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May 07, 2007
Mexico Cooks!
Once in a while, I get exasperated with my chosen life as a vegetarian. It's not that I regret not eating animals, but rather, I'm infuriated with the fact that the world seems hell-bent on adding meat products to things that don't really need them. One big example here in Mexico is the caldo de jitomate (tomato broth) that one can buy in the stores here. It's a big component of many Mexican dishes. The grocery stores all offer multiple shelves and multiple brands to choose from, but every single brand contains chicken stock. You can't buy any tomato broth that is just that: tomatoes. Why they don't call it 'chicken stock with tomato,' I don't know.
Of course, it's the same situation in the United States, where you specifically have to buy vegetarian vegetable soup from Campbell's because their standard vegetable soup is made with beef stock. One can't eat the miso soup with tofu at any Japanese restaurants because it always has an undetectable, but for some reason manditory, addition of bonito. Onion gravy? Think again! That just means someone looked at an onion from across the room while they fried up flour and beef fat.
You would think that after 18 years, I'd be used to it, but I'm not. Day in and day out, I have to deal with meat bias, just like I did in the United States. Otherwise tasty enchiladas have their rich tortillas fried in lard. Those frijoles would be melting in my mouth, if only they didn't have big chunks of pork in them. Then there are the delicious potato tacos I could eat, if only they didn't have chorizo thrown in. There are times the whole experience just makes me want to lock myself in a room with a stack of rice cakes and a bunch of k.d. lang CDs, telling the rest of the world to go beat their meat elsewhere.
Then, a wonderful woman we have been most fortunate to befriend here in Guadalajara steps up to the plate, rolls up her sleeves and lets loose with a torrent of the good stuff that completely restores my love for the miracle that is Mexican food. Her name is Cristina, and she is the author of Mexico Cooks!, the most informative blog on Mexican food you'll find. With well-crafted first-person accounts and photos, she leads you around La República to sample the national staples as well as regional delicacies. She tells you the names of all those things you love but don't know how to ask for. She explains exactly what is in that curious stew that you saw but were afraid to try. She holds your hand and guides your lily-white behind through the market, removing the mystery behind things like chapulines and escamoles. Best of all, she reminds you of the sacred link between food, family and history that runs strong here in Mexico and makes the people so passionate about it.
Even after the most frustrating food experiences I encounter here in Guadalajara, Mexico Cooks! always lulls me back into a state of warm, bubbly love for the people and the food of our new country. And don't worry meat eaters. While she frequently writes about things that I can eat, she doesn't shy away from all those rich meaty treats for which Mexico is so well known. If reading Mexico Cooks! makes you so hungry you just can't stand it anymore and you want to come to Mexico to try out all the things she so lovingly describes, you're in luck. In addition to sharing her experiences through her blog, she also leads specialty tours here where you can go about and sample some of the delicious dishes she details in her blog.
Well? Why are you still here? Go check out Mexico Cooks!
Posted by crispy at May 7, 2007 07:03 AM