U.S. restaurant equipment and supply sources
By Karen Hursh Graber
Writing from Mexico
©2007 Maiden Name Press LLC
The widespread and generous use of herbs is an outstanding characteristic of Mexican cooking. The indigenous herbs pre-Hispanic people used, as well as those Europeans introduced, remain important in modern Mexican cooking. Add the fact the Spaniards brought herbs to Mexico from Europe and Asia, and it is evident why the diversity of Mexico’s culinary herbs is one of the most extensive in the world.
Foraging for herbs was one of the earliest ways to add nutrition and flavor to the Mesoamerican diet. Mexico's regional cuisines developed their characteristic flavors from European ingredients artfully combined with what grew locally.
The epazote and papalo of Central Mexico, the spinach-like chaya of the Yucatán, the chepiche and chepil of the Oaxaca region, and the hoja santa of southern Mexico and Veracruz are still indispensable elements of home and restaurant cooking.
In Central Mexico, the abundance of local herbs is evident on menus and in markets. Here epazote is an outstanding herbal flavor, featured in such dishes as the mole de epazote con pollo at La Casita Poblana and the sea bass filet baked in foil with epazote at Restaurante 1800, both in Puebla.
At Mexico City's Pujol, Mexico’s Chef of the Year 2004, Enrique Olvera uses epazote in a mojo for the garra de leon oysters, and flavors the four-grain esquite (a Central Mexican specialty of green corn kernels) with fried epazote. At D.F.'s Solea, epazote flavors the wild mushroom quesadillas as well as the epazote butter served with grilled mahi mahi.
Pujol's Chef Olvera uses the pungent papalo in an herb-flavored oil served with rib-eye steak. But papalo's more typical role is as an ingredient in cemitas, the torta-like sandwiches made on rolls of the same name, popular at small stands throughout Central Mexico and, in recent years, in the United States.
In the Yucatán Peninsula, the mild, tender chaya has been prominent since ancient Mayans used it to fill tamales. At Yaxche in Playa del Carmen, chaya crepes with manchego cheese, chaya and pumpkinseed tamales, and cream of chaya soup reflect this herb's diversity.
Oaxaca — another bastion of regional cuisine — boasts its own herbs like chepil, chepiche and hoja santa. Chepil is often incorporated into arroz blanco, giving it a flavorful, nutritious lift, as well as eye appeal.
 |
Although some cooks use it in sopa de guias (zucchini soup with the blossoms and vines), La Casa de la Abuelita's version is made with the more distinctive chepiche. This is the taste of real Oaxacan home cooking, and neighborhood markets sell the chepiche with the squash, its blossoms and vines.
In Veracruz, where hoja santa is called acuyo, the herb brings out the flavor of fresh-caught, salt- water fish. At Pardiño's Riviera in the Veracruz seafood town of Boca del Rio, diners enjoy freshly caught pompano, sea bass or red snapper wrapped in acuyo and cooked empapelado (en papillote) in a green chile-flavored broth.
Although indigenous herbs still strongly influence regional flavors, they share their place with herbs introduced post-conquest. Cilantro, parsley, mint, thyme, oregano, and marjoram became part of Mexico's culinary landscape once Europeans started cooking there and played an important role in the original fusion of Old and New World cooking.
Of these, cilantro — a member of the carrot family — is the one most associated with Mexican food. Originating in the southern Mediterranean region, cilantro may have gained popularity in Mexico because it meshes well with many indigenous flavors. Used in salsas, moles and pipians, cilantro is a common denominator in cooking throughout the country. The tomatillo, epazote and cilantro sauce served with sea bass at Aura in Mexico City exemplifies how well cilantro combines with native ingredients.
The cream of cilantro soup at Puebla's La Noria, the grilled bell pepper salad with cilantro vinaigrette at Acapulco's Mi Casa, the cilantro pesto with escargot at Pujol, the salmon with cilantro sauce at Punta Morro in Ensenada, and the black bean quesadillas with cilantro sauce at Daiquiri Dick's in Puerto Vallarta are some dishes featuring this herb.
The linguini con camaron al cilantro at Gaia in Cuernavaca showcases cilantro in a sauce served with shrimp and pasta, a popular combination in modern Mexican restaurants. The tuna carpaccio served with chile and cilantro oil at Puerto Vallarta's River Café is also a contemporary presentation.
Mexico's early fusion cooks also eagerly adopted parsley, which was eventually used in nearly all soup stocks and is now the signature flavor of several dishes: baked snapper in parsley sauce at D.F.'s Hacienda de los Morales, filete emperejilado (fish filets breaded with chopped parsley and grated cheese) at La Noria, and the popular fried parsley appetizer found countrywide and featured at Zihuatanejo's Bistro del Mar.
Spearmint, called hierba buena, has traditionally been used as a tea in Mexico. In the central part of the country, it frequently flavors chicken soup and the sauce for albondigas (meatballs.)
In other areas, it appears in soups, main dishes and desserts. Hearts of palm soup with avocado and hierba buena at La Gula in Zihuatanejo, grilled fish with hierba buena and lime sauce at De Santos in Puerto Vallarta, and nieve de hierba buena (mint sorbet) at Bistro del Mar demonstrate ways modern Mexican chefs use this herb.
Thyme, oregano and marjoram comprise the bundle of hierbas de olor, traditionally used in the same way as a bouquet garni and sold tied together in markets. Mexican oregano and marjoram have a more delicate taste than their Mediterranean counterparts, and lose flavor when dried — one reason Mexican chefs often opt for fresh varieties.
In Mexico City, roasted duck with pomegranate and thyme sauce is featured at Les Moustaches, grilled chicken with oregano at La Mansión, and beef tacos with marjoram emulsion at Tezka. At Bistro del Mar, fresh marjoram accents grilled chicken.
Basil and lemongrass, once reserved for teas, are seen on more and more menus, due in large part to the current impact of Southeast Asian cuisine. In Zihuatanejo, a basil and garlic sauce tops the shrimp- and lobster-stuffed baked potato at Casa Kaukan, and basil flavors the grilled vegetable timbales at Capricho's.
 |
At Puerta Vallarta's Coco Tropical, basil is used with ginger in a cold cream of tomato soup, and in an artichoke soup at Trio. Lemongrass is also favored in this center of modern Mexican gourmet cooking; a lemongrass sauce is served with coconut shrimp at Los Xitomates, and with a steak and hearts of lettuce salad at De Santos. Lemongrass also lends zest to the broccoli soup at Daiquiri Dick's.
Rosemary, fennel, sage and dill are fairly new to Mexican menus, although the first three were used in curative infusions in earlier times. At Punta Morro and De Santos, rosemary flavors roasted lamb, and at La Capilla in San Miguel de Allende, roasted vegetable salad comes with rosemary and garlic dressing.
Tlaquepaque's Casa Fuerte serves filet of sole with mussels and fennel sauce, and Les Mou-staches uses fennel in its mussel soup. At River Café, the eggplant and zucchini vegetarian sandwich is topped with roasted peppers and fennel.
Mexican chefs have taken a page from northern Italian cookbooks and discovered sage compliments the flavor of the wild mushrooms found in abundance in Mexico. La Capilla's wild mushroom ravioli with sage cream sauce is an example of this combination.
Dill is another new favorite, especially in Mexico's capital, where it is served with salmon at Casa Lamm and La Mansión. At Puebla's La Estancia, dill is part of an ensalada verde, along with watercress, cucumbers, celery and lettuce.
And don't forget herb butters. A cilantro or epazote butter gives grilled chicken or fish an easy but sophisticated Mexican accent, and a fresh herb dressing does wonders for the simplest lettuce and tomato salad garnish.
See Graber's recipes for Cream of Cilantro Soup, Red Snapper in Hoja Santa, Duck Breast in Fresh Oregano Sauce and Spearmint Sorbet.
| About us Advertising Articles/Recipes Español Free subscription Posters/Books/Video Restaurant supply directory | |||
| ©2008 Maiden Name Press LLC |