Another Mexico - mexican restaurant palm canyon where dish used to be

Use epazote instead of seafood rice mixed with saffron.
A sauce of green olives, sauerkraut and jalapeno.
A cake seasoned with almonds, raisins, sherry and coconut. Where am I?
Veracruz state.
Almost anyone in Mexico will mention Veracruz and he will smile and say, "Oh, the food there is very Spanish.
"Well, yes, no.
But it's creative, brave, not the same as anything I 've eaten in Mexico.
I went to Veracruz to rekindle my love for food.
A few years ago, in Austin, Texas, Mexican food was part of my upcoming --of-age as a cook.
I moved to France in 1981. -
Life, writing books, passion for Mediterranean cuisine-
But I never beat Mexico.
After returning to the United States, I headed straight to the border and looked for Spain and Mexico on the same plate.
Founded by hernan Cortés on Good Friday in 1519, and named after the True Cross, the city of Veracruz is the place where modern Mexican history begins.
Veracruz is a cultural crossroads for centuries: until 1760, it was the only port to deal with trade with Spain-
Until the plane of this century, Mexico's only important entry point from Europe.
Open, vibrant Africa on this narrow gateway
The mixed culture is called jarocho.
The word used to mean "farmers ";
It now describes the emotions inspired by Mexican Indians, Spaniards, Cuban immigrants and African slaves who have been intertwined for centuries to work on sugar plantations.
Africans resisted, won the first victory against slavery on the North American continent in 1609, and settled in coastal swamps.
Bananas, coconuts, peanuts and rum are part of their culinary heritage.
My Veracruz Guide is Carmen Ramires de Gorado, the owner of El bajio, one of the best restaurants in Mexico City, and a native of Xalapa-
Capital of Veracruz. Lucky me.
Carmen likes to show off her hometown. her energy is endless.
She met me at Mexico City airport and we immediately set off for Xalapa, traveling along smaller and smaller roads, through cool, foggy pine trees --
The mountains covered.
I am as easy in the Pyrenees as I am in Mexico.
Cows graze near the stadium
A house with a roof and an advertisement for cheese and cream on the signboard.
Shop in the mountain town of Perote and Banderilla, known for their Spanish
Display a string of ham and tempting sausage.
In the 18 th century, the region was developed by Spanish businessmen, coffee and sugar producers, and almost every European who came to Mexico had crossed the region.
Many people choose to stay.
Xalapa's elegant colonial architecture, narrow slope streets and famous botanical gardens pass by my window, and Carmen is one of her favorite restaurants-a humble fish restaurant called Nico
As soon as we sat down, we were served with tortillas and Ellie from Veracruz: homemade mayonnaise seasoned with garlic and salsa.
Mexican cuisine is a local specialty, named after Xalapa--and smoke-
Dried jalapeno peppers, which we call chipotles in the United States. S.
And Veracruz Zanos, known as Pepper, is ever-
Whether it's in a thick shiny salad, in a smoked soup and stew known as chilpacholes, or at a local table.
We ordered empanadas de jaiba, light fried Massa made with olive oil, sweet crab meat, pickled jalapeno and oregano cooked with Spanish soft onions, garlic and tomatoes
The taste is good, and the granules of masa are soft, in contrast to the spicy and moist crab.
Then, we turned over all the napkins on the table and the crab claws were torn into pieces --
Masturbation mayonesa de chipotle, crowned glory with sopa de mariscos, Nico, a small and medium shrimp soup (
Veracruz shrimp, especially small river shrimp, very juicy, very sweet)
Octopus, conch, red apper fish and crab-
There's a lot of hot hands-
Took a taco.
The soup is an aromatic soup.
Thickened fish, chewy corn and dirt
Moldy herbal epazote.
It was like the sea came to the heights in my bowl.
The next day, we drove about five miles south, across the vast expanse of smooth coffee trees, to the town of Coatepec.
Since the 18th-century import of coffee from Cuba by Juan Antonio Gomez de Guevara, coffee has been a pillar of the Highland region.
Coatepec is known for its fruit and herbal liqueur, which is produced by fruit liqueur and ice cream is sold from a booth in the city square.
But Carmen thought of something more important: that is, having lunch at Parador Real, about two miles from Xico village.
Parador Real is one of those simple country restaurants where families and merchant groups come for lunch and stay for a few hours.
We did it sitting outside.
Here, we found the rich food unique to the Highlands: a delicious black bean soup, reinforced with Martha dumplings and silky natural green substance xonequi;
Chicken, Mexico--
A dark, sweet, nut-flavored sauce consisting of Magnolia beans and parsilla peppers, plantains, prunes, raisins, almonds, pine nuts, hazelnuts, pecans and sesame seeds
The dishes on the menu are correctly described as riquisimo (most delicious)or MMM (as in "Mmm! ").
A selection of antochios--
More substantial than entertainment. gueules--
Including empanadas in Minera: olives, ponies, gooseberries, onions, tomatoes and sharks in pickled jalapeno.
Well, these seem more.
More like a burrito than the crab I had the day before.
At the urging of Carmen, I added a thick film of negra with spicy salsa.
Next, we tried fried tortillas with a thin layer of cream black beans. -
Breakfast or supper is the favorite of local people.
We also ate peppers made of fresh jalapeno and coriander, each filled with pork, raisins, chopped almonds, onions, tomatoes, garlic and parsley and then fried again
I like the complexity of their flavors and their refined proportions.
Camarron tortillas--
This means that the shrimp tortillas are a delicate preparation ---
Closer to what Americans call tortillas than we think. -
Tortillas softens in thick red Chilean sauce, toppings shrimp bathed in the same sauce, and rolls and heats in banana leaves.
We saved dessert for Coatepec and came back with a scoop of coffee ice cream ---
But I couldn't help but visit.
The first is ria El Danubio Azul of Xico.
We filled the bakery with traditional bread and pastries, including cochinitas--chewy, anise-
Seasoned biscuits cut into pig shapes.
Carmen also noted that the flour company
One of her favorite Veracruzano sandwiches when she was a child ---
It itself is also known as pambazo, which is filled with beans, canned sardines, thin slices of avocado, pickled melons, lettuce and tomatoes.
We leave for Villa cruise, 67.
Drive a mile from Xalapa the next morning.
The road, which runs from the mountains through mango trees, coconut trees and dense sugar cane plantations, quickly drops to the wet coastal plains.
Carmen points to the giant ripe pineapple on a roadside stall for sale.
Plastic water bottles hang on the top of the frame and are filled with mild pineapple vinegar used throughout Mexico for delicious fish, Chile and vegetable marinades called esc honeycomb.
Even if the average day is busy, Veracruz is full of energy at the carnival, an event that Veracruzanos celebrates with unqualified enthusiasm, when we arrive,
But our mission was to eat, so we avoided the parade, galloped South, and after an ugly new hotel crowded on the shore, came to Boca, the location of a restaurant called La Choca
Carmen's mother used to take her to LA Joka when she was a child. The restaurant is just a PaRappa or thatched house on the beach.
It's a proper building now. -
But she assured me that the food was as good as before.
First of all, jaiba's chilpachole is fantastic, and its smoked chili and tomato broth makes a good contrast to the sweet willacruz crab meat.
Arrow, in hole in Pura Tano-
White rice with fried plantain and tart cream sauce-
Reflects the impact of the Caribbean region.
Here, I also ate the Veracruz version of seafood, arroz a la tumbada.
Rachel's doing it. -
Carmen said it was brothy. -
But there's a lot of seafood here: clams, shrimp, red apper fish, conch and squid.
Like paella, the beginning of the dish is rice cooked with olive oil and tomatoes, lots of garlic and onions, but the seasoning is jalapeno and epazote, not saffron.
However, my favorite dish in La Choca is the light, refreshing Camaros-
Mexican shrimp, carrots, onions and chili peppers in pineapple vinegar.
After a late meal at Veracruz, you do what everyone else in the city does: you sit in the crowded and bright cafe on the Armas square and watch people dance, flirt, and listen to music.
The city beats with his son jarocho, a happy, seductive layering of Spanish and African rhythms with the best rhythm
The known example is "La Bamba ".
"In busy cafes along Zócalo and the famous Parroquia Gran Cafe on the beach, the drinks selected are beer, tequila and menyules (mint juleps! )
The waiter hurried around with a steaming pot of milk and rich syrup Coffee, answering the sound of the spoon in the glass, which is more of the tall milk coffee called Lecheros
The best breakfast in town is served at Fonda El Cochinito de Oro, a simple, sunny restaurant run by women working in the open kitchen.
In addition to gorditas de frijoles, they offer excellent gorditas dulces, which are filled with brown sugar and fennel, and picadas is simple and satisfying.
These are small and thick tortillas, curled at the edges, lightly fried, filling with salsa or purple black beans topped with chopped onions and broken queso murals
After breakfast, we visited the central market of Veracruz.
As soon as I saw the fish stalls there, I understood why the local seafood dishes were so rich and fresh.
On a clean tile counter, bright red apper fish, Boji fish, Stone spots, pompano, cod, bass, mackerel fish, squid and octopus are piled up in shiny pilesSoft-
The shell crab is tied to a palm leaf strip hanging above the fish.
From the Papaloapan estuary to the south, shrimp of all sizes snuggle up on crayfish.
This is exactly where we went for lunch in town of Tlacotalpan.
Located on the left bank of the river, Tlacotalpan is not only amazing and lovely, but its porch building is also like chalk --
Pastel, Necco chip,
It is also home to the wonderful restaurant Doña Lala.
We started our outdoor dining with light fish salpicon--
Hard white bass, cooked, chopped and placed in green tomato and avocado salsa with chopped carrots and serrano chiles ---delicious.
But the bass provided in the Emerald Pool of akuyo sauce is a revelation.
Akuyo, also known as Santa Claus or hierba hung-
For any preparations around Mexico-It's a big heart.
The shape of the leaves, there is a taste between tarragon and fennel.
Here it is simply washed with water and aromatic substances and then seasoned with boiled fish.
Next is the squid of mariscos, which is filled with a paradise mixture of crabs and shrimp.
Squid is the most tender I have ever bitten, bathed in luxurious squid --ink and red-wine sauce.
Finally, we ate crayfish with olive oil and garlic. -lots of it.
Slice garlic cloves in olive oil to cook with crayfish and then eat with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, pickled jalapeno, cooked carrots, Chilean guayello avocado slices and fritters.
If it weren't for jalapeno and chili, I could imagine myself eating this dish in camage on a hot summer day.
We need a hammock at this point;
We had a dessert.
Explosion-proof gan called borocha--
Cake soaked with sherry syrup mixed with almonds, raisins and coconuts and topped with crispy crust-
More echoes of Spain.
After lunch, we walked through the quiet town and came to the flandor Museum in El Salvador.
The little boy in cowboy boots and headscarves lined up to face the girl in a white Spanish dress, clicking and tapping their heels in their complicated Spanish Steps --Indian-
African ancestors
They support their little frame in a mix of dignity and happiness.
I want another week. -
Visit the ruins of eltagin and taste tamales and green Massa
Thick soup of northern Veracruz and Caribbean dishes of Los tacstra.
But this is another trip.
Carmen is ready at any time.