Pati Jinich is host of the popular Emmy and James Beard nominated PBS series Pati's Mexican Table, author of two cookbooks, and resident chef at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, DC. This is her official website where she shares recipes from her show and new recipes in her blog, plus upcoming events, recent news, and more.
Queso fundido is the epitome of an antojo. What we Mexicans call a food craving that can be eaten anytime of day as a quick snack, or a full meal if eaten in a big enough amount. Antojo literally translates to craving, and I don’t know a single Mexican that doesn’t drool over the thought of a queso fundido.
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 Caramel Cinnamon Chocolate Pecan Pie.
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.
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.
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…
The story goes, governor shrimp tacos, or tacos gobernador de camarón, were created in the state of Sinaloa in the early 1990s to surprise governor Francisco Labastida Ochoa, after he told a few friends how much he loved his wife’s shrimp tacos. That bit of information was passed on to the owners of Los Arcos in Mazatlán restaurant, before he headed there to visit.
There are so many places to eat tacos al pastor in Mexico City and each one is unique. El Huequito’s original location on Ayuntamiento, a busy street in Mexico City’s downtown, has been serving tacos al pastor for almost 60 years. You order off the street and eat on the other side of the sidewalk at an aluminum high-top table with a variety of spicy salsas and freshly cut limes.
In Mexico, and many parts of the world, roasted turkey is mainly served during the holiday season. Imagine a place where shaved slices of juicy roasted turkey are served on a soft telera smothered with avocado and spicy rajas. This place exists, it’s located in the heart of downtown Mexico City and, here, you can devour a turkey torta during any month of the year.
Cotija cheese is a salty, slightly acidic, cow’s milk cheese with a strong personality. Named after the city of Cotija in the state of Michoacán, it has been produced in the region for over 400 years. Traditionally, after the dairy cows grazed in the mountain pastures throughout Jalisco and Michoacán during the rainy season…
The very first class I taught at the Mexican Cultural Institute, after I switched from being a policy analyst at the Inter American Dialogue, was October 18, 2007. I remember the date exactly, because it was a day after Sami’s 6th birthday. For months, I had been teaching him and his two brothers, Alan who was then 8 and Juju who was just 1, how to make sopes every night for at least 3 months.