“Pati Jinich knows what it’s like to be a new immigrant in the United States. She came to this country on a visa when she was 24 years old and newly married. Homesick and unable to return to Mexico until her immigration papers were finalized she brought comfort to Texas by cooking the chicken soup of her youth for herself and her husband. The scent gave her rented duplex in Dallas a connection to home.”
Continue reading “Tablet: Mexican Chef Pati Jinich Does Shabbat”
I had such a wonderful time talking with Francis Lam on The Splendid Table’s Turkey Confidential. You guys asked such great questions! Continue reading “The Splendid Table: Turkey Confidential 2018”
Thanksgiving has become my favorite American holiday.
Though when I first arrived to the US, more than 20 years ago to Texas, I had never heard of the celebration. I was a bit perplexed as to why people where roasting turkeys so early in the year (in Mexico turkey is a Christmas tradition). Now, I totally get it.
I love how everything seems to stop and be put on hold. I love how attention shifts almost entirely to food and the kitchen takes center stage. I love the intense emotions that surround the holiday. I love the time of year. And, since Alan left for college, I love that our family will all be together for a few days, mostly eating.
I especially love how Thanksgiving opens the door to celebrate the contributions that immigrants have historically brought to the American table. Now, more than ever, this is deeply meaningful to me.
I love how Thanksgiving embraces and holds onto to classic recipes and traditions that have been passed down through generations. But I also love how it welcomes new and surprising additions that complement the rest.
In that spirit, I created a Dulce de Leche Chocolate Pecan Pie.
I had never tasted pecan pie before moving to the US. And then about a decade ago, my dear friend Debra introduced us to her dark chocolate version of pecan pie which we devoured so fast that she started bringing, not one, but two each year. Last year, I told her I was tempted to make it a bit more outrageous and decadent by incorporating Dulce de Leche Caramel to that super gooey filling.
Dulce de leche caramel, or Mexican cajeta, is an iconic ingredient in Mexican kitchens. We Mexicans are crazy about it. Made from goats’ milk, rather than cows’ milk, as in some other countries, it is also made in a traditional way – cooked down slowly as layers of flavor build into each other in a single product. It’s so good you can eat it with a spoon, or top your bananas or apples with it.
In this recipe, dulce de leche caramel makes for a more gooey, more sticky, more chewy filling with a rich, deep and intrinsic rustic caramel taste. The pecans have a better cushion to sit on and be coated in. The chocolate chunks can shine even more.
Below is the recipe, and above is a video clip from an upcoming episode of the new season, where I make it. And we all eat it. We are going to be making it again for our Thanksgiving table, and my hopes are that you will give it a try too.
By Eduardo | @cazadordelomejor
A 3- by 3-meter window in Mexico City’s Colonia Juárez where passionate people make perfect Italian gelato using seasonal Mexican ingredients, and the result is hard to compare to anything else.
It was during a dream one night that Kirén Miret (founder, co-owner and master gelato maker at Casa Morgana) decided she was going to open a gelato shop. That night, she quickly woke up and started jotting down ideas — flavors, ingredients, anything that came to her mind. This would result in becoming the root of the ice cream shop she’d always dreamed of. Kirén had no gelato experience. The next morning, she started searching for gelato courses in different parts of the world until one in Los Angeles popped up.
Shortly after, she was back in Mexico City making gelato with a small home gelato maker and bringing samples into her office. Kirén’s passion grew stronger, and a couple months later, she was all the way in Italy perfecting her skills. There she graduated as a master gelato maker.
Casa Morgana is run by Kirén, Diego (Kirén’s nana’s son), Elías (Diego’s father), Tani and Javi. It’s pretty much a family business. They make gelato because it makes them happy, not for any other reason. No artificial coloring, flavors or preservatives are used. Only fresh seasonal ingredients, sugar and milk, which are turned into gelato in a machine Kirén compares to a Ferrari.
The flavors at Casa Morgana range from mango, to rosca de reyes, to chocolate oaxaqueño. It all depends on the season, and each day means a different menu. November brings pan de muerto gelato, and December brings churros and ginger snap.
Each detail at Morgana is looked after. The containers in which the gelato is stored, the sugar to milk ratio, the cups that are flown in from Canada, the metallic spoons, the spades which are used to serve – they all work together to make Morgana’s gelato so creamy and irresistible.
Kirén has always been an ice cream person. When she was a little girl, she liked the more normal, chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream pops with sprinkles. Today, her mission is to make the best ice cream in Mexico – and she’s up there.
Heladería Casa Morgana, Calle Milán 36, Juárez, CDMX
“For the 65.5 million viewers worldwide of the PBS series “Pati’s Mexican Table,” host Pati Jinich is an expert in Mexican cuisine. Jinich thought so too — until she traveled to Baja for the show. She ate tortas in Tijuana, tacos in Rosarito, uni tostadas in Ensenada, corn pancakes in the Valle de Guadalupe, and drank Baja beer and wine everywhere.”
Continue reading “San Diego Union Tribune: Food Star Inspired by Baja Cuisine, Wineries”
“Estoy muy orgullosa, si perseveras en tu alma e identidad, a largo plazo ves los frutos. Ahorita la gente me reconoce en el aeropuerto, no por otra cosa, sino por mi acento, porque he sido firme en decir ‘voy a ser mexicana y a hacer comida mexicana’, puntualizó.”
The leaves have already turned orange, yellow, red and brown here in DC meaning it’s the most celebration-packed time of year. There is Hispanic Heritage Month, Fall and Harvest celebrations, Day of the Dead, Thanksgiving, Passover, Christmas and New Years, just to mention some. I did not even include all of the year end office, school, neighborhood and friend get-togethers.
Boy did this year fly by! I’ve had no time to think about my 2019 New Years resolutions. Not that I ever follow through on them, but I used to at least think about them…
Lately, I’m telling my boys how amazed I am at how fast the time passes. When I was in middle school like Juju, I remember feeling every hour of every day pass, as if churning ice cream by hand… so slow. Coming home from school was a long awaited haul, and getting to the weekend an eternity. As I got older though, time seemed to be marked by the weeks. By college the months seemed to run into each other, only to stop and catch their breath during school breaks.
When I got married and moved to the US, I was so stunned by the change of seasons. It was their passing the baton from one to the other that seemed to mark my pace. Witnessing the seasons changing was new to me having come from Mexico City, where there seems to be one eternal season with a crazy rainy interruption.
Well, the last few years I’ve barely been able to grasp what the marks of time are and can only feel it whirling on! I blink an eye and it’s summer. I blink again, and we seem to be speeding like mad to wrap up the year. I swear the entire year feels like what an hour used to feel like when I was Juju’s age. No surprise then, the faster the years seem to go, the more I want to celebrate anything and everything.
For us Mexicans, celebrating means having tequila around. We even joke about it. You got a promotion at work? Come over for some tequila! You are getting married? Do you have enough tequila?!? You have a dinner at home and are having me over? Can’t show up without your favorite tequila because, frankly, you probably don’t have enough.
Aside from sipping it neat, I love coming up with one new and fabulous cocktail every year to mark our holidays. It has become a trendy thing around here and now my friends expect it. So this year, this is the one. I was daring and bold and it paid off. I call it Spiced Up Pomegranate, Chile y Limón and it is a delight! And it’s very easy to make. You could even make it ahead of time, too.
I start off with a flavored simple syrup. Many people seem baffled when they hear the term simple syrup. Mixologist jargon for sure, it sounds like something complex to prepare or something you get at a hard to find specialty store. But simple syrup is nothing more than sugar dissolved in water! And you can flavor it any way you want. For this cocktail, I flavor it with whole allspice berries, true cinnamon also known as canela, a whole clove, and the rind of a lemon. It makes for a simple syrup that is fragrant, citrusy, lightly spiced up, and has warm comforting tones from the canela. The more you let the simple syrup sit and become infused, the more the lemon rind will also absorb the simple syrup and become candied. Then it is a treat of a garnish to bite into as you sip your cocktail.
Once you have the spiced up simple syrup, you blend it with the lively and tart pomegranate juice, an entire fresh and grassy jalapeño – do not remove the seeds please – and fresh squeezed lemon juice. For the tequila, I use Gran Centenario Reposado, which is mildly fruity and teasingly sweet. It has a woody fragrance, and you can taste an echo of almond and vanilla in it that compliments the syrup and the pomegranate. They have a page on Facebook and Instagram, if you want to know more about them.
This Spiced Up Pomegranate, Chile y Limón cocktail is so multilayered and irresistible it’s never an afterthought. You want to savor every single sip. It will claim its delicious place at center stage of your celebration.
By Eduardo | @cazadordelomejor
Mexico City’s freshest and tastiest seafood, many say. Contramar is known to be the city’s most buzzing spot for locals and foreigners alike. There’s no trip to Mexico City and no weekend well spent without lunch at Contramar.
Cramped wooden chairs and small tables with white tablecloths, woven lamps, blue painted murals, a daily inspirational quote written in large font on the wall, and fast-moving waiters that have been working at the restaurant for over a decade make up the ambiance.
Gabriela Cámara, owner and founder of Contramar, had a very clear vision from the start: honest and fresh food made from the best product, outstanding service, and a great vibe that would provoke sobremesa. Andrés Barragán, chef of Contramar, met Gabriela at the very beginning, almost 20 years ago. Andrés, originally from Puebla, developed his cooking skills with Gaby and continued to improve them on his own. Tuna tostadas, fresh clam ceviche, pescado a la talla and the tuna carnitas are some favorites.
Contramar’s tuna carnitas are made using the fatty part of the tuna, which is chopped then fried until crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. After frying, the meat is served with chunky guacamole, refried beans and fresh tortillas made with heirloom corn from Tepoztlan. For dessert, waiters will be dancing around with large trays filled with sweets ranging from fresh chocolate cake to mountains of fresh merengue with whipped cream and strawberries.
Contramar just turned 20 and things just keep getting better for everyone.
Contramar, Calle de Durango 200, Roma Norte, CDMX
“Cooking didn’t come naturally to her, although her three older sisters are in the business and her father, Moises Drijanski, is a larger-than-life kind of guy who ran two restaurants in Mexico City. […] Many in the family were surprised that the youngest child — the studious, serious one — would become a food star. But not her dad.”
“Dieron el premio a nuestro programa como la mejor serie de televisión, porque tiene una representación positiva de los mexicanos en los Estados Unidos. Fue otra súper sorpresa, la producción con la que trabajo todos son americanos, están de lo más orgullosos. Después del tiempo que llevan viajando conmigo a México, lo sienten muy cerca, es una causa para ellos muy importante, señala Pati.”
Continue reading “El Universal: La chef Pati Jinich triunfa en Estados Unidos con su programa de TV”
“Significa un reconocimiento a la gastronomía mexicana y a todos los mexicanos que trabajamos en el mundo de la cocina alrededor del mundo. Acepté este honor como un reconocimiento de todo lo que nuestra gastronomía, cultura y gente, a través de nuestro trabajo, aportamos a las mesas, a las cocinas, a la vida de la gente que toca un plato de comida mexicana, o preparada por mexicanos, o con ingredientes mexicanos.”
Continue reading “Proceso: En la cocina de Pati Jinich, chef mexicana reconocida en EU”
I always have so much fun cooking with the gang on Home & Family. This time we made my Grilled Calamari, Radicchio and Endive Salad.
Continue reading “Hallmark Channel Home & Family: Grilled Calamari, Radicchio and Endive Salad”
“La cocina mexicana es muy bondadosa, está llena de sabores, de colores, de olores, que nos llevan a la nostalgia y que nos mantiene unidos como la gran familia que somos los mexicanos y que nos convierte en los mejores anfitriones que hay en el mundo y para mí que llevo ya muchos años viviendo fuera de mi país, es un deleite mostrar todo esto a través de mi programa.” Continue reading “Univision: Pati Jinich, inicia un nuevo viaje a través del ‘México de sus sabores’”
