Saturday, April 30, 2016

Introduction

     When starting this project, our group reflected upon flavors that evoked memories of cultural celebrations, family meals, and convivencia diaria. The variety of flavors that we settled upon parallels the diversity of our group members. Specifically, our Mexican, Salvadoran, American and Indian roots inspired us. Despite the cultural differences of our group, we bonded over the importance of food in our families. Food has provided a way to learn and spend time together—in other words, a space of convivencia.
     Food and food preparation also intrinsically tie into the creation of culture. When one smells the aroma of a meal being prepared, an immediate identification process occurs in which one begins to associate certain events with particular dishes. As these different events multiply, one’s identity emerges.
     Yet, not only does food preparation allow us to develop strong bonds with our family and to ourselves, cooking a meal from scratch becomes a way to connect with what we eat. We acknowledge the labor and sacrifice that went into producing food, and this acknowledgement also humbles us and fills our souls with gratitude.
     We decided Agua de Avena would be our contributing dish to our decolonized potluck. Providing a fresh, healthy beverage perfectly complements the food contributions of other groups. Food is life: it feeds the body, and perhaps even the soul. Hence, it is crucial to care about what one ingests.
     The conviviencia that emerges from cooking together reminds us of the powerful relationship between people and food. This is more than a food project; this collective experience creates consciousness, as it is our responsibility to decolonize our diets in order to live for an authentic, good, and healthy life. Below are recipes that we have recorded upon considering decolonizing our diets. We hope that you will test and enjoy them!


Friday, April 29, 2016

Huaraches De Nopal (Janette G.M.)

Looking for a main dish that will leave you satisfied and feeling energized? Huaraches de Nopal is great healthy dish that will sure leave you wanting more. The colors of this dish are vibrant and engulf a range of flavors that are simply perfect to admire and taste. Nopales are a healthy alternative for the traditional way of making huaraches and it is a diabetic friendly meal. Now let's get cooking and see for ourselves what this dish is all about. Also invite your loved ones to join you and make this an opportunity to spend time together and have some conviviencia! 

I love the combination of this dish's ingredients because they continue to be staple items in my family's kitchen and I plan to continue on my Mexican-American heritage with my future loved ones.


Prep Time
15min.



Total Time
23min.



Servings
6 servings

  • Cheese is optional, any kind is fine. (Al gusto) 

    Cooking process


    • Heat grill to medium heat
    • Blend first 3 ingredients in blender just until blended. (Some chunks can remain.)
    • Combine oil, oregano and cumin; brush onto cactus. Grill 8 min. or until tender, turning occasionally. Transfer to plate
    • Spread cactus with beans; top each with 1 Tbsp. tomatillo mixture. Cover with onions. Serve with remaining tomatillo mixture.
    Reminder that you can always make your own beans, as Luz Calvo  and Catriona Rueda Esquibel state in their book, Decolonize Your Diet, "cooking a pot of beans is a revolutionary act." 

    Ready, set, go, and Enjoy! A comer se ha dicho y provecho my friends! 


Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Pico de Gallo con Mango (by Patty)

Ingredients
  • 5 tomatoes
  • 1 onion
  • 4 limes (juice)
  • 1/2  bunch of cilantro
  • 2 mangoes
  • 8 jalapeno chiles 
  • Salt (to taste)
Steps
  1. Cut jalapeños in half lengthwise and remove seeds and stems and chop to small dice.
  2. Chop rest of ingredients into small cubes (except limes)
  3. Put all ingredients into a mixing bowl and toss together add salt (to taste)
  4. Add juice from fresh lime




Agua de Avena (by Patty)

Recipe
  • 1 cup of oatmeal
  • 3 liters of water
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 2 sticks of cinnamon
  • Honey and/or organic sugar (to taste)
Blend oatmeal with water and 1 cinnamon stick, strain after blending. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract then honey or sugar (to taste) you can add a whole stick of cinnamon for added flavor (optional)

With leftover oatmeal pulp, consider re-using to make atole, muffins, cookies, etc.







Aguachile Verde (by Cynthia)

Introduction

 Aguachile is a seafood dish in which raw shrimp is “cooked” in lime juice. It is normally eaten with tostadas and it is a very popular part of Mexican cuisine. It can be different colors such as black: which is prepared with soy sauce and worcestershire sauce, and red: which is prepared with red peppers. This dish is traditionally from the Mexican state of Sinaloa and although my family comes from the state of Jalisco in Mexico, it is a dish that quickly became very popular in my home. This recipe was first introduced to my family by one of my cousins who claims that seafood is his favorite type of food. I chose this dish for this cookbook because it emphasizes convivencia. In communicating and forming a bond with my cousin, my mother and I were able to learn how to make a quick, simple, and delicious dish together and strengthen the bond between us in the process.


Ingredients

serves 4-6 tostadas
 
  • 1 pound of fresh shrimp
  • 1 cup of sliced cucumber
  • 1/4 of cucumber (separate from the sliced)
  • 1 red onion
  • 1 cup of lime juice
  • 2 Serrano peppers (adjust quantity to desired spiciness)
  • Cilantro
  • Salt to taste
  • tostadas


Method

  1. Peel the shrimp and remove the digestive tract. Then butterfly the shrimp by slicing it longways down the middle. Put the shrimp in a bowl.
  2. Slice the cucumber and the red onion into thin slices.
  3. Squeeze 1 cup of lime juice. Blend the lime juice together with salt, the desired amount of serrano peppers, the 1/4 part of the cucumber, and cilantro.
  4. Add the blended ingredients.to the raw shrimp making sure that all the shrimp is well mixed with the mixture..
  5. Add a pinch of cilantro, the slices of cucumber, and the slices of red onion on top of the mixture.
  6. Let it sit for approximately one hour. The shrimp should start to look pink or orange as if they were cooked.
  7. Once the shrimp is “cooked” serve it on a tostada and enjoy!


How to butterfly shrimp:



Aguachile Verde: Final Product

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Curtido Salvadoreño (by Ashley)

Introduction
Curtido is a colorful pickled cabbage side, most commonly used as a topping for Pupusas. For explanation's sake, I would like to introduce Curtido as a condiment, however I feel that reducing it to an optional, add-on like ketchup or mustard would reduce its unique, flavorful existence. You will find different Curtido recipes depending on the pupuserias or restaurants you visit, but I guarantee that the one I have provided below will have a great flavor complexity. This is the recipe my mom taught me to make a few years ago to serve along with tamales on Buena Noche, made with lots of yelling and nagging, but always with love and convivio.
Ingredients
  • Palm full of oregano
  • A pinch of Whole black peppercorn
  • ¼ tsp Cumin
  • Medium sized cabbage
  • 10 Chile de arbol rojo (or to taste)
  • Red onion (1 onion in lascas)
  • 3 whole bay leaves
  • 2 large carrots ralladas
  • 1 tbsp salt or to taste
  • 3 teeth of garlic or to taste
  • Water
  • Apple cider vinegar 32 oz.
If desired: 1 tsp of Olive Oil

Steps
  1. Blend chile alone in blender to achieve dry flakes (instead of soft or emulsified effect). Optional: Separate a few Chiles to add whole for decoration in glass pickled jar.
  2. Blend ½ a cup of water and vinegar, oregano, whole peppercorns, cumin, and salt.
  3. Chop cabbage finely, peel carrots into strips, and cut onions into rings. Place ingredients in a large bowl with hot water (just enough to fully cover). Add a ½ tsp of salt to water and stir.
  4. In a large glass pickling jar with a wide mouth, place liquified spice/vinegar content, flaky chile, and bay leaves; stir.
  5. Crumble oregano into pickling jar, also add garlic into jar, stir. If desired: add olive oil.
  6. Add an extra cup of room temperature water, and an extra cup of vinegar, stir
  7. Drain soaking vegetables from water, begin to transfer vegetable mix one portion at a time into jar, stir to combine Optional: add whole chiles, and a few whole peppercorns at this time.
  8. Continue to fill jar. Once you have filled to container an inch to the brim, all solid ingredients should be submerged in liquid, if not add vinegar.
  9. Tightly close jar.
  10. Ferment overnight. In the morning it should be ready to serve. Refrigerate for storage.
Can be served with Tamales salvadoreños (made with oja de platano), pupusas, fried yucca, on top of rice and chicken, with quesadillas, etc.

pupusas

Dal Tadka (by Renee)

Introduction
As a tasty, nutritious, and cheap protein source, Dal (lentils) constitutes an integral part of the Indian diet. Growing up in a vegetarian household, Dal was a staple dinner food because of its high protein content and ability to pair well with a variety of other dishes. Now that I am in college, I do not eat Indian food as often, but whenever I am preparing an Indian meal, I am sure to include my favorite preparation of Dal—Dal Tadka (fried lentils)—which is soupy lentils tempered with spices. Eating Dal Tadka evokes memories of my childhood and bonding with my family at the dinner table.

Recipe (serves 4-6)

  • 1 cup toor dal
    •  Cooked toor dal has a nutty, earthy flavor with a soft texture.
  • 2 ½ cups water
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt
  •  ¼ teaspoon turmeric
    • Tumeric has a sharpy and earthy flavor, with hints of ginger.
  • 3 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
  • 1 cup tomatoes, chopped
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
    • Cumin seeds pack a nutty, peppery flavor. 
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
    • Mustard seeds impart a sweet, nutty flavor. 
  • ⅛ teaspoon asafetida
    • Asafetida, which comes from the powdered gum resin of large fennel-like plant, imparts a very strong onion-garlic flavor and is used in small quantities to Indian dishes. The taste is bitter and acrid but when fried lightly can inject wonderful aroma and flavor.
  • 2 whole dry red chili peppers
    • Dried red chili peppers give a longer, slower burn than fresh chili and also impart a sweet, raisin-like flavor. 
  • 2 bay leaves
    •  Bay leaves add a complex, tea-like aroma when stewed into dishes.
  • 2 teaspoons ginger, finely shredded
  • Ginger is aromatic, spicy and pungent.
  • ¼ teaspoon garam masala
    • Garam masala translates to “warm spice mix” and is composed of spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, mace, peppercorns, coriander and cumin. Every Indian household has a different recipe for the ratio of spices, or which spices are used. Garam masala can also be purchased pre-mixed from many grocery stores.
Instructions:
1.   Wash and soak toor dal in 3 cups of water, for at least one hour. After soaking, dal will double in volume. Drain the water.
-     My dad often does this step in the morning before leaving for work, so that way the dal was ready to be cooked when he got home.
2.   Put dal, 1 tsp. of salt, turmeric, and 2 ½ cups water into a pressure cooker. Cook on medium-high heat.
3.   When the pressure cooker begins to steam, turn the heat down to medium and cook for five more minutes.
4.   Turn off the heat, waiting for the steam to escape before opening the pressure cooker. Dal should have a soft texture. If a thinner consistency is desired, add more water.
5.   Heat the ghee in a saucepan. Once hot, add cumin, mustard, asafetida, and red chili. Once the seeds crack, add bay leaves and ginger. Stir for a few seconds.
-     My dad often tests if the pan is hot enough by adding one cumin seed; if it cracks, the pan is sufficiently heated.
6.   Add tomatoes and ½ teaspoon salt. Stir until the tomatoes become tender and mushy.
7.   Add garam masala. Cook for one minute.
-     At this point, the aroma of the spices has filled our home, leaving us hungry in anticipation of dinner.
8.   Pour the seasoning over dal. Mix while cooking for another minute.
9.   Dal fry is ready and can be served as a main dish with naan or roti (Indian flat bread) or plain rice.


    Pictures


    Mustard seeds

     Various seasonings

    Toor dal

    Leftovers!