Pati's Mexican Table by Pati Jinich

Author:Pati Jinich
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cooking
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 2013-03-04T16:00:00+00:00

MEXICAN COOK’S TRICK: The trick to making these meatballs is to add the rice while it is still slightly undercooked, so it will continue to cook and bind with the rest of the ingredients as the meatballs simmer. Otherwise the meatballs end up mushy rather than fluffy.

A Molcajete, standing on three short legs and often carved into the shape of an animal (most typically a pig), is Mexico’s version of the mortar and pestle. The best ones are made of basalt volcanic rock, and they are really heavy—you may incur extra baggage charges if you carry yours home on a plane from Mexico! You can also find them in gourmet shops and Latin markets here in the United States and online.

Beauty and weight aside, a molcajete will infuse your kitchen with history, as you now have a tool that has been used for thousands of years. The porous volcanic rock helps the molcajete develop a memory of flavors, storing all the essences, oils, and aromas that have passed through it.

If you buy a new molcajete, you need to “cure” it by grinding away the rough edges of the bowl, which would otherwise leave grit in your food. There are a few ways to go about curing. Some people grind raw rice, others grind peeled garlic cloves, others use coarse sea or kosher salt; some do a combination. I play it safe and use them all. Work the ingredients over the entire interior surface of the bowl, then give it a quick soapy bath, rinse under cold running water, and start making your own history.

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