Zarela Martinez

I long for the flavor of tamales de elote, made with puréed fresh corn kernels. But our starchy, flavorful Mexican corn cannot be replaced with United States sweet corn, which creates a terribly insipid, watery effect. So I evolved something a little different using a regular masa mixture with fresh corn kernels and seasonings beaten in.

Though the amount of salt may seem excessive, a lot of the salt will be lost when the mixture is steamed inside the tamal wrapping. You can reduce the amount somewhat, but remember that the particular flavor of masa in tamales is complemented by salt.

This smoky chipotle and tomatillo salsa is an excellent dipping sauce for crudités or tortilla chips, or you can spoon it on top of tamales. You can use more chiles for a spicier sauce.

这两个规则的西红柿必须truly ripe and sweet and that the sauce should be eaten at once. If you must, you can hold it for up to two hours refrigerated and tightly covered, but it loses its magic fast. For the right slightly coarse texture, the ingredients should be chopped separately by hand. The only thing I sometimes do with the food processor is the chiles. Try to find fresh ones—canned jalapeños will work, but aren't ideal in a sauce supposed to be sparkling fresh.

Barbacoa de CabritoThis goat barbecue typifies a style where the meat absorbs anadobo, a fragrant, spicy marinade of dried chiles and other seasonings. I watched Zoyla Mendoza make this dish in her village, Teotitlán del Valle. Though she and her family can well afford to eat meat, they usually save it for special occasions, so they rejoiced when I asked them to teach me their favoritebarbacoa. It was beautiful, breathing the scent of fresh avocado leaves and other herbs. The meat becomes unbelievably tender without drying out or getting mushy. When I came back to my New York kitchen, I set to work to find other methods close to the tender savor of a true pit barbecue. For the type that Zoyla showed me, I feel the best results come from packing the marinated meat in a tightly covered pan just large enough to hold the ingredients and baking it for a long time in a moderate oven. A turkey roaster is good. If you don't have a big enough pan with a tight-fitting lid, wrap several layers of aluminum foil very snugly around the pan to seal in the steam. I make thebarbacoaas Zoyla made it, with young goat (kid). Goat is available in some Greek,halalMuslim, and West Indian butcher shops and can sometimes be ordered from other butchers. Ask the butcher to cut it into quarters. Oaxacans always include and specially value the head, which has some extra-tender nuggets of meat. (This is optional for the doubting.) If goat is not available, lamb is the best substitute. At my restaurant, we use lamb shoulder. The dish can also be made with a whole fresh ham or a pot-roasting cut of beef such as round, though you may have to reduce the amount of marinade slightly and experiment with a shorter cooking time. Of course true pre-Hispanicbarbacoawas made with turkey—not used as frequently nowadays, but still a notably authentic choice. When the meat is cooked in an authentic pit it yields a lot of rich juices that never develop using the oven method. At my restaurant in New York we approximate this as follows: When the adobo (chile paste) is made, set aside 1 1/4 cup of the mixture and rub the meat with the rest. Cook as described below. When the meat is done, skim the fat from the pan juices and deglaze the roasting pan with 2 cups homemade chicken broth over medium-high heat, scraping up the browned bits. Stir in one 28- to 32-ounce can tomatoes, breaking them up with a spoon. Add the reserved adobo and simmer, stirring frequently, for about 30 minutes, or until reduced to about 4 cups. Let cool slightly and purée in a blender (working in batches as necessary) until smooth. Serve with the carved meat.

(Calabaza en Tacha)The Days of the Dead (November 1 and 2) are not only one of the most dramatic of Oaxacan fiestas but among the most family-centered. Altars dedicated tolos difuntos("departed ones") appear everywhere—outside churches, on shop premises, and especially at family grave sites and in the home, where everyone is preparing for the annual reunion with late friends and relatives. At this time every marketplace in Oaxaca blazes with piles—absolute mountains—of fuschia-red cockscombs and intense orange marigolds. Tall sugarcanes with long fronds and huge banana leaves tower like jungles nearby. The flowers will be used to adorn the altars and the giant fronds to mark arched entries for the souls of loved ones to pass through. People buy their late cousin's favorite kind of cigarettes or their departed father's usual beer to place on the home altar. The other offerings usually include fresh fruit, candies in all kinds of macabrememento morishapes, decorated breads made from a sweet egg-enriched dough like that for Pan Resobado, and this traditional spiced preserved pumpkin. Every home altar holds a plate of Calabaza en Tacha—an offering that represents about four days' labor of love. The pumpkin—I use a regular Halloween pumpkin or sometimes the green West Indian type—is soaked first in a solution of the samecal(熟石灰)用于治疗玉米玉米饼。The alkali makes it firm enough to absorb the sugar without disintegrating. Oaxacan cooks like to make the preserve very sweet; I have slightly reduced the amount of sugar. It may not be traditional, but I like to serve it with vanilla ice cream. I find that using fresh sugarcane as a support on which to arrange the pieces of pumpkin is a handy and flavorful trick (though not an indispensable part of the recipe). Look for it at Latin American and other tropical groceries; it can also be found as a specialty produce item in some large supermarkets.

(Mole Negro de Teotitlán) Editor's note:The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Zarela Martinez's book The Food and Life of Oaxaca.Martinez also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Martinez and Oaxacan cuisine,click here.Mole Negro is the state dish of Oaxaca, the king ofmoles.It also happens to be the most difficult to make. People pride themselves on their own different touches, and family recipes are passed down as heirlooms. Market stands specializing inmolesall proclaim that their version is the best. This recipe is an adaptation of a version made by my friend and culinary mentor Zoyla Mendoza, who has given me such insight into the cooking of the Valley Zapotecs. When she made it for me at her home in Teotitlán del Valle, she first toasted the chiles, nuts, and spices and sent them out to a nearby mill to be ground. Meanwhile, she pounded the tomatoes and other moist ingredients in her big stone mortar, to be combined later with the nut and spice paste. Less sweet than many other versions, her Mole Negro is spicy and intense — I love the sprightly taste of fresh ginger. Increase the amount of clove and thyme in the recipe if you wish. Zoyla used much more of both than I do. Though Zoyla's version of Mole Negro is less complex then some, it shows the crucial "blackening" feature of most blackmoles.For years I'd made versions that turned out no blacker than dark red. An offhand remark revealed what I was doing wrong."Queman los chiles"("They burn the chiles"), a Juchitecan woman casually told me when I asked her. My instinct said that it would turn the whole dish bitter, so I'd just been toasting the chiles lightly. But in Oaxaca it is normal to make Mole Negro by first separating the seeds from the dried chiles, then toasting the chiles to an absolute crisp and literally burning — BURNING — the seeds. Zoyla also follows this procedure. The bitterness disappears through soaking and extended cooking. Because the pungent fumes can leave you gasping and call down the wrath of neighbors in city apartment buildings, it is wise to attempt this recipe only if you can do the worst part (burning the seeds) outdoors or with a good exhaust fan going full blast. You should also work out an advance plan for the final grinding of the paste. You can either combine all the ingredients and process them in several batches in the blender or assign part of the task (the chiles, nuts, and spices that Zoyla sent out to the mill) to the food processor. Read the recipe through carefully in advance, and decide which strategy you prefer. (The processor alone will definitely give the wrong texture.) This sauce is popular with enchiladas and shows up in chicken,turkey, or pork tamales. But the age-old way of eating blackmoleis with boiled turkey. In this country, use turkey parts like wings or drumsticks and simmer for 35 to 40 minutes in a small amount of stock, then finish cooking in the sauce for another 30 to 40 minutes. Please note that when served in this manner with poultry or other meats, the sauce should be thinned to a fairly light consistency. When it is used as a filling, it must be dense and thick.

(Tamales de Guajolote con Mole Negro) Editor's note:The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Zarela Martinez's bookThe Food and Life of Oaxaca: Traditional Recipes from Mexico's Heart.Martinez also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. These are one of the most renowned Oaxacan classics: succulent banana-leaf tamales with a fluffy pillow of masa infused with the rich flavors of blackmoleand shredded cooked turkey. The meat has to be cooked by a moist-heat method, or it will be tasteless and dry, so I don't recommend using leftover roast turkey. Simmer pieces of turkey in liquid and use the most flavorful parts, not the white breast meat. Though the blackmoleversion of turkey tamales is best-known, the dish is equally good with Mole Rojo, Coloradito, or Amarillo.

(Chileajo) Editor's note:The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Zarela Martinez's book The Food and Life of Oaxaca.Martinez also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Martinez and Oaxacan cuisine,click here.Despite the name, this is unrelated tochileajo con puercoexcept for the presence of the chile and garlic that give it its name. It is one of the classic Oaxacan street snacks, especially at fiesta time, when food stands are crowded all around the beautiful Oaxaca CityZócalo(town square). Here you find women selling this wonderful specialty — a garlicky, spicy vegetable melange on a crisp fried corn tortilla, topped with a delicious combination of crumbled cheese, thinly sliced onion, and oregano. It's inspired. If you can find amarillo chiles, use a combination of them and the less characteristic, more available guajillos. Do not griddle-dry the amarillos, as they scorch easily. The tortillas used for chileajo are very small, about 3 inches in diameter. If you cannot find such a thing, cut out 3-inch rounds from larger commercial corn tortillas.

(Nieve de Aguacate) Editor's note:The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Zarela Martinez's book The Food and Life of Oaxaca.Martinez also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Martinez and Oaxacan cuisine,click here.The idea of making ice cream from avocados is not strange or outlandish to Oaxacans. In many Latin American countries, avocados are eaten as dessert. (Brazilians make them into a sweet mousse.)Nieve de Aguacateis one of the perennial favorites at Oaxaca City ice-cream stands. It is naturally creamier than the usual fruit-basednieves;but some acid is necessary to offset the blandness of the avocado. Fresh lime juice is the perfect complement.

(Purée de Papas) Editor's note:The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Zarela Martinez's book The Food and Life of Oaxaca.Martinez also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Martinez and Oaxacan cuisine,click here.When I visited the Isthmus of Tehuantepec at the season of spring parties accompanying the localvelas(saints' day festivals), I found this vividly seasoned dish being served everywhere. It also turned out to be one of the regular Sunday offerings at Venancia Toledo Hernández's food stand in the Isthmian town of Ixtepec. She gave me her recipe and now everyone I've served it to in New York is in love with the brassy, sensuous flavors.

(Mole Verde con Puerco) Editor's note:The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Zarela Martinez's book The Food and Life of Oaxaca.Martinez also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Martinez and Oaxacan cuisine,click here.Mole Verde, or just Verde for short, is the lightest and freshest-tasting of Oaxaca's "sevenmoles." Of the many variants I've tried, this version served with pork loin at the Oaxaca City restaurant Casa de la Abuela is my favorite. Fresh herb rather than spice accents are what distinguish a Mole Verde. A purée of green herbs has to be added at the last minute. In other parts of Mexico I've had green moles made with various greens, even lettuce leaves. But the Oaxacan Mole Verde uses just three: epazote,hoja santa,and parsley. If you can't get the first two you'll have to improvise with what's available, but the results will not be at all Oaxacan. Dried epazote and hoja santa are better than none at all, though the fresh herbs are incomparable. The amount of chiles can be varied to taste; however, this particular sauce is not usually verypicante(热)。在Casa de la祖母他们把酱汁with white beans that have been cooked separately, to keep the flavors simple and distinct. It is very important not to overcook the pork loin, a tender cut that dries out easily. I have devised a way of using boned pork loin that gets some added flavor from the reserved bones. When you have the meat boned, ask the butcher to tie the meat to the backbone and ribs. At serving time, untie and carve it to distribute both meat and rib pieces equally. If this is not practical and you have to get preboned loin without the frame of bones, buy 1 pound of pork neck bones separately and cook them with the meat. It will add some body and flavor. Mole Verde is also delicious made with chicken instead of pork. In that case, use a 3 1/2-pound chicken, cut into serving pieces, and simmer as directed below for the pork loin, reducing the cooking time to 30 minutes. Remove the skin before serving.

This is a great marinade for any fish; start marinating at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour before grilling or sautéing. This recipe is an accompaniment forSautéed Shrimp with Chipotle Chilies.

"I recently took out-of-town guests to Zarela in Manhattan for an authentic Mexican meal," writes Kelly Sfarra of Hawthorne, New York. "Everything was fantastic, but the shrimp with chipotle chilies was especially memorable. Can you please get the recipe?" After a trip to Veracruz, Mexico, chef Zarela Martínez came up with this dish, which is calledcamarones enchipotladosat the restaurant. A bowl of rice and some warm corn tortillas would be great with the spicy, smoky shrimp.

Chuletas de Pollo al LimónI first tasted this light but winning dish at La Troje restaurant in Orizaba. As you doubtless know by now, soy and Maggi sauce are as Mexican as chutney is English. Serve with pilaf-style white rice.

Almond "Pound Cake" Panque is apparently a phonetic spelling of "pound cake," though it really isn't very similar. The texture is somewhat more like a sponge cake. My recipe is an adaption of one by Mària Concepción Portillo de Carballido.