October 2015 archive

Comida de los Muertos

In a previous blog post, I mentioned Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, a well-known Mexican holiday. Now that this holiday is quickly approaching, I wanted to do more research and learn more about this thought-provoking holiday, and the symbolic significance of the food that is involved with it.

Anyone that is vaguely familiar with Mexican culture ordinarily knows that on November 1st, the lives of deceased children are celebrated and remembered, and on November 2nd, the Mexican people remember their adult friends and family members that are no longer with them.What many do not understand is the importance of the food that is made to celebrate the lives of those that have past.

The Mexican people hold beliefs that their late loved ones visit the Earth in spiritual form during this celebration. They create altars for their deceased friends and family members, and on these altars there are ofrendas, or offerings, for the loved one’s spirit when it travels back to the living world.

These offerings mainly consist of items for the spirit to clean up with after its journey, but the most popular food offering is sugar skulls. These are candy skulls that are decorated and left on the altar for the spirit. Sometimes they are eaten, but it is much more common for these sugar skulls to be preserved for the dead. The sugar skulls represent the vitality of life and individual personality.

Pan de Muerto, or the bread of the dead, is a sugary bread that is enjoyed by the living on the Day of the Dead, and often placed on altars. It is baked, glazed, and decorated with colored sugar. The bread symbolizes the souls of the departed, and is sometime baked in the shape of a skull. It is offered as nourishment for the spirits that come to visit the living world and are hungry after their journey.

Atole is a warm drink that is somewhat comparable to American oatmeal. It is made with corn flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Some even prefer to add fruit to their atole. It is favorable drink in many cultures all year-round such as Mexican (of course), Guatemalan, Honduran, and Salvadoran, but on the Day of the Dead, it is used specifically to nourish and warm the spirits when they come to the living world, and return once again to the “other side.”

Candied pumpkin is another delicious treat placed on alters during the Day of the Dead. Pumpkin is cooked in brown sugar cane syrup, and then sweetened with cinnamon sticks and oranges. I wish I could explain a cool symbolic meaning behind this particular food, but unfortunately, they are only used on the Day of the Dead altars because they taste really great.

In conclusion, I personally find this particular holiday and the foods associated with it very compelling. The idea of celebrating the life of a deceased friend or family member rather than mourning him or her puts a positive spin on the idea of death, and the foods that hold symbolic meaning demonstrate the important traditions that define this holiday.

 

The Pre-meal Meal

Appetizers are, in my opinion, pretty much the best idea ever. A small amount of food before a larger amount of food? Genius. Appetizers are particularly useful when you want to sample a new kind of dish.  You can avoid the anxiety of committing to an entire meal before you know that you will enjoy it, and at the same time, you have the opportunity to discover a new favorite food. International foods can be especially intimidating, so I feel that if you do want to take a risk with a new foreign dish, it should definitely be in the form of an appetizer.

Though they were originally created in Galicia, Spain, empanadas are also an extremely popular Latin dish. Spanish settlers brought empanadas to the Western world, and they have been prevalent in Latin America ever since.  These are pastries made from flour and baking soda that can be stuffed with a variety of things, including but not limited to meat, spinach, peas, potatoes, pumpkin and beans.  They are particularly adored in Chile and Argentina. These pies are the perfect example of finger foods, and I imagine that they would be even better as an appetizer if you are feeling a little unsure about them.

In India, samosas are referred to as chaat, or a snack food. They certainly could also be made into an appetizer. Similar to empanadas, samosas are pastry pockets made from flour that can be stuffed with anything you desire. The most popular filling, however, is simply spiced potato and peas. In eastern Africa and South Africa, variations of samosas are made, but here they are called samoosas. No matter where they come from, the dish is regarded as delicious and should definitely be considered a suitable appetizer.

The next dish I am going to include originated in Italy. The dish is simple, and incredibly easy to make as a snack or an appetizer. Olives are popular all around the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and when marinated in olive oil, red wine vinegar, minced garlic, herbs, and seasonings, they make the perfect pre-meal meal. This dish complements any Spanish, Italian, North African, Greek or Provençal meal, and either green olives or black olives can be used, depending on your preferences. From my experience, olives tend to be regarded by many as not that great, but when they are dipped in marinade, a whole new flavor is created- a flavor that should definitely be considered.

The meals I have mentioned definitely do not complete the list of possible appetizers, but they are very popular dishes that can be sampled if you feel a little bit antsy about diving right in to a brand new meal. It has always been difficult for me to broaden my horizons when it comes to food, as I already feel very passionately about the dishes I already enjoy, but usually when I do choose to try something new, it is for the best. And these appetizers sound great, right?

 

We All Scream for Ice Cream

Though some argue ice cream is solely for scorching hot summer days, I am a firm believer that it can (and should) be eaten at any point in the year. Though it is typically considered an American dessert, ice cream can actually be found all over the world. The form in which it is served in obviously can vary, but if one is like me and believes that everyone should have the right to purchase and eat ice cream at any time they want, I would think that this person should be open to sampling these variations. Ice cream can be offered in Japan, Italy, Israel and a number of other countries in an even larger number of flavors.

If you ever find yourself in Japan and desperate for a frozen delight, you should probably give Mochi ice cream a chance. Mochi is sticky rice that is pounded together, and is normally served as a cake. The Japanese add a twist to the traditional Mochi when they stuff it with ice cream and make it a different kind of sweet treat. Mochi ice cream has become so prominent that today, it is enjoyed in North American, Europe, and Africa as well as Japan. Popular flavors include red bean and green tea.

Italy’s gelato is shares similar characteristics with the ice cream that Americans typically consume. That being said, it is important to keep in mind that the Italians are quite proud of their gelato and are particular about its namesake. Commonly, gelato is denser than ice cream and has a significantly less amount of fat due to the fact that more milk is used during the creation process than cream. More than 5,000 modern gelato parlors exist in Italy, so if you ever visit here, it most certainly should not be hard to acquire some. The most beloved flavors are nocciola (hazlenut), and fragola (strawberry).

In Israel, Halva ice cream is not necessarily a variation of what we typically think of as ice cream, but it is a new kind of flavor that was originally from Tel Aviv, a city in Israel. Halva is sweet and comparable to candy; it is created by mashing sesame seeds into a paste made from sugar and honey. The taste of Halva has, interestingly enough, been compared to many popular American candy bars. Because of this, I like to think that Halva ice cream is definitely something that most of us would enjoy.

So, there you have it. Clearly, many countries around the world put an interesting spin on what most Americans would consider ice cream. Though there is still a ridiculous amount of recipes that I did not get the chance cover, I imagine that every variation of the frozen dessert is delicious to the typical ice cream lover. So, if you do ever find yourself hankering for a cold treat in a foreign nation, I certainly recommend satisfying your craving and experiencing something new in the process.

 

The Culture of the Taco

It is important to remember that though tacos are of Mexican origin, there is not an archetypal kind of Mexican taco. Mexican people incorporate the recipes and cooking styles of indigenous and European people into their own. According to Tacopedia, an informative tome written by  Déborah Holtz and Juan Carlos Mena, the taco is the focal point of Mexican cuisine. The taco, simply described as a tortilla wrapped around food, is known worldwide for its Mexican roots, and known in Mexico as part of the Mexican culture.

The phrase, “echarse un taco,” to grab a taco, has become so prevalent in Mexico that it is now synonymous with getting any kind of food. Many Mexican sayings incorporate tacos as well, including but not limited to, “Le echas mucha crema a tus tacos,” which means you add a lot of sour cream to your tacos, and describes someone who thinks very, possibly too, highly of himself or herself. Though this is certainly interesting, it is not the only way tacos have been integrated into Mexico’s general culture.

The process of nixtamal is also well-known in Mexico and used to create the tortilla- the soft outer shell of the taco that holds all the ingredients. Maize is boiled in diluted quicklime, and the kernels are left out over night. This allows the mixture of cornmeal and maize flour to become malleable and cohesive. This process dates back to 1,000 and 500 B.C. when the taco was “created” as an edible spoon. Due to its ability to hold a number of foods, Holtz and Mena note that there are many variations of the taco, and they are all ubiquitous in Mexico.

The hard taco shell was created so that Mexican food could travel beyond Mexican culture. The traditional tortilla does not last very long; sitting out for twenty-four hours can leave the tortilla stale. The hard shell, however, is fried, wrapped in plastic, and can sit until it needs to be used. This is helpful when goods are being transported out of Mexican communities and spread all over the world.

Even with the many different versions produced by the Mexican people, Tacos still continue to be redesigned all over the world. For example, if one were to ask for tacos in California, he or she may be served smoked marlin tacos: marlin wrapped in a tortilla with cilantro, cabbage, tomatoes, and red onion. If this same question was asked in Sweden, it is likely one will get a Gringa Taco: corn tortilla filled with cheese and seasoned beef, served with salsa, cilantro, and onion. Due to their presence worldwide, tacos have become a defining aspect of Mexican culture.

As you can see, the taco is a strong part of Mexican culture. Its variance makes it even more popular worldwide, and Mexico can take pride in the fact that they have an international presence. This is evident because of the many chain restaurants that were created to serve Mexican food. Just a few examples are Taco Bell, Chipotle, Blue Burrito, and California Tortilla, and interestingly enough, these all exist either on campus or downtown.