Discovering the fruits and vegetables from our homelands

Jicama, passion fruit, soursop, cassava and papaya – these are just a small representation of the vast world of fruits and vegetables that are favorites within Hispanic cuisine. “When I was child, my treat was jicama with salt, lemon and a lot of chile,” said Carmen Salas, a native of Merida, Mexico , who is in charge of the fruit and vegetable section of a market in East Tulsa, Oklahoma. “It is the Mexican turnip and it can be eaten raw, roasted or fried.”

Salas describes the taste as sweet. “If you want to lose weight, the best thing is jicama juice.”

Alexandra Cepeda, who is Colombian, says passion fruit is the “queen of fruits.” The taste “is between acid and sweet,” she said while shopping in South Tulsa in a market carrying Latin American products. “There is nothing better for desserts than a touch of passion fruit. “

Although the fruit is of South American origin, Cepeda said the best ones are found in the Asian markets. “They have the best selection. They have them in several colors, but I only eat the yellow ones.”

While the exterior of the soursop does not make it look appetizing, that thorn-like covering  hides sweet flesh inside. “In my town they call it zapote de viejas,” said Cesar Perez, a native of the state of Michoacán , Mexico , who was in a market in East Tulsa . “The tree has a very bad smell, but the fruit is very tasty.”

Cassava, which is loaded with carbohydrates, gives rise to the popular tapioca and other types of flour. Manuel González, a native of Zacatecas, Mexico , says the best way to eat it is “fried and with grilled meat.” González, who was choosing some vegetables in an East-side market, said: “I had never eaten it until a Dominican friend invited me to a barbecue. But I don’t like it boiled; it has to be fried.”

Papaya comes from Central America . “It is sweet, but I like when it is green,” said José Duarte, who is from the Mexican state of Guerrero and who said he wraps papaya in newspaper to let  them ripen. “My mother made a candy, and she also used the seeds, which were like pepper.”

A chef chimes in

Kimo Orozco, the head chef of a downtown hotel in Tulsa and who is originally from the Philippines, said fruits and vegetables from the Hispanic kitchen “have the ability to change an entire dish, as if by magic,” He said many people think that the mango, pineapple or banana “are the only Hispanic fruits, and that tomatillo is the only vegetable that Hispanics eat. They are wrong. We can spend all day talking about the great variety that exists in Latin America .”

Arepas, pupusas and gorditas: same food, different nationality

Are arepas, pupusas and gorditas the same thing? It could be a fair question. The answer: Yes and no. Both are valid responses because while all three share a key ingredient – corn – the appearance and taste of each is very different.

Arepa: the bread of Venezuelans

Such is the meaning of the arepa, a kind of round bread made of corn, that Venezuela’s national library each year organizes an exhibition dedicated to the queen of food accompaniment in this Caribbean nation.

To talk about the arepa is to talk about Venezuela, since it is part of the culture and the daily meal. It is considered the most authentic Venezuelan culinary expression.

For Venezuelans, the arepa is a national symbol as it can be found in any city.

Its preparation hails back to indigenous ancestors who planted, harvested and processed corn.

It is made with dough fashioned from corn that is cooked and ground. The natives ground the corn between two flat and smooth stones and then they shaped small balls that were cooked on a budare or comal, a round, flat sheet made of clay. Now steel griddles are used to cook the arepas, although one can still find the clay versions.

The arepa can be found in the most honorable table, as well as in the most humble, on any corner of the city or in the smallest town, in homes or in restaurants, or in the plentiful areperas found in Venezuelan cities.

For some it is the best breakfast, and an excellent complement to the first course at lunch and dinner.

It has different characteristics in different regions, but in essence it is the same and unique arepa. The thinnest ones are called “telitas” and are typical of the Andean region. Thicker and rounder ones are made in the central region. Large ones, either fried or baked, are usually found in the East. Arepas are prepared with chicharrón (fried pork skin); sweet arepitas have a slight aniseed flavor; and arepas “peladas” (scraped), made with ash, are found mainly in the west of the country.

They are usually eaten filled with cheese and butter, shredded or roasted meat, with ham, or with just about anything you can think of – or find.

A freshly cooked arepa, filled with a salty cheese, is heavenly for the palate of the diner. Served with buttermilk and shredded meat, one gets a wonderfully typical breakfast.

Pupusas: symbol of El Salvador

The gastronomic importance of pupusas, which are thick corn tortillas stuffed with many ingredients, is so serious that since April 1, 2005, by official decree of the government of El Salvador, pupusas are the national dish, and for this reason the second Sunday of November was declared as the National Day of the Pupusas.

The ingredients for the filling usually include queso fresco, chicharrón and beans.

Pupusas have become ambassadors for the smallest country in Central America, due to the special aspect of the food, which allows diners to enjoy fully every bite of its savory filling. This is because the pupusa has two layers, with the filling in the middle. It could be described as a pre-Columbian sandwich.

Depending on one’s cooking skills, the famous pupusas can be made in two ways. It is suggested that beginners take a spoonful of dough and flatten it with any flat object into a circular shape. Next, cover the dough with the filling but don’t cover the edges. Finally, cover with another flattened piece of dough, and seal the edges carefully.

Those with more experience can make a ball with two tablespoons of batter. Use fingers to make a hole in the center of the ball, which is where one puts the filling. Seal the hole and the ball is shaped in the palms of the hands, making sure that the pupusa has a circular shape.

With both methods, special care should be taken to make sure the shape is circular, that the filling is well distributed, that the layer of dough is not too thick, and that there are no holes through which the filling can leak out.

Similar to the Venezuelan arepas, the pupusas are cooked on a griddle or comal.

Gorditas: Queen of the fried tortilla

The versatile Mexican cuisine reinvented tortillas and turned that food into a gordita, making it more irresistible, perhaps because it is dipped into boiling oil. Besides, how can one resist those hand-made tortillas, fried, and stuffed with chicharrón or queso fresco?

There are different versions of the gordita; some are baked and not fried. Also, there are those who fill them after they are fried, opening them in half and filling them with cheese or meat. Also, in some regions of Mexico, such as Durango, wheat flour is used instead of corn flour.

The gorditas (“little plump ones”) are so named because to make them one needs to fashion a plump dollop of dough.

Hispanic cuisine shares common roots and relies on corn as a multicultural bridge. So the next time you enjoy a gordita, you may actually be eating an arepa or a pupusa. That’s because in the Latin American kitchen, nationalities get mixed together.

Los Espantos: Hispanic frightful creatures … and El Coco, the Hispanic bogeyman

There are many stories about scary monsters. Some are sinister that they scare even the bravest.

In every corner of a neighborhood, or a fishing harbor, or in a pasture and even in the alleys of our crowded  cities, there is always a story of such frightful creatures. Of course, they are full of the mystery of the legends and illuminated by popular myths and traditions.

La Llorona, La Sayona, La Mano Peluda, Cipitío and La Calaca, are part of the idiosyncrasies of Hispanics.

In his book about myths, legends and popular beliefs in Boyacá, Colombia, Javier Ocampo López says that the myths of Latin American phantoms have been passed on by tradition and appear in our present as survivors of the past. The author states that they “govern the lives of people and the countryside.”

He writes that every extraordinary thing in nature is seen as having a core or spiritual essence, which plays an active role in the existence of that which surrounds and includes people. He says “they can present themselves as enemies to be feared.”

In 2005 a research report was published by the National University of Central Perú with a title referring of the “nest” beings that scare. The study, directed by professor Daniel Mathews, concluded that like all things important to man, fear is born with humans, but it also created, formed.

Every culture has ghoulish beings whose sole function in life is to remain resignedly inside a closet, walk in a sweat along the boundaries of a mountain at the moment of maximum heat, or stand guard inside a well, waiting patiently for a child or an adult to commit a prank that allows these frightful beings to take action and demonstrate their varied talents.

La Llorona

This spook has many looks, since she ranges from México as far as Patagonia. The legend is about a woman who drowned her children and then committed suicide. At night she goes out to look for her little ones, following rivers, and crying out: “Oh, my children!”

La Calaca

It is the skeleton of a person chasing individuals at night, when it is very late and one is alone on the streets.

La Sayona

A female character who haunts the streets of Caracas, Venezuela, wrapped in a white robe, with long black hair and whose sole purpose is to scare those who are not inside their houses.

Cipitío

This is a Salvadorian character whose name is derived from the Nahuatl word, Xipe Totec, the God of Fertility. He is a sort of poet and according to the legend he uses his passionate voice to seduce women, making it easier to scare them one they fall spellbound at his feet.

La Mano Peluda

Perhaps this image of terror is the most well-known internationally. It appears everywhere. Common in subways and alleys, it is a large, hairy hand with long nails, which looks through windows or gaps in the walls. Its aim is to fright children who misbehave. It is also thought that it arrives at night and touches one while asleep.

El Coco, the Hispanic bogeyman

If children do not do their homework, do not want to take a bath or simply they refuse to go to bed, that where the most effective of all the “scare-the-Hispanic-child” ploys arises: the bogeyman, known in Spanish by the fear-inspiring name of El Coco.

For many parents – and grandparents who got tired of the mischief of their grandchildren – El Coco is the best negotiator when dealing with children. Simply announce his impending visit and it becomes a blessed remedy. Even the most rebellious child becomes an archetype of virtue.

So now you know, if your children disobey, here is the solution: “Duérmete niño, duérmete ya, que viene El Coco y te comerá” … or “Go to sleep child, go to sleep now, or El Coco will come and gobble you up.”

Did you know that the Spanish Royal Academy refers to “Coco”, in the fourth entry as the “ghost that is conjured up to scare children.”

Photos by Juan Miret

Hallaca: Remembering Spain, with a Caribbean flavor

If the “hallaca” became human, no doubt it would be a woman. One of the best descriptions of the emblematic dish of the holiday season in Venezuela was penned by journalist Ana Maria Carrano in the magazine Bienmesabe. “She would not be a Miss Venezuela, but a plump lady, colorfully dressed, a bit outrageous and full of surprises. An attractive lady, fun and disposed toward sayings.”

The hallaca is a charming paradigm that is a result of a cultural mix so typical among Hispanics. Undoubtedly, it is “the epitome of the process of cultural mixing. In it you find: the raisin and the olive of the Romans and the Greeks, the caper and almond from the Arabs, the beef from the captains living in Castile, the corn and the banana leaf of the Indians.” So it is described by writer Arturo Uslar Pietri.

Chef Sumito Estévez said in an article, which was titled “What if he Bolívar did not eat hallacas?” and published in September 2010, that one cannot compare the hallaca to a tamale. “On many occasions I have heard cooks compare it to a tamale. Such an attempt might make sense if our hallaca really were a mix of corn dough with other ingredients. That certainly is as far as possible from the concept of preparing the hallaca. In fact, if we had to explain what our dish is about, it would be much fairer to do so using the Galician empanada; that is, a tasty filling wrapped in dough. Our dough.”

The birth of the hallaca dates to the Spanish colonies, the 15th and 16th centuries. Its creation came via the hands of aborigines and slaves, who had to be inventive with the leftovers of their masters and oppressors.

Described below is a dish that takes two days of preparation and whose strict order of preparation requires time – a long time – in addition to the secret ingredient: passion for maintaining a generational legacy. The recipe is from Magda Carrasquero, originally from eastern Venezuela and interviewed by A Hispanic Matter.

Hallacas (50)

The Stew

Sauce:
6 cups chopped onions
4 cups of leek
2 cups scallions
¾ cups of garlic
½ cup capers
4 ½ red pepper
6 sweet ají peppers
1 tablespoon paprika
¼ cup of mustard
1 bottle of Worcestershire sauce
1 bottle of Spanish Muscatel wine
½ pound of brown sugar or piloncillo
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
5 tablespoons of salt
2 cups chicken broth, freshly made

Meats:
6 ½ pounds of pork
6 ½ pounds of beef (bottom round)
2 chickens of 4½ pounds each

Preparation:
Fry the ingredients for the sauce in a cup of corn oil.
Add the pork and beef, which has been cut into small squares (the meat should be cut while raw).
Cook for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring and adding the sauce with a wooden spoon.
The chickens are cooked in boiling water until tender. The breasts are removed, which will be used for the garnish. The rest is incorporated into the stew.
It is cooked for about 25 minutes.
In a blender, place a cup of chicken broth with ½ cup of cornmeal.
This mixture is added to the stew.
Stir constantly for about 30 minutes until it begins to reduce.
The stew should be left standing until it cools completely. It should be covered with a kitchen towel, so that it will air out. This process can take between 6 to 8 hours or more.
The stew should be done the day before preparing the hallacas.

The dough

Ingredients
1 ½ cup water
5 cups of lard
¼ dry white corn, cleaned and sorted
30 cups cooked ground corn, or 5 kilos of corn dough
3 cups of the broth in which the chickens were cooked
5 teaspoons of salt
6 tablespoons annatto
6 sweet ají peppers

Preparation
The ingredients are added to the corn dough. The texture should be smooth and the flavor can be adjusted as it is prepared.

Garnish
2.2 pounds of red pepper
1/3 pound of peeled almonds
1 pound of onions
1/3 pound capers
6.5 ounces of olives
1/2 pound of raisins

The garnish items should be set aside on a counter.

Banana leaves

Ingredients
15 pounds of banana leaves
1 cup lard, colored with annatto
String to tie the hallacas
Water and salt for cooking

Preparation
The leaves should be washed and dried well. They must also be baked.
All of them must be greased before adding the dough. This is done with a cloth.
The leaves are cut and sorted into three groups according to size. The larger ones are used on the bottom. The smaller ones are used on the top (as a kind of lid) and the others for the final wrap.

Cooking the hallacas

They should be placed in a pot of boiling water with salt for 45 minutes.
Before placing them in the refrigerator, they must be completely cold. 

Photos by Juan Miret