Mexican Food Made Simple

 

Having been to Mexico and experienced the food there, I am infactuated to say the least. However, I am now a foodie snob and scoff at many popular references to so called 'mexican food'. Food in Mexico is not just a commodity it is a huge part of their culture, history and pride. Tex-mex- It. Is. Not.

The food is rich and sumptuous. Offers at Day of the Dead, often include food- a sign of the most precious thing they can give. From the chocolate and chiles in Mole, to the  guacamole, corn tortillas, tamales, churros, horchata, tinga and esquite. The list is endless and a veritible feast for heart and soul. In Mexico I didn't manage to bring back a cookery book and looking here in England I thought I'd have to make another visit just to do so.

But Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers has come to my culinary rescue with Mexican Food Made Easy. Having spent a good deal of time in Mexico and now opening the slightly unfortunately named Wahaca....why it is not Oaxaca, I do not know...in London to rave reviews, she's now bought out a Mexican cooking book, Mexican Food Made Simple. When amazon faithfully delivered the hardback brick, I was amazed at how interesting and Mexican the recipes were.

They're also, true to the title, easy to follow and have some nice stories and musings to help it go down. A few of the recipes use a master-recipe of roasted tomata salsa. Using this I made the chicken and corn humble pie. The sauce has a good punch to it, the recipe is really quite flexible and good for left over chicken and it has a light corn-based topping. It went down well and 'pretty mexican' with my Mexican guest. Tlayudas are high up on my next-to-try list.

Mexican food made simple seems like a real winner for anyone who loves the authentic mexican food. Perfect for dinner parties too, which I like because Mexico is such a friendly interactive place and food is really central to social and family life. There's also a section on the types of chile and herbs to use and a directory of Mexican food shops in the UK. A long over due Mexican cooking book that allows me to lust after mexico once more.

Ñam!
8/10

Happy, sunny days

Win a round the world trip with Lonely Planet. I've just uploaded a travel photo of some taxis I saw in Taxco, Mexico,  to Lonely Planet's new competition and subsequently spent about half an hour browsing other peoples, getting inspired and dreaminig of sunnier climes.

Taxco Taxis in Mexico

Frida Kahlo and La Casa Azul

Self-Portrait with Monkey

Frida Kahlo is so cool it hurts.  I was aware of Frida Kahlo and her symbolic monobrow. On a recent trip to Mexico, my first trip off the continent no less, I went to her house. Not in a I-was-invited-round-for-tea way obviously, her house is called the Blue House and it’s now a museum/homage to Kahlo and Diego Riviera. La Casa Azul is in Coyoacan, a suburb of Mexico City. It displays some mind-blowing work alongside some possesions and annotations. It’s actually such a good idea for a museum. It remnoves that stuffy pretension that comes with so many formal art spaces. Its really accessible and appeals to anyone who likes people and their story as well as cool works of art.

Her paintings are really striking with vibrant colours and realism. Many pieces are self-portraits or relate to the difficulties she faced in her life. She really rose up and smacked adversity in the face if you ask me.

She was born just before the Mexican revolution began in 1910. Apparently she later said she was born in 1910 in order to be directly associated with the revolution. She got polio which rendered one of her legs pretty much useless. In 1925 she had a near-fatal road accident which affected her reproductive abilites and nearly destroyed her leg.

After her accident she gave up the idea of studying medicine to become a painter. I found her paintings of her fertility issues and disabilities really interesting and she very much faced dark subject matters head on. She was married to murualist Diego Rivera, a notorious womaniser to say the least, even having an affair with Frida’s sister. Frida’s love for Diego comes across from la casa azul and in literature, as incredibly strong. So strong it makes a revolutionary stubborn woman like Frida, weak. Love is an unfathomable power.

The couple befriended Leon Trotsky, Stalin-opposer in exile from Russia. Good grief.

I think I could go on and on. But I won’t. Just, if you happen to be in Mexico City, and have a spare hour or three, head over to the museo frida, and give her a salute from me.