Think chiles, masa harina, moles and pepitas: ingredients that help shine a light on Cinco de Mayo, May 5, a day that celebrates Mexican culture, history and food.
While the date comes only once every 365, you can daily find tacos, fajitas, nachos, quesadillas and “Mexican wraps” at area diners and family restaurants throughout the year.
In Embrun, a visit to the Latin American restaurant “The Latin Table” will offer up family recipes for tamales, burritos, enchiladas and morelianas, which are crispy corn tortillas topped with refried beans, lettuce, tomato, avocado, cheese, sour cream and a choice of beef, chicken, pork or vegetables.
No culture can be reduced to its food, and while these dishes don’t represent the full range and complexity of Mexican dishes, accessible and popular fare such as guacamole and salsa have become firmly entrenched in Canadian foodways.
As for Cinco de Mayo, it is a significant date on the calendar, even if it is only connected to a victory in the relatively small Battle of Puebla in 1861 and is not – contrary to popular belief – a celebration of Mexican independence (which is recognized as September 16, 1821).
May 5, to be sure, is a fitting occasion to take a moment to fête these Mexican dishes and ingredients and how they have inspired cooking in Canada. Below are a few examples.
More than guacamole and tacos
Certainly, one of my favourite tacos is the folded and fried birria taco with a beef dipping sauce, garnished with a bit of guacamole.
Guac is, no doubt, an extremely popular sauce and dip. I think that one of the things I like best about it is the simple yet very rich fattiness, the lovely creamy texture and the comfort-food quality it possesses.
Perhaps not as common and relatively simple is the condiment pico de gallo. A relish or salsa-like combination of finely chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro, hot peppers, salt and lime juice, the phrase essentially translates to “rooster’s beak” – the possible theory for that being that when eaten with thumb and fore-finger, the shape mimics the beak of a chicken.
The simplicity of tomatoes and onions and avocados and cilantro in those dishes is at one end of the spectrum from the complex chile-based sauce called mole, which might be made with upwards of 20 ingredients and can take as much as four hours to make.
A sauce for braising chicken, the word likely derives from the Nahuatl word for “concoction,” exactly what a mole is: a rich, reddish-brown concoction of many spices, onions, chiles, garlic, ground pepitas, Mexican chocolate and whatever else cooks want to add from their larders.
For dessert, you might find churros, warm, freshly fried extruded pastry-dough fritters sprinkled with cinnamon.
Spice is nice
Mexican and Latin American cuisines have introduced us to smoky chipotle and spices like cumin and cayenne which are foundational to Mexican cooking – and cooks everywhere use them daily.
Recently, a trendy addition to health-food regimens, pepitas are a traditional Mexican ingredient: they are hulled dark-green pumpkin seeds, best when roasted and salted.
Less familiar but just as delicious – and popping with rufescent colour – is achiote paste, a musky-scented amalgam of crushed annatto seeds, coriander, cumin, cloves and garlic. Also known as recado rojo, it is used in meat marinades and likely when you enjoy tacos al pastor.
Another lesser-known food that was invented by first peoples in North America and which has made its way to being a key ingredient, especially to southern United States cuisine, is hominy: the dried corn kernels were originally treated with lye in an ancient process, invented by indigenous peoples, called “nixtamalization.”
The process makes the corn easier to grind – you’ve experienced hominy when you’ve eaten grits or possibly pozole soup which includes chicken or pork, chile peppers, shredded cabbage, onion, garlic, radishes and avocado.
Chile peppers of course
Of course, chile peppers characterize Mexican cuisine, and their names are legion. From habaneros and jalapeños to chipotles and serranos, many are dried and blended to create chile powder, a ubiquitous ingredient that flavours many cuisines around the world.
The poblano pepper, which originated in Puebla, when dried is known as an ancho and contributes to making adobo, a sauce or paste that is flavoured with an acid such as vinegar and which is often used as a marinade. When stuffed, it is part of chiles rellenos, sometimes available on Canadian-Mexican restaurant menus.
Toast Cinco de Mayo with Mexican beverages
Whatever the meal, May 5 can be toasted with a beverage of distinct Mexican personality – and with more than cerveza, Margaritas, tequila and its less specialized cousin mezcal.
You might find traditional Mexican drinking chocolate. Thousands of years ago, before chocolate was eaten in solid form, it was consumed as a liquid, but not as the terrifically sweet drink that we know. Like espresso, Mexican drinking chocolate might be sipped from a small cup.
A michelada is a beer-based drink that is traditionally made with lime juice, spices and chiles served in a salt-rimmed glass. Purportedly a portmanteau word, michelada may derive from the Mexican phrase “mi chela helada,” which translates to something like “my frosty cold beer.” Whether true or not, it is one of those charming food myths.
Some Mexican-inspired restaurants might also serve teas made with hibiscus, a Mexican tradition, as well as agua frescas, which blend fruits, cereal grains or seeds, sugar and water that make refreshing non-alcoholic drinks.
Horchata is a bit of an acquired taste: ground grains like rice, cereals, seeds or chufa nuts are steeped in water to which is added sugar and spices. The drink may be served cold or at room temperature.
Join an Ottawa celebration this Sunday
Organized by the ByWard Market District Authority, the Market is holding a fiesta celebrating Mexican heritage and history this Sunday, May 4, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can get a taste of traditional Mexican decoration, live music and dance, games, art and food, as well as some of the history of Puebla, the birthplace of Cinco de Mayo.
Food writer Andrew Coppolino lives in Rockland. He is the author of “Farm to Table” and co-author of “Cooking with Shakespeare.” Follow him on Instagram @andrewcoppolino.
