Mexico shares many cooking methods with other parts of the world, but they do have a few that you may not be familiar with. Like you, they fry, boil, and grill. But have you ever tried a steaming bucket? Have you tried a molcajete?
Steaming is often used in Mexican cooking. A dish known as barbacoa is steamed. The meat is wrapped in a banana or cactus leaf before being suspended over a boiling pot in a deep pit to steam. Steaming buckets were used to steam tamales. This popular Mexican dish is made of a filling surrounded by masa, which is wrapped in corn husks. Special kettles are now made to make tamales that can cook many at the same time. Sweating is a technique used to skin fresh chilies. Onions and chilies are often soaked to help remove some of their heat. When soaked in milk or a combination of water and vinegar, the chilies become milder in flavor. They need to soak from 30 to 60 minutes.
You are still thinking about the molcajete, are not you? A molcajete is a mortar and pestle. This is a small tool used to grind herbs, spices, and grains. When a lot of corn needed to be ground up, Mexican families would use a metate y mano. This was a large stone with a smooth, slightly concave face. Today, many families buy masa already ground up, but some families still do this task in the traditional way.
Mexican cooks often simmer and boil their food. Vegetables and meat may be placed into a pot to slowly cook all day long. By dinner time, the meat is so tender it falls to pieces. The meat is then used for carnitas, tacos, and many other recipes.
Mexico is known for its grilled dishes. Cooking over an open flame adds so much to meats and vegetables. Many dishes require the meat to be marinated in spices and peppers before grilling. The results are then incorporated into many different recipes. Roasting and grilling increases the flavor of onions, chilies, tomatoes, and garlic. It causes the sugars in these foods to caramelize, resulting in intense flavor.
Stewing is a traditional method of cooking that has been used in Mexico since time immemorial. The long cooking times needed for proper stewing were common. At times, the vegetables and meats were cooked separately and then combined for further simmering before serving. Today, this is often done in a Dutch oven. In days gone by, this was done in a clay cazuela.
There are so many easy Mexican recipes that you can use to experiment with these methods of cooking in your own kitchen. Practice makes perfect, as they say! Do not be afraid to make mistakes now and then. Research a bit about the different cooking methods and adapt them to your family’s needs. Learning new cooking techniques can not only make you a better cook, it can be lots of fun to try out the new recipes!
As you can see, there is so much to learn about Mexican foods. Their cooking methods of developing the delicious flavors in the food make this a never ending topic of interest for many.
You will find all your favorite Mexican ingredient in Mexican soups, so what about trying a chicken and corn soup, a Mexican minestrone soup or even a tortilla soup for dinner tonight? Mexican soups are easy to make, are healthy and low in fat and are sure to delight your family.
