FOOD NEWSMake a Classic Mexican Dinner at Home with UTSA’s Latest E-Cookbook
Highlighting entrée recipes from its historic Mexican Cookbook Collection, UTSA Libraries has made the virtual book available for download
Learn how to make Acapulco-style ceviche, enchiladas poblanos or authentic chicken flautas at home thanks to the latest e-cookbook from UTSA Libraries, Recetas: Cooking in the Time of Coronavirus Vol. 3.
Adapted from the university’s Mexican Cookbook Collection, the e-book features 13 platos fuertes, or main dishes, representing different periods of Mexico’s culinary history. The first volume of Recetas focused on Mexican desserts (think bunuelos) and the second on beverages (everything from a mezcal margarita to spiced coffee). All three are available for download at lib.utsa.edu.
In each volume, home chefs will find recipes in Spanish along with their English translation. Featured main dishes in this latest book range from popular Tex-Mex plates like enchiladas to Gulf-inspired bites like fresh shrimp tacos.
Recipes were adapted from some of the over 2,000 historic cookbooks that are part of UTSA Libraries’ collection. Some of the books date back to 1789 and the collection also includes the personal papers and 19th Century Mexican Cookbook collection of chef and author Diana Kennedy. (Learn more about the collection here.)
Elizabeth Johnson, chef and founder of Pharm Table, wrote a forward in the latest e-cookbook that helps home cooks navigate the recipes, which can sometimes be scant on details. “This collection serves as a fountain of information for anyone interested in learning about the diverse foods and cultures of Mexico,” she writes.
Make it at Home: Acapulco-style Ceviche
Ingredients
2 pounds pompano or Sea Bass
½ pound tomatoes
5 limes
2 avocados
1 onion
4 tbsp oil
1 tbsp vinegar
4 pickled serrano peppers
½ tsp oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Wash the filleted and skinned fish and cut into small cubes. Place in a china or glass dish, pour lime juice over all, and let stand for 3 hours, turning the fish pieces with a wooden spoon from time to time.
Submerge tomatoes in boiling water for 1 minute, skin, dice and add to the fish.
Add the sliced peppers, oil, vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper.
Serve cold in sherbet glasses or seashells, garnished with slices of onion and avocado.
Recipe from vol. 3 of Cooking in the Time of Coronavirus: Recipes from the Mexican Cookbook Collection – published by UTSA Libraries Special Collection.
Recetas: Cooking in the Time of Coronavirus Vol. 3.
FOREWORD
Elizabeth Johnson
Chef / Founder, Pharm Table
“For those taking advantage of the recipes in this collection, I urge you to use these foods as a bridge to bring you closer to neighbors and friends.”
Most cuisines are defined by their geography, and San Antonio’s proximity to Mexico has always defined and shaped its food and culture. It goes without saying that UTSA’s Mexican Cookbook Collection is more than a repository of recipes. It is a vehicle for understanding the cultures that have shaped the Texas-Mexico experience. Being “distant neighbors,” I believe food needs to be used as a connector, not a divider, with regards to our history and future with Mexico.
Historical recipes act as a lens through which we can travel through history. As history is cyclical, it allows us to better understand the future. I believe we have to study historical recipes and dissect their methods and uses to rescue many valuable techniques and wisdom as it pertains to food and health. For thousands of years, our ancestors used botanical plants for cooking and curative purposes.
At Pharm Table, we are inspired by the ancient wisdom inherent in pre-Columbian cooking techniques, native plants and seasonal cooking, and we use it to guide our creative process. This collection serves as a fountain of information for anyone interested in learning about the diverse foods and cultures of Mexico.
Over the last 10-20 years, many professional chefs and novices have been captivated by the foods of interior Mexico, as well as gaining a better understanding of the complexities of the food traditions found in their own backyards. As a result, Mexican cuisine has experienced a renaissance in the U.S. over the last two decades, paving the way for more regional cuisines and ingredients to gain wide popularity and appreciation in our country. Studying the ancient and living food culture of a region deepens our understanding of our own community and that of our neighbors to the south. Given the recent pandemic, it’s important that both professional and novice cooks have access to as many valuable resources as possible, especially during the last year when international travel has been stymied across the globe.
The first recipe in this mini-cookbook collection is for plantain taquitos. Having been born in Honduras, one of my comfort foods is and will always be plantains. I eat them raw in ceviche, roasted whole in their skin when ripe and fried and smashed when green. Plantains are a staple through southern Mexico, Central America and the western part of South America.
For those taking advantage of the recipes in this collection, I urge you to use these foods as a bridge to bring you closer to neighbors and friends. Studying the ancient and living food culture of a region deepens our understanding of our own community and that of our neighbors to the south. When we take the time to share through food, we better understand our own culture. ¡Provecho!
About Chef Elizabeth Johnson
With a lifelong passion for global cooking and holistically nourishing the body through food, Chef Elizabeth Johnson’s rich background reflects her complementary philosophies at her restaurant Pharm Table in San Antonio. The James Beard Foundation referred to Johnson as a “Food is Medicine guru,” and as such she considers the name Pharm Table a synonym for culinary medicine. Johnson’s extensive studies and travels have culminated in a dream to bring the best healthy global food practices to plate, bowl and cup. The path to Pharm Table started with a lifelong passion for the cuisines of the Americas. Through her restaurant concept, Johnson serves as a powerful change advocate, seeking to address and alleviate the current stressors on mind, body and society.
A note about recipe transcriptions
UTSA librarians and archivists transcribed recipes as they originally appeared in the cookbooks. Some recipes, especially those from manuscript cookbooks, occasionally use non-standard and variant spellings in Spanish. Common use of abbreviated instructions, along with the difficulty of reading handwriting and tears or scratched-out text, add an extra level of difficulty to the challenge of transcribing and interpreting historical recipes.
Una nota sobre las transcripciones de las recetas
Los bibliotecarios y archivistas de la Universidad de Texas en San Antonio (UTSA) transcribieron las recetas tal y como aparecen en los libros de cocina. Algunas recetas, especialmente las de manuscritos, ocasionalmente utilizan grafías atípicas y variantes en español. El uso común de instrucciones abreviadas y la dificultad de leer textos escritos a mano añaden un nivel de dificultad al transcribir e interpretar recetas históricas.
This was originally published in San Antonio Magazine, see original article here.
https://www.sanantoniomag.com/make-a-classic-mexican-dinner-at-home-with-utsas-latest-e-cookbook/
