Ingredients 1.5 tbsp light cooking oil 1/3 onion finely chopped 1/2 tbsp finely chopped ginger 1/2 tbsp finely chopped garlic 1/4 tsp turmeric powder 1/4 tsp red chilli powder 1/2 tbsp coriander powder 1/2 tsp amchoor powder 1 tbsp tomato paste 1/3 head of cauliflower cut into small florets water as needed salt to taste finely chopped fresh cilantro and yogurt for garnish
Heat oil in a large non-stick pan on medium high heat, add in onions, ginger and garlic and fry for a few minutes till onions soften and lightly brown.
Stir in the spices and tomato paste and mix well. Now add in the cauliflower florets and mix to coat well with the spice mixture. Cover the par and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally till the cauliflower is cooked through.
If you feel the spice blend is too dry and starts to stick to the pan, add a splash of water and mix well. Season with salt and give it a final stir.
Garnish with fresh cilantro and yogurt, serve warm.
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
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
When I head off on a big holiday I usually have a tentative idea of how things will pan out and where I will end up.
However, a lot can be said for being open to letting unexpected delights and opportunities derail my original vision.
The seed for this current vacation was the spontaneous purchase of concert tickets to see the Dave Matthews Band in Lisbon. I bought the tickets on a whim six months before the trip when a friend sent me the DMB concert link so I could see about shows in Mexico, where I live.
I arrived in Lisbon with just the first five days of accommodations and the concert booked. After my first social media post a friend reached out who would be in Spain later in the month and would I like to join them touring Andalucía? Um… yes, done.
A few days later another amazing friend wrote to tell me she was eating and beaching around Sardinia alone and would I like to meet up. I booked a last minute flight and before you know it we were pigging out on culurgiones after a day in the cold turquoise waters.
I am still on this trip. Heading back towards Lisbon and then to Oslo to drive north and see some fjords.
One of my favorite things to say is ‘over preparation is procrastination’. I apply this when rolling out a new business idea and now also when traveling. So randomly buy a concert ticket or a flight and just keep saying yes.
Interested in following my adventures, check out my Instagram @livingfoodmexico
If you have not ventured to the highway around Huatulco lately you may not have noticed the growing number of migrants on their walk towards a better life. Many months ago on the south side of Copalita an immigration kiosk was erected and manned by immigration and army personnel. They pulled over buses and vans and had a tented area where I occasionally saw people who had been pulled off the buses and vans, for not having the proper documentation, waiting. When I happened to be standing next to a man in an immigration uniform at the bank, I asked him what they did with the people and he told me they sent them back to their country or at least to the border of Mexico.
In the last couple of weeks the number of migrants has steadily grown and in the past couple of days I have seen at least a few hundred people walking on my fifteen-minute drive home. A path just before the immigration kiosk has been forged so that they can avoid it altogether.
Yesterday I stopped and asked a group where they were from just before they got on the avoid-immigration kiosk path through the bushes.
“Haiti” one man responded.
“où allez vous?” I asked
“Les Etats-Unis” he said.
This morning while driving back in to work, moving in the same direction as the walkers, I stopped for two women. They climbed right in my car with a small baby and a few meters later we picked up a young man. I asked if they were from Haiti and they said they were from Guinea.
The immigration kiosk was just up ahead but we weren’t stopped, to be fair the two soldiers standing in front of it looked resigned to their inability to do anything.
We stopped just off the highway in Copalita and had breakfast. Guinea is 9345 km from Huatulco. Over breakfast we exchanged names and phone numbers.
Mari Assi, a robust young woman with a burn scar covering one hand and forearm was wearing sandals and carrying her 19 month-old daughter Fati. Her traveling companion was Aminata who had left her 13-year old daughter back in Guinea and the young man was Osmane. While French is the primary language in Guinea, due to its colonization by the French, their speech was also peppered with words of a language I didn’t know. They flew from Guinea to Nicaragua and had been walking/taking buses/ hitchhiking for 12 days. Their final destination goal: New York.
If you watch the news it will tell you about the atrocities happening in other parts of the world- military coups, crime, instability, places where women being raped is a regular occurrence. I don’t need look at the news to understand the why of what brought Mari Assi, Aminata, Fati and Osmane to be on the same road as me. I only need to look at their inadequate footwear, their clothes that have leaves sticking to them from sleeping in the bushes, to know they deserve more… more help… more humanity… and more compassion.
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.“
Heat! Huatulco has sun 300 days a year. This means you will get your dose of Vitamin D which helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body. These nutrients are needed to keep bones, teeth, and muscles healthy. The warm climate will also help relieve arthritis!
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.
It’s our annual food issue! This month our writers explore lesser known ingredients and share their experiences of new food in new places. If you know me in person you know how important food is to me. I embrace the ethos that the best way to learn about a culture is through it’s food. So when I want to learn about people I ask ‘what are you eating?’
I just got back from a foodcation where I baked croissants in Paris and drank Pouilly Fume in the Loire Valley with a vintner whose family has been making wine for generations. I eased into long afternoon lunches of foie gras, leeks and red wine. Instead of post-meal siestas I took my cues from Paris’ best flaneurs and sat by the fountain in the Tuileries Garden people watching and enjoying the spectacle that is Paris.
Next I went to Delhi, India, where the chaos could not have been more different from the refined precision of Paris. I made butter chicken with chef Neha Gupta (www.saffronpalate.com) and while we made rotis we discussed what it is like to be women in business. This was especially interesting as very few women work in restaurants or hotels in India and the chance to interact with women was limited. Later in my journey, in Rishikesh, I was invited to join a home cook, Rashmi, while she prepared a feast of lentils and rice that was mouth-watering. It was an honor to be invited into her home and to participate in her everyday life.
There are many similarities between Indian and Mexican attitudes towards food as well a crossover of ingredients. Both cultures have a welcoming spirit and there is always enough to feed unexpected guests- the more the merrier. Ingredients seem to expand as you cook them and a small bag of groceries miraculously makes enough to feed a crowd.
While you may not be able to coordinate your own foodcation to Paris and India, you can have one right at home. Get together with friends, cook, explore new cuisines and new ingredients- invite the neighbors you never speak to over for paella or curry or tacos. Expand your palate and you will expand your circle of friends and knowledge of other cultures.
Jane Bauer 