Niño Dios

Something I did not get a chance to blog about earlier this year is that between Dia de Los Reyes Magos (January 6th) and Dia de la Candelaria (February 2nd) the custom is to dress the baby Jesus (Niño Dios) from the Nativity scene.  Then on February 2nd, the people take the Niño Dios to church with them.  This apparently corresponds to when Jesus was presented in the Temple 40 days after his birth, as recorded in Luke 2:22-24.

When you go to the market during this time period, it is very common to see women carrying a basket holding their Niño Dios in order to buy clothes for it.  This is a really big industry during this time of year - even smallish towns have 20+ vendors selling the clothes and accessories.

Of course the first thing you need is a Niño Dios and, if you do not have one from your Nativity Scene, you can easily buy one.  They come in a wide variety of sizes and colors.

Then you can decide what "type" of Niño Dios you want - or you can choose to pick out the clothing on your own.

Of course you can also buy a little "throne" for the Niño Dios.

And a basket, if you did not bring one with you to the market.

Notice the African- style Niño Dios

 

While I find the tradition to be fascinating (I mean really, what is not to love about elaborately dressed dolls?), I do find it a bit disturbing.  While the basic idea is Biblically-based, reenacting parts of Jesus's life, the connotations with choosing what "type" of Niño Dios is have and that it is verging on idol-worship make me a bit uncomfortable.  A Christian friend of mine, who is married to a Mexican man, found it particularly disturbing how the doll was treated in the house by her family members.  When they took the Niño Dios to the church on February 2nd, the priest centered the sermon that night on how the Niño Dios was only a representation of Jesus, and not something to be worshiped.  So it seems that she was not the only one to have problems about how the doll is treated in the Mexican culture.

Something to think about...
~ Kim

The Diet Food of Mexican Actresses

If you have spoken to me recently, you have probably heard me say that the food in Mexico is delicious, but not exactly on the healthy-side.  Sadly, Mexico has now beaten the US for the unfortunate title of having the highest obesity rate in the world.  So in this environment, I want to introduce you to an amazingly delicious and healthy snack (or if you are an actress, a very light meal.)

This snack is immensely popular here (proof of this is that my husband taught me to make it) and it took center-stage in a story related to my by one of my Spanish teachers.  Now, as this story was told to me in Spanish, you will have to be a bit generous with me as I do not have all the details that I would like.  (Or check back with me in about 3 years, I am hoping my Spanish will be amazing by then.)

My teacher and a group of her (teacher?) friends went to a very fancy and well know restaurant here in Mexico City.  As their meal was very delicious, they decided that this would be a great time to have dessert.  After ordering dessert, in walked at least two very famous people.  As they were described to be tall, thin, and very beautiful, I am assuming that they were actresses.  Everyone at my teacher's table was cranking their heads to get a look at these visions of beauty and they were wondering what they would order.  As my teacher's friends found out, the answer to that question was: Water, Cucumber, Carrots, and Jicama.  After seeing that, they very sadly went back to their desserts.

When I first heard that story, I thought that was the saddest meal I had ever heard of.  To go to a fancy, well-known restaurant and eat a meal you could have bought of the street.  But after trying it, I think those actresses were on to something...

Raw Vegetables with Lime-Chili Sauce
- 1 Lime
- 1 Cucumber
- 1 Jicama
- 2 to 4 Carrots
- Dried Mexican Chili Powder for Vegetables (like Tajin)

Assemble your washed ingredients along with a cutting board, knife, peeler, and small bowl

Cut the lime in half and peel the vegetables

If you want to, you can cut the cucumber all fancy as Ismael did

Peel the carrots into nice strips and cut the jicama into thick slices, cutting some into "sticks"

Pour about 1-2 tb of chile into a small bowl, squeeze the lime on top, and mix

Make it look pretty and either dip the vegetables into the sauce or pour the sauce over them.  Enjoy!

Now honestly, when Ismael told me he was going to teach me this recipe - I was not expecting much in the flavor department.  I must say, this recipe completely blew me away.  It was awesome and very addictive.  I had a hard time stopping dipping my jicama in the lime-chili sauce!  Very low in calories (and if you have some nice fresh vegetables), amazing.  My only problem?  No protein.  Which meant that about 2 hours after gorging on jicama, I was hungry again.  Just something to keep in mind...

Enjoy your veggies!
~Kim

Dia de la Candelaria ~ 2 de Febrero

Welcome to the day I am calling Christmas for Tamale sellers - the 2nd of February.

As you may remember from my post on Dia de Los Reyes Magos, on January 6th everyone buys and eats a large, slightly sweet bread called Rosca de Reyes (pictured below) that contain little, plastic dolls.

If you happen to find one of these dolls in your piece of bread (or even uncover one that is still technically within the Rosca), you then are obligated to buy everyone Tamales on February 2nd, which is today.  As I uncovered two dolls and my husband one, a few days ago we went a Feria de Tamales in Coyoacan (a part of Mexico City) to scope out what they had to offer.

Before we get too far into this, I wanted to go over the two general categories of tamales: those wrapped in corn husks and those that instead use banana leaves.

Corn Husk wrapped Tamale

Banana Leaf wrapped Tamale

 A tamale is prepared by smearing a corn mixture called masa on a leaf wrapped, filling it with a combination of salsa, meat, peppers, or cheese, and steaming it until cooked.  In the US, I was only familiar with the tamales in corn husks, which tend to be thick, fluffy, and contain lots of little air holes.  However, since living here, I have tried and fallen in love with tamales cooked in a banana leaf, frequently called Oaxcan Style Tamales.  These Oaxcan Tamales are thinner and denser with more of a chewy consistency.  I really, really like them.

As long as we are going over basic tamale information, you should also know the three most common flavors of tamales are Verde con Pollo (Green Salsa with Chicken), Mole con Pollo (Mole sauce with Chicken), and Rajas con Queso (Poblano Pepper and Cheese).  Of course there are many, many others (as you are about to see) along with a wide variety of sweet tamales.  Yes, you read that right, sweet tamales.    

Shrimp Tamale with Nopales in Green Salsa

Tamale with Zucchini Flower, Mushrooms, Corn, Cheese in Green Salsa

Tamale of Morita Chile with Slow-Roasted Pork

Tamale of Purslane in Green Salsa with Chicken

Tamale of Blackberries with Cheese

Tamale of Anis with Mole and Chicken

Sweet tamales are still fairly new to me.  Sadly, my first experience with them a few months ago was regrettable and since I have not been very interested in trying them.  In was only at this fair that I even realized that sweet tamales have many different flavors, like the Blackberries with Cheese shown above.  A friend who went with us bought and shared with us a chocolate tamale - it was dense with a uniform chocolate flavor that reminded me of a brownie.  I thought it was pretty good.  So I am excited about carefully trying out a few of this style of tamales, making sure not to repeat the one I had the first time.

I must tell you that traditionally tamales are sold with something that I even like slightly more than tamales (and trust me, I am crazy about Oaxacan Tamales), it is called atole.  For me good atole is an amazing culinary experience.  And trust me, this only applies to good atole.  Bad atole is really, really scary.  Atole is a drink thickened with maize that comes in a wide variety of flavors including Chocolate, Guava, Milk with Rice, Sweetened Goat's Milk, Strawberry and more, with Guava being my current favorite. 

This typical set-up of large pots are for keeping hot the tamales and the atole

So, if you have a chance, today is a great day to try some tamales!  And if none are being sold around where you live, it is always a good time to visit Mexico.

Happy Tamale Eating!

~ Kim