Marcela Valladolid - Fresh Mexico: 100 Simple Recipes for True Mexican Flavor

Copyright 2009 by Marcela Valladolid

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
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CLARKSON POTTER is a trademark and POTTER with colophon is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Valladolid, Marcela.
Fresh Mexico/Marcela Valladolid. 1st ed.
1. Cookery, Mexican. 2. Cookery, Mexico. I. Title
TX716.M4V32 2009
641.5972dc22 2008051293

eISBN: 978-0-307-88553-1

v3.1

During an interview I did once with a certain Baja magazine, editor-in-chief Ada Oliver and I discussed the state of Mexican food in my home country and around the world. I was excited to meet Ada, but I never expected that with one remark she would help me define the course of my culinary career. She had only one request of me (if I ever hit the big time). Please, she said, tell North America that there is no yellow cheese in Mexico!

It clicked. I thought of all the misdirected interpretations of my beloved home countrys cuisine: Cheddar cheese-stuffed quesadillas, tortilla chips drowning in neon yellow cheez (a.k.a. nachos), and the ubiquitous everything-but-the-kitchen-sink burritos that show up in Mexican restaurants masquerading as the real deal across the United States.

Where were the authentic, easy-to-prepare Mexican recipes that I grew up with? Where were the ceviches made with the freshest seafood? Why wasnt anyone highlighting the exciting evolution of Mexican cuisine, as seen in dishes like , which take canela (cinnamon) to a whole new level?

Mexican cuisine is full of brilliant fresh flavors, and Im desperate to share them with you. In these pages, you will find recipes that represent modern Mexico, traditional Mexico, and me. They are accessiblemade with ingredients you can find easilyyet very representative of Mexican food today.

Back to the yellow cheese. As Ada said, you wont find any in Mexico! The closest is Chihuahua cheese, also known as Menonita, after the Mennonite communities who first produced it in northern Mexico. Unlike most Mexican cheeses, which are white, Chihuahua is pale yellow and varies from mild to sharp, just like Cheddar. But let me be clearits not Cheddar, nor is it bright yellow. Dont get me wrongI love Cheddar cheese, and chimichangas, and margaritas (which we dont actually drink all that much south of the border). But if you think thats all there is to Mexican food, youre missing out on so much.

Its my nature to break stereotypes, and Im in a good position to do it. Im a Tijuana native. Yes, Tijuana, which is actually pronounced Tee-who-ON-na, not Tia-wanna. Ive been crossing the San Ysidro international border, between Tijuana and San Diego, my entire life. Trust me, Ive heard more than my share of jokes at the expense of my beloved hometown.

But how is this relevant to these recipes? Simple. Growing up in a border town, I was influenced by both Mexican and American cultures. When El Chavo del Ocho went to commercial break, I would flip through the channels and invariably land on a U.S. channel advertising crunchy Mexican beef tacos. I cringed every time. A crunchy beef taco may taste good, but it is not Mexican! And you probably wont find one in a reputable Mexican cookbook.

I grew up with the real stuff: crickets, ant roe, and corn fungusand love it I did. Now thats not what this book is about either, but I firmly believe that youre allowed to bend or break the rules only after you understand and respect them. And I know the rules. Complex mole was a standard weeknight dinner in my childhood home, spicy enchiladas often showed up for breakfast, and homemade salsas, sweet hibiscus tea, and tortillas were all staples.

So while the crickets were chilling in my pantry, I discovered early on that I also loved shopping (and the ingredients) at the markets in San Diego. Im the first one to admit life is much more practical on the northern side of the border. You can find anything you want if you look hard enough. Who needs to make puff pastry or fresh pasta when you can find perfect, ready-made dough in the frozen foods section of your supermarket? So why not marry the two? Why not keep it Mexican at its roots but easy to prepare?

My food, as you will find in this book, is very much like me. Its Mexican but influenced by other cultures. It is sophisticated in its presentation but easy to prepare. My recipes are also not the 100 percent authentic and traditional moles, pipins, or salsas youll find in cookbooks by masters like Diana Kennedy. The books written by Miss Kennedy in the 1970s were passed down to me from my grandfather and have been instrumental in my formation as a professional cook. But I dont have time for that kind of cooking when I have to get dinner on the table for my young son.

Here you get all of the authentic flavors without the fuss. No shopping for fifteen hard-to-find ingredients and then slaving in the kitchen for hours. The vast majority of the ingredients here are readily available in U.S. supermarkets. Of course I hope a few of these dishes might inspire you to visit your local Latin market, but if you dont have one, or dont have the time, I give suitable substitutes for almost every specialty ingredient that will yield equally authenticbut most important, deliciousresults.

Ive even added an * to denote the recipes that are low in fat and a to indicate those that can be prepared in close to 30 minutes. Lets face it: youre running out of excuses not to cook this stuff.

* * *

But first let me tell you how this all started for me personally. My passion for food and entertaining was ignited during one of my first jobs in the culinary world. I was an assistant instructor at my aunt Marcela Rodriguezs cooking school, one of the first in Tijuana. Hoping to get into a professional kitchen, I packed my 98 Mustang and landed a job as a hostess in a trendy Los Angeles restaurant. I wasnt allowed anywhere near a stovetop. For that reason, in addition to the fact that young women dont leave Tijuana unless theyre in school or marriedat least not in my familyI opted to enroll at the Los Angeles Culinary Institute, much to my parents relief.