Posts tagged Daniel Wheeler
Chayote: Squash dresses up for the holidays
Nov 29th
Chayotes in a street market resemble green pears
© Daniel Wheeler 2009
In the fall, my culinary thoughts inevitably turn to Thanksgiving. Although it is not celebrated as a legal holiday in Mexico, it is called El Día de Acción de Gracias, and some of my fondest holiday memories are of the Thanksgiving dinners put together by the American faculty members at the university where I worked in Puebla. We always invited friends and colleagues to share our holiday and bring their favorite festive foods.
Nothing was “assigned,” although we made the turkey, usually two big ones to accommodate the large crowd, plus gravy, traditional stuffing and cranberry sauce. (In those days, cranberries were nearly impossible to find in Mexico, and whoever was going to the U.S. would automatically tuck a can or two of cranberry sauce into the luggage; now fresh cranberries and cranberry juice are common supermarket items in Mexico.)
The side dishes and desserts were left to our guests, mostly Mexican, with a sprinkling of Europeans and South Americans. To me, with a burgeoning interest in the local food, it was always fun to see what our Mexican friends would bring. One of these dinners was my introduction to the wonderful dishes that could be prepared with one of the most common Mexican market vegetables, chayote.
The oblong baking dish brought by a neighbor who worked at the Casa de la Cultura was unveiled to reveal rows of chayote halves stuffed with different fillings, including chorizo, cheese, and a ground beef mixture reminiscent of picadillo. I had to share “tastes” with other people, including my husband, who had previously called chayote “bland,” in order to have room to sample each filling. I couldn’t decide which I liked best. The rich, spicy chorizo version? The comforting cheese gratin version? Or the beautifully seasoned Spanish style picadillo? One thing, however, was perfectly clear: this mild, delicate tasting vegetable was not bland, but only needed to be treated creatively and dressed up for company or used in everyday family meals.
Years later, when we lived in Oaxaca, I learned of a delicious, creamy chayote soup flavored with roasted poblano chiles, a specialty of Susana Trilling’s Seasons of My Heart cooking school. Later, down on Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, I discovered the chayote’s affinity for seafood, either in salads or stuffed with ceviche.
The chayote is a mild-tasting, pear shaped, light green vegetable, a member of the cucurbuta family that includes different types of squash, gourds and pumpkins. Like other squash, it grows on a vine and is a common home garden vegetable in Mexico. I remember seeing it in backyards in New Orleans, where it is called mirliton. In the U.S., it is grown in California, Florida and Louisiana and is widely available during the winter months. In Mexico, it is grown throughout the country and used in countless ways, both raw and cooked.
Cultivated in Mexico since pre-Hispanic times, and named by the Aztecs, chayote is rich in amino acids and used medicinally to dissolve kidney stones by preparing an infusion of the plant’s leaves. Infusions of the fruit are said to alleviate urine retention and thus reduce hypertension. Like any plant with medicinal as well as culinary value, chayote is much appreciated in Mexico, where gastronomic creativity has produced a remarkable range of dishes made from humble ingredients.
Besides being ideal to prepare as a stuffed vegetable, and in soups, chayote is eaten raw, grated into slaw-type salads, and used in fresh salsas with a variety of vegetables and fruit, including peaches, tomatoes, cucumbers and jicama. Breaded and fried, it can replace eggplant in baked dishes with tomato sauce and cheese, and is also used to make croquettes. Its refreshing flavor has been described as a combination of cucumber and apple, and chayote is found in sweet as well as savory dishes. It is served in the sugar syrup called almibar and in a sweet made with sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.
When buying chayotes, look for firm ones. Those with smooth skin are easiest to handle, although some varieties have knobby, hairy surfaces. I prefer the smooth ones, and avoid discolorations and sticky surfaces. The large ones, weighing about a half pound each, have tougher skin but are best for stuffing and do not need to be peeled for this purpose. Buy smaller, more tender ones if using them raw. Chayotes should be stored lightly wrapped in a paper towel, and keep for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.
If using chayotes raw, peel them before grating or cutting. Some people use gloves when handling raw chayotes, because of a liquid that seeps out and may irritate the skin, although I haven’t personally found this to be the case. Peeling them under running water is another alternative.Chayotes do not have to be peeled raw if being baked or steamed.
In Mexico, the large central pit of a steamed chayote is considered the cook’s treat. Once a chayote has been steamed whole, for example in preparation for stuffing, cut it in half and remove the pit. Let it cool and eat it as is, enjoying its mildly nutty flavor.
Use chayote in any mixed vegetable soup or Mexican style cream soup. Cube it or grate it for salads and fresh salsas. Chef Rick Bayless presents a simple chayote salad recipe in his book Mexican Everyday, in which cubed, cooked chayote is combined with tomato and green onion and dressed with a simple oil and balsamic vinaigrette.
Serve chayote cubed and steamed or microwaved and simply dressed with butter, salt and pepper as a vegetable side dish. Or steam a whole chayote, cut it in half and serve with butter, sour cream and bacon as you would a baked potato. Another preparation is to simply peel and cut chayote into slices and sauté with bell peppers and onions until the vegetables are tender. Chayotes make a good addition to winter casseroles, and are good in vegetable stir fries.
Following are some recipes for this remarkably versatile vegetable, which can be combined with a wide range of ingredients, dresses up or down, and always flatters its companions.
Peach and chayote salsa: Salsa de durazno y chayote
Chayote soup with poblano chile: Sopa de chayote con chile poblano
Cheese stuffed chayotes au gratin: Chayote relleno con queso gratinado
Chorizo stuffed chayote: Chayote relleno con chorizo
2010: a special year in Mexico
Nov 25th
Mexican flags for Independence Day celebrations — el 16 de septiembr
© Daniel Wheeler, 2009
By an amazing historical coincidence, calendar year 2010 is both a centennial and bicentennial for Mexico. This is great for students, as it’s a mnemonic device to help them remember dates! And as you might well imagine, it leads to 2010 being a great national celebration for Mexico.
Every nation needs symbols, traditions and celebrations to affirm its identity and pass its culture to the next generation. That’s why national holidays are important parts of national identity.
In Mexico, Independence Day (September 15th-16th) and Revolution Day (November 20th) are both important patriotic celebrations. And this year is special because it marks both the bicentennial of what became the Mexican independence movement (in 1810) and the centennial of the start of the Mexican Revolution (in 1910).
The dual anniversaries provide an opportunity to teach and reflect upon the complex and intriguing history of Mexico. And who knows, maybe even learn lessons for the future.
The bicentennial celebrates the independence of Mexico from Spain in the early 19th century.
The uprising that became the Mexican independence movement began in 1810, on the night of September 15th/16th. That’s the night that Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo gathered the people in front of a church, where he gave a speech and rang a bell (similar to our own Liberty Bell), calling the people to action. This occurred in the central Mexican town of Dolores, Guanajuato, now referred to as Dolores Hidalgo.
Hidalgo himself was executed in 1811, but the struggle continued. Eventually, Mexico became independent from Spain in 1821. And that’s another historical coincidence, as 1521, 300 years earlier, was the year in which the Aztec Empire fell and Spanish rule began.
The Mexican War of Independence is not to be confused with the Mexican Revolution, which occurred a century later. The Revolution began on November 20th, 1910, as an uprising against longtime dictator Porfirio Diaz. After driving Diaz out of the country in 1911, revolutionary factions fought each other in a bloody civil war. The Revolution lasted from 1910 to 1920, more or less. (There is disagreement over its end point).
One of the most concrete results of the Revolution was the current Mexican Constitution, drafted in 1917. For Americans, the most famous figure in the Mexican Revolution is Pancho Villa.
Both Independence Day in September and Revolution Day in November are popular observances celebrated annually. This year is the bicentennial of the former and the centennial of the latter.
Therefore, in Mexico a number of observances are taking place this year, and not only in September and November. Current president Felipe Calderon has declared the entire year 2010 as the Año de la Patria (Year of the Nation). At the federal government level, planning began in 2006, during the administration of Vicente Fox, the previous president.
So this year, there are cultural, artistic and educational programs aplenty. There are historical commemorative ceremonies, artistic exhibitions, conferences and radio shows. Large digital countdown clocks have been installed in cities across Mexico. Major media companies Televisa and TV Azteca compete with each other to produce programming related in some way to the bicentennial/centennial. In 2009, the president lit a “Bicentennial Flame,” which is traveling around the country. Seminars have been scheduled, museums remodeled, archaeological sites opened, and books are being published.
Motorists traveling in many parts of Mexico can see the Ruta 2010 signs on the highway. These routes commemorate and follow military movements and historical figures in the Independence and Revolutionary periods. For a traveler interested in history, this would be a fascinating way to see where Mexican historical occurrences really happened. Those who are interested, click here.
Besides the federal government, the governments of all 31 Mexican states and the Federal District have their own Bicentennial/Centennial committees. In the northern state of Chihuahua, the bicentennial/centennial coincides with an even older anniversary — the foundation of Chihuahua City 300 years ago. (Really 301 years ago, as it was founded in 1709 — but that’s close enough). So Chihuahua has a triple celebration.
In June, the Mexican port of Veracruz played host to an international regatta featuring tall sailing ships, which had sailed in a five month voyage beginning in Brazil. The fleet included vessels from 12 nations, including Mexico and other Latin American nations, several of which are also celebrating bicentennials within the space of a few years. The US, Portugal and the Netherlands also participated.
There was even a sailing ship in the regatta from Spain, the country from which Mexico became independent. And why not? Back in 1976, the British participated in our US Bicentennial celebration by loaning us a copy of the Magna Carta for display.
The Mexican Bicentennial/Centennial is expanding beyond the nation’s borders. There are exhibitions of art from different stages of Mexico’s history in various foreign capitals. Mexican embassies and consulates are hosting cultural events abroad. There’s even a global mariachi contest, open to musicians of any nationality. In fact, one of the requirements of the mariachi competition is that contestants can’t be residents of Mexico!
On the Mexican government Bicentennial/Centennial website, a special message to readers, in English, explains some of the goals of the celebration:
“In 2010, Mexico will commemorate the bicentennial of its Independence movement and the centennial of its Revolution with an extensive program of events. All Mexicans and foreign citizens alike are invited to participate in these events to learn about and reflect on Mexico’s past… We will celebrate Mexico’s history in every corner of the country and abroad through a variety of means… These bicentennial and centennial celebrations are occasion for a big fiesta that all of society should make its own. Let the 2010 festivities bring us a new understanding of our past and unity for the future. Join us!”
And on that note, may all Mexconnect readers wish Mexico a happy Bicentennial/Centennial!
Allan Wall recently returned to the US after residing many years in Mexico.
