Month: November 2016

Food

Porcini Sea Salt

Jane Bauer

porcini-saltOur latest salt is made with wild porcinis from San Antonio Cuajimoloyas, a village 56 kilometers away from the Oaxaca city. Located 3200 meters above sea level, the high-altitude is the ideal climate for mushroom foraging in the rainy season.  I had the privilege of attending the annual Mushroom Festival in Cuajimoloyas last July and in addition to porcinis we collected over 200 different types of fungi during our 6-hour hike.

The name porcini means “piglets” in Italian. They’re also known as the king bolete, cèpe (in French), Steinpilz (the “stone mushroom” in German), and a host of other fun names from all over the world. The Latin name is Boletus edulis.

Porcini mushrooms are a famous and delicious addition to any dish. Forage the ultimate umami flavor with our Wild Porcini Sea Salt. Hearty porcini mushrooms are mixed with natural sea salt to produce a mouthwatering, savory blend that shines in any cuisine. Like so many other good edible mushrooms, porcini are mycorrhizal. This means that the underground vegetative growth of the mushroom, called the mycelia, enters into a symbiotic relationship with the roots of plants. Why would you care as a chef? It means that because of this complex relationship that occurs in nature, porcinis aren’t easily cultivated and are seasonal.

Sprinkle Wild Porcini Sea Salt on beef, veal, pork, poultry, fish, rice, potatoes, pasta, polenta, popcorn, soup, cream sauces, tomatoes, dipping oil, rubs.

Other sea salts in our line are Rosemary Sea Salt and Hibiscus Sea Salt. They are available at our restaurant Café Juanita in Marina Chahue, Huatulco and at our cooking school, Chiles&Chocolate. http://www.huatulcocookingclasses.com

 

Living

Election Thoughts

Jane Bauer

libertycrying1

It’s an awkward situation. You can hear your neighbor next door raising his voice, punching a wall, talking shit. Should you say anything? Is it any of your business? It’s so ugly. The voices get louder, he’s calling her all sorts of names, the kids are crying and then a fatal punch… boom.

It’s late. I should be in bed as I have to get up early, but I am drawn to the election results like a bad accident and as the numbers go up in favor of Donald Trump I feel sick. I am not American- is it even my problem? Am I entitled to feel the complete disgust that is washing over me?

I loved the posts earlier in the day of women flocking to Susan B Anthony’s grave because it highlighted the importance of gender in this election- wait… that is still too narrow, as ‘election’ implies that for just this moment, as though it is important- because maybe something just happened. But that’s not it… Gender is ALWAYS the issue. Yet, it is the issue that gets brushed aside like some Mad Men ad exec asking a woman to bring him coffee with a hearty guffaw and then calling her uppity if she dares to protest.

The election season in the US has been a shit-show, a live-Jerry-Springer for those of us on the outside, but during the whole thing I have been amazed at how gender has taken a backseat to ‘black-lives-matter’ and the economy (women still earning 77 cents on the dollar with men in the US) with a gentle pat on the back and condescending ‘we’ll get to you later dear… calm down.’

In many places throughout the world, women are denied access to education, married as children or forced into human trafficking. Gender issues transcend race by being inclusive of the majority of the population and yet in this past election were sidebars. Anti-women propaganda and behavior was labeled ‘inappropriate’ rather than criminal and women’s issues were barely discussed with any real seriousness.

With the results of the US election, I feel a great sadness for the women that came before me. For the first time, it feels like their strides have been too short. I feel sadness for myself and my daughter, for the women in my Mexican village who are not allowed to attend town meetings, for the single mothers of the world, for women earning half of what men earn, for the women who believe their sexuality is their greatest asset, for the women wishing they had a voice in their own homes, for the women who need to work against ‘feeling’ like a victim in a society that victimizes them every day with a worldwide political system that belittles their power.

I am so tired of Donald Trump and the culture of slicing and dicing up our self-esteem and measuring our worth. I am sick of the American media machine that had a female candidate defending being ‘nasty’. Enough! There are more important issues and they involve humanity. They involve slowing down the ‘hate and winning machine’ and working on ‘empowering, cooperation and finding solutions.’

What do you say to your neighbor when you see her the next day with a black eye and a swollen lip? I don’t know.