NEW YEAR'S EVE

Posted by Erin In Lamanz on December 30, 2012, 5:54 pm
187.146.107.249

YES, this is one day early however I decided to post it anyway and this time I have included a sampling of what can be found in the on line cook book. Chapter Thirteen - Pork and Pie for New Year's eve In some societies, the pig is admired, in others it is avoided like the plague. One group treats its pigs as respected citizens, carrying the shoals in their arms and feeding them at the family table. Other folks, sometimes starving, ignore the porkers as food and forbid its consumption for religious reasons. In Mexico, the succulent porcines are greatly appreciated for their savory flavor, their rich diversity and tenderness. Mexicans are great pork eaters and pork takes first place over any other meat. In "The True History of the Conquest of Mexico", Bernal Diaz de Castillo, a Spanish Conquistador, noted that the Aztecs hunted wild boar, rabbits, deer, armadillo, rattlesnakes and iguanas with bows and arrows, javelins and snares. The most popular tidbits of those days were roasted meat of rattlesnake, iguana and turtle and they are still favorite delicacies in many parts of contemporary Mexico. Pork also played an important role in the native cuisine of the Aztecs as a savory addition to the daily pot of greens, legumes, fruits, herbs and spices. With the introduction of domesticated cattle, pigs, goats and chickens by the Spaniards, the wild boar was immediately supplanted by the tamed home grown variety. Early settlers who came to farm along the rivers in our area cherished the domesticated pigs for their good nutritional quality and produced them for exportation to neigh­boring villages along the Bahia de Banderas. Today the pig is still revered in our town. He is a common spectacle running loose in the small colonies or zones and always gets the right of way on the road. Occasionally, the next door neighbor will be fattening up a couple of pigs in his back yard for a special fiesta; for that big 'pig and pie' feast on New Year's Eve. Offer the local pig breeders some stale tortillas and vegetable peelings and you are sure to be invited to gnaw away on the pig's head (roasted) until the last shred of meat is gone ‑ a real family treat! A few days before the Christmas holiday, a familar sight in the streets of La Manzanilla is the halted traffic with blaring horns as a campesino drives his pigs to sell them door to door. Mexico is a relatively poor country as far as 20th Century material wealth is concerned and meat of any kind is still considered a rich man's food. It has been estimated that about half of all Mexican families eat meat only on Sundays and special fiesta days, whereas more than one third of the population enjoys meat perhaps only once a year. One of the effects of this scarcity of meat in the average family food basket is to force the cook to utilize cuts which in more prosperous lands would be discarded. Consequently, there are many distinctive Mexican recipes calling for animal innards created by the frugal housewives. Some of these tasty delicacies universally enjoyed are pig's ear salad, tripe with sausage or tripe soup (menudo ‑ the famous cure for hang­overs), brains in tomato sauce, blood sausage, stuffed lambs' entrails roasted on a spit, braised oxtails, stir fried kidneys and stuffed pig's feet. Tablita mixta or mixed grill is a popular party dish or a snacking plate with beer, containing 3 ‑ 4 animal organs like pancreas ( sweetbreads) or mollejas, kidneys or rinones, heart or corazon, lungs or pulmones and spleen or bazo, cunningly disguised and mingled with vegetables. It is the theory of the Mexican cook that however strange its raw state, any cut of meat can be rendered palatable and appetizing by proper cooking and blending with such highly flavored ingredients as tomatoes, onions, garlic, chiles and assorted herbs. The choice of which parts of the animal is a matter of habit, and if one can accustom oneself to cuts of rattlesnake and iguanas, one can come to view animal innards with as much enthusiasm. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating" or as the Mexicans say "Lo que no te mate, te engorda!" "What doesn't kill you, fattens you." As the year comes to an end in your home away from home in La Manzanilla, you may want to give a pork and pie party for your favorite friends and neighbors as is the custom in Mexico, to acknowledge yet another successful year in the art of living. Make this party memorable to suit the happy sentiments of a New Year in the land of paradise. Dress the table with a delicate pale lavender tablecloth and bright accents of beautiful Mexican hand crafted tin pieces. Fill a polished tin bowl with hot pink bouganvilla blossoms for the centerpiece and add a few smaller tin bowls with frosted green grapes. They will look pretty, but the real reason is explained below. Use tin candlesticks or lanterns for pink candles to spotlight all the goodies on the table and arrange small silvery tin bells with name cards attached (to help ring in the New Year) at each place setting. To carry out the Mexican tin motif, you may decide to use shiny tin foil pie plates for dinner plates instead of your best china and being disposable, they will help considerably in the cleaning up after the meal. Other ingredients for a successful New Year's Eve fiesta are hospitality, informality, friendliness, music, dancing and lots of bebidas or drinks. Turn on the record player with lively dance music or hire a mariachi group to compliment the pleasures of toasting in the New Year. Serve a traditional Jalisco rum punch of steeped bitter orange leaves with a few classic turnovers or little pies of apples. Offer a mixed grill of sweetbreads, liver, heart and zucchini arranged on a hot tin tray or a heated earthenware platter set over a tin box with a few hot 'live' charcoals; the bite sized morsels to be speared with a cocktail pick and dipped in a bowl of hot tomato sauce nearby. While the guests are imbibing, you'll want to check on some last minute preparations such as reheating the golden yellow rice dish and baking a corn pudding alongside a tamal pork pie. Don't forget to take along your own glass of punch to sip as you baste the roasting fresh ham with a splash of the same rum punch. The rum's flavoring power works well beyond the drinks and blends well with meat sauces for basting. An exotic walnut soup will lead your guests into the main menu and a half portion of poached trout in grape sauce as the entrada will proclaim you "The hostess of the year". At midnight, be prepared to introduce your guests to a wild Latin tradition. With the first stroke of midnight, each guest starts to gobble up twelve frosted grapes placed before him, one at a time. The superstition has it that every grape represents a month of the coming year and any uneaten grape after the last stroke of twelve spells the expectation of bad luck for that month. Grape cramming to the ticking of the clock is not that easy, but it is lots of fun. Anyway, no superstition is valid if you haven't heard about it before. Then with sugar coated lips, everyone kisses (besos) and with strong embraces (con fuertes brasos) welcomes in the New Year with brotherly love. As the guests gather round the table for the pork and pie, a solemn moment for a New Year's toast is in order. In our house, we drink a cup of goodwill "toward men who bring peace on Earth", and together with our Mexican friends we drink several more toasts or copes alegrias with con­fidence in survival and in life itself. Just before all the New Year´s resolutions begin about dieting and no smoking, a traditional pumpkin pudding topped with a meringue and glazed zucchini slices is presented with an after dinner drink of mixed liqueurs called Toro Bravo with hot espresso coffee. It is impossible to pass up this tantalizing dessert! Enjoy it now and swear off the sweets starting tomorrow, while you sing another chorus of "Auld Lang Syne". ORANGE LEAF RUM PUNCH (Ponche de Hojas Agria de Naranja) From the state of Jalisco, this simple but satisfying rum punch has been a favorite for many generations. Green orange leaves and dried orange blossoms from the bitter orange or Seville orange tree are made into a tea to flavor with rum and relax the drinker. Served steaming hot, it is the heart warming cup of good cheer, una copa alegria, for the New Year. Note: The orange leaves brewed with cloves are used daily in a simple tisane or herbal tea as a tranquilizer to calm one's nerves and as a flavorful aperatif. 1 liter rum 1 pt. brandy 1 liter black tea 2 Tbsp. orange blossoms (optional) peel from 12 oranges 3 doz. green orange leaves 2 liters water 1/2 c. orange flavored liqueur 1 c. powdered sugar grated nutmeg lime slices Brew green orange leaves in 2 liters of boiling water for 20 minutes. Brew 1 liter of strong black tea and pour while still boiling over orange peels and orange blossoms (flor de azabare de naranja). Note: Dried orange blossoms are available in a small spice bag on the spice rack in the supermercado. Allow to steep for 20 minutes. Mix both brews and strain. Stir in powdered sugar. Keep at a low boil until ready to serve. Add rum, brandy and orange liqueur to hot brew and pour into a heavy earthenware punch bowl to keep warm. Garnish with slices of lime. Ladle into hot mugs and sprinkle fresh grated nutmeg on top. Note: Flavor of green orange leaves and orange blossoms may be captured by substituting 1 tablespoon grated grapefruit rind, 1/3 cup orange juice, 1/3 cup lime juice and 1 teaspoon vinegar. Note: A discreet request to a mozo caretaker or a local bartender will bring a liter or two of a more potent alcoholic additive than the rum. Raizilla, an aromatic local moonshine made from the maguey cactus plant is often used in a fruit punch for a really slap happy New Year celebration! Add some raizilla to the orange leaf punch bowl which will sweeten and disguise its head reeling, eye blinding effects ‑ but it will all feel so good! H A P P Y New Year! APPLE TURNOVERS (Empanaditas de Manzana) Empanadaa are the popular Latin American turnovers or half moon pies imported from Spain and filled with meat, vegetable or fruit hash which can be made small for appetizers or large family size like empanadas gallega for a meal‑in‑one dish. Lavish midnight suppers on New Year's Eve feature miniature sweet spicy apple pies or turnovers as an appetizer with a rum punch. 2 c. all‑purpose flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. ground coriander 1/2 c. margarine 1/3 c. orange juice 1 c. diced peeled apple 1/2 c. raisins 1/3 c. sherry 1/2 c. almonds 1/4 c. sugar 1/4tsp. ground cloves 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1 c. frying oil powdered sugar Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and ground coriander. Cut in margarine with a fork and add orange juice. Mix thoroughly into a soft pliable dough mixing with fingers without kneading. Do not overwork dough. Roll out 1/2 inch thick on a lightly floured board. Cut into 2 inch rounds with rim of juice glass. Combine diced apples, raisins soaked in sherry, chopped almonds, sugar, ground cloves and cinnamon. Toss together to evenly coat diced apples and raisins. Place heaping teaspoon of filling on 1/2 of each pastry round. Fold other half over to form half moon shape. Seal by crimping edges together with fingers. Fry in deep hot fat until golden brown on both sides. Remove with slotted spoon. Drain on absorbent paper. Dust with powdered sugar and serve. Or bake in oven at 200° C for 15 ‑ 20 minutes until lightly browned. Serve hot or cold. Note: The apple filling can be substituted with jams or other fresh fruits used for pies.

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