This is a Mexican drink made from rice, or rice and almonds. The drink is sweetened and flavoured with cinnamon and Key Lime juice. The Spanish version of “Horchata” doesn’t use rice; it is made from Tigernuts. Language Notes “Arroz” is the Spanish word for “rice”.
Mexican Food
Horchatas
A Horchata is a thick beverage made in Spain and Mexico. It may be thickened with ground rice, almonds, or tigernuts (aka chufas.) It is more likely to be rice-based in Mexico; tigernut based in Spain. It may be flavoured with cantaloupe seeds, chocolate, cinnamon, coconut, fruit or vanilla. Alboraia in Valencia, Spain prides itself…
Jalapeño Cheese
Jalapeño cheese is cheese — any cheese — with jalapeño peppers in it. The cheese may be semi-firm, or a soft one. You can also make your own at home.
Jalapeño Chico
Green jalapeños that are smoked. Given that the drying and smoking browns the chile, usually jalapeños that have some blemishes on them are used, while more perfect looking green ones are sent to the market to be sold fresh. A variety called “Papaloapan” is grown and processed near Papaloapan, near Veracruz, Mexico.
Jicama
Jicama © Denzil Green Jicama is a root vegetable. The flesh inside is crunchy, white and a bit sweet. The tuber is shaped a bit like a turnip or a beet. It can weigh from 8 oz to 6 pounds (250g to 2.7 kg.) The tuber has a short root attached to it. There are…
Kahlua
Kahlúa® is a Mexican-made coffee-flavoured liqueur. It is dark brown, thick and very sweet. Ingredients include coffee, corn syrup, sugar and vanilla bean. Many think there is chocolate in it, but there isn’t. It comes in various flavours such as Mocha, French Vanilla, Hazelnut, Especial, White Russian, Mudslide, and of course, regular. It can be…
Masa Harina
Masa Harina © Denzil Green Masa Harina is a Mexican corn flour made from either yellow or white “dent” corn. The name means “dough flour.” The flour is used to make dough, which the Mexicans call “masa.” In Spanish, “masa” means “dough”, though in Mexican Spanish, it implies “dough made from corn.” Masa Harina is…
Menudo
Menudo is a Mexican stew consisting of beef tripe, chiles, hominy and spices. Most recipes neglect to mention how to clean the tripe first. It must be well-cleaned to stop any of its smell coming into the stew. To prepare the tripe, you cut off any excess fat, and chop into 1 inch (2 ½…
Menudo Mix
A spice and herb mix sometimes kept on hand for seasoning menudo while cooking it. You can buy it or make your own. The mix uses all dry ingredients as they’re generally meant to be stored to be kept on hand, ready to use. There are both elaborate and simple renditions of Menudo Mix. Cooking…
Metate y metlapil
A “metate y metlapil” is a Mexican mortar and pestle for dry ingredients. The mortar is basically a grinding stone with three short legs, with a top that is relatively flat, rough, and slanted. There are two shorter feet in the front, and a higher foot on the back to make it slanted.
Mexican Cheeses
Cheese is everywhere in Mexican cuisine. Many of the most popular Mexican cheeses are fresh, and complement perfectly the many fresh dishes and fresh toppings used in Mexican cuisine.
Mexican Chocolate
Mexican Chocolate © Denzil Green Mexican Chocolate looks a bit like a chocolate powder that has been pressed into blocks. You break pieces off the block to use, and chop them up finely, or grate them. Three of the larger brands made are Abuelita, Ibarra, Mayordomo, and Nestlé. All brands come sweetened with a bit…
Mexican Food
Mexican food is fusion food. It’s a blend of Spanish, other European and even Mennonite traditions tossed in with the indigenous food and cooking traditions. While Mediterranean food was founded, though, on the trinity of wine, bread and the olive, the foundation for Mexican food is corn, beans and squash. Mexicans didn’t stop eating what…
Mexican Independence Day
The 16th of September is Mexican Independence Day. It is a big celebration in Mexico, bigger than the Cinco de Mayo. There are parades, festivities and eating.
Mexican Oregano
Mexican oregano is actually used as a collective name for several different varieties of herbs, including Lippia graveolens, and Lippia berlandieri. Among the more common is Lippia graveolens. The plants are perennial, but not cold hardy. They are not as sweet as the Mediterranean oregano, but they have a stronger oregano taste. While Mediterranean oregano…
Mexican Papaya
Mexican Papaya is less sweet than “regular” (Hawaiian papaya), to which it is related, but it has a muskier smell and a milder taste. It can up grow to 15 inches long and weigh up to 10 pounds (40 cm; 4.5 kg.) The flesh inside can be bright orange, salmon-pink or yellow. There is a…
Mexican Tarragon
Mexican tarragon has glossy, liquorice-scented leaves.The plant is a perennial when grow in regions with mild winters: it cannot survive temperatures below -6 C / 20 F , It grows 60 cm tall (2 feet), and 30 cm wide (12 inches). In the fall, it flowers with 1 cm wide (½ inch) yellow blossoms, which have…
Migas
Migas is a Mexican breakfast dish. It consists of scrambled eggs with chiles, onions, grated cheese and either tortilla or bread crumbs added to it. Occasionally chorizo is added as well. To make it, you scramble the eggs, and sprinkle the crumbs over the eggs in the pan just as they start to set. Or,…
Molcajete y tejolote
A molcajete is a bowl made of rough stone on three legs. It is actually quite large and will be able to hold about 1 litre (4 cups) capacity. It is accompanied by a tejolote, which is the pestle.
Mole
A Mole (pronounced (mo – leh) is a Mexican sauce, and no, it does not contain any small, burrowing animals. In English, it is often written with a capital M to distinguish it from the furry animals; other times, well-meaning English speakers invent an accent for it and spell it Molé, which is wrong. The…
Mulato Chile Peppers
Mulatos are Poblano Chile Peppers that have been allowed to ripen until dark brown, then dried out to a wrinkly, flat blackish-brown pepper. They remain that dark brown colour after rehydrating. The flavour almost has undertones of chocolate.
Nachos Day
The 6th of November is Nachos Day. It’s a myth that nachos weren’t invented in Mexico. They actually were — just across the border with Texas in a Mexican town called Piedras Negras.
Oaxaca Cheese
Oaxaca cheese is a Mexican soft cheese formed into braided balls. It is the most usual cheese in Mexico for making quesadillas with.
Paletas
Paletas are frozen fruit bars on a wooden stick. The frozen substance can be milk or fruit juice based. Prices in Mexico and in America range from $1.00 to $1.40 US (as of 2006); milk ones usually cost more than the fruit ones. Fruit juice based ones are called “paletas del agua.” Milk-based ones are…