Last but not least at our culinary adventure at The Little Mexican Cooking School in Puerto Morelos was our study on chilies.  As was explained to us at the school:

The chili pepper works as a catalyst in Mexican Food, having been served for centuries to modify flavours of a basic country diet, and with the corn and the black beans, it creates a good nutritional balance.  The chile has helped give the Mexican people the ingredients for their best biological development and kept them healthy since pre-Hispanic times.  The lack of essential amino acids makes corn an incomplete protein, but beans contain those in abundance, so together they are a high quality protein.  The chile also contributes vitamin A and C.  As a general rule the littler ones are spicier than the big ones.

Chef Christobal patiently explained the different varieties of chiles utilized in Mexican dishes but I still could not copy them down quickly enough so I found this cheat sheet:

Serrano: A small, fresh, green hot chile. Used for spice and flavor in cooking and as a garnish.

Jalapeño: Larger than a serrano, though still small. This fresh green or red chile is probably the easiest to find in America. The ripe red version is sweeter; the green version can be spicy.

Poblano: A dark green, medium-sized fresh green chile often roasted and stuffed.

Habanero: A tiny, lantern-shaped fresh chile of extraordinary heat. Interchangeable with the incendiary Scotch Bonnet.

Chile de arbol: A small, red dried chile. It’s the chile used for the dried red chile flakes in the spice section of the market.

Chipotle: A medium-small, wrinkled, dried brown chile with a unique smoky flavor reminiscent of bacon. It’s the dried, smoked version of jalapeño.

Chile negro, or pasilla: A long, narrow, dark brown dried chile used for grinding into moles.

Ancho: A medium-sized, wrinkled, brown dried chile with a mellow, earthy, sweet flavor. It’s the dried version of the poblano.

With this explanation, the theoretical part of our training had concluded but the demonstration of technique was still ahead.  And the best part was that we also had a great deal of tasting to come.  At our first little break, Chef Christobal demonstrated the versatility of chili powder by paring up a fresh pineapple, slicing it and serving it with a glistening of sea salt and chili powder-so refreshingly different.

Then we prepared our own pico de gallo and guacamole.

Another ancient Mexican technique was demonstrated to us with “stone” soup where a lava stone is heated and then placed into a soup bowl to finish cooking the ingredients.  This was one of the courses of our lunch finale for the day.

Our main dish was roasted pork and apples.

Dessert was a creamy rice pudding.

Perhaps you have not incorporated learning into your vacations as of yet.  The Little Mexican Cooking School is a great excuse to change all that.  The setting is comfortable and the little touches of the day, a real pampered treat.  You meet wonderful like-minded people and get to share an amazing meal and libations with them.  Isn’t that what vacations are all about?  Well for me, they are and I am looking forward to returning to the school when we next vacation in the area.

Kath’s quote: “The smell of roasting meat together with that of burning fruit wood and dried herbs, as voluptuous as incense in a church, is enough to turn anyone into a budding gastronome.”-Claudia Roden

Love-that is all.

This is the second installment of our time at The Little Mexican Cooking School in Puerto Moreles.  Sista #3 here again……

Most people in North America do not realize that when they talk about “Chinese Food” they are actually referring to an Americanized rendition that has very little in common with the food found in the various culinary regions of China.  Mexican food is similar.  A trip to Taco Bell does not compare to a meal of tik’n xic (grilled fish) or cochinita pibil (pork slow roasted in banana leaf and marinated in sour orange). These delectable dishes are native to the Yucatan Peninsula, where my family and I travel each winter.

Chef Christobal, our instructor that day at The Little Mexican Cooking School, hails from Oaxaca (pronounced – wa-HA-ca). Our class started with a review of the foods of Mexico and how they got there.  Prior to the arrival of Spanish the food in Mexico included; squash, corn, beans, turkey, fish, insects, cactus and various fruits, veggies and chilies.

The ingredients for dishes like the colorful Pico de Gallo (translation: beak of the roster) of tomato, cilantro, onion where nowhere to be found before the arrival of Columbus. The Spaniards brought things you would expect; livestock, wheat and vegetables that grew well in their homeland.  The Spanish had also spent some time in Asia, so also had with them things like rice, spices and citrus fruit. The perfect storm for the birth of a very tasty, cuisine.

Mexico has a diverse geography including 6,000 miles of coastline, the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, deserts, rain forests and of course islands! So it makes sense that the food of different regions would be based on the agriculture of that area.  Chef Christobal explained that this is why you find wheat tortillas in the north and corn tortillas in the south. Many of the chilies are the same species that have different characteristics dependent on the climate where they grow.

Like we tend to do with many aspects of culture, we have over simplified the food of Mexico.  Here’s an example.  Think of mole and you are likely to envision mole poblano, a sauce with many ingredients including chocolate that is native to the Puebla region. But travel to Oaxaca and you will find a variety of seven other moles. You see mole is simply the Aztec word for sauce.  The same concept applies to salsa, the Spanish word for sauce.  So you can see why people are confused when they read “papita salsa” on a menu and a green pumpkin seed sauce tops their dish.

Mexicans have much national pride and their food is one way they express it.  If you pay attention you will see the red, white and green of their flag in many of their dishes.  They are a resourceful people, good stewards of the land and animals and gracious hosts.

There is much to learn about all the cuisines of Mexico. I haven’t even mentioned food Meccas like Cabos, Tabasco, Baja, Guadalajara, or Mexico City.

Kath’s quote: “Mucho para cocinar, y no hay mucho tiempo para cocinar. – So much to cook, so little time.”-Sista #3

Love-that is all.

All of you, my lovely readers know that I am especially ga ga over two world cuisines-Italian and Mexican.  I have exciting news to share with you about Italy but unfortunately, you are going to have to wait just a wee bit longer.  As far as Mexican cuisine is concerned, when the Winnipeg entourage was recently on Isla Mujeres, Jackie, Sister #3 and I traveled to Puerto Moreles for the day to attend The Little Mexican Cooking School.  I am bursting with all the nuggets of info that we are going to share with you.  Sister #3 and I are going to collaborate on at least three posts: 1) chocolate 2) chilies and 3) beverages.  We actually learned how to make chocolate from a raw cocoa bean and “stone” soup.  The day was absolutely fascinating and delicious.

The world of taste is such an enormous place.  We learned that there are seven culinary regions of Mexico and even though we were in the region of the Maya, we studied about the foods native to Oaxaca.  There are another seven moles from different areas of the state of Oaxaca.  Omgosh-there is so much in this world to learn and see and taste!

I have been pinning my Isla Mujeres pics for the last couple of weeks but I would love to one day travel to other culinary regions of Mexico including Oaxaca and so I am creating a new pin board of my “Dream Destination”.

In the mean time, memories of the wonderful day that we spent under the guidance of handsome and talented Chef Christobal will be pinned to my new board.

In celebration of spring and Mexico and the tastes of the world, I (along with the rest of the Sobeys Love Food Ambassadors) am announcing a special contest.  Anyone who creates a pinboard, tagging their repins with #LoveSobeys, is entered to win one of 12 $100. Sobey’s gift cards.  You will be able to use the cards for delicious Mexican items like Roasted Tomato Chipolte Salsa, Black Bean and Corn Salsa, Salsa Verde and Extra Hot Cayenne Pepper Sauce.  D and I are heading to Sobey’s right now to pick up some Friday night supper because it has been to long without the taste of Mexico.

Kath’s quote: “Some people like to paint pictures, or do gardening, or build a boat in the basement. Other people get a tremendous pleasure out of the kitchen, because cooking is just as creative and imaginative an activity as drawing, or wood carving, or music.” -Julia Child

Love-that is all.

On Day 5, I did something I rarely do when I am vacationing on Isla: I voluntarily left the island.  Jackie, Sister #3 and I headed to Puerto Moreles to the Little Mexican Cooking School.  Sister #3 and I plan on collaborating on a number of posts about our cooking adventure, so I am going to skip right over the day at this time.  That evening, I didn’t even venture out for dinner as we were still too stuffed from eating the results of our classes.  I stayed in that evening and ate a peanut butter and banana sandwich (I didn’t photograph this).

On Day 6, the inclement weather that began the day before, continued.  We hung around our hotel and Sister #3 picked up Rotisserie Chicken for our lunch which we ate around our little plunge pool with the gang.  I did do a wee little wander around Centro.

That evening, we braved the elements and ventured to El Veradero.

At our first table, the wind was whipping us all about but the expertly-made mojitoes occupied us until the staff sympathized with our suffering and moved us to a more sheltered table, where we had a wonderful dinner.

After all the years that I have heard about this place that is tucked away and right on the water, I felt right at home. I loved everything about it, but especially the rustic décor.

Our server pulled in the English expertise of an interpreter.  When we chatted with her later she indicated that she helps out in order to enhance her English skills.  What a resourceful woman and a win/win situation for us all.  There was a bit of a debate about who would get the last two orders of the fish special.  She carefully steered us to the shrimp which were prepared with the same topping.

There was a bit of a surprise later when the bill came to see how much more expensive the shrimp was than the fish (if she knew this too-then she is VERY good at what she does).

Sister #2 and Paula ordered the garlic shrimp and there were oohhs and aahhs coming from their end of the table.

I felt like I had struck it rich when my shrimp ceviche arrived (with a side of fabulous papas fritas). The flesh of the shrimp was still plump and firm and there was just the right amount of lime.  Even though there was way more shrimp in my dish than the other dinners, mine was priced more affordably.

Kath’s quote:  “When the waitress puts the dinner on the table the old men look at the dinner. The young men look at the waitress.“-Gelett Burgess

Love-that is all.