On Food & Culture
This Champurrado holiday drink recipe is lush, velvety smooth, and it’s all done with no milk or creams at all. The smoothness comes from the chocolate and nixtamalized corn masa blended together. I adapted this champurrado recipe from my book, Truly Texas Mexican: A Native […]
What a great evening we had last night in San Antonio, Texas! These chiles, tomates, hojarascas were all delicious. I want to share this “Texas Mexican Holiday Menu” with heartfelt thanks for the warm reception I received at last night’s event at the San Antonio […]
Texas Mexican Food Event In San Antonio, Texas Texas Mexican food gained fame In 1800s when Texas Mexican business women ran outdoor diners, and their delicious cooking made San Antonio a culinary destination, tourists arriving via railroad. These entrepreneurial women began to be called “chili […]
“Chicano 40” is a refreshing watermelon cocktail, the official signature cocktail celebrating the 40th anniversary of the San Antonio CineFestival the nation’s original and longest-running Chicano/Latino film festival. Not your ordinary watermelon cocktail, “Chicano 40” is complex and bright, created by Jeret Peña, acclaimed mixologist […]
Make some “Chocolate Caliente” the way that the original inventors of this beverage enjoyed it, with absolutely no lactose. There were no cows roaming about in the Aztec and Mayan empires of Mesoamerica, where chocolate has its origins and was first enjoyed. The earliest use […]
I muddle Hoja Santa to add flavors and aromas of licorice, anise and sassafras. Native to central and southern Mexico and all of Mesoamerica, this ancient plant is a member of the genus, “piper,” same as the Indian black pepper plant. It’s used to flavor […]
Here’s a recipe from my archives. It’s one of our traditional aguas frescas and perhaps the most famous. I’m re-posting it in honor of the beautiful, warmer spring weather we’re starting to enjoy here in Texas.It’s simple to make and a delight when you are […]
I served this at a party cranberry holiday cocktail last night…..it was a hit! It’s a very appropriate cocktail because cranberries are Native American. This holiday cocktail combines tart cranberry flavor with the woodsy, herbal, rosemary. Based on last night’s tasting, it’s gives a sparkling […]
Agua de Jamaica is as colorful as it is refreshing. I love the delicious tart taste. It is enjoyed all over Mexico and Central America. Hibiscus flowers boiled in water with a little sugar, that’s all it is. I suggest you make and taste this […]
We call cucumber, pepino. This cucumber chile martini draws upon two Mexican flavor traditions. The first is adding chile to pepino, a combination of freshness and piquant that is gorgeous. The second tradition is making sweets that combine chiles with various fruits. In this “Cucumber […]