Diet Brilliance

Mexican Cooking Methods 101

March 10th, 2010

While you may be familiar with many methods of cooking used in Mexico, there are a few that you may want to learn about. Sure, you have grilled, fried, and boiled food before. But have you ever used a steaming bucket? What about a molcajete?

Steaming is often used in Mexican cooking. A dish known as barbacoa is steamed. The meat is wrapped in a banana or cactus leaf before being suspended over a boiling pot in a deep pit to steam. Steaming buckets were used to steam tamales. This popular Mexican dish is made of a filling surrounded by masa, which is wrapped in corn husks. Special kettles are now made to make tamales that can cook many at the same time. Sweating is a technique used to skin fresh chilies. Onions and chilies are often soaked to help remove some of their heat. When soaked in milk or a combination of water and vinegar, the chilies become milder in flavor. They need to soak from 30 to 60 minutes.

You are still thinking about the molcajete, are not you? A molcajete is a mortar and pestle. This is a small tool used to grind herbs, spices, and grains. When a lot of corn needed to be ground up, Mexican families would use a metate y mano. This was a large stone with a smooth, slightly concave face. Today, many families buy masa already ground up, but some families still do this task in the traditional way.

Simmering and boiling are techniques often used in Mexican cuisine. Meat is simmered all day long until it is so tender it falls apart. The meat is then used in tacos, carnitas, and many other recipes. Without the long cooking time in water, the meat would not have the texture it needs to be authentic.

Grilling is a popular method of cooking in Mexico. The open flame adds so much flavor to the dish. Many meats are marinated in spices and peppers and then grilled so they can be used in various recipes. Grilling and roasting increases the flavor of tomatoes, garlic, onions, chilies and tomatillos. The flame kisses the ingredients, caramelizing the sugars and creating delicious flavors.

Stewing is a traditional method of cooking that has been used in Mexico since time immemorial. The long cooking times needed for proper stewing were common. At times, the vegetables and meats were cooked separately and then combined for further simmering before serving. Today, this is often done in a Dutch oven. In days gone by, this was done in a clay cazuela.

There are so many easy Mexican recipes that you can use to experiment with these methods of cooking in your own kitchen. Practice makes perfect, as they say! Do not be afraid to make mistakes now and then. Research a bit about the different cooking methods and adapt them to your family’s needs. Learning new cooking techniques can not only make you a better cook, it can be lots of fun to try out the new recipes!

As you can see, there is so much to learn about Mexican foods. Their cooking methods of developing the delicious flavors in the food make this a never ending topic of interest for many.

Typical Mexican food means different things to different people because each region in Mexico has its own favorites. Some Mexicans love beef, some are fish fanatics and others eat a lot of vegetables. The one thing we all know about Mexican food is that it is always tasty and never disappointing!