Cinco de Mayo

Happy El Día de la Batalla de Puebla!

The Day of the Battle of Puebla is better known for the day on which it is celebrated, the 5th of May - Cinco de Mayo.

Cinco de Mayo, an essentially American holiday, has its roots in the heart of the U.S. Civil War. Mexico had been left in shambles and bankruptcy by the costs of fighting the Mexican-American War of 1846-48, and the Mexican Civil War of 1858.

In 1861, Mexican President Benito Juárez issued a moratorium on foreign debt payments. In response, France, Britain, and Spain sent naval forces to grab the customs house in Veracruz to demand reimbursement. Britain and Spain negotiated with Mexico and withdrew. France, however, under Napoleon III, seized the opportunity to invade Mexico.

France had ulterior motives. Using Mexico as a base of operations to support the Confederacy, Napoleon III hoped to break the Union blockade of Southern ports and reopen trade with the South, and to establish a Latin empire in Mexico.

Late in 1861, a well-armed French fleet stormed Veracruz, landing a large French force and driving President Juárez and his government into retreat. Moving on from Veracruz towards Mexico City, the French army encountered heavy resistance from the Mexicans close to Puebla. The 8,000-strong French army attacked the much smaller and poorly equipped Mexican army of 4,500. Yet, on May 5, 1862, the Mexicans managed to decisively crush the French army, then considered the premier army in the world.

On May 9th, 1862, President Juárez declared that the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla would be a national holiday. But prior to this, the Mexican-American communities of California rallied around the day to show their support for the resistance to French rule in Mexico. The UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Culture stated, "Far up in the gold country, Mexican miners were so overjoyed at the news that they spontaneously fired off rifle shots and fireworks, sang patriotic songs and made impromptu speeches."

TIME magazine reports that "Cinco de Mayo started to come into vogue in 1940s America during the rise of the Chicano movement." The holiday crossed over from California into the rest of the United States in the 1950s and 1960s but didn't gain popularity until the 1980s when marketers, especially beer companies, capitalized on the celebratory nature of the day and began to promote it.

Cinco de Mayo is often mistaken for Mexican Independence Day (equivalent to our 4th of July), which is celebrated on September 16th.

What then is the significance of Cinco de Mayo? TIME said, "The Puebla victory came to symbolize unity and pride for what seemed like a Mexican David defeating a French Goliath."

But even as the holiday grew in popularity, and became a general celebration of Mexican culture and heritage in major cities across the U.S., it took until 2005 before the U.S. Congress issued a Concurrent Resolution calling on the President of the United States to issue a proclamation recognizing Cinco de Mayo.

Cinco de Mayo has become the Mexican Saint Patrick's Day, the one day of the year when, of Latino decent or not, we are all Mexican. It is a day to set politics aside. It is a day to recognize an ancient and vibrant culture, embrace its music and dance, and partake in its special foods and beverages.

We enjoy the opportunity to honor the culture and flavors of our neighbors to the south. It is the one time of year when I am allowed to bring out my vintage Tijuana nude on black velvet, and tell this shamelessly inappropriate joke:

There was this airplane over the Atlantic on its way to New York, and it was full of men from the United Nations.

Halfway over the ocean the engines run low on petrol. So they have to lighten the plane. They heave out all the baggage, but it's still too heavy. They chuck out all the seats, but it's still too heavy.

Finally, this Frenchman steps up, shouts, "Vive la France," and leaps out. Then an Englishman steps up, shouts, "God save the Queen," and he leaps out. But the plane is still too heavy.

So the Yank delegate, from Texas, steps up, shouts, "Remember the Alamo," and chucks out the Mexican! 

Cinco de Mayo celebrations include traditional feasts, pinatas, and intricately painted pottery depicting Mexico's Mayan and Aztec heritage. The music of black-coated Mariachi bands fires the blood as brightly colored dancers parade down the boulevards of Mexico City.

We take the annual opportunity of Cinco de Mayo to watch Disney Studios' most bizarre and trippy feature, The Three Caballeros. The combination animated and live-action film premiered in Mexico City in December, 1944, and was released in the U.S. in February, 1945.

When America entered WWII, the government commandeered all public and private commercial interests for the war effort, and Walt Disney Productions was no exception. Army personnel were assigned to the studio and oversaw the production of propaganda and training films. To keep Walt from going crazy, his senior people arranged for him to take an extended goodwill tour of Latin America, and this Technicolor musical was the result.

Although the compilation of short segments features South America and Central America, as well as Mexico, the entire piece carries the flavor that we emulate in our festivities. Best viewed after several pitchers of margaritas.

We have been hosting Cinco de Mayo dinner parties for almost thirty-five years. One time I made turkey mole. I roasted all kinds of exotic seeds, nuts, and spices, and crushed them in a mortar and pestle. I stemmed and seeded bunches of dried chiles, I found authentic Mexican oregano, I chopped onions, garlic, tomatoes and Serrano peppers. And I purchased the best Mexican bittersweet chocolate I could find.

I carved the turkey breast, laded on the mole sauce, and proudly brought it to the table. I sat down and watched my guests serve themselves, anticipating the accolades that were sure to come.

I glanced around the table in horror as barely concealed looks of repugnance spread from face to face.

"Is it supposed to taste like this?" asked my brother.

I hurriedly took a bite and it was all I could do to not spit it out on my plate.


I had made one little mistake. The recipe called for 2 ounces of Mexican chocolate (made with roasted, ground cacao nibs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice), but I added 2 8-ounce BARS!

Fortunately we had a second main course and plenty of other food to go around. But to this day, I have not been able to live it down and I am constantly reminded of it.

We have prepared fabulous guacamole and salsas, taco buffets, seafood and shellfish, Mexican lasagna, Mexican spaghetti, huevos rancheros, grilled fajitas, amazing flans, and melt-in-your-mouth tres leches cakes. But do any of my family and friends remember these? Nooooo!


I believe these recipes will serve you better.

The ubiquitous tortilla is a round, unleavened corn or flour flatbread. Rolled around a savory filling it becomes a burrito; stuffed and baked in sauce, it becomes an enchilada; deep fried, a tostada; pressed into a halfmoon around a filling and deep fried, a quesadilla.

We have not had good success making these from scratch using masa, but if you feel adventurous, or have la abuela to teach you, by all means, give it a try. You can find tortilla presses online or in Mexican markets. Just have a few packages of store bought tortillas as back up.

We have found that dinner music enhances any meal set upon the table, and especially when you have gone to so much effort to prepare it. If you're not aware, Linda Ronstadt has two excellent recordings of authentic Mexican folk songs and ballads entitled Canciones de mi Padre (Songs of My Father) and Mas Canciones (More Songs). The album was developed into a stage presentation for "Great Performances" and aired on PBS stations in 1989. Unfortunately, both the CDs and the video are out of print. But the link to the video on YouTube can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCcqhifBLeE

Huevos Rancheros

Huevos Rancheros, literally "ranch eggs," has as many variations as there are Mexican cooks. Our variation can more rightly be called breakfast burritos, and these delectable roll-ups have graced many a Sunday brunch and weeknight table, alike.

If you are lucky enough to be able to get fresh eggs from a local farm they are worth their weight in gold. They are twice the price of store bought white eggs, but shop around and see what you can find, it is definitely worth it.


Serve with Dole refrigerated tropical juice blends, and Kahlúa spiked coffee with cream. There is also a Mexican Chocolate flavored coffee creamer available at most markets which is rich and authentic.

1 lb chorizo

9 whole eggs, beaten

14-oz can Rotel diced tomatoes and chilis, drained

Refried beans

Queso fresco cheese, crumbled

Canned, sliced, black olives, drained

Sour cream

Flour and corn tortillas

Brown chorizo in large, non-stick frying pan, drain. Add drained tomatoes and chilis and stir till heated through. Add eggs and stir as you would for scrambled eggs. Meanwhile, heat refried beans in small pot with 2 T butter. Place large spoonfuls of egg mixture and beans in flour or lightly fried corn tortillas. Top with cheese, sour cream, and black olives.

Our boys always compete to see who can finish their burritos with the cleanest plate.

Avocado Salad

We used this simple salad one year in place of guacamole and it has become one of our favorite first courses. We originally topped the salad with Kraft salsa salad dressing, which is no longer available. However, a salsa dressing is easy to recreate at home. Salsa salad dressing recipes can start with ranch dressing, mayonnaise, or sour cream, with the addition of jarred rojo (red) or verde (green) salsa.

I prefer a sour cream and verde dressing, while my family likes a ranch and red salsa dressing. You can adjust the heat of the dressing by selecting a mild or medium salsa, hot will overpower the vegetables.

This refreshing salad uses variety bell peppers, sweet onion, spring lettuce, red and yellow tomatoes, and ripe avocados.

Ripe avocados

Vidalia onion, sliced into rings

Red leaf lettuce

Red & yellow tomatoes

Variety bell peppers

Salsa salad dressing (see recipe suggestions above)

Arrange lettuce leaves on bottom of individual salad plates. Place a few onion rings on top of lettuce. Place a slice of each different colored bell pepper on top of onions. Halve avocados, remove pits, and gently scoop avocado from shell with tablespoon. Place half of an avocado in center of each dish. Place 2 wedges each of red and yellow tomatoes around avocado. Top with a dollop of salad dressing.

MexiCorn

I love fresh corn, but for many reasons, most having to do with toothpicks and dental floss, I much prefer the kernels removed from the cob. This recipe combines the best of both worlds, the flavor of roasted corn and ease of eating.

The corn is grilled in the husk, then sliced from the cob, combined with a seasoned, garlic-butter sauce with a hint of cayenne, and sprinkled with lime juice and queso fresco (farmer cheese).

1 ear of corn per person, in their husks
4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cayenne
2 fresh limes
1 cup crumbled queso fresco

Heat the grill to high. Peel back the husks from the corn, but keep them attached at the base. Remove the silk strands from the corn and pull the husks back up. In a large bowl of cold water, soak the corn for at least 10 minutes.

With a mortar and pestle, combine the butter and garlic until smooth. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Place the corn on the grill, close the grill hood, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until the corn is steamed through and hot, but the kernels are still juicy and crisp. Test by carefully piercing the corn with a knife.

Unwrap the husks from the corn, and holding each ear of corn at one end with paper towels, slice kernels from cob with paring knife into bowl. Toss corn with the garlic butter.

Squeeze lime juice over the corn on plate and sprinkle with cheese.

Lengua Dunatos

This recipe of my own invention is based on the classic peasant dish that is popular throughout Mexico, and has become a favorite of Mexican haute cuisine. If you've never tried this, don't stick your tongue out at it.

The recipe begins with simmering a whole beef tongue in water lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, and cumin. The trimmed and sliced tongue is added to a savory vegetable sauce of red tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapeno peppers, Spanish onion, garlic, chopped green chilis, and fresh cilantro. 

By the time you roll it up in a burrito, with sliced black olives and sour cream, all you will notice is the tender, succulent, rich and satisfying taste and texture.

Beef tongue

Peanut oil

Red tomatoes

Tomatillos

Jalapeno peppers

Large Spanish onion

2 cloves garlic

13-oz can beef broth

Cumin

2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro

Can chopped green chilis

Can sliced black olives (for garnish)

Sour cream (for garnish)

Early in day, place beef tongue in dutch oven and cover with cold water. Add 1 t each of cumin, sea salt, cracked pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and gently simmer one hour per pound or until fork tender. Remove tongue to platter and let cool 20 minutes. Peel skin from tongue. Slice and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Saute 2 chopped tomatoes, 8 husked & chopped tomatillos, 1 seeded and diced jalapeno pepper or to taste, and diced onion and garlic in peanut oil in dutch oven. Add beef broth, canned chilis, chopped cilantro and 1 t sea salt. Bring to simmer and add sliced tongue. Transfer to casserole dish and bake 30 minutes. At table, use slotted spoon to place Lengua Dunatos on large flour tortillas or lightly fried corn tortillas. Top with dollop of sour cream and olives, and serve burrito or taco style. Ole!

Mexican Spaghetti


One of our favorite possessions is a coffee table book called Mexico the Beautiful Cookbook. This oversize volume contains limitless ideas for authentic, regional recipes, from village cantinas to five-star Mexico City restaurants. The publication features full-color, glossy photography. A passage from the introduction explains:

The drama of Mexico's tumultuous history - the rise and fall of the Olmec and Maya civilizations, the magnificent Aztec world that greeted Cortes, the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, and the turbulent revolutionary years - is vividly reflected in the cuisine of this vast country. Mexican food is history itself, a culinary marriage of native Indian foods such as corn, beans, squash, chocolate and chiles with the Spanish contribution of wheat, rice and meats. The merger resulted in one of the world's most intriguing and least understood cuisines.

And one of the world's most intriguing and least understood cultures.

This fabulous dish has become one of our go-to Mexican dinners. It is adapted from the Mexico the Beautiful Cookbook. We started calling it Mexican spaghetti because it uses vermicelli noodles and a tomato based sauce, but that's where the similarity ends. The pasta is lightly toasted and cooked with browned chorizo, which imparts a distinctive heat and flavor.


The plate is finished with black olives, sliced avocados, and shredded Chihuahua cheese. Enjoy with Cerveza Negra Modelo.

Serves four

Extra virgin olive oil for sauteing
1 medium Spanish onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, thin sliced
1 lb chorizo
1 lb vermicelli
4 ripe tomatoes, seeds removed, chopped
6 cups chicken stock
Fine sea salt and cracked pepper, to taste
2 ripe avocados, sliced
Queso fresco
1 small can sliced black olives, drained

In large frying pan, heat two tablespoons olive oil, and saute onion until translucent. At last minute add garlic to release aroma. Remove from pan and set aside.

Heat two more tablespoons olive oil in frying pan, remove chorizo from casing and brown for four minutes over low heat, taking care not to burn. Remove chorizo from pan and set aside. Drain drippings, leaving enough to coat bottom of pan.

In drippings, toast vermicelli until lightly browned. Transfer from pan to large platter.

Heat two tablespoons olive oil in pan and cook tomatoes on low heat for three minutes, stirring constantly. Add sauteed onions and garlic. Add stock and bring to boil.

Add vermicelli and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook over medium heat for five minutes. Uncover and add the chorizo. Continue cooking until liquid is absorbed.

Toss thoroughly and serve immediately. Garnish with olives, avocado slices, and crumbled cheese. Bueno!

Mexican BBQ Marinade

No selection of Mexican recipes would be complete without mentioning the grill. Mexican grilling revolves around Mesquite. You can use Mesquite wood chips or readily available Mesquite charcoal. Whether you are grilling arrachera (skirt steak), huachinango (red snapper), pollo (chicken), or los plátanos (plantains), try this quick and easy marinade. This light and zesty marinade includes safflower oil, lime, sea salt, cracked pepper, cumin, chili powder, garlic, onion, cilantro, and sugar.

½ cup vegetable oil
Juice, pulp, and zest of one lime
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
¼ cup white onion, diced
1 teaspoon sugar

Banana Grande Pie

Mexico is a land of sweet temptations. From cinnamon coated churros to pan dulce (pastries). From caramel custards to triple cream cakes. From bread puddings to rice puddings. From rainbow sherbet to coffee ice cream. Throw in raw sugar, cacoa beans, coconut, bananas, and exotic tropical fruits, and you have the makings for a truly memorable end to your fiesta.

This recipe marries rich dairy products, bananas, Mexican chocolate, and a cook and serve banana cream pudding & pie filling in a graham cracker crust.

2 bananas, sliced

Extra-serving graham cracker crust

4 ounces Mexican (or any good) bittersweet chocolate

2 Tablespoons milk

1 Tablespoon butter

3 and 1/2 cups Half & Half

2 3-oz packages cook and serve banana cream pudding & pie filling

Whipped cream topping

Over very low heat in small saucepan melt chocolate, milk and butter, stirring constantly. Spread evenly in crust. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until chocolate is firm. Arrange banana slices over chocolate. Meanwhile, in heavy saucepan, prepare both boxes of pudding using half and half in place of milk, according to package directions for pie. Let cool 5 minutes. Spoon over bananas in crust. (If you have extra pudding, simply refrigerate in separate bowl.) Cover with inverted top of crust packaging. Refrigerate 4 hours or until set. To serve, spread with whipped topping. Garnish with shaved Mexican chocolate.

Oh Mayan Brownies

The first recorded evidence of chocolate as a food product dates back to 1900 B.C. Mesoamerica, a region and cultural area extending from Mexico through Central America. In Pre-Columbian Mexico, the Mayans and Aztecs made a drink called Xocoatll from the beans of the cocoa tree. The Aztecs believed that cacao seeds were the gift of Quetzalcoatl, the God of Wisdom, and the seeds had so much value they were used as a form of currency. The fermented, roasted, and ground cocao beans were whipped into a bitter, frothy liquid, mixed with spices and chili peppers. Chocolate was believed to have aphrodisiac powers and to give the drinker strength.

Jose de Acosta, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who lived in Mexico in the 16th century, described the drink as, "Loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a scum or froth that is very unpleasant to the taste. Yet it is a drink very much esteemed among the Indians, where with they feast noble men who pass through their country."

In 1528, the Conquistadors returned to Spain with chocolate still consumed as a beverage. After its arrival in Europe in the sixteenth century, sugar was added to it and it became popular throughout the continent, first among the ruling classes, and then among the common people.

This is a basic scratch brownie recipe, but the addition of canela (Mexican cinnamon), and pequin (Mexican chili powder) make these a uniquely Mexican dessert.

2 sticks unsalted butter plus more for greasing
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground Mexican cinnamon (canela)
1/4 teaspoon pequin chili powder or cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With butter, grease thoroughly, a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

Melt 2 sticks of butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Pour butter into large bowl. Add the sugar, eggs, and vanilla to the butter and stir with a wooden spoon until combined.

In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa, flour, cinnamon, chili powder, salt and baking powder with whisk. Add dry ingredients into bowl with wet ingredients and mix with wooden spoon until smooth.


Spread the batter in the prepared pan with rubber spatula, and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out fudgy, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

One last joke: A Texas divorce lawyer ran into the courtroom and shouted, "Remember the Alamony!"

So, Via con Dios! And remember, "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!"