Category Archives: August 2018

Editor’s Letter

Screen Shot 2018-07-22 at 8.59.19 AMSeth: What’s that like? What’s it taste like? Describe it like Hemingway.

Maggie Rice: Well, it tastes like a pear. You don’t know what a pear tastes like?

Seth: I don’t know what a pear tastes like to you.

Maggie Rice: Sweet, juicy, soft on your tongue, grainy like a sugary sand that dissolves in your mouth. How’s that?

Seth: It’s perfect.

From the film City of Angels Continue reading Editor’s Letter

Ginger

Screen Shot 2018-07-22 at 8.59.34 AMBy Brooke Gazer

It’s surprising that this versatile vegetable isn’t found in every home because it has so many beneficial properties. Ginger aids in digestion, has anti-inflammatory properties, reduces nausea, and helps open up the sinuses and reduce congestion when you’re suffering from a cold.  It keeps well if you just drop a whole piece into the freezer, just peel it as you need some.  It can be used as a flavoring in so many ways:  in a savory stir-fry or curry, as a candy on its own, in a sweet desert, or in a delicious drink. Continue reading Ginger

Plaza Carso: A Dizzyland of Culinary Delights

Screen Shot 2018-07-22 at 8.59.48 AMBy Marcia Chaiken and Jan Chaiken

During our frequent trips to Mexico City, we almost always stay in the Polanco neighborhood.  This upscale area is safe and walkable, near Chapultepec Park, loaded with museums, theaters, movies and an incredibly rich supply of restaurants. For short-term stays we usually check into the Intercontinental El Presidente, because we qualify for free nights using our IHG Club points.  It’s worth every point just to be able to swing by the restaurant Au Pied du Cochon any time of day or night for a bowl of their delicious French onion soup. Continue reading Plaza Carso: A Dizzyland of Culinary Delights

The Overwhelming Sights, Smells, and Sounds of Mexico City’s Markets

Screen Shot 2018-07-22 at 9.00.08 AMBy Carole Reedy

A recurring request from all visitors to Mexico is “Can we to go to a market?”  One might think this question would evoke a simple answer, but as long-time residents know, in Mexico things are continually changing while at the same time remaining the same.  Why should markets be any different? Continue reading The Overwhelming Sights, Smells, and Sounds of Mexico City’s Markets

The Embodiment of Permaculture: Artisanal Mezcal Production

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By Alvin Starkman, M.A., J.D.

Mezcal is 
the iconic
 Mexican
agave-
based 
spirit, most of which is
 distilled in the state of
Oaxaca. Its meteoric rise
 on the world stage began 
less than 25 years ago,
 when in 1995 Del Maguey
 became the first brand to 
export artisanal mezcal in
 a significant way, to the
US and then further
 abroad. Similarly,
 permaculture had its
 genesis not that long ago.
While the seed for the idea
 of permaculture was
 planted in the 1920s, the term was first coined in 1978, by the
 Australians Bill Mollison
 and David Holmgren. Perhaps coincidentally, it’s only been a couple of decades since the concept, its interpretation, and applications began receiving attention globally, just like interest in artisanal mezcal.

Continue reading The Embodiment of Permaculture: Artisanal Mezcal Production

Tiritas, the Mexican Fish Strips

Screen Shot 2018-07-22 at 9.00.34 AMBy Sandra Roussy

My discovery of tiritas happened a while ago, when my Mexican partner said on a Sunday morning, “I want to take you to eat tiritas today.”

I had never heard the word and didn’t know what they were.

“They’re fish stripes.” Yes, he said “stripes.” “You know, fish that is cut like thin fingers. We sometimes eat them for breakfast here on the coast. They’re great, and I think you will like them.” Continue reading Tiritas, the Mexican Fish Strips

Befriending that Pesky Purslane

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By Margret Hefner

“Leafy Purslane appeases the plot’s thirst,” wrote Columella, the Roman Empire’s most important writer on agriculture. How true this is. In the cracked, dry earth of summer, purslane pops up in the most inhospitable of spots, making itself at home in garden beds and gravel and between rocks and cracks in driveways and sidewalks. Most of us just yank it out and throw it on the compost pile. Continue reading Befriending that Pesky Purslane