Carmen Ramírez built the Mexico City restaurant El Bajío to its current global stature based on traditional recipes from Michoacán and Veracruz.
Mexico Life
No monkeying around: yummy plantains are a breed apart from bananas
Slightly sweet, with a dense potato-like texture, plantains are the starchy cousin of bananas; in the tropics they’re cooked in many ways.
Zihuatanejo’s Paella Festival pleases palates, raises funds
With 23 different versions of the Spanish dish contributed by local restaurants, Zihuatanejo’s Paella Festival raised funds for the town’s general hospital.
Roberto the Clown: entertaining drivers for 22 years
For the past 22 years, Roberto Barnan has dressed as a clown and juggled for Mexico City’s frustrated drivers.
‘Hemp & Learn’ seminars lay out myriad benefits of medicinal cannabis
A Mexican non-profit holds seminars to explain the uses and benefits of medicinal cannabis, notably its positive effects on children with epilepsy.
Real Mexican vanilla: harder to get but worth the expense
Though the Mexican market is rife with imitation products, it’s worth seeking out and spending more for genuine vanilla, a key ingredient in these recipes.
Getting into ‘the Bakpak Experience’ in Monterrey’s Huasteca Park
Every year in January, Bakpak magazine holds a breakfast and orientation in Parque Ecológico la Huasteca, a mountainous area southwest of Monterrey.
Huejotzingo Carnival a uniquely poblano blast from the past
In Huejotzingo, up to 12,000 of the town’s residents don costumes and grab muskets for a three-day reenactment of the Battle of Puebla.
In Tenabo, Campeche, Flora counts on Maya Train for opportunities
She recalls a time when her family could board passenger trains, granting them a wider market for their fruits and vegetables.
New cookbook taps a growing interest in Oaxaca’s richly varied cuisine
From moles to nopales, Oaxaca: Home Cooking from the Heart of Mexico by Bricia Lopez introduces readers to the cuisine of Oaxaca in its many varieties.
Mexico’s pineapples: sublimely sweet and recipe ready
Besides the classic piña colada and its valuable addition to fruit salad, fresh pineapple lends its tantalizing sweetness to all sorts of recipes.
Wedding plans lead to a bureaucratic nightmare at the registry office
As far as bureaucratic nightmares go, at least it was an interesting one, writes Peter Davies of an attempt to get the paperwork for his April wedding.
In the footsteps of D.H. Lawrence and the Russian ballerina
In Ajijic, “La Rusa” was a mysterious horsewoman who rode around dressed all in black while being swindled out of the proceeds of a gold mine.
How a few forest denizens created a monster beer
A curious microbrewery just outside Mexico City dabbles in unusual ingredients as it seeks to craft Mexican identity in its products.
Artist’s goal is to ‘paint’ all of Puerto Vallarta in tile
A largely self-taught mosaic artist has made her mark covering the walls and public spaces of the Pacific Coast resort city tile by tile.
The humble carrot takes center stage with an array of dishes
Carrots seem like such a simple, innocuous vegetable, but they’re actually a wonderful ingredient and lend themselves to an array of interesting dishes.
Mexico’s Paricutín volcano ‘one of the 7 natural wonders of the world’
Don Raymundo Acosta was a lad of 15 in 1943 when a mini-volcano two meters high popped up in the cornfield of Dionisio Pulido of Paricutín.
Beer takes fried fish or shrimp to another level of excellence
Done right, beer-battered fish is light and crispy, and the fish inside is cooked through but still moist and tasty.
The mysterious mummies of the Museo de El Carmen in Mexico City
Stories about their origin vary, but one thread in common is that their existence came to light when Zapatista troops found them during the revolution.
A charming street cleaning custom has been hijacked by a howling machine
The leaf blower was never designed to be a dust mop and thousands of well-meaning users are stirring up clouds of trouble.
What expats crave from home: Miracle Whip, cheddar cheese, Twizzlers, peanut butter
What do expats miss? Topping the list miss are Miracle Whip, Cheez-Its, sweet pickle relish, peanut butter, horseradish, molasses and sharp cheddar cheese.
Squash blossoms: stuff them, add them to salads or put them in a quesadilla
Lightly battered or not, stuffed with a mild cheese, they can be eaten as an appetizer; the delicate squash flavor also lends itself well to egg dishes.
Step back in time in this sleepy ex-mining town in Jalisco
Deep Mexican charm found in San Sebastián del Oeste, which feels as if it hasn’t changed much since the early 1900s.
Versatile chayote — stuff it like a squash or use it raw in salad
This odd-looking vegetable is actually a fruit and an excellent source of vitamin C and antioxidants and a good source of fiber too.
Miracles in Zihuatanejo improve conditions for seniors
Two initiatives have transformed the lives of senior citizens, the most recent being the inauguration of a new home.
