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The flamboyant Peta Mathias hits the gastronomic road again when "Taste Takes Off," -a revamped overseas version of Taste New Zealand. New Zealand's footloose TV foodie explores the flavours, the style and the sights of 10 destinations around the Pacific. Peta's lived the food traditions of the world and each 'Taste Takes Off travels to a country seeking out the people and stories behind the flavours.

It might be only an hour's flight from Mexico City but the stunning old city of Oaxaca is a world away. Oaxaca is the gastronomic capital of Mexico. Chiles, squashes, corn and cacao beans for chocolate were grown here by the indigenous Indian races thousands of years ago. What's remarkable about Mexican cuisine is there a continuous link with the past. All these key elements remain in the modern Mexican diet.

Stories
Corn and Tortillas
Mezcal. A spirit that is distilled from the Agave plant.
Oaxacan Cheese, -string cheese - it's looks a bit like a big ball of string - you peel off the string and eat it.
Susannah Trilling, chef and food writer visit the Abastos Market, Mexico's best market
Moles, ancient Mexican sauces
The origins and history of chocolate

Guellaguetza
Its festival time in Mexico and 'Taste Takes Off  to south of Mexico City -to Oaxaca State and the Guellaguetza, the breathtaking summer celebration. The Guelageutza takes place on the first two Mondays after July 16th each year. Guelaguetza comes from the Zapotec word meaning offering and Guelaguetza was the term used to describe the ceremony and celebration held each year to propitiate the gods (especially the corn goddess) in return for sufficient rain and a bountiful harvest.

Five thousand years ago the inhabitants of this area were cultivating corn to supplement their hunter gathered diet. By the time the Spanish arrived just 500 years ago the native Mexican cuisine had become a richly varied gastronomy. The Spanish introduced beef, pork and dairy produce and those primary products bit by bit integrated into the native cuisine.

Corn
The productive valleys of Oaxaca state support many food traditions and produce. What's wonderful about Mexican cuisine is there's a direct link with the past. In the Zapotec Indian village of St Thomas Jalietza, we meet the Navarros family who make tortillas the traditional way simply with freshly ground corn with nothing added. The tortillas are then filled with squash flowers, herbs and quesillo de hebra, or string cheese.

Another highly prized local product is the very strong liquor, Mescal which is the local variation of tequila, made from the maguey plant. It's made by cooking the plant in a covered pit, then crushing and fermenting the juice, and then distilling.

Susana Trilling
Seasons of My Heart Cooking School
Rancho Aurora, AP#42 Admon.3
Oaxaca, 68101, Mexico
Tel: 0052 (951) 518 7726
E-mail: seasons@spersaoaxaca.com.mx

Susanna Trilling is an American Chef, TV presenter and food writer who owns and teaches at the famous 'Seasons of My Heart' cooking school at Rancho Aurora outside of Oaxaca in the Etla Valley (about 30 minutes north Of Oaxaca). 

She takes Peta on a tour around the Abastos market in Oaxaca, one of Mexico's best markets. There's chapulines (fried grasshoppers with lime and chile) and Nopales (cactus leaves with their spikes removed) which are boiled and eaten like any other vegetable. When it comes to chillies, Oaxaca is a culinary gem. There are over 300 varieties grown in Mexico and 60 are native to Oaxaca. The more you learn about the flavours of chillies, the more there is to learn. It's a bit like wine, there's hints of dried plum, sour cherry, bitter orange, sweet figs, -even tangy liquorice.

At the Season's of My Heart Cooking school Susannah shows Peta how to prepare one of Mexico's most famous dishes, the Mole Negro, or black Oaxacan mole. A mole is essentially a sauce to be served with turkey or chicken, but it is also one of the national dishes that define Mexican cuisine.  Mole is served on all festive occasions and each region and even each family has its own variations - from the very simple to a very complex combination of ingredients.

Mole Negro Oaxaqueno-Oaxacan Black Mole
Each year each family in Oaxaca gets together before the Dia e Muertos to make the most celebrated dish of all-Mole Negro Oaxaqueno.  A dish of mole is placed on the family altar top entice the departed loved ones to come back and join in the celebration.  Days before the actual event women's hands are busy cleaning chiles, cracking nuts, peeling cacao beans and gathering herbs to make up the ingredients used in this fascinating concoction. Once the components are assembled, the fires are lit and each ingredient is either toasted, roasted or fried to coax out the most essential flavours of each.  For big fiestas you need enough mole to serve the whole village so the process can take days.  Often there are three generations of women working on the same mole together, each one knowing her part in the long complicated process.

The Mole Negro is one the most complex dishes in traditional Mexican cuisine, and certainly the most complex dish ever presented on New Zealand television. We don't expect anyone to give the recipe a go, but here's an outline of the recipe.

Caldo De Pollo  Chicken Stock
Makes 8 Cups (double recipe for Mole)

PLEASE NOTE
Onscreen recipe was made with a vegetable stock not chicken

3 1/2 pounds chicken parts (including necks, backs and feet) or 1 whole chicken.
1 large white onion, studded with 1 whole clove
2 celery ribs with leaves or 1 celery heart with leaves
1/2 large or 1 small head garlic
2 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
1 bay leaf
1 whole dry chile de arbol or chile japones
3 black pepper corns
1 fresh sprig thyme or a pinch of dried thyme
1 whole allspice
Salt to taste, approximately 1 Tbsp
In a heavy 6 quart stockpot, place the chicken backs, neck and feet in enough cold water to cover about 3 quarts.  Add the onion, celery, garlic carrots, bay leaf, chile de arbol, pepper corns, thyme and allspice and bring to a boil.

Cook covered, over medium heat at least 15 minutes. Add the rest of the chicken parts of the whole chicken; continue to simmer, covered over low hear for 1/2 an hour or until juices run clear when dark meat is pierced with as fork.  Add salt.  Remove the chicken pieces and strain the stock.  Discard the seasonings.  Cool the stock and then skim the fat off the top.

Hint:  You can treat yourself to the carrots that were poached with the chickens. They are quite good!
This stock freezes well and keeps up to six weeks in the freezer.

Mole Negro Oaxaqueno-Oaxacan Black Mole
Serves 12

Ingredients
2 chickens (3-3 1/2 pounds each) cut into 12 pieces (skin removed, backs and neck used for stock)
5 chiles chilhuacles negros (1 1/2 oz)
5 chiles guajillos stemmed, (1 oz)
4 chiles pasillas Mexicanos (1 oz)
4 chiles anchos negros (2 oz)
3 chiles chipotles mecos (1/4 oz)
1 medium white onion cut into quarters
1/2 small head of garlic with cloves separated.
2 heaping Tbsp of whole almonds
2 Tbsp shelled and skinned raw peanuts
1 piece Mexican cinnamon, 1 inch long
3 black pepper corns
3 whole cloves
Sunflower or vegetable oil
1 1/2 Tbsp raisins
1 slice of bread (pan de yema, Pan de Muertos) or challah or other egg bread.
1 small ripe plantain or banana, cut into 1/2 inch slices, (about 1 cup)
1/2 C sesame seeds
2 pecan halves
1/2 pound tomatoes cut into chunks
1/3 pound fresh tomatillos cut into chunks
1 sprig fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried
1 sprig fresh Oaxacan oregano, or 1/2 tsp dried
1 1/2 bars Mexican chocolate (4 1/2 oz)
1 avocado leaf, fresh or dried (hoja de aguacate)
Salt to taste.

Make sure all chiles are stemmed, seeded and deveined and save the seeds.
Heat 2 quarts of water in a kettle.  On a 10 inch dry comal (use a griddle or  cast iron frying pan), toast the chiles over medium heat until they are blackened but not burnt (about 10 minutes)  Place chiles in a large bowl, cover with the hot water and soak for 1/2 an hour. Then remove chiles from the soaking water with tongs, placing small batches in a blender with 1/2 C of the chile soaking water to blend smooth.  Put the chile puree through a strainer to remove the skins.
In the same dry comal grill the onion and garlic over medium heat for 10 minutes.  Set aside.   Toast the almonds, peanuts, cinnamon stick, peppercorns and cloves in a dry comal for about 5 minutes.  Remove them from the pan.
Over the same heat, toast the chile seeds taking care to blacken but not burn them for about 20 minutes.  Try to do this outside or in a well ventilated place because the seeds will give off very strong fumes.  When the seeds are completely black, light them with a match and let them burn themselves out.  Remove from the heat and place in a bowl.  Then soak in 1 cup of cold water for 10 minutes.  Drain the seeds and grind them in a blender for 2 minutes.  Add the blended chile seeds to the blended chile mixture.

Heat 3 Tbsp of oil in an 8 inch cast iron frying pan over medium heat until smoking.
Add raisins and fry until they are plump, approximately 1 minute.  Remove from pan.  Fry bread slice in same oil until browned (3 mins).  Remove from pan.  Fry plaintain in the same oil until it is well browned (10 mins). Set aside.  Fry the sesame seeds, stirring constantly over low heat, adding more oil if needed.  When the sesame seeds start to brown (5 mins) add the pecans and brown 2 minutes more.  Remove all from the pan, let cool and grind finely in a spice grinder.  It takes a bit of time but this is the only way to grind the seeds and nuts finely enough.

Wipe out the frying pan and fry the tomatoes, tomatillos, thyme and oregano over medium to high heat, allowing juices to almost evaporate (15 mins)  Blend well using 1/2 C of reserved stock if needed to blend and set aside.  Place the nuts, bread, plantains, raisings, onion, garlic and spices in the blender in small batches and blend well, adding about 1 C of stock to make it smooth.

In a heavy 4 quart stockpot, heat 2 Tbsp of oil (or lard) until smoking and  fry the chile paste over medium to low heat, stirring constantly so it will not burn (20 mins) When it is 'dry' add the tomato puree and fry until the liquid has evaporated (10 mins)   Add the ground ingredients, including the sesame seed paste to the pot.  Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until well incorporated, about 10 minutes.  Add 1 C chicken stock to the mole, stir well and allow to cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Break up the chocolate and add to the pot stirring until it is melted and incorporated into the mixture

Toast the avocado leaf briefly over the flame if you have a gas range or in a dry frying pan and then add it to the pot. Slowly add more stock to the mole, it will keep thickening as it cooks.  Add enough salt to bring out the flavour.  Let simmer another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally so it does not stick, adding stock as needed.  The mole should not be thick, just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Place the cooked chicken pieces in the leftover stock in a saucepan and heat through.

To serve place a piece of chicken in a shallow bowl and ladle 3/4 of a cup of mole sauce over to cover it completely.  Serve immediately with lots of hot corn tortillas.

Hint: Be sure to put the blended chiles through a sieve or food mill or you will have pieces of chile skin in your mole which needs to be silky smooth.

If you use oil instead of lard the flavour will change dramatically.  In or pueblo people traditionally use turkey instead of chick and sometimes add piece of pork and beef to enhance the flavour.  You can use any leftover mole and chicken meat to make Enmoladas or Tamales Oaxaquenos made with banana leaves.

Inspired by Maria Taboada and Paula Martinez

Recipes taken from
"Seasons of My Heart, A Culinary Journey Through Oaxaca, Mexico" Susannah Trilling, Ballantine Books, November 1999 ISBN 0-345-42596-0

Susanna Trilling biography
Susanna has taught at many cooking schools throughout the United States and has styled food for film and television.  Her businesses have included the New York restaurants Bon Temps Rouler, Rick's Lounge and her catering enterprise and cooking school Seasons of My Heart.

She has published My Search for the Seventh Mole, A Story With Recipes from Oaxaca Mexico and her second book Seasons Of My Heart A Culinary Journey Through Oaxaca Mexico was published in 1999.  This focused on the seven regions of Oaxaca and accompanied her series of the same name which screened on PBS in the U.S.

Susana moved to Oaxaca in 1988 where she lives with her family and teaches Oaxacan cooking.  Her classes, culinary tours and lectures focus on pre-Hispanic foods, traditional culinary, medicinal and spiritual herb usage - and the Spanish influence on the contemporary Oaxaqueno kitchen.  The participation-based classes are combined with market tours, demonstrations in local homes and cottage industries to immerse the students in the Mexican culture.

E-mail: seasons@spersaoaxaca.com.mx

Chocolate
Mayodomo Chocolate Factory
Location: Corner 20 de Noviembre and Calle Mina, Oaxaca

Around three thousand years ago the Olmecs were the first to discover the process of extracting chocolate from cacao beans. For thousands of years it was always taken as a drink and was regarded as the drink of the gods, reserved for wealthy lords in religious and marriage ceremonies.  These days a bowl of steaming frothy chocolate served with a bun of sweet light bread is the breakfast of choice for everyone and nobody loves their chocolate more than Oaxacans.

Chocolate is made in shops and factories in the area around the 20 of November Market. In this part of town you can smell nothing but chocolate.  In the shops you can see the beans roasted and ground and can order your own chocolate recipe.

Taste visits Mayodomo, one of many factory shops in Oaxaca. Here you can order your own chocolate recipe, usually a mix of cacao beans, cinnamon, sugar and almonds. Your order is then ground while you wait. 

Chocolate is also still made in the home - where people using old family recipes still go to their local village mill to grind their own cacao, cinnamon and almonds.

Peta cooks recipe

BUDIN DE CHOCOLATE OAXAQUEÑO, OAXACAN CHOCOLATE PUDDING
Makes 12 X 8cm ramekins

For the pudding:
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup mezcal
3 cups of a whole white bread cut into one inch cubes
1 pound Oaxacan chocolate (use Valrhona 70%), broken into pieces
1 cup strong coffee
3 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sour cream
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla
1 teaspoon ground Mexican cinnamon

For the tuna sauce:
1 cup red tuna puree (other fruit such as mango, raspberry or strawberry can be substituted)
1 cup mandarin orange juice
2 tablespoon sugar
1-2 tablespoon Cointreau

For the topping and assembly:
1 cup cream or crème fraîche
1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla
55g of Mexican chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 200?C. Put the raisins in a small mixing bowl and add the mescal. Leave the raisins to soak for 1 hour.
2. Spread the bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake them in the oven until lightly toasted, 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside. Turn off the oven.
3. Put the chocolate in a double boiler over medium heat. When the chocolate becomes pasty, add the coffee to the chocolate. Reduce the heat to simmer and continue to cook until the chocolate is melted.
4. Put the eggs, cream, sour cream, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a medium size bowl and stir with a whisk until blended. Stirring the egg mixture continuously, pour in the melted chocolate and continue stirring until thoroughly blended.
5. Add the raisins, mescal and toasted bread cubes to the bowl and stir well. Set aside at room temperature until the bread completely soaks up the mixture, about 2 hours.(This can be made a day a head)
6. Preheat the oven to 175?C.
Bring a kettle of water to a boil.
Divide the pudding mixture into the buttered ramekins. Put them in a baking pan large enough to hold them all without touching. Slide out the oven shelf, put the pan on the shelf, pour in the boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until the puddings are fully set but still moist, about 60 minutes. Place the ramekins on a cool rack.
After 15 minutes remove budín from the ramekins.

For the Tuna Sauce:
In a sauce pan, over medium heat, reduce the mandarin orange juice and sugar to half a cup of liquid. Set aside to cool. When cool add the puree and the Cointreau.

For the topping and assembly:
Whip the cream and vanilla.

Spoon the tuna sauce on a plate, place the budín in the middle of the sauce and add the whipping cream on top. Dust with finely grated Mexican chocolate. Garnish the plate with flowers. Serve immediately.

NOTE: The salsa de tuna will last two days in the refrigerator

Additional Information

Travel specialists Adventure World assisted the 'Taste' team with their Mexico arrangements. Adventure World is a niche travel company with an in depth knowledge of less traditional tourist destinations. For more information about their products and tours contact Adventure World at

Adventure World Travel
Tel: 64 9 524 5118
0800 ADVENTURE (0800 238 3688)
PO Box 74008 Market Road Auckland
discover@adventureworld.co.nz
www.adventureworld.co.nz

 

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