The holiday of Cinco de Mayo, The Fifth Of May,
commemorates the victory of the Mexicans over the
French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. It is
primarily a regional holiday celebrated in the Mexican
state capital city of Puebla and throughout the state
of Puebla, but is also celebrated in other parts of
the country and in U.S.cities with a significant
Mexican population. It is not, as many people think,
Mexico's Independence Day, which is actually September
16.
For the most part, the holiday of Cinco de Mayo is
more of a regional holiday in Mexico, celebrated most
vigorously in the state of Puebla. Though there is
recognition of the holiday throughout the country with
different levels of enthusiasm, it's nothing like that
found in Puebla.
Celebrating Cinco de Mayo has become increasingly
popular along the U.S.-Mexico border and in parts of
the U.S. that have a high population of people with a
Mexican heritage. In these areas the holiday is a
celebration of Mexican culture, of food, music,
beverage and customs unique to Mexico.
Commercial interests in the United States and Mexico
have also been successful in promoting the holiday,
with products and services focused on Mexican food,
beverage and festive items. Increasingly more cities
in the U.S. and Mexico catering to a festive consumer
are also more than happy to provide a venue to
celebrate, so that Cinco de Mayo is becoming adopted
into the holiday calendar of more and more people
every year.
The following are some traditional Mexican recipes
often made on Cinco de Mayo. Enjoy!
Menudo is a wonderfully aromatic soup made of tripe,
hominy and chili, and is stewed for hours with garlic
and other spices. The broth is rich, red, papery, and
glistens with fat. It stimulates the senses, arms the
insides, and clears the head.
Menudo is served in big open bowls brought to the
table steaming and fiery. It is usually eaten in the
wee hours after a night out on the town and widely
proclaimed to be an antidote for hangovers.
Mexicans brag about Menudo's goodness, about how the
hot broth with its medicinal condiments, particularly
the chili, replenishes vitamins A and C, soothes the
stomach, and stimulates the gastric juices to overcome
any loss of appetite. Unfortunately, unlike the
enchilada, taco, and tamale, Menudo has not become a
part of the popular Tex-Mex cuisine.
A hearty tripe soup as it is prepared in the north of
Mexico, this is especially recommended as a cure for
hangovers. It is always made on New Year's morning.
Menudo
Have the butcher cut the calf's foot into four pieces.
Cut the tripe into small squares. Put them into the
pan with the rest of the ingredients. Cover with water
and bring to a boil. Lower the flame and simmer
uncovered for about 2 hours, or until the tripe and
foot are just tender but not too soft. Meanwhile,
toast the chilies well. Slit them open and remove the
seeds and veins from the chile poblano, cut it into
strips, and add to the meat while it is cooking.
Remove the pieces of calf's foot from the pen, and
when they are cool enough to handle, strip off the
fleshy parts. Chop them roughly and return them to the
pan. Add hominy and continue cooking the menudo
slowly, still uncovered, for another 2 hours. Add
salt as necessary. Sprinkle with oregano and serve.
This amount is sufficient for 7 or 8 people. It should
be served in large, deep bowls with hot tortillas and
small dishes of chopped chile serranos, finely chopped
onion and wedges of lime for each person to help
himself, along with Salsa de Tomate Verde Cruda to be
eaten with tortillas.
Menudo Recipe #2
Wash tripe thoroughly, remove excess fat and cut into
bite sized pieces, wash nixtamal and pigs feet well
and combine all ingredient in a large pot with enough
water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer slowly
until corn opens and is cooked (not overcooked). Skim
off grease. It is best if you can refrigerate it in
order to remove all grease.
Serve with fresh cilantro, chopped green onion,
chiltepin, limon and toasted bolillos.
Cactus Salad
INGREDIENTS:
DIRECTIONS:
2. Drain the nopalitos and cut them into large pieces;
reserve the brine, you’ll use it for the dressing.
Toss the nopalitos into the lettuce. Add the remaining
ingredients and mix well with your impeccably clean
hands.
3. Prepare the dressing.
4. Pour only enough of the dressing over the salad to
lightly coat the greens, and save the rest for another
time. The dressing will keep for a week under
refrigeration.
SERVES: 8-10 or 12 as part of a buffet
Grilled Pineapple and Mango Slices
DIRECTIONS:
2. Mix the lime juice, cilantro and the honey. Brush
onto the fruit and let sit for 30 minutes at room
temperature.
3. Brush the hot grill with oil and place the fruit
onto the grill. Turn one half turn after 3 minutes.
After another 2 minutes, brush with the lime-honey
marinade again and turn over.
4. Grill on second side for 2 minutes, basting with
the lime-honey marinade once more. Remove to a large
platter and keep warm or let cool to room temperature.
PRESENTATION SUGGESTIONS:
SERVES: 8-12
Limeade
DIRECTIONS:
2. Fill tall glasses with ice cubes. Pour ¼ of the
lime juice concentrate in each. Top with bottled water
or sparkling water. Garnish as indicated and serve.
PRESENTATION SUGGESTIONS:
SERVES: 4
Café de Olla
INGREDIENTS:
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
Use a very fine sieve or a clean white sock. Markets
catering to Mexican or Puerto Rican customers sell
special white cloth filters for making this coffee,
but, a clean white sock can be substituted with
excellent results. Simply save the sock for making
this coffee; it will never be white again.
DIRECTIONS:
2. Add the coffee and stir to mix well. Cover, remove
from the heat and let steep for five minutes.
3. Strain through a very fine sieve or a clean white
sock and serve immediately.
PRESENTATION SUGGESTIONS:
QUICK TAKES:
SERVES: 4
A large saucepan (see note below)
1 calf's foot (about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds)
2 pounds honeycomb tripe
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic, peeled
6 peppercorns
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
4 quarts of water
A comal or griddle
3 large chiles anchos
A spice grinder
A large chile poblano, peeled or 2 canned, peeled
green chiles
The calf's foot
1/2 cup canned hominy (1 pound) drained (see note below)
Salt as necessary
1 scant teaspoon oregano
3 pounds tripe
3 pounds nixtamal (hominy) frozen, not canned
3 pounds pigs feet (not calves) cut into quarters
1 large onion diced
1 bunch green onion cut up in 1/4" pieces
1 bunch of cilantro chopped
2 tablespoons Oregano
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 head of garlic
2 tablespoons salt
This is a surprisingly flavorful salad that goes well
with most grilled meat dinners. You may leave out the
cilantro if you really hate it, as some people do, and
the salad is still delicious. Look for nopalitos that
are pickled with a vinegar brine, not simply in water
and salt.
2 or 3 large Romaine Lettuce heads, washed and dried
1 bunch Watercress, washed and dried
1 cup Pickled Nopalitos (cactus)*
1 Red Onion, sliced thin
1 roasted Red Pepper, peeled, seeded and sliced as the nopalitos
¼ cup pitted Green Olives, sliced
½ cup fresh Cilantro leaves, chopped coarse (you may substitute basil or oregano if you wish for a different taste entirely)
½ cup fresh Italian Parsley Leaves, chopped
¼ cup Italian Pepper Salad (from a jar or your market’s salad bar), chopped coarse
DRESSING:
Drained brine from the pickled nopalitos, mixed with an equal amount of White Wine Vinegar
½ teaspoon Sugar
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper flakes (optional)
3 parts Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1. Wash and dry the romaine leaves. Tear into 1 to
2-inch pieces and place into a large salad bowl.
Remove tough stems from the watercress and discard.
Add watercress to bowl.
2 ripe Hawaiian Pineapples, peeled and sliced
4 ripe Mangoes, peeled and sliced
juice from 4 Limes
4 tablespoons Honey
4 tablespoons chopped Cilantro
GARNISH:
Fresh cilantro and parsley sprigs
1. Peel and slice the pineapple into ¼-inch rings.
Peel and slice the mangoes into similar thickness.
Arrange on a large platter, with the prettiest side
up, surrounded by lots of fresh cilantro and parsley
sprigs and drizzled with the remaining marinade.
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
2/3 cup superfine sugar
2 tablespoons Maraschino Cherry Syrup
1 cup packed fresh mint leaves
Thin Lime slices and whole small mint sprigs for garnish
GARNISH:
Lime, mint, and a maraschino cherry for each glass
1. Combine the lime juice, cherry syrup, sugar and
mint in a blender and purée until smooth to make a
lime juice concentrate.
Garnish glass with lime, mint and a cherry and serve.
Mexican coffee that sings of wonderful spices. This
makes the best iced coffee, if you adopt the tricks at
the end.
½ cup Panela *, a Mexican brown sugar shaped in a cone, chopped
2 Cinnamon Sticks
2 whole Star Anise pods or ¼ teaspoon Fennel Seeds
½ cup fine grind Coffee, such as Bustelo * brand
GARNISH:
Short cinnamon stick
* May substitute ½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
and 1 teaspoon Molasses for the Panela * Both the
Panela and the Bustelo are available in markets that
cater to Spanish speaking customers.
1. In a medium saucepan with a cover, place the first
3 ingredients. Slowly bring to a boil, stirring to
dissolve the sugar.
Serve immediately in coffee cups or mugs and garnish
with a small cinnamon stick. This also makes a
delicious iced coffee. Just cool to room temperature
and pour over ice cubes. For the richest iced coffee,
make ice cubes of the café de olla by pouring the
cooled coffee into ice cube trays and freezing them.
Just use these instead of plain ice cubes in your iced
café de olla or any iced coffee for that matter.
To cheat and get some of the flavor of café de olla,
simply place the spices into your coffee maker's
carafe and brew a strong pot of coffee using 2
tablespoons coffee grounds for every 6 ounces of
water.
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