Amidst COVID-19, I’m sticking to what I – and a lot of other people – love most: cooking and baking.  One challenge I’ve presented to myself is to make a dish (or dishes) of international cuisines every week, learn some words from the language, and e-visit some of the country’s landmarks.  Some of these dishes will be more complex than others and they’re all based on what ingredients I have available in the house at the time.

First up? Mexican cuisine.

After recently seeing a Chef’s Table episode on Cristina Martinez, I decided to start off with Mexican cuisine. Cristina Martinez is from Capulhuac, Mexico, and is an undocumented immigrant who crossed the border to come to the United States. Her signature dish is barbacoa, which is a classic meat dish made with beef, goat, or lamb, and seasoned with chilies and spices for hours. After a few difficult years living in the United States, she opened up South Philly Barbacoa. While I’m not a meat-fan, I admired Martinez’s story and care for each individual ingredient she used in her cooking.

And on that note, I decided Mexican cuisine was to be my first cooking endeavor for this challenge. Staples in this cuisine include maize, beans, avocados, chili pepper, chia, and more.

THE DISH: BLACK BEAN TORTILLA (GF + V)

Tortillas are fun, crowd-pleasing, and, of course, delicious. And not only does this recipe use Mexican cuisine staples, but also pantry staples.

Mix all of these ingredients to your tasting. I put the ingredients’ spanish translation as well 🙂

• Siete’s chickpea flour tortilla. Tortilla. From their Lime Grain Free Tortilla Chips to their sprouted bean dip, Siete Foods are incredible. I highly recommend their grain-free tortillas, particularly their chickpea flour ones. If I had masa harina in my pantry, I would have made the tortillas from scratch. In the past, I’ve used Bob’s Red Mill’s recipe for their corn tortillas.
  • TIP: I like to pop the tortillas into the oven to get warm and slightly grilled.
• Black beans. Judía negra. You can use canned black beans, or boil them yourself. Nutritionally, black beans are rich in iron, calcium, copper, and zinc. For every serving (~1/2 cup), there’s roughly 8 grams of protein.
• Red onions. Cebolla roja. Onions contain antioxidants that fight inflammation, decrease trigylcerides and reduce cholesterol levels. They are also dense in Vitamin C, which is important for immune health. In particular, black beans and onions are a great match, nutritionally. Iron in plants is known as non-heme, and isn’t readily absorbed into the body, requiring Vitamin C, which increases absorption of non-heme iron by up to six times.
• Cilantro. Cilantro. You either love it or hate it. If you side with the latter, maybe hear out its benefits. Cilantro is helpful is ridding the body of heavy metals, like mercury, lead, and aluminum. According to Dr. Axe, cilantro has been shown to bind to the toxic metals and loosen them from tissue. Due to cilantro’s flavonoid quercetin, it helps protect against the damage caused by free radicals in the body.
• Avocados. Aguacate. This ingredient needs no explanation. They’re full of heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, and, of course, buttery delicious.
• Jalapeño. Jalapeño. Spicy, crunchy, and full of flavor. I like to offer this in a little bowl so eaters can decide how spicy they want their tortilla to be.
• Lime. Lima.
• Salt. Sal.

The fun aspect of tortillas is that everybody in the family or group of friends can concoct their own dish according to their tastes. You can make sides of lime rice (arroz con lima, another pantry-friendly dish) or shredded chicken (pollo desmenuzado) for those who eat meat.

USEFUL WORDS

Onto the language section. Last time I took Spanish was back in 5th grade, so I definitely needed a refresher. There are over 450 million native speakers of Spanish, making it the second most prominent language in the world. Here are some helpful words and phrases should the occasion to speak Spanish come (which, according to the previous statistic, is highly likely).

Greetings

• Hola –> Hi
• Buenos dias –> Good morning or Good day
• Adiós –> Good bye
• ¿Cómo estás? (Informal) and ¿Còmo está usted? (Formal) –> How are you?
  • RESPONSE: Estoy bien, gracias –> I’m fine, thank you.

Conversation

• ¿De dònde eres? (Informal) and ¿De dònde es usted? (Formal) –> Where are you from?
  • RESPONSE: Soy de ___ –> I’m from ___
• ¿Cómo te llamas? (Informal) and ¿Cómo se llama usted? (Formal) –> What’s your name?
  • RESPONSE: Me llamo ___ –> My name is _____
• ¿Qué te gusta hacer? –> What do you like to do?
  • RESPONSE: Me gusta ___ –> I like to ____
    • Cocinar – to cook
    • Bailar – to dance
    • Hacer deporte – play sports
    • Viajar – to travel
• Me gustaría ____ –> I would like ____
• Mucho gusto –> Nice to meet you
• Gracias –> Thank you
• De nada –> You’re welcome

Slang

I think one of the best parts and ways of really getting a taste of a culture (besides the food) is to know its slang. Slang varies between Spanish-speaking countries. It’s really fun to include in conversations 🙂

• ¿Qué onda? –> What’s up?
  • RESPONSE: No mucho –> Nothing much [this isn’t slang]
• ¡No manches! –> No way! Are you kidding me?
• Chido or padre –> Cool, awesome

MEXICO’S LANDMARKS

Mexico is undoubtedly a beautiful country. I could have easily listed over 20 landmarks. But here are four beautiful spots in Mexico.

Let’s start with the natural beauty.

Zipolite, Oaxaca

One of my friends from Tufts has family in Oaxaca, and raves about this beach. The long beak is known for surfing, and on the east along the coast is Huatulco National Park, which has protected coral reefs.

Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza was one of the largest Mayan cities.

Palenque

Palenque was a Mayan city state, and after its decline, it was swarmed into the jungle, but has since been excavated and restored.

Guanajuato

Guanajuato is known for its silver mining history and colonia architecture, and has a sea of pretty pastel buildings. Read more here.