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Estampas de Mi Ciudad – If Life Gives you a Cactus, Make Salsa
If you are in Mexico, chances are that you will find cacti in your dish. As surreal as it may seem, Cacti have been an element of Mesoamerican cuisine since pre-Columbian times. Nopales and tunas, also known as “prickly pear cactus” and “prickly pear fruit” in the US, can be easily found today as an ingredient in sweet and savory dishes and drinks ranging from tacos to sherbet. The jiotillas or xoconostles in the picture, for example, can be turned into a smoothie or a refreshing drink.
Find a delicious recipe for a salsa made with this fascinating and healthy ingredient, here.
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Estampas de Mi Ciudad – Vendedora de Pinole (Lady with Pinole)
Pinole, from the Náhuatl, ¨pinolli¨ is a sweet powder made with dry or toasted corn. It can be eaten as candy when it is mixed with cocoa and other spices; used as flour or mixed into a drink.
Pinole is not only part of the diet of many Mexicans, but this delicate dust has also found its way into a variety of sayings or figures of speech. For example, ´se hizo pinole´ (it was turned into pinole) is used to say that something or someone was pulverized. The saying: ´No se puede chiflar y comer pinole´(it is impossible to whistle when eating pinole) refers to the difficulty of simultaneously carrying out two incompatible tasks.
The lady in the photo sells pinole as her livelihood. The picture was taken at the main square of the town of Atlixco, Puebla.
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Estampas de mi Ciudad – Our Lady of the Corn
Mayans believed people were made out of corn. This grain was such a part of this people’s existence, that their legends and folk heroes have maize at their core. The crop was also essential to the Aztec world to such degree, that important characters in their mythology, Centéotl and Chicomecóatl, both corn deities, represented food, fertility and life.
Today, we might not think people are made out of corn, but this cereal is fundamental to the Mexican diet of any region. From tortillas to tamales and atole, and even on the cob with lime, chili, mayo and cheese as a street snack, “elote¨ or ¨maíz¨ is easy to find in any of its delicious forms. And while in Mexico perhaps, corn is no longer revered, it is definitely still adored.