FOOD he state of Oaxaca is a mountainous land of At the market imposing pyramids, ornate cathedrals, colonial Blessed with several micro climes, Oaxaca has a variety towns and small villages bordering Mexico’s of produce, dairy and seafood available in its central T Pacific coast. Tradition is treasured here. High in a marketplace: bananas, plantains, coconuts, papaya and valley of the Sierra Madres, the vibrant city of Oaxaca tamarinds from the tropical lowlands; black beans, corn, unites the legacies of two pre-Columbian empires—the squash, pumpkins, chiles and herbs from the farms; cof- Zapotec and the Mixtec—with that of Colonial Spain, and fee and mezcal from the highlands; fish and shellfish celebrates this heritage from the southern with dance, music, coast and isthmus; festivals and a rich and specialty culinary tradition. cheeses from the In the past, limited mountain valleys. air connections and This cornucopia poor roads kept includes food items Oaxaca relatively iso- Savoring and ingredients lated from mainstream unique to Oaxacan Mexico and off the cuisine, many dating beaten path for most back to ancient travelers. But this is Oaxaca times, among them: no longer the case. cuitlecochle, a corn Increased tourism, the In Oaxaca, dishes from age-old recipes using fungus used in recent swell of immi- tacos; hoja santa, a grants from Oaxaca to unique ingredients from the region’s orchards, distinctive anise-fla- the United States, and fields, farms and sea grace restaurant tables, vored herb; chapu- heightened interest on lines, roasted or the part of American marketplace stalls and street vendors’ cooking pots. fried grasshoppers chefs in the regional sprinkled with dried cuisines of Mexico B Y M A R I E P E R U C C A - R A M I R E Z A N D chile, salt and lime; have introduced the J U L I O J . R A M I R E Z , C E C , A A C cacao beans ground American palate to the Oaxacan-style with flavors of Oaxaca. almonds, sugar and Julio Ramirez discusses produce with a vendor at the Zaachila market. 34 • www.acfchefs.org The National Culinary Review • December 2005 cinnamon; tlayudas, giant corn tortillas brushed with rendered pork fat, toasted and topped with fresh cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and chorizo; quelites, field greens; nopalitos, young cactus “paddles”; mezcal, arti- sanally distilled juice from 10-year-old agaves; and cesina, semi-dried thin slices of lightly salted pork infused with chile and spices. Many stalls in the marketplace feature quesillo, the unique Oaxacan “string cheese,” formed in ribbons and then rolled up into a ball. Quesillo is somewhat like mozzarella, but more flavorful, and it’s used extensively in Oaxacan cooking. In addition to cheeses, the stalls sell a variety of moles, arguably the most distinctive ele- ment of traditional Oaxacan cuisine. These complex sauces for turkey, chicken and pork are made by toast- ing, grinding, sautéing and blending chiles, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices. It can take more than a day to make properly, and some families have recipes that have been handed down for generations. In the central marketplace in Oaxaca, as well as at local village markets, most of the cooks of both fast food and what has become known as home-replacement meals are women. Rosalia Hernandez has a stall at the Wednesday market in Etla, and her table is full of pre- made dishes such as: fava-bean paste sautéed field greens, chapulines, nopalito salad, deep-fried potato balls, pickled pork and chiles rellenos. At the Thursday market in Zaachila, Maria Luisa Vasquez Cerero prepares food as customers wait. She ladles a spoonful of beef brains simmered in a spicy sauce onto an uncooked corn tortilla, adds a leaf of hoja santa, seals the ends Marie Luisa Vazquez Cerero prepares beef-brain tacos at and deep-fries the taco. She serves it on paper, topped her stall in the Zaachila market. with shredded cabbage and chile colorado sauce. Another favorite from her stand is squash blossoms and queso fresco—a fresh, moist, crumbly cheese that doesn’t are featured on the menu. The restaurant also serves melt when heated—in a deep-fried taco. lechon al horno—pork marinated overnight in a mixture of spices, herbs, lemon juice and garlic, then wrapped On the menu in banana leaves and baked for hours in a low-heat Catedral is a white-tablecloth restaurant near the central oven—and moloquitos, ripe plantains stuffed with plaza that has been owned by the Escobar family for 25 picadillo (spicy shredded beef) and topped with cream years. It is committed to serving the traditional cuisine and quesillo. of Oaxaca, and Adriana Aguilar Escobar says, “We don’t Some of Catedral’s dishes would seem exotic to North vary from the recipes, and there is no experimentation Americans, such as the nieve de leche quemada (which, or alteration.” literally translated, is “burnt-milk sherbet”). Adriana Martina Escobar de Aguilar, Adriana’s mother, was Aguilar says the “burnt” flavor is important in Oaxacan given instruction in cooking in her native town of cuisine. Burnt tortillas are an ingredient in the mole called Tehuantepec when she was a young girl. She taught her chichilo, and, for mole negro, the seeds of the chiles are recipes to Victoria Zarate Ricardez, who has been burned to acquire the black color. Catedral’s chef for 20 years. The restaurant makes its Chapulines are on the menu at Catedral, as tacos de own authentic mole every day, and several mole dishes chapulines and chiles rellenos with chapulines and The National Culinary Review • December 2005 www.acfchefs.org • 35 FOOD cheese. Grasshoppers are abundant fungus, which he in the fields, and, according to buys in quantity Adriana Aguilar, people in Oaxaca and freezes. In the have eaten grasshoppers “since forev- spring—blackberry er. They have a lot of protein, almost season—he makes as much as a beef steak,” she says. mole negro with Built around a courtyard, La blackberries. And Biznaga is an upscale restaurant when they’re in attracting a crowd that appreciates the season, he takes food cooked by Chef Fernando Lopez guayabas, a fra- Velarde, who respectfully applies the grant tropical fruit, concepts of fusion cuisine to the tradi- and makes ave la tional cuisine of Oaxaca. Originally Zandunga: strips from Mexico City, Lopez began cook- of chicken breast ing 20 years ago, and learned his wrapped around trade in kitchens in Mexico City, boiled plantain and Madrid, Barcelona and San Diego. cheese, then grilled Then he “fell in love with Oaxacan and served with cuisine,” and moved to Oaxaca with mole coloradito his brother to open La Biznaga. and guavas, The huge central marketplace in topped with Oaxaca offers Lopez an opportunity to pecans. He’s vary the menu each season and also always trying new incorporate new ingredients into tradi- ideas, and one of Etla is typical of local village markets where pro- tional recipes. While he does not his favorite dishes duce and fast food sell briskly. belong to the Slow Food movement, is the flor de he looks for what he calls “the spirit jamaica appetizer of Slow Food” in his cuisine. plate. Lopez fries “Oaxacan cooking is very traditional— dried hibiscus flowers with dried menu is a mix of vegetarian and it’s a ‘virgin cuisine,’” he says. Unlike chiles and onions, and serves them continental dishes, sandwiches on the chefs in trendsetting Mexico City, in flour cones with guacamole. “The whole-wheat bread with housemade he respects tradition but sees that dish is so unusual that people think mayonnaise, and traditional Oaxacan there are many possibilities for devel- it has meat,” he says. plates such as tlayudos and tamales. opment inherent in the cuisine. Omar Hernandez is one of two This gallery/café calls its food He uses products in season, such chefs in charge of the kitchen at La “healthy Oaxacan.” While the food is as tuna, and cuitlecochle, the corn Olla, a trendy restaurant whose healthful, and canola oil is used in most of its dishes, the moles, tamales Mole and tlayudos are made with lard, in deference to tradition and taste. axaca is often referred to as the Other varieties are mole coloradito Hernandez began his restaurant O“land of seven moles,” because (little red mole), mole rojo (red mole), career as an assistant barman, but there are at least seven used exten- mole verde (green mole), manchaman- gladly accepted the opportunity to sively in Oaxacan cuisine. Mole negro tel (“tablecloth stainer”), mole amarillo work in the kitchen, where, he says, (black mole) is probably the most (yellow mole) and mole chichilo. well-known and complex: Depending Each mole has its own purpose. “You learn more and earn more, and on whose recipe is being used, this While mole negro is usually served the work is more interesting.” rich, chocolaty sauce can include hoja with pork, mole verde, made from Originally from Morelia in santa, chocolate, sesame seeds, tomatillos, chile poblano, walnuts, Michoacan, he says it’s difficult to cloves, walnuts, pecans, chile negro, almonds, cloves, squash seeds, gar- cook traditional Oaxacan cuisine, chile chilhuatle, chile ancho, chile lic, hoja santa, parsley and/or epa- especially if you are not a native, guajillo, oregano, ginger, nutmeg, all- zote, is served with chicken or spice and cinnamon. turkey. because the ingredients are specific to the area and people learn the 36• www.acfchefs.org The National Culinary Review • December 2005 Innovative chefs, like Lopez, respect the traditional cuisine but are tweaking it and incorporating new ingredients into traditional recipes.