The Melting Teapot

A recent post over on the Will Write for Food blog led me to think about my own ties to Mexican food. I wrote a quick response in the comments section, then I opened up Word on my laptop to write more. . . and more. . . and more. . .

Mexican food has been a big part of my culinary life.  I lived in Las Cruces, a small city in southern New Mexico, for a bit more than a decade.  My years living there took place at a time when I was learning what it meant to plan meals and cook on a student and part-time teacher's budget.  The harsh desert climate makes for spectacularly hot chiles that are at the center of New Mexican cuisine, but it also creates a wonderful setting for growing herbs and (oddly enough) juicy melons with big flavors.

A drive south across the border into Juarez meant a shift away from the enchiladas and chile rellenos. Instead, the food experiences tended toward restaurants that featured thick and spicy Mayan barbecue sauces, taquerias (which always had long salsa bars full of pickled peppers and chunky pico de gallo), and my personal favorite -- small cafes that offered queso fundido.  It has been too long since I've tasted any of that stringy cheese, melted in little stone pots on a grill, served bubbling hot with freshly made corn tortillas and a wide range of salsas.  Yum!

Developing a Taste for Tea

While living in New Mexico, I began to explore more loose leaf teas than ever before.  In part this was because of Internet discussion forums, which often provided information about vendors who would send catalogues of tea choices (pre-Web, so no web sites at that point).  It was also because of a fun little shop near the university, called Spirit Winds.

Spirit Winds offered the full range of teas from Republic of Tea, all served in small pots with instructions for brewing.  You could get as much hot water as needed, so it was possible to camp out at an outdoor table for a while.  I often graded papers (or read books for my own graduate studies) while sipping cups of tea and munching on a pastry. Sometimes there’d be another student strumming a guitar at a nearby table, providing a backdrop for those of us studying while we drank our tea and coffee.

Local Wine

Wine was something I loved but couldn’t often afford.  Luckily, there are several wineries in the state, and the wines are usually quite easy on the pocketbook.  The wines I could afford weren’t necessarily world-class, but they were better than most cheap wine (and way beyond wine in a box or a jug)**.  One winery had a tasting room in Old Mesilla, an historic town located within Las Cruces.  You could taste wine at their tasting room during the day, or at night you could buy a bottle at the back of the nextdoor theatre to share with friends while watching a film.

The century-old Fountain Theatre is a tiny place, tucked into an old adobe building. There are murals painted on the stucco walls, rows of old movie theatre seats (torn out of another old theatre), and small café tables at the back.  For a few dollars, I could watch an artsy or indie film, sip wine, and munch on popcorn.  Volunteers who worked the food service area could watch a movie and munch on popcorn for free.

Recipes from New Mexico: Pico De Gallo

I’ve been thinking it would be nice to use this blog to feature some of the recipes and techniques I learned while living in Las Cruces: Chile Rellenos, Posole, Red Enchilada Sauce, Chile Verde, Chile con Queso, Restaurant Salsa, Guacamole, Mexican Rice, even Green Chile Brownies. 

I’ll be working these in from time to time.  Let’s start it off with the basic recipe for Pico de Gallo, which is served on top of soups, in tacos, and spooned onto plates of just about any dish you order in New Mexico.

In Spanish, Pico de Gallo means the beak  of a rooster, and it refers to the zing that you would feel if a rooster pecked you.  It should be hot – you are looking for something that will add that peck to what you’re eating.  It should be fresh, so the zing resides against a nicely cool contrasting flavor.  It is used more as a condiment than it is a dip, although it can also be great on chips or tostadas.

Often a wedge of lime is served next to the pico de gallo; spoon the pico onto your food, then give a quick squeeze of lime juice on top.  If you’re making a small batch of pico, stir the lime in when you make it.  For a large batch that you might want to keep around for an extra day,  serve the lime on the side instead so the tomatoes don't break down to mush after a few hours.

Pico de Gallo

Mix the following together in a medium-size glass or ceramic bowl, then let it sit in the frig for  at least 30 minutes (an hour is better).

• 1 small white onion, chopped fine
• 2-5 jalapenos, depending on your heat tolerance, chopped into small pieces (remove the seeds and veins if you want it to be less hot, keep them if you want it to be muy picante)
• 2-3 cups of chopped tomatoes (use a firmer/meatier type like Romas, so they don’t fall apart when marinating)
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• juice of 1 large lime (use 2 if the lime isn't very juicy)
• drizzle of olive oil
• salt to taste

**A Quick Footnote: I've been taken to task a bit for saying that New Mexico wines are not "world class."  I  refined my statement to reflect that wines I drank were not necessarily top tier, lest readers think that all of the state's wines are terrible.  Honestly, even the low end wines were very easy to sip, and they provided a great starting point for someone who couldn't afford more than a few dollars a bottle (back in the 80s & 90s). NM has an interesting history with wine, and I've been told there are vineyards that go back a few centuries.  For the past few decades, winemakers of NM have worked very hard to resurrect these vineyards and the wine culture that accompanies it.  It is difficult to find these wines outside of the desert southwest, but if you visit New Mexico make sure you try some.

Coming Tomorrow, Part 2: The Tastes of New Mexico I Miss Most