Living Large, Veracruz Style
On Saturday, I had a big, boozy fiesta at the Fonda del Recuerdo in Mexico City. The food and ambience are from Veracruz and both are great. After a huge...
The Rancho Gordo Blog
On the Road
Lunch at Azul Condesa
In the galaxy of stars of the Mexico City food scene, Ricardo Muñoz Zurita is just about everyobody's favorite personality. From his seminal books to his legendary restaurant Azul y...
Yucatan Cooking Classes (Lots of Photos)
Last autumn, I took a trip to the famous ex-hacienda San José El Marquez, owned by my friends who run Xoxoc. They were having a special event and a lot...
My Debut in Chicago
You know I'm a big fan of Taste Network's Cochon 555 parties. Rancho Gordo participates in all the bay area events by serving beans to help with all the pork...
How I Came to Love Radishes
I like the idea of radishes but they really don't thrill the way a carrot can. Sometimes they're too bland and sometimes they're too peppery. I like them with hot...
Clay Pots from Rancherita de la Virgen, Oaxaca
These pots were found in the Pinotepa Nacional mercado. These are the pots that Diana Kennedy features in her seminal book Oaxaca al Gusto for the dish El Cabio on...
Santo Domingo in Oaxaca
The Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzman in the heart of the city of Oaxaca is one of my favorite churches anywhere. This last trip I was lucky enough to...
Back from the Road
How strange to think just a day or two ago I was hunting for chiles in coastal Oaxaca and now I'm back in Napa doing laundry and wondering if I...
My Scrapbook: Papantla and more Veracruz
Last year I had such a fine time discovering Veracruz, the coastal state in Mexico that somehow I had avoided. We arrived in Papantla late at night and was met...
Sta. Maria Valley Beans
I've always thought that the migrant Mexican citrus workers brought the pink bean to California in the 1950s, along with the tri-tip cut. I don't know about the meat but...
A Barbacoa in Hidalgo (Part Two)
Being that preparing the pit and meat must start early in the morning and the unveiling and eating takes place late afternoon, you can imagine that there were a lot...
A Barbacoa in Hidalgo (Part One)
A rough translation of "barbacoa" into English would be "barbecue" but there really isn't all that much in common with the fiesta I attended a few weeks in ago in...