In this episode, we’re celebrating the deep flavors of traditional Mexican cuisine. Today’s guest is Mely Martinez, blogger and author of the well-known Mexico in My Kitchen website and cookbook. Inspired by her desire to leave a legacy of traditional flavors for her son to easily access wherever he was in the world, she started a collection of recipes online. The site quickly gained a global audience of cooks who wanted to hold onto the flavors of home, and those who wanted to discover the authentic flavors of Mexico for the first time. She’s masterfully brought together a collection of traditional recipes from across the country, and in doing so, has inspired new generations of professional chefs and home cooks to discover the rich variety within Mexican gastronomy.
What we covered in this episode
- Mely Martinez talks about the inspiration behind the recipes (9:48)
- The cultural shift driving the resurgence of traditional Mexican food (15:58)
- Why you won’t see a Mely Martinez restaurant (18:42)
- Regional differences in Mexican cuisine (22:25)
- Mely Martinez shares her life lessons from traditional cooking (28:16)
- A recipe you can make at home that you won’t find the book (35:15)
- Series of rapid-fire questions.
- Link to the podcast episode on Apple Podcast
Links to other episodes in Dallas
Conversation with Chef Misti Norris from Petra & The Beast
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Mely Martinez – Pork in Chile Morita with Rice
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Entomatadas, corn tortillas covered with tomato and cheese @ Mexico in My Kitchen
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Mely Martinez – Mole Poblano
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Tamales de pollo en salsa verde @ Mexico in My Kitchen
Recipe: Tamales de Puerco – Pork Tamales from Mely Martinez
Ingredients:
For the meat:
1 pound of pork shoulder, cut into cubes
2 garlic cloves
¼ of a white onion
1 bay leaf
4 cups of water
1 teaspoon of salt
For the sauce:
2 Ancho peppers, cleaned, deveined, and seeded
3 Guajillo peppers, cleaned, deveined, and seeded
2 small garlic cloves
1/3 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
Salt and black pepper to season
For the dough:
3 cups of cornflour (masa harina)
1-1/3 cup of lard
2½ cups of the broth where you cooked the meat in.
1 teaspoon of baking powder
Salt, if needed (the broth already has salt added)
16 large corn husks, plus more for adding to the steaming pot
Instructions:
1. In a medium-size pot, combine the pork meat, garlic, onion, bay leaf, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover with the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Simmer partially covered, occasionally skimming off and discarding the fat from the surface. Cook for about 1 hour, or until meat is tender enough to shred. Remove the onion, garlic, and bay leaf from the pot and discard. When the meat is cool enough to handle, shred it into bite-size pieces and set aside.
2. While the meat is cooking, soak the dry peppers in a medium-size pot with warm water for about 20 minutes. Drain the peppers and place them in your blender along with the garlic cloves, cumin, and 1/3 cup of water (some people use the soaking water). Process until you have a smooth sauce.
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium-size skillet over medium heat, then add the pepper sauce with 1 cup of the meat broth and cook for 8 minutes.
4. Add the shredded pork to the sauce and season with salt and ground black pepper. Add more broth if needed. Simmer until heated through, about 5 more minutes.
5. Place the corn husks into a large bowl with warm water to soak for about 30 minutes. After this time, remove the husks, drain any excess water, and set aside.
6. To prepare the dough, beat the lard in a large bowl until it is light in color and slightly fluffy. You can do this by hand or using an electric mixer. Add the baking powder and the cornflour (masa harina), then gradually add the pork broth until the dough is very light. If your dough looks dry, add more broth or water. Taste and add salt if needed.
7. Continue to beat until the dough is well combined, light, and smooth. To make sure your dough is light enough, place a small amount in a glass with water. If it floats, then that means that it’s ready.
8. To assemble the tamales, place a small amount of the dough in the center of a cornhusk. Using the back of a spoon, spread the dough out and top it with 1½ tablespoons of the meat filling.
9. Fold the right and left sides of the corn husk in towards the center, overlapping and completely covering the dough and the filling, then fold up the narrow end of the husk towards the center.
10. Add enough water to your steaming pot so that it almost reaches the steam rack. Line the steam rack with corn husks, then place the tamales standing up in the pot. Cover them with a layer of corn husks and cook for 1 hour. During that time, add more water to the steamer if needed. To check if your tamales are ready, remove one tamal from the pot, wait 5 minutes, then open it. If the husk separates easily from the dough when you open it, then the tamales are ready. If the dough sticks to the husk, then place it back into the pot and cook for 15 more minutes. Serve the tamales while still hot, just let them rest for 5 minutes first so that the dough can firm up.
Notes:
• If you have to add more water to the pot when cooking, make sure to pour it as close to the wall of the pot as possible, avoiding the tamales. If water gets into the tamales, they will lose their flavor and the dough will be soggy.
• You can reheat the tamales in the microwave for 1 minute per tamal. You can also steam them again to warm them up. Yet another way to reheat them is to place them on a hot skillet with the cornhusk still on. The cornhusk will start roasting, and this will add an extra smoky flavor to the tamal. Turn them 2 or 3 times until warm.
• The tamales will keep well in your freezer for a couple of months.
• Not everyone has a special steamer for tamales (called a Tamalera), but you can improvise one by using one of several methods. You can crumble up some aluminum foil and place it at the bottom of the pot, then cover it with cornhusks and place the tamales on top. You can also grab a disposable aluminum pie dish and cut some holes in it with a knife, then place it upside-down in the pot to use as a steaming rack.
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We have changed the way we cook because people are busier now and they want to have the same taste, the same comfort, but they want it faster.
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When previous generations of Mexicans came to live in the states, they wanted the kids to learn English quickly, they wanted to adapt to the culture so they fit in. But nowadays, there is a new pride in our culture. People are so proud to have Mexican heritage.
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There was something missing that people wanted to have. Because there is comfort in the food that we remember from grandma.
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My job was to help bring in water from the river and grind the corn and then helping my brother to take the lunch to the farmers. When you’re growing up you see it as a task and you don’t realize it until you are older than it was The School of Life.
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What you see in restaurants that call themselves Mexican or authentic Mexican, are modified recipes. They are not too close to what we know traditionally in Mexico. That was something that I wanted to write. I wanted to have a recipe book.
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I know it’s very hard to make something traditional because for people outside of Mexico. When you go to Mexico and you taste the ingredients, you taste the tomatoes, you taste the peppers, they taste completely different.
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Links mentioned in this episode
Mexico in My Kitchen
