Where do I Shop

So, you are probably wondering, where do I get my ingredients for cooking in the Northeast? Well, as luck would have it, right when I started getting really serious about Mexican cooking Mexicans became the fastest growing immigrant group in New York City. For a great book on this read, “Mexican New York” by Robert C. Smith (he was my advisor….gotta give a plug, not that he needs it). Of course this fourth wave of Mexicans spread to many places, so by the time I moved to New Haven, there was a growing Mexican community in the next town over, Fair Haven, where I could shop as well.

In NYC I shop on 116th St between 1st Ave and 3rd Ave. This is solidly Spanish Harlem. This area of Manhattan, wedged between historically white upper-class residents and working-class/poor African American Harlem is an ethnic enclave that is seeing a new wave of Mexican immigrants. This area started off as an immigrant Italian neighborhood during the construction of the subway system in the early part of the 1900’s. (they weren’t considered “White” then) Then during the large migration of Puerto Ricans during the 1950’s it started to become “Spanish” (a la West Side Story…).

Now, when I moved to New York, it was really disconcerting that everyone called themselves and others “Spanish”. Nobody in L.A. calls themselves Spanish unless they really think they are from Spain via Mexico. (this is sort of akin to some WASP’s, with no genealogical evidence, who think they came off the Mayflower, RIIGGGHHHT) Growing up I learned that to affect only your “Spanishness” would mean that, in some way, you were rejecting your Mexicanness or in denial that 95% of Mexicans regardless of their skin color are Mestizo, (Mixed, Spanish and Indigenous) even the wealthy. And let’s face it, if your family moved to the East side of Los Angeles, you are not from an elite Spanish family in Mexico. So the first time I was asked if I was Spanish in NYC, I immediately said, “NO!!”. When asked innocently, “What’s the difference between being Mexican and Spanish?” I said snottily, “An ocean and a continent!!!”. Ok, time to chill… I finally learned that when the Puerto Ricans started migrating to New York, no one here knew how to identify them (not white, but not really Black either). The only thing they could recognize is that they spoke Spanish, so they were called “Spanish” (which of course turned to Spic pretty quickly). So out here it’s pretty innocuous to say Spanish people/Spanish food etc for anything from Latin America. As a woman who was raised Chicana I still can’t call myself Spanish, but I accept the term and the rich history that makes up Latino New York.

Anyway…When we got to the grocery stores on now heavily Mexican 116th Street and saw Chorizo in the butchers fridge for the first time I practically hugged the glass and licked it. They had more than one brand too!!! And all sorts of cheeses, chiles, the powder to make Horchata (in different flavors even!!), big bottles of Tapatio, spices in those little baggies that cost a dollar. AND!!! Next door was a taqueria with real pastor, carne asada, lengua too!!! Now New York REALLY has everything.

Chorizo and Eggs

When I first moved to NYC for graduate school the Mexican community was really small and actually non-existent to me. Mexican food here was really bad too, fake Tex-Mex stuff that, with a strong margarita, would just have to do. The only other Mexicans I knew beside myself were the friends I made at Teachers College or the Law School who were ex-pats from LA. and Texas. I know now there were some places that existed like Zarellas, but that would have been way out of my grad. school budget anyway. (and who ever heard of expensive Mexican food) However, slowly but surely things started to improve. There was Mama Mexico that we patronized with a vengeance, singing loudly with the Mariachi’s and ate to fill up our homesickness. Then Russell moved to Sunset Park, Brooklyn, a growing Mexican enclave, and he would drive to the upper west side to pick us up and take us to eat. Letty and I would buy our weight in Pan Dulce to take home.

Early on in NYC I became obsessed with Chorizo. I’ve always liked chorizo, but given the fat content really didn’t crave it all too often. But now that I couldn’t find it anywhere, I couldn’t live without it. One night, while on a date in my first or second year of graduate school we walked by a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant that I have never been able to find again and there it was on the Menu. That’s it, our plans had to change and I walked in and asked for a table. I have no idea how the date went, all I remember is that they gave me an extra serving of queso fresco on top because I couldn’t have been more excited.

Now that I can find Chorizo in NYC, I couldn’t be happier. We buy a batch and freeze it in serving size portions. It’s still such a guilt ridden food from the gods, so I make it for Peter and then just mooch off his plate (those calories don’t count, right?)

Chorizo and Eggs

For every egg use about an inch to inch and a half of Chorizo. Squeeze the meat out of the casing onto a hot skillet. Chorizo has a high fat content so there is no need to add oil to the pan, the fat will render itself out pretty quickly. Proceed to break it up as much as possible.

Whisk your eggs

Once the fat really starts to spread around and just before the Chorizo gets crispy put in the eggs and mix everything together. You want the Chorizo to be in every bite of your scrambled eggs. Everything will turn a light red color.

Serve and eat with Tortillas (use your fork as little as possible).

Enchiladas Placeras

For a while I’ll be blogging from recipes cooked since my last entry, but, never posted.

So from the outset these Enchiladas seemed strange. But who am I to know. Like every good Chicana from L.A., I made enchiladas in the Northeast by lugging cans of Las Palmas enchilada sauce in my suitcases after summer and winter break. It’s how my grandma made them, so it must be the right way. Since no one I know makes them from scratch, there was no one to impress. But then I got the “how do you do this the right way” bug and here I am.

Enchiladas are amazing (Fried tortilla, good, spicy sauce, good, cheese, good), everybody loves them and they are relatively simple and inexpensive to make. So far I have not met an enchilada that I didn’t like. From the red, but mild chile sauce of California, to the extra spicy red sauce with a fried egg on top in New Mexico, to the multitude of varieties that I sampled in one sitting in Austin, Texas because someone knew the owner and she kept bringing everything out from the menu. Then of course there are the green chile varieties, but that’s for another blog entry. I chose the enchilada recipe in Kennedy’s book from Michoacan since it’s the most northern and I assumed similar to what I had grown up with. I was a little confused at first because the recipe calls for Guajillo chile and I thought for a second that Diana Kennedy got it wrong. But with the enchilada you can discover the transformation of Mexicans after annexation. What chiles where abundant in the region shaped the type of enchilada that was created. In California, we of course use the California pod among others, stepping away from the more traditional guajillo chile.

But the really strange thing is when I saw cubed carrots and potatoes on the list. Basically they end up being a side dish. Now this I had never seen until…..last summer, when, my then new Fiancé Peter and I took a trip to central Mexico to interview wedding coordinators and scout locations for our wedding (that is now three weeks away!!!) We were deciding between San Miguel De Allende and the city of Guanajuato. On our last night in San Miguel we were walking around and the church down the street was getting ready for a fiesta. We crashed the party, listened to live Banda music, danced a little, watched the kids run around with sweets in their hands and ate from all the vendors as we waited for the fireworks extravaganza called “Castillos”. And there they were, red enchiladas made with the now distinctive taste of Guajillo chiles, Queso Fresco and spooned on top and on the side, CUBED CARROTS AND POTOATOES. I will never doubt you again Diana Kennedy…

I find myself a little obsessed with the enchilada now. I liked these enchiladas, but I’m a California girl and want them to taste like California Enchiladas (which means monterey jack cheese too). So I started scouring around for cookbooks that had distinctive California Mexican cooking. I found two, “El Cholo cookbook” (which I paid a small mint for because it’s out of print) and “Baja: Cooking on the edge”. I can’t wait to dive in.

Enchiladas Placeras O Pollo de Plaza (Michoacan): Serves 6 (Diana Kennedy, The Essentials Cuisines of Mexico)

The topping
8 ounces red bliss or waxy new potatoes (3 small ones), unpeeled
8 ounces carrots (3 medium)
1 tsp of salt
1/3 cup mild vinegar

The sauce:
3 Guajillo Chiles, seeds and veins removed
3 Ancho Chiles, seeds and veins removed
About 1 ½ cups of water
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 slice white onion
¼ tsp dried Mexican Oregano
Salt to taste

The Enchiladas:
Lard or Vegetable oil for frying
12 freshly made tortillas (yeah, right!)
8 ounces queso fresco, crumbled and lightly salted (about 1 1/3 cups)
½ cup finely chopped onions
A 3-pound chicken, poached and cut into serving pieces

To serve:
Strips of canned Jalapenos chiles en escabeche
2/3 cup prepared sour cream (she really means Mexican crema)
1 cup finely shredded lettuce or raw cabbage

Rinse the potatoes and cut them into small cubes; scrape the carrots and cut them into smaller cubes. Cover the carrots with boiling water, add the salt, and cook them for about 5 minutes over high heat. Add the potatoes and cook them for about 8 minutes – they should be al dente – then drain.

Cover the vegetables with cold water and add the vinegar. Stir and set aside. Heat a griddle and toast the chiles lightly, turning constantly so they don’t burn. Cover the chiles with hot water and leave them to soak for 10 minutes. Put ½ cup of water into a blender jar, add the guajillos, and blend until smooth. Add the remaing 1 cup water, the anchos, garlic, and onion and blend until smooth. Add the guajillo puree, the oregano, and salt to taste.

Melt a little of the lard, and when it is sizzling, dip each tortilla into the raw sauce – it should jut lightly cover it (if the sauce is too thick dilute it with a little more water_ and fry it quickly on both sides.

Remove from the frying pan and put about 1 scant tablespoon of the cheese and ½ tablespoon of the onion across each tortilla. Roll them up loosely and set them side by side on the serving dish. Keep warm.

In the same fat, fry the pieces of chicken until they are golden brown. Drain and arrange them around the enchiladas.

In the same fat, fry the vegetables until just beginning to brown, and drain well. In the same fat, cook the remaining sauce for a few moments and pour it over the enchiladas. Cover with the fried vegetables.

Top with the chile strips and on each serving add a spoonful of sour cream and a sprinkling of cheese, with lettuce on the side.
Note: to reduce the amount of oil, drain the fried vegetables in a strainer and shake gently. Coat the chicken pieces with the chile sauce and place under a hot broiler, turning them from time to time so that they are evenly cooked.