Living, Food, Mexico
I wrote this cookbook for the 10-year anniversary of my restaurant Cafe Juanita. I am filled with so much gratitude to the amazing team that works alongside me as we enter our 17th year in business.
If you have been to the restaurant we would really appreciate if you took a moment to post a review: https://g.co/kgs/kteosNN
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Marinade:
10 garlic cloves roasted
2 tablespoons lard or vegetable oil
3 ounces of red (rojo) achiote paste
2 tablespoons Mexican oregano
3 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon whole cumin seed
1 tablespoon whole allspice berries
1 tablespoon juniper berries
1/2 cup orange juice,
1/3 cup lime juice
1/4 cup cider vinegar salt
For the Pork:
1 kilo pork shoulder or pork loin
2-4 banana leaves
2 Roma tomatoes
sliced 1 red or green bell pepper
1 white onion, sliced
12 bay leaves
Blend all marinade ingredients until it is a smooth sauce. Pour over pork. Mix well, cover and keep in the fridge for at least 6 hours and up to 24 hours.
Bake in oven 3 to 4 hours: Cooking this takes 3-4 hours, so plan ahead. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a large casserole with a double layer of heavy-duty foil, or a triple layer of regular foil – you want a good seal.
(Traditionally, cochinita pibil is wrapped in banana leaves, which add a wonderful flavor to the pibil. So, if banana leaves are available—you may be able to get them at the same store as the achiote paste, or at an Asian market—consider using them. Just heat the leaves first to make them more pliable.)
Pour in the pork and the marinade and close the foil tightly. Put the casserole in the oven and bake at 325°F for at least 3 hours. You want it pretty much falling apart, so start checking at the three-hour mark.
Remove bay leaves. Shred cooked pork meat with 2 forks: When the pork is tender, take it out of the oven and open the foil. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon to a bowl, then shred it with two forks. You don’t have to shred the pork, but I like it this way. Pour enough sauce over the meat to make it wet.
To serve, either use this as taco meat or over rice, garnished with cilantro, lime wedges and queso seco, a Mexican dry cheese a little like Greek feta. Pickled red onions are a traditional garnish, and if you like them, they’re good, too.
I love fresh homemade grapefruit soda. I got this awesome vintage juicer from my mum’s cupboard, she never used it anyway, and it is perfect for single servings. Squeeze your citrus of choice, add lots of ice and top with club soda.
*make it Paloma by adding a shot of tequila
*make it a Greyhound by adding a shot of gin or vodka
Latest editorial from my magazine The Eye, if you aren’t already following us be sure to check it out:
“Identity is never singular but is multiply constructed across intersecting and antagonistic discourses, practices and positions.”
Stuart Hall
Who are you? What is the first trait you think of to describe yourself?
Is it your gender?
Is it your nationality?
Your race?
Perhaps a description of the kind of person you view yourself to be?
Tensions feel high lately. Not only in the world we see through our phones and television, but in real life. The conflicts across the world remain a safe distance away, beyond our ability to affect change, other than voicing our outrage and hoping we fall on the right side of history.
There are tensions closer to home, things we can do something about. On the outer edges are the migrants, avoiding the immigration officials as they move towards the unknown. Inside our bubble we cling to our opinions about the situation- no, not just the situation- we cling to our opinions about the people- how we imagine them to be, where we imagine they have come from and where they are going.
On the inner edge we have tensions between the outsiders: the travelers, tourists, digital nomads, snowbirds, expats and gringos versus the locals, nationals, long-term residents, the “Mexico experts,” who are pushing back. Blame for everything that seems to be going wrong is thrown around like a tennis ball or maybe I should say like a pickelball.
Last year I was sitting at my favorite sushi haunt in Terminal 2 of CDMX when the man on the stool beside me attempted to engage me in conversation. I am not the kind of traveler who enjoys idle chitchat with strangers. He was undeterred and proceeded to tell me with a hint of pride that he had been living in Oaxaca City for the past eight years.
‘That’s nice,” I responded out of politeness.
“Where do you live?” he persisted.
“On the coast.”
“How long have you been there?”
“Twenty-six years,” I said turning back to enjoy my unagi.
“Oh. You win I guess,” he said.
“It’s not a contest,” I replied.
People are always having conversations like these, asserting their identity and experience to justify their entitlements and points of view. But who are you really? Take away the cloak of where you happened to be born, where you live, your job, your religion, your gender, the amount of stuff you have collected on your journey and the opinions you have formed, based on the information you have. When you strip those things away, what are you really entitled to, that someone else isn’t?
Aren’t we all just minnows in a school of fish moving through the water on the momentum of each other?
March is usually our Women’s Issue. However, in the spirit of shedding our identities, rather than clinging to them so fiercely, I am calling this the ‘Achievement Issue’. Our writers have profiled people whose accomplishments are inspiring.
See you next month,
Jane
I often remind people during the classes I teach that it doesn’t matter if your pose isn’t perfect- afterall it’s just yoga. We are doing it to help us relax- not cause additional stress because our downward dog has room for improvement. We all have anxiety and stress that slips into our everyday life. Take a few minutes and drop into one of these poses the next time you feel anxiety creeping in.
Here are 5 poses I like to revisit time and time again to ground me in what really matters when it comes to my practice:
Tree: The name says it all. Trees are grounded and connected to the earth below them and yet their trunks and branches sway freely- we could all benefit from emulating a tree. The secret to an awesome tree is to stretch your toes. I even like to draw a pencil between my toes before practice to energize and wake up my feet.
Stand tall. Focus on the grounding connection of your feet with the floor. Hold for three minutes while focusing on the breath. Don’t worry about swaying or the waves of balance that come and go… trees sway. Focus to reduce anxiety: “I am grounded.”
Half-moon: Come into a triangle. Allow the hand that is on the bottom to come to your knee without putting any weight on in. Lift up your back leg, flex your foot and open the hips. Extend your arm and open your heart. I wonderful modification to give you more stability is to use a wall for support. Focus to reduce anxiety: “I am open.“
Seated Forward Bend: Sit and extend your legs out in front of you. Flex the feet to keep the legs strong. Extend the arms overhead and inhale deeply. As you exhale bring your belly towards the thighs. Soften the head down to feel the stretch in your neck. Observe the difference between the right side and the left side of the body. Soften the shoulders and surrender to gravity. Focus to reduce anxiety: “I surrender and let go.“
Join me for my latest retreat and transform your life: http://www.yogahuatulcomexico.com
2. Healthy Food! An abundance of local fresh fruits and vegetables. Huatulco’s clean ocean also means fresh locally-caught fish!
3. Nature. Even just looking at the ocean or a light walk through the jungle will lower your blood pressure and stress levels. We will be surrounded by marina life, waterfalls, and birds.
4. Movement- Our retreat includes daily yoga and meditation adjusted to your level and needs. Reconnecting with your body is an amazing tool to heal your mind.
5. Cleansing- Our itinerary will lead you through a series of activities to bring flow into your life both physically and emotionally.
We Are Water Retreat: Unlock your inner strength and learn to flow
March 20th-25th, 2023
Huatulco, Mexico is the perfect backdrop to reconnect with yourself.
Join Jane Bauer and Kary Vannice for an oceanfront 5-night women’s retreat in paradise. This retreat includes daily yoga and meditation, gourmet healthy meals, excursions into nature for all fitness levels. Facilitated workshops and connection with other participants will help you come closer to your true purpose and allow you to embrace more joy.
You’ll return home feeling relaxed, restored and ready to move forward.
Jane Bauer has been teaching yoga since 2006. She is a restaurant owner and cooking school instructor.
Kary Vannice helps women with personal transformation, a positive mindset, and self-acceptance at Get Your Vibe Right.
Cost 1400 USD
(300 USD to reserve your spot)
Includes: 5 nights accommodation
All meals, excursions, and activities.
11 poblano chiles
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2 liters of milk, divided
2 tablespoons powdered chicken stock
1/2 white onion
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons white flour
Roast the chiles:
Gas stove or oven method.
Gas stove: place poblano chiles on the open flame and cook until charred.
Oven: Preheat oven to 425°F. Rub whole poblano chiles with one tablespoon of vegetable oil, and place on baking sheet. Roast 30 to 45 minutes, or until charred on all sides, turning with tongs.
Transfer to bowl, cover, and let steam 15 minutes. Rub off skins and remove seeds and stems.
Add the steamed chiles, 1 liter of milk and powdered chicken stock to blender. Puree until very smooth. Transfer to a large soup pot.
Make Roux:
Saute onion in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil on low for 7 minutes. Add butter and melt. Add flour and mix well with a whisk until blended with the onion.
Add roux to blender with 1 liter of milk. Blend.
Add roux/milk to blended poblano in the large soup pot.
Bring to boil and then lower temp and let simmer 15 minutes.
When using shrimp in a cooking class I always encourage students to buy shrimp with the heads, if they can. While cleaned and deveined shrimp are a convenience when you need to cook something quickly, there is something to be said for the meditative aspect of cleaning your shrimp, and ripping the heads off is a better release than squeezing a stress ball. In addition, the heads and peels are a flavorful base for seafood stock. Here is one of my favorite recipes using shrimp heads which showcases the versatility of a ‘waste not, want not’ attitude. Happy cooking and eating!
Shrimp Mousse
Ingredients:
10 shrimp heads rinsed in cold water
1 tomato
2 tbs. garlic oil
sprigs of dried thyme
1/2 dried guajillo chile- seeds removed
1 package cream cheese
Splash of white wine
Salt
Saute all ingredients on medium heat, except cream cheese, in a frying pan
for 10-15 minutes. Cool.
Puree shrimp head mixture with cream cheese in a food processor until
smooth.
Pass through a sieve to remove any pieces of shell.
Pour into a ramekin or teacup and place in the fridge for a couple of hours to set.
Serve with toast or crackers.
Christopher Columbus took 8 Iberian pigs with him on his 1493 voyage. After Hernan Cortes overthrew the Aztec empire in 1521 he traveled to Oaxaca and he brought pigs that were descended from the pigs Columbus brought to Cuba. Since then, the pig has been an important part of Mexican food culture. From tacos al pastor to cochinita pibil to lechon- there are many ways to cook a pig and it is almost always a feast for the senses.
While I love my pork slow-cooked, sometimes I just don’t have the time. So I have worked on finding a fast way to cook pork without losing the delicious flavor and pull away tenderness.
Here is my recipe for a fast cooked, yet tender pork.
Pork Belly Tacos
Provecho
Salsa Verde is perfect the perfect topping to almost any taco. The tangy tomatillos pair beautifully with pork, chicken and fish. This salsa recipe makes quite a bit but you can freeze half if you won’t use it all in the next week.
Salsa Verde:
2 garlic cloves
3 serrano chili peppers – check heat levels and use more or less depending on how hot you want to go
1 kilo (2.2 pounds) small green tomatillos, husks removed
3 cups water or chicken stock
1 cup cilantro
½ cup sour cream
Boil the garlic, chili peppers and tomatillos in the water or chicken stock until tomatillos darken in color but are still firm. Place garlic, chili peppers and tomatillos in a blender. Fill half way with water or chicken stock and blend. Add cilantro and blend. Let cool slightly and add sour cream and blend. Transfer to a pot and simmer on low until reaches desired thickness. Taste and add salt if needed.
For information on taking a cooking class with me, in-person in Huatulco, Mexico or online:
http://www.HuatulcoCookingClasses.com
chiles.chocolate@yahoo.com
Jane Bauer 