Baking Up an Authentic Mexican Storm with Rosca de Reyes (King's Cake Bread)

Looking around for some authentic Mexican recipes for a few Christmas gatherings I'm having, I found a great recipe for Rosca de Reyes (King's Cake) to serve after the new year, on January 6th, actually.  It's a delicious bread eaten on that date to coincide with the "Epiphany", the date said to have been when the three wise men came bearing gifts for young baby Jesus.  Regardless of what you believe, this bread is delicious and I found a great recipe for it you can try out yourself on this site:  Kings' Cake recipe

Provecho, authentic Mexican foodies!

Last Minute Christmas Gifts for Mexican Food Lovers

Have a Mexican foodie on your Christmas shopping list like me?  Check out some of the gifts you can pick up last minute for the Authentic Mexican Recipes lovers in your life, here::  http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/toppicks/tp/topgifts.htm

The Origins of Authentic Mexican Recipes

Every country has its own food, and that food usually comes together from a number of different places.  I liked this little article that talks a bit about the origins of authentic Mexican recipes:

 

Every cuisine has a foundation of ingredients. In Mexico, it was squash, corn, and beans. Each region then added their specialties to this foundation. In the Yucatan Peninsula, seafood was the primary addition along with fruit-based sauces. In northern Mexico, the meat was almost always grilled over an open charcoal fire. Oaxaca is thought to be the place corn was first domesticated. Even today, there are many varieties of corn grown in this area that can be found nowhere else. Chiles are another staple in this area. They make seven different varieties of mole sauce in Oaxaca.

 

Why Is Traditional Mexican Food So Fascinating?

Traditional Mexican Cuisine Recognized By UNESCO

Authentic Mexican recipes, the entire cuisine in fact, was added to UNESCO's list of "intangible cultural heritage" last month!  

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization just added 46 new items to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Things, they said, that are cultural treasures worth preserving. Among them was Spanish flamenco, traditional gastronomic meal of the French and traditional Mexican cuisine.

Traditional Mexican cuisine added to UNESCO

This is a big time indeed for the Mexican food world!

Limes Everywhere In Mexican Food

Limes are insanely popular in authentic Mexican recipes, and this entertaining and informative article by Karen Hursh Graber about limónes discusses this very thing!  Turns out limes are not only tasty, they're very healthy, too.

Many years ago, when I first had cocktails with new friends here in Mexico, I was somewhat surprised when the waiter brought lime wedges with the peanuts, and even more surprised when one of the group squeezed liberally, dousing the peanuts, skin and all, with the aromatic juice. He didn't ask whether anybody didn't want lime, because apparently everyone did.

Limes Everywhere In Mexico

Patience Is A Virtue With Authentic Mexican Recipes

Usually when you think of cooking food, your instinct tells you the spoils of your efforts will taste best if you eat them right away after cooking while they're still fresh.  But, as many chefs know, with some ingredients in particular, and many of the ones comprising authentic Mexican recipes, it's best to let your cooked goodies sit for a while so their ingredients can marinate further and draw out flavor into each other.  As a Mexican cook, I see this theme quite a lot, actually, and was reminded of this when I read a random sentence from a new Mexican food site I was browsing:

The salsa will become hotter and robust if you let it set for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

from: Marquez Family Salsa Recipe 

 

So the next time you're about to cook Mexican, first ask yourself if you know if the recipe will be enhanced if you let it sit for a few extra hours after cooking, and give yourself enough time to do this if that is the case!  Happy cooking, Mexican food lovers!  -Carlos Lima

Authentic Mexican Recipes Cooked With Lard

It may surprise some but lard is used all the time when cooking authentic Mexican recipes.  Butter is used in the Mexico a lot, but as Mexican cuisine author Maya Pillai plainly explains, if you're eating butter, you aren't eating authentic Mexican:

Though today people use refined vegetable oil as fat for cooking, the ancient Mexicans used lard. Butter is never used in a traditional Mexican cuisine. Lard adds aroma and favor to the masa used for making tamales.

Read her interesting article about some of the history of Mexican cuisine.

Salsa Everywhere in Authentic Mexican Recipes

Mexican cuisine is incredibly diverse, and when you start taking a look at authentic Mexican recipes, you can't help but notice the massive role salsas have in shaping the cuisine's flavors.  I liked this little article from the Food Network that takes a peek into the major corners of the cuisine and provides a good description of how "salsa" has a much deeper meaning in Mexico than many other countries.

The spicy sauce we buy in jars on supermarket shelves used to taste all the same, but now, at least, there are choices beyond mild, medium and hot. There is green salsa, and salsa punched up with chipotle. You can find habanero-smacked salsa, garlic-heavy salsa and roasted tomatillo salsa. And in Mexico, of course, there are more salsas than could fit in an entire aisle of one of our grocery stores. But then again, in Mexico most of them aren't things you buy in jars; they are things you make.

a good overview of Mexican cuisine

Authentic Mexican Recipes From Dia de Muertos

I was lucky enough to spend Dia de Muertos in what you might consider the capital of the celebration: Mexico City.  Here's some photos of the authentic Mexican recipes from around the city on November 2nd, of pan de muerto, chocolate calaveras, and the food in offerings for Day of The Dead.  Enjoy!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Dia de Los Muertos Sugar Skulls - Make Your Own

November 1st and 2nd are just around the corner and it's time to get your sugar skulls for celebrating Dias de Los Muertos!  If you're like most people celebrating the holiday and you usually buy your sugar skulls, try something different this year and make your own; there are many authentic Mexican recipes out there for doing just that, and About recently posted one of their own--check it out!

Making the sugar skulls is not difficult if you carefully follow each step. Having the right sugar skull supplies is critical.

Make Sugar Skulls Step-by-Step

Seafood: The Delicious, Hidden Side of Authentic Mexican Recipes

Tortillas and beans are undoubtedly superstars in Mexican cuisine, but there is whole other side of authentic Mexican recipes that a lot of people don't know about: the incredible Mexican seafood you find in the coastal areas of the country!  I came across this short video by Better.tv that, in the first half, briefly highlights one of the most favored authentic Mexican seafood dishes: the simple to make and muy delicious ceviche.

In the Riviera Nyarit [a coastal state of Mexico], the food here is more than just something you eat: it's an experience.  When you think of Mexican food, you think of tacos and burritos and enchiladas--it's so much more than that!

Origins of The Ingredients Found in Authentic Mexican Recipe

When exploring authentic Mexican recipes, many are delighted with the vast breadth of ingredients found in the cuisine, that originate from literally all over the world.  I found this article particularly interesting, that explains the origins of many of the ingredients we see in modern authentic Mexican cuisine, today:

Many of the foods we find in the Mexican pantry carry ancient pedigrees. Beans, tomatoes, corn, and chile peppers--staples of Aztecs and Mayans--rank among the world's first cultivated foods. Later, Spanish conquerors introduced wheat, herbs, spices and dairy foods to the pantry. Over the centuries, Mexican cuisine has emerged out of this mingling of ingredients and techniques.

Origins of Mexican Food Ingredients

Great Recipes From The Heart Of Mexico

I've been on the move lately in Mexico, collecting some great recipes, and I'll be sharing them here as soon as I get settled, so stay tuned for some delicious authentic Mexican recipes!