maiz

Nixtamalization means fresh tortillas at South Philly Barbacoa (video)

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When you bite into a taco, you are tasting the results of an ancient chemical process called nixtamalization. It’s a technique that hasn’t changed much since 1500 BCE, and along the way it helped the Aztecs rise to power and made tortillas softer, tastier, and much more nutritious. Today, Benjamin Miller and Christina Martinez are the only chefs in Philadelphia making their tortillas from scratch, which means they practice the ancient art of nixtamalization.

Mas…Nixtamalization means fresh tortillas at South Philly Barbacoa (video)

In Fresno, Liz Sanchez shares family recipes at Casa de Tamales (video)

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Her mom’s and abuela’s recipes are the secret sauce at Liz Sanchez’ Casa de Ta males in Fresno. She uses fresh corn for the tortillas and tamales and serves micheladas tambien! What could be bad? [Fresno booster Jason Farris made the video.] It’s interesting that Sanchez switches back and forth between saying “tamal” and “tamale.” Que pocha!

Mas…In Fresno, Liz Sanchez shares family recipes at Casa de Tamales (video)

Grinding corn for tortillas in Mexington and the American Dream (video)

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In the growing Latino community of Lexington, Kentucky (aka Mexington), immigrant Laura Patricia Ramirez and her family suspected the new “Spanish” influx into town might mean they could earn a living providing comida Mexicana to the neighbors. First they imported fresh tortillas from Chicago, and then started making their own. Now they own a tortilla/taqueria even the gabachos love — they come for the asada and stay for the lengua. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Ramirez has the first Southern drawl-spiced Mexican accent we’ve ever encountered. God Bless THIS America, land that we love.]

Thanks to our amigo Profe Steven Alvarez for the link.

Latino USA: If You Give a Toddler a Tortilla (NPR audio)

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She just wants to prepare some home made flour tortillas with her baby girl just like she did with her own mom. What’s the big deal?

NPR’s LatinoUSA explains:

April Salazar longs to make her Grandma Alice’s tortillas with her daughter. It is the same tortilla recipe her grandmother’s mother made in Baja California and later in Tucson, Arizona, after she fled the Mexican Revolution. There’s just one problem: she needs the stars to align… and the cooperation of her two-year-old daughter.

Mas…Latino USA: If You Give a Toddler a Tortilla (NPR audio)

Fat foodaholic gabacho drinks Corona and makes corn tortillas (video)

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Chris Donovan of FatFoodaolics shows us How to Make Corn Tortillas the Wrong Way. Huh? He explains:

Tortillas! One of my favorite foods on the planet. Nothing better then a Taco or Burrito smothered with cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo, etc. One thing, I can never replicate what I get in a good Mexican restaurant with store bought corn tortillas. So I figured I give making them a try.

Pocho Ocho Top Ways to Decolonize Your Diet

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corn-maizDecolonizing your diet is more than a trendy Chicanx meme, it’s a book, and a chingon idea.

If you want to just say “No!” to the comida of the Conquistadors and eat what Tlaloc intended — the authentic food of your ancestors — here are the Pocho Ocho Top Ways to Decolonize Your Diet:

8. Take the milk out of chocolate and put the chile back in

7. Honor the Aztecs and eat more of Moctezuma’s gold

6. Chihuahua on a stick

Mas…Pocho Ocho Top Ways to Decolonize Your Diet

All about the ‘Maiz’ (video)

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Corn — Maiz — is central in the Mexican food culture and was first cultivated over 100 centuries ago. Here is a short tribute to maiz, the golden gift of Mother Nature. [Video by Marysol.]

Chef with beard invents a grilled-cheese ‘taco’ that isn’t a quesadilla

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grilledcheesetacoAs our esteemed Associate Naranjero Gustavo ¡Ask a Mexican! Arellano has pointed out over and over, the taco is American as apple pie.

That’s why we weren’t surprised when we read reports of a marvelous new American “taco” creation, the grilled-cheese taco.

Although we think the so-called Elite Daily’s headline asserting that “You’ll Never Need a Tortilla Again” betrays the bleak gustatory horizons of an editor who has never eaten a proper tortilla (see videos below), we are thankful she included a link to the original recipe.

Originator FoodInMyBeard blog (original recipes and mashups by Dan Whalen) lays out the rationale:

Mas…Chef with beard invents a grilled-cheese ‘taco’ that isn’t a quesadilla

How to make Mexican tortillas|Cómo hacer tortillas mexicanas (video)

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Este vídeo fue grabado en Chiapas, México. En él podemos ver la forma tradicional de hacer las tortillas, hechas por los mismos miembros de la comunidad de Petalcingo. Vuélvete un experto e impresiona a tus amigos. // This was recorded in Petalcingo, Chiapas, Mexico. We can see how native people of this community prepare traditional tortillas. Tortillas are typical in the Mexican gastronomy, so, if you want to become an expert and impress your friends, pay attention.

Can solar-powered mariachis replace bean-powered mariachis?

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3mariachis(PNS reporting from GUANAJUATO, MX) Solar-powered mariachis have begun coming off production lines here in the high tech manufacturing city of Guanajuato, Mexico, musical soldiers in the war on climate change.

The eco-friendly musicians use renewable energy from the sun instead of traditional musical fuels like frijoles, tacos y cerveza, all of which produce the damaging “greenhouse gas” behind global warming.

The solar-powered trio – maracas, trumpet, and guitar – were recently spotted playing an unpublicized gig at a 99 Cents Only store in the Houston, Texas area, according to Juan of Words, who took the photo above.

YouTuber David Diaz spotted another trio dancing silently in a letterbox, and added his own music:

Mas…Can solar-powered mariachis replace bean-powered mariachis?