Mexican Food Porn’s photos make me ache for Mexico City. His images -- shared both on Tumblr and his Instagram account -- capture Mexican food's rich colors and layers, and sometimes its chaos. Chilaquiles bask in a messy lagoon of cream; a shrimp taco with a harsh sheen of cheese shines a little too brightly […]
Remember when I posted in June about not feeling like I was home? That's changing. More and more, I’m feeling like I belong here, no doubt because I've spent my first solid 30 days in New York without jetting off to somewhere else. (I had to double-check that on my calendar -- had I really […]
I’m generally an guacamole purist. Or really, an avocado purist: pass me a few slices of ripe avocado, a sprinkle of salt and a crispy tortilla, and I am perfectly happy. But when Roberto Santibañez’s PR team passed me a recipe for grape guac a few weeks ago -- smooth and crunchy, it promised; spicy […]
When people ask me for my favorite Mexican restaurants in New York City, Fonda is typically high on my list. The restaurant's two locations (in Park Slope and the East Village) are comfortable and cozy, and the menu sticks closely to Central Mexican classics, with some New York flair. I've tried and loved Fonda's cochinita […]
My first pulque experience happened at La Pirata, a pulquería in the Escandón neighborhood where locals go to drink and play dominoes. My friend Jesica had warned me that pulque was an acquired taste, but I didn’t realize how much. The drink was thick and viscous, like baba de nopal. When we took sips, little […]
There’s a saying in Mexico: sin maíz, no hay país. It means without corn, there is no country. This isn't really an overstatement -- corn has been domesticated in Mexico since at least 2,500 B.C., and it's still the most important ingredient in the Mexican diet. Corn is used in everything from tortillas to soups […]
I have a guest post today from my friend Macarena Hernández. She told me this story while I was hanging out with her in San Antonio recently. Agua mineral preparada is one of my antojos. They’re very easy to find in the Rio Grande Valley, and along the border, at drive-through stores. Depending on where […]
Every time I’d walk by Shun Wang, a Chinese restaurant near my house in Queens, my mouth opened a little. Caramel-brown, glistening ducks hung on a hook inside the kitchen, next to what looked like a chunk of pork belly. I’d want to stay and gawk, but usually some surly Chinese dude in a grease-splattered […]
I have a guest post today from Laura Elliott, an American expat living in Mexico City. Her new blog is called American Chilanga, and it's about her adventures in the city that we both love. In this post, she writes about her mother's pozole, a warm, comforting dish that's only slightly related to Mexico City's […]
This past weekend, I visited some new friends at their home in Xalatlaco, a small city in the State of Mexico. For breakfast -- a late breakfast for me, around 11 a.m. -- they made quesadillas de xocoyol. The plant, which grows in nearby corn fields in June and July only, has a sharp, citrusy, […]
