| The Taste of Mexico - FRIDA'S CHRISTMAS EVE DINNER |
Gabriela Braña
Frida Kahlo loved Mexican traditions and seasonal dishes. She would engage the whole family for shopping at Mexico City´s downtown markets for her well known feasts, be it posadas, Dia de Muertos, Independence Day or Easter. She enjoyed planning menus and cooking for large parties where she and her beloved Diego would share their outrageous political and artistic opinions with their intellectual friends.
On Christmas Eve she would go for a stroll at Coyoacan park, close to her house, and buy all kinds of wooden toys for her collection, she particularly liked cardboard dolls dressed as circus performers. Once, after that, she attended the traditional Christmas Eve Mass at 11:00 p.m. where she shocked the people. Nobody was listening to the sermon, everyone was watching the “unfaithful communist”.
Her Christmas Eve Dinner would normally be composed of:
Soup of toasted peanuts with parsley, Stuffed scallop shells with red snapper au gratin, Stuffed Turkey, Christmas salad of beets, oranges and jicama, Zucchini flower quesadillas, Tostadas (Crisp tortills topped with beans, shredded chicken, cheese, lettuce and
avocado), Revoltijo - A Traditional dish prepared for Christmas and Easter made with romeritos, mole and dried shrimp with new potatoes, French style peas, Buñuelos Fritters, Coconut Custard
Here is her recipe for Christmas Salad:
2 medium size jicamas, peeled and sliced
2 large Seville oranges peeled and sliced crosswise
2 medium size beets, cooked, peeled and sliced crosswise
3/4 cup roasted and toasted peanuts
Dressing:
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
In a beautiful salad bowl, arrange one circle of jicama slices, one circle of oranges and the beets in the center Drizzle the dressing over the fruit and arrange the peanuts on top.
To make dressing, mix all ingredients in a jar, cover with the lid and shake vigorously.
FELIZ NAVIDAD
Gabriela Braña is the chef and owner with her husband of Al Cilantro restaurant in Ixtapa. An expert in oriental cooking with a life long love of Mexican cuisine. She can be reached at 553-0610 or 3puertasixtapa@cdnet.com.mx
December 2002
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