GEOGRAPHY, TRADITION SHAPE MEXICAN CUISINE
On a two-day hike in the Oaxacan mountains a couple of years ago, our guide took us through a little village, the name of which, in Spanish meant ‘the place where the mole freezes.’ No surprise there — Mexican life is immersed in food, talking about it, preparing it, sharing it, eating of it.
I remember the breakfast the next morning — eggs in a freshly made tomato sauce with tortillas, served outdoors, so gorgeous in the morning sun. So simple, so rustic, cooked with love.
UNESCO recognized this country’s unique ancient culinary heritage and declared Mexican cuisine an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, the first time a cuisine received the honour.
And Mexican food is truly about those ancient roots, woven into a colourful tapestry. Corn (grown for thousands of years), beans and chili peppers (some 300 varieties) form its warp and weft.
El Dorado Royal resort’s Fuentes restaurant chef Jose Sagrero features modern food from five Mexican states — the Yucatan, Veracruz, Acapulco, Sinaloa and Oaxaca.
“It’s to showcase how versatile we are and all the flavours we use,” Sagrero says.
The food of the 31 states in the country are as varied as the terrain and climate (from deserts to lush sub-tropical forests). Regional cuisines evolved in isolation thanks to a rugged geography.
At Fuentes, Sagrero’s menus include Yucatan dishes such as a trio of local street food (kibi, tostada and gordita); a catch of the day with bean sauce, corn relish, pumpkin seed purée and achiote tortilla (“It reminds me of when we go to the beach with my family before fish Friday,” he says); seared pork loin marinated in charred chili paste with brazo de reina tamale (“armour of the queen,” tamale filled with hard boiled egg).
Showcasing Sinaloa, Sagrero makes guajillo chili broth with shrimp, peas, carrots and croutons; a catch of the day with sofrito rice, chayote salad with lime and cilantro; chicken mole with plantain three ways, tortilla strips and corn shoots; and, for dessert, cornbread with caramelized popcorn, tortilla strips and corn shoots.
And here’s a dish with an ingredient unique to Mexico — chicken breast stuffed with huitlacoche cream of corn, poblano sauce and gnocchi. Huitlacoche, otherwise known as corn smut, corn fungus or Mexican truffle, looks like disease on a corn but was first eaten by the Aztecs and is healthy as heck. In Mexico, it’s a delicacy. It tastes like mushroom.
In the Yucatan peninsula, the region where Sagrero lives and works, food is about family, he says.
The region has been influenced by its Caribbean neighbours. Take for instance, a dessert on one of Sagrero’s menus — recado rojo chiffon cake with mango coulis, pineapple compote, caramelized pepita and chaya sorbet. Recado rojo, or achiote paste (annatto, oregano, cumin, clove, cinnamon, black pepper, garlic, salt), is common to Belizean food, too.
“They’re flavours of the Caribbean,” he says.