Curanto

What to do with a mountain of seafood?  (Map this!)

What do you do with a “mountain” of “mariscos”? You dig a hole in the ground, heat up some stones and dump the shellfish on top, add spicy sausage or longaniza, chicken and pork for good measure and potatoes just because you grow a hundred different varieties, then cover it all up with the local Nalca leaves and steam it for a couple of hours. The “curanto” is now ready to be enjoyed with a glass of Chilean wine.

The “curanto” is a chilote speciality, from the island of Chiloé. Blessed with many types of clams, mussels and the really strange piura, the Chilotes have found this admirably simple method of cooking seafood. Before tasting it, I would never have believed that mussels and clams could be cooked for hours and taste anything better than carbonized lumps. But this method of slow cooking gives it a rich, creamy texture that we have never tasted in them before.

For a higher resolution video click here

After having visited Chiloé once before and tried the curanto, we couldn’t resist returning to try it one more time, this time arriving in enough time to watch the complete preparation from the beginning. This video traces the path of the curanto from the “oven” to the table.

In the video, we see “chapalele” and “milcao” being added to the curanto. We could not capture the explanation on tape, but here it is. “Milcao” is potatoes grated and mixed with pork rind or “chicharon” and “chapalele” is mashed potatoes mixed with flour. These are wrapped in plastic to prevent dirt from getting in them and added to the whole delicious mix.

For a related post on Chiloé, click here.

Inky Fruit Bomb

A multi-dimensional experience – Pregnant vixen – Of smoky rooms and goat ears – Spring of hope

Wine has an amazing ability to grab the imagination and cement into memory a time, a place, and a mood. This makes drinking wine a multi-dimensional experience – recalling past experiences and strengthening or creating future points of reference. Memory is tricky and selective and many times we only remember what we want to remember and over time we forget that, replacing the actual memory of those events with the distilled version. The ordinary sunset takes on hues of peach and rose that never existed, the old boss who was simply incompetent becomes an evil flagellating ogre, a cherished uncle a saint who can do no wrong.

Unusual Pairing

We were at the Multi-Centro to see a movie. Any movie would do, we hadn’t been to a theater in ages. We had an hour to kill and I decided to duck into a wine store and Neena into a book store. The salesperson was intently busy with her IM conversation and scarcely paid me any attention and I would have done the same if it hadn’t been for her extremely odd comportment. Her low cut pink top revealed her bra and the tops of her breasts and was short enough to reveal her stomach and the top of her fishnet panties. All too normal for Central America, except for the fact that she was five months pregnant! How unlucky that I do not cleave to the pregnant-vixen fetish!

In the Rioja vineyards

I have been in many wine stores throughout Central America all boasting poor selections and prices double that of California. I saw the 2003 El Coto Rioja first. All the old memories from the Camino Santiago came tumbling out – the smoke filled tapas bars in Logroño, walking into the vineyards of Rioja and stuffing Tempranillo grapes into my face, painful blisters from the Camino, and laughing with our fellow pilgrims. A very common wine in Spain, it was impossible to find in San Francisco as it did not have a California distributor. This was a tasty wine that stood up to smoke filled rooms and goat ear tapas, to be quaffed in the company of friends, bottle after bottle.

Base Camp, Aconcagua

The second surprise was even more shocking that the first. Near the end of my perambulations through the store I saw the 1997 Domus Aurea, the finest bottle of Chilean wine I remember having. The mood at the café in Santiago, Chile was ebullient, a spring of hope blissfully ignorant of the winter of despair. As we dined alfresco in the austral summer we knew that we were in top physical condition thanks to trainer Bob, that Mount Aconcagua was only a baby step to bigger and higher peaks. There was no limit to what we could do; our salaries were in an upward J-curve and our bodies were fit enough to be pushed as far as the mind could push them. And the wine we were having was the finest we had had from South America – Domus Aurea.

I managed to distract the pregnant-vixen long enough to ring up the sale and both wines did not disappoint – each was exactly as I remembered it, or more correctly the verisimilitude of that which I remembered.

Making Chocolate

A discussion about luxury foods, using chocolate as an example. A recipe for a mighty nice cup of chocolate.

The earliest known consumption of chocolate is from a site close to Puerto Escondido, in the state of Oaxaca, so it is not a matter of surprise that it is in Oaxaca that it reaches lofty heights not found elsewhere. The variety of uses and types available are simply staggering. In this post I submit that it is Oaxaca and not Belgium that makes the finest chocolate and I will elaborate a recipe for the best cup of hot chocolate you have had in your life.

A Popular Chocolate Store.

How did this wonderful homey ingredient become such a luxury item? Even now mention that you are having chocolate and people will likely give you knowing looks of decadence – as if to say “Ohh, how lucky to be indulging in this pleasure”. You would never get the same reaction if you were to say that you are going to enjoy some potatoes, or carrots, or peas. Thinking of a food as a luxury item can increase the value of the experience but many times it relegates it to special occasions – how many people enjoy Champagne on a regular basis?

The concept of a luxury food is an interesting one. What makes one taste experience better than another? The more complex the experience the better – a fine Indian curry versus boiled African beef. Stronger is better – the strength of garlic versus the blandness of milk. Texture figures as well – crunchy potato chips, airy soufflés, and creamy sauces. But the most important determinations are rarity and cultural preference. In Maine, around the turn of the nineteenth century, lobster was so plentiful that inmates from state institutions dined on it regularly. It was considered “inhumane” to feed an inmate lobster more than twice a week. Cultural preference can sweep away individual preferences – how often one hears “Its an acquired taste.”

Tejate, a tasty corn and chocolate drink.

In Mexico chocolate is put to many uses. Famously, it is used in Mole Negro which serves as a rich sauce for chicken or as a filling for the traditional banana leaf wrapped tamales. Dissolved in a frothy cup of milk, hot chocolate makes for a tasty snack any time of the day. It even finds itself in Tejate, a refreshing corn and chocolate drink for hot afternoons. It is not unusual to eat chocolate not only everyday but multiple times a day. I have never eaten as much chocolate in my life as I did in Oaxaca.

Custom Made!

In Oaxaca I prefer to have my chocolate ground and mixed to my specifications. According to Yolanda, of Seasons of My Heart, an artisanal cacao bean will have a rich taste with a slight acidic tang due to the fermentation. A stick of canela (cinnamon), some almonds, and sugar makeup the rest of the ingredients. My chocolate has 500g cacao beans, 1000g sugar, 50g almonds, and one stick of canela. The molinero will grind it all up for you and present you with a warm mass of chocolate. Important: Pat out your chocolate into a plate and score it when you get home or else it will become very hard to cut!

Now for the part you have been paitently waiting for – the finest cup of hot chocolate you will ever have. The recipe was inspired by a cup of chocolate I had on a rainy day in an Italian hill town in Tuscany where I had the finest cup of chocolate in my life. Since that day, almost eight years ago now, I have been looking for a way to make that rich cup of hot chocolate. Countless cafés and copious experiments came to nada, zippo. So it is only fitting that I discovered the secret in the birthplace of chocolate. Properly made it will have a consistency between that of a souffle and a pudding, with a rich heady chocolate taste.

Tool	Chocolate	Milk	Churn

A churning tool is required for the recipe, without it there is no hope for success. There are only two ingredients: Chocolate to taste (preferably Mexican) and whole milk. Do NOT substitute skim, 1%, 2% or any other processed milk, the recipe will not work. Bring the milk to boil, stirring on occasion so that it does not burn and stick to the bottom. Turn off the heat and introduce the chocolate. Using your churner make sure all pieces are dissolved and whip up the mixture to a velvety texture, in between a souffle and a pudding. You will know you have reached the point when your churn feels a little bit of resistance. You may have to reheat the chocolate at this point as it may have cooled off. Relax and sip carefully as the liquid has a tendency to get extremely hot.

Research into Mezcal proves to be interesting and highly rewarding

When traveling it is necessary to leave behind all that I am used to and learn to accept the treasures of the region that I am in. The state of the Mexican wine industry can at best be described as deplorable and at worst… well I’d rather not go there. Combine that with bland, insipid, mass-produced beer and becoming a teetotaler starts to look like an attractive option.

The tasting room at the Union of Palenqueros

Unfortunately for the budding teetotaler there is the siren call of Mezcal, the locally produced liquor that embodies all the qualities of a proper homage to the gods of spirits. Mezcal is an ancient distilled spirit made from the agave plant that used to be reserved for consumption by the nobility and high priests. The plants are either cultivated in an arid mountain climate, or as in the case of Tobalá, found growing wild in the mountains. The leaves are removed, leaving only the heart of the plant or piña.

Agave piñas ready for processing.

The piñas are then roasted in a conical outdoor oven or palenque for several days and then chopped up. The resultant bits are brought inside where a mule powered mill is used to create a mash for the fermentation. A small amount of water is added to the mash and the mixture is fermented in large open barrels for two to fifteen days.

After fermentation the mash is double-distilled in wood fired stills, or as in the case of Pechuga, triple distilled. The spirit is then aged in wooden barrels for up to twelve years as in the case of Añejo or consumed immediately as in the case of Mezcal Blanco. Sometimes a worm or gusano is added for a bit of pizazz and flavor. Surprisingly, eating a Mezcal infused gusano tastes exactly what you would think a Mezcal infused gusano would taste like.

Grinding the piñas	Wood fired still

The tiendas of large producer Beneva with their nubile young female hostesses, are hard to miss in the city of Oaxaca. The “Starbucks Coffee” of mezcal, they produce an inoffensive and good quality Añejo. But just like Starbucks Coffee, the discerning consumer will soon realize that there is something better over the horizon – small production artisanal Mezcal. The subject can take a lifetime of study, but some good producers we discovered were Real Minero (available at the Pochote organic market) and El Rey Zapoteco. However, the best mezcal we found comes from a small collective of eight farmers called the Union of Palenqueros, located at 510 Abasolo in a building badly in need of repair. Their Añejo de 12 años is a marvel.

A small artisanal producer, like the Union of Palenqueros, produces a wide array of mezcal:

Shrooms!

Of molinos, metates and mezcal – Cooking with Susan Trilling

Susan Trilling’s cooking classes are brilliant. They are less cooking classes and more an introduction to Oaxaqueño food. So cooks and non cooks can all enjoy them without any trepidation. The classes are held on a lovely ranch in the countryside with a kitchen decorated in warm, earthy Mexican colors and plenty of light.

The place

Greeted by glasses of cool lemonade and orangeade, we proceeded to inspect the age-old tradition of making quesillo (Mexican string cheese) and queso fresco – from whole milk, of course. The rich, fermented, mozzarella like quesillo fills tlayudas, tostadas, enchiladas. Queso fresco is a fresh, salty cheese that can be used as a topping for almost everything.

The cheese

The five course meal was a pleasure to prepare in a kitchen so well equipped with Vita-Mix and other people to wash the dishes! The appetizer, called tetelas, were triangular turnovers filled with bean paste. These were cooked on a traditional “comal”, a huge flat earthenware pan on a wood burner. The comal is lined with lime so that tortillas do not stick to it. At the main markets you can see the comals everywhere with women preparing corn tortillas, tostadas (dried tortillas) and tlayudas (HUGE tortillas dried and folded; eaten with various fillings of bean paste, cheese, chicken, lettuce, tomatoes and salsa).

The comal

The garlic soup was garnished with beautifully golden zucchini flowers, the ensalada was freshly grilled vegetables, including nopales or prickly pear. The pride of place was, predictably, chicken in mole coloradito. Mexican rice has not impressed me much; however when cooked with oil, chicken stock and chepil leaves it turned out quite well. The dessert was based on two regional specialties – mezcal and chocolate – can’t go wrong with that!

Working in the kitchen

When we sat down to the delicious meal in the farm with a fresh breeze cooling the place down, it struck me how much we have given up for convenience. Supermarkets, the expeditious friend of the working man/woman, gives us unripe vegetables and fruits the better to transport; frustrating half hour lines for check out and impersonal service generally from a person who cannot recognize, let alone know how to use the simplest herbs. This meal was prepared by chicken bought and killed that day from the local market, vegetables just ready to be picked, sauces freshly prepared and cooked and chilies bought from the vendor who could probably give you dozens of recipes and advice about how to use each kind.

The finished product(s)

The metates for griding the chilies, the molino (mill) where you can get chocolate ground to your specifications, the tortilla ladies, the premade mole pastes, the home delivery of water and tamales – all remind me of my childhood in India although the dishes are strange and exotic.

The mill

The delights of eating in Oaxaca – Fried Grasshoppers

The way to eat Chapulines is to wrap them in a tortilla, fry it, cut it in small pieces and eat it with guacamole.