin seeds, chiles secos, tomatoes, green beans, chayotes, and zucchini, has deep Indigenous roots.  Therefore, and important to point out, each of these ingredients is originally from the Americas. Many became well-known around the world through Spanish colonization as they were exported by the Spanish to Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Pepitas, shelled squash or pumpkin seeds, have been found in caves in Oaxaca dating back 10,000 years.  Squash was the first domesticated plant in Mexico and it has been in our diets in many forms for these many thousands of years. Of the squash, we eat the flesh, seeds, stems and highly appreciated flowers, flores de calabaza.

Celebrating a significant ingredient from squash, let us consider our delicious pepitas, which are the main ingredient for our Pipián vegetariano. This dish is a sauce made of shelled pumpkin seeds and simmered vegetables. 

At the table, many enjoy Pipián vegetariano with corn tortillas. Un taquito anyone?  Making tacos de pipián is for me a tradition for reveling in this ancestral dish.  “Por mi casa te pedí tortillas” sings Lila Downs. How many Chicana mothers have asked for a special delivery of tortilla when going for a visit?  For this reason, while in my Pipián vegetariano bliss, I am sure to delight in a song or two, enveloping myself in flavors, rhythms, and nostalgia. For this dish, I am especially fond of ‘Taco de Palabras’ by Lila Downs. Click and listen as you experience your Pipián!

My recipe, dear reader, makes enough for three or four people.  For the salsa, the ingredients needed are: 1 cup raw pepitas, shelled squash or pumpkin seeds 2 chiles anchos 1 large tomato 1 cup water from simmered vegetables salt to taste

In a second pan, include the following vegetables to be simmered until cooked but retain some of their texture: 1 large diced zucchini 2 cups diced green beans 1 large diced chayote.  (If you cannot find chayotes, use potatoes instead.) Para la salsa, for the sauce, first toast the pumpkin seeds on a comal, griddle or a cast iron skillet over a slow fire with either no oil or very little.  Constantly stir the seeds until they change color, from green to light brown.  Then toast the chiles anchos and tomato on the comal as well.  Mix the ingredients for the salsa in a blender with water from the simmered vegetables.  Next, add more water if the sauce is to thick.  Pour into a large stockpot.  Let it simmer for about eight minutes and add salt to taste.  Incorporate the simmered vegetables and simmer for five more minutes.  Let it rest for ten minutes and your Pipián vegetariano is ready to eat.  Buen provecho from my Chicana kitchen. Hasta la próxima.

By Xánath Caraza

“‘Águas de março’: É pau, é pedra.  É o fim do caminho.  É um resto de toco.  É um pouco sozinho”, Elis Regina sings.  Personally, from Brazil, music, and food create for me a melancholic sense of saudade, añoranza or longing for a sensory experience of melody and flavor.  Let us cherish the celebrated Brazilian singer Elis Regina and her talented and equally distinguished daughter, Maria Rita. What is more, let us embrace Caetano Veloso’s interpretation of ‘Currucucú paloma’ with his uniquely whispering voice which nearly feels like he is intimately singing brushed up against each listener’s ear.  For me, soothing my saudade by listening to each of these artists is as delicious as biting into um pão de queijo, one of Brazil’s many gifts to the world as a traditional cheese bread. A multicultural essence is what makes up scrumptious Brazilian gastronomy.  This multicultural presence includes a wealth of indigenous cultures, a number of which remain without contact from the outside world even today.  From the multiple other indigenous cultures of Brazil co-existing with contact with outside communities, tapioca, and ground into tapioca flour, is a good example of a Brazilian indigenous contribution to cooking the world over. This is an essential ingredient in pão de queijo. Let us remember other multicultural contributions from Brazil, in addition to indigenous cultures.  Brazil’s rich African heritage is also experienced in its culinary arts every day with the slow cooked national dish of black beans and meat, feijoada.  Before enjoying some hearty feijoada, could I sneak in a little snack and comfort my saudade with um pão de queijo?  Absolutely, and all the while listening to the harmonious voice of Elis Regina. “É um pouco sozinho”. Brazil’s food is of course a blend of cultures with flavors from Amazonia to São Paolo and from the powerful Iguazu Falls region.  In addition to both indigenous and African cultures in Brazil, Italian, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish cultures have made significant contributions to daily food on tables across Brazil.  This is seen for example with the introduction of cheese from Europe and an ingredient to savor as well in pão de queijo.  And, as a result, cheese blended with native tapioca flour makes for a wonderful multicultural combination within just one of many traditional dishes from Brazil. Pão de queijo is a snack found everywhere in local bakeries along streets across Brazil, frozen at the super markets, or baked at home where family recipes compete to be treasured. For those who’d like to make pão de queijo at home, its main ingredient is Brazil’s native tapioca flour.  This flour is made from grated cassava root.  Then it is squeezed to extract a milky liquid.  The pulp is dried and finely ground.  This is a long and detailed process.  For those of us without access or specialized knowledge of how to make our own tapioca flour, fortunately a number of supermarkets will have it in their specialty flour sections, easy and ready to use for our pão de queijo. Today, I will share with you, dear reader, my adaptation and personal combination of several recipes for pão de queijo I have home-baked in my Chicana kitchen.  Manos a la obra, however not before listening to ‘La Garota de Ipanema’ while making our pão de queijo.  Also, be sure to add to your listening enjoyment the sweet-sounding voices of Elis Regina, Maria Rita, and Caetano Veloso while making your delectable pão de queijo, and then devouring this comfort food from multicultural Brazil.  These are the echoes and aromas of my Chicana kitchen as of late. Pão de queijo

Ingredients:

2 cups tapioca flour 1 cup milk 1/3 cup vegetable oil 2 jumbo eggs 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup grated parmesan cheese Canola Oil Spray Into a food processor, add first milk, oil, both eggs, and salt.  Blend for about thirty seconds. Add the grated cheese and then the tapioca flour.  Blend for about forty-five seconds; make sure that all ingredients are incorporated.  Next, spray muffin tins with canola oil.  Pour the mixture into the muffin tins and bake for twenty-five minutes at 400o F. Let your pão de queijo cool for about twenty-five minutes, and enjoy them with your favorite Brazilian tune.  

By Xánath Caraza

Tart, sweet, red, yellow or green, what is more U.S. American than apples? Para mi sorpresa, to my surprise, las manzanas, apples are not originally from the U.S. but native to the mountains of southern Kazakhstan in central Asia. Through many diverse locales, what a long journey a great variety of well-received apples has had.  Just as there is diversity in varieties of apples, so too there is diversity in our everyday lives, food, and music.  This diversity is what makes us strong, “con tanto amor” as Selena sings.  On account of this, let us celebrate our diversity in food while enjoying the rhythms and melodies of Selena’s music!

Abundant apples, apples and apples, my recipe today admirably has apples as its main ingredients.  The arrangement of this simple and juicy dish is in the shape of a flower. What is more, Selena’s beloved song ‘Como la flor’ is for me inspiration in addition to a flavorful assortment of apple pies in the U.S. This results for me as a wonderful play on words, como la flor de manzana.  Through this dish and the name which I bestow on it, I honor Selena.

Como la flor de manzana is a dessert that most of us Chicanxs/Latinasxs are able to make with ingredients we already have in our pantries. Un par de manzanas, a couple of apples, butter, sugar, and a flour tortilla.  Let us start with the ingredients as we listen to our beloved Selena singing ‘Como la flor’.  This one is for you, Selena.

Ingredients:

2 small apples

1 flour tortilla

1/8 cup sugar

1 tablespoon butter, cut into very small cubes

1/8 cup orange marmalade

Canola Oil Spray

Para comenzar, to begin, preheat your oven to 400o F.  Second, core the apples and slice them into thin wedges. Leave the peel on. Peeling them is an option as well and based on preference. I favor unpeeled apples as they give this dessert the appearance of a flower. Next, spray a baking sheet with canola oil. Then place half of the cubed butter on the flour tortilla. In addition, sprinkle with half of the sugar.  After that, starting in the middle of the flour tortilla, arrange the apple slices in a circular fashion to look like a flower. Place the remaining small cubes of butter on top of the apples. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar as well. Bake for 25 minutes at 400o F. Immediately out of the oven, brush the apples with orange marmalade. Let it cool for another 15-20 minutes and carefully place your Como la flor de manzana on a serving dish. Enjoy with more of Selena’s music, “Con tanto amor”!

by Xánath Caraza

Round food is present in many cultures of the world. Round cakes, round bread, round corn cakes, round, round, round food. In Latin America, maize is one of the main sources of food.  It is deeply rooted in Meso-America, a cultural region from approximately Central Mexico to Panama.  Meso-America, in order to be culturally defined as Meso-America, shares similar cultural patterns, for example, the use of codexes, the identification of Quetzalcoatl (the plumed serpent god in its different manifestations) and the cultivation of maize among other similarities.  However, beyond Panama, in other countries such as Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Chile, corn is also part of traditional diets.  Often a wide variety of corn is available including sizes of kernels, colors, and tastes. What I have noticed is that there is a round pattern of food made out of corn throughout the Americas.  For example, in Venezuela and Colombia, arepas are highly appreciated.  Then in Central America, the pupusa is queen.  In Guatemala, thick tortillas are common; in Mexico, there are tortillas made of black, red, white or yellow corn.  Also, there are bocoles, another round thick tortilla-like delicacy made of corn. Each of these delicious round corn foods developed within their own context; therefore, each typically reflects the flavors of its own region, its species and vegetables, such as avocado filled arepas in northern South America and Panama or loroco flowers in Central American pupusas.  Many of these round corn delights are eaten any time of the day, breakfast, lunch or dinner or simply as a snack between meals.  Many of them are easy to eat on the go, excellent food for traveling. In northern regions of South America, most especially Venezuela and Colombia, arepas are an everyday fare for many.  Panama just to the north enjoys this treat as well.  What is an arepa?  This hearty dish is a round frequently grilled and almost flat corn cake.  Once it is cooked, it can be filled with avocado, queso fresco or meat, just to mention some possibilities.  Another variation is to fry them instead of being grilled. How is the arepa connected to the history of these regions of Latin America?  Before colonial times and political division, indigenous people shared this vast region and shared the use of corn and other products.  Roots of arepas are indigenous.  Its name is believed to originate from the Cumanagoto word ‘erepa’ which translates as corn.  This is why I treasure each bite when I have the opportunity to enjoy an arepa.     While arepas are traditional in northern South America and Panama, as we move further north to Central America, flat corn dishes take on the form of pupusas.  This delectable round corn cake, larger than arepas, is filled with queso fresco, loroco, ayote, fried beans and/or chicharrones, made by hand and grilled.  In addition to corn, there is another variety of pupusas but made with rice flour.  Personally, I still prefer the ones made of corn. To accompany a pupusa, it is usually eaten along with curtido, a slaw made of shredded carrots, cabbage, onions, oregano, and tomato salsa to taste.  Large jars of curtido are passed around and served up alongside your delicious round corn pupusa. How do I like my pupusas?  For me, pupusas taste better when eaten as a finger food and among friends.  Isn’t good food usually enjoyed more with the accompaniment of those we enjoy around us? What are the origins of the name of this wonderful round corn cake? The origin of the word pupusa or popotlax seems to be a combination of two Nahuatl-Pipil words.  Popotl means filling or stuffing, and tlaxcalli means tortilla. Pupusas are so popular that El Salvador has made them its national dish and celebrates el Día de la pupusa on the second Sunday of November each year.  And, it’s not just El Salvador; pupusas are also extremely popular in Honduras as well. As we go further north yet to Mexico, we can enjoy bocoles, another round corn cake which is also grilled en un comal.  They are made by hand and the masa is mixed with manteca de res.  I personally mix the masa with vegetable oil or butter.  Almost flat, bocoles are filled and then cooked or they can be filled after being grilled.   Traditional fillings include queso fresco mixed with a chile ancho paste, refried beans and yerbabuena, eggs, avocado, and/or meat. Historically and thriving today, bocoles are an indigenous food of the Huastec people in Mexico; the Huastec people live in what we know today as the states of Hidalgo, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro and the Northen region of Veracruz.  My mother belongs to the Huasteca veracruzana and I grew up eating homemade bocoles filled with queso fresco and chile ancho paste.  I truly enjoy the memories of my mother and grandmother warming up the comal, and the delicious earthy aroma of grilled bocoles filling the air. We often take with us childhood flavors, nuestros sabores de niñez, wherever we go and whether we are aware of it or not.  Here in the US, disfruto, I enjoy seeing the many different family restaurants where I can order wonderful pupusas or arepas.  I haven’t yet found a place to order bocoles, but at home, usually on a quiet weekend, I honor la abuela every time I summerge my hands en la masa to make bocoles.  Gracias, abuela.  Inspired by my grandmother, here is my recipe for bocoles: Los bocoles Prepare masa harina, about 2 cups (follow package directions) Add ½ a teaspoon of soft butter Filling Rehydrate 2 ancho peppers (I love the flavor of ancho peppers, but you can only use one).

Mix with crumbled queso fresco, about ½ cheese, I use queso fresco that I am able to find at the supermarket.

Make masa balls, about the size of golf ball, make an indention put the filling in the indention and then close it up. Flatten it into a small cake and grill it.  Enjoy!

📷Pictures of pupusas and bocoles by Xánath Caraza. Picture of arepas courtesy of Paola Ramírez. 

By Xánath Caraza. 

High in the Andes mountains on the islands of Amantaní and Taquile in the Peruvian alcove of Lake Titicaca, I clearly remember the first time I tasted quinoa.  It was almost twenty-two years ago when I discovered this nutritious food from the gods, as I like to call it.  It was really like suddenly opening a secret gate to my indigenous roots while surrounded by water at almost 4,000 meters, 13,000 feet, high.  I fell in love with its earthy taste and its soft yet crunchy texture.  It was both familiar and new simultaneously.

How important quinoa has been in the diet of South American peoples, both ancestral and contemporary cultures was amazing for me to learn about. Perú and Bolivia are two core countries where quinoa is central in original pre-Colombian diets, soups for example. The fact that quinoa has been found in Inca archaeological sites dating back more than 3,000 years is fascinating to me, and it fills me with a joyful sense of pride.  This superfood, as it is known nowadays, has been around for millennia without a doubt.  

Here in the US, we have the possibility of finding quinoa; claim it, and make it part of our diets.  There are many effortless preparations to cook quinoa.  Take it on the go for a healthful lunch or have it for a hearty dinner at home.  I especially enjoy having quinoa salad.  This refreshing dish is full of vegetables and naturally nutritious.

From my childhood in Mexico, one of the reasons why I fell in love with quinoa was because I was already in love with amaranth, similar to quinoa. Amaranth is another nutritious ancient indigenous superfood and from Mexico. For breakfast, I grew up having puffed amaranth sprinkled over yogurt and drizzled with honey.  I enjoyed this much more than boxed cereal.

For a special treat once in a while, I would have an alegría, similar to a granola bar and made from only amaranth and honey.  I used to buy alegrías from mobile food vendors with their folding wooden blue boxes filled with candy in the many colorful parks in Mexico.

Here in the US, amaranth is found in its natural state, and I have used it exactly as I have cooked quinoa.

Share with us your own recipes for quinoa or amaranth salad, soups or any other dishes you, cherished reader, prepare.  We would certainly love to hear your stories and enjoy your special recipes.  In the next post you will find my interpretation of quinoa salad.  Buen provecho.

📷Images by Xánath Caraza.