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Museum educates on coconut’s value to Zihuatanejo and beyond

By
Elisabeth Ashe
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An example of artisan work made from coconut that's sold at the museum.
An example of artisan work made from coconut that's sold at the museum.

On a beautiful piece of land tucked away among the streets of the Guerrero village of Coacoyul, next to a 70-hectare coconut plantation, sits el Museo del Coco, or The Coconut Museum.

You might wonder whether coconuts warrant a whole museum, but Jesús Espino Marcado, who founded the museum with his family two years ago next to his coconut plantation, knows the fruit’s value to Mexico.

“The coconut is of extreme importance to our economy,” he said. “It’s the first introduction to Mexico from Asia [from the Phillipines] and has risen in importance gastronomically, culturally and economically.”

Espino speaks from vast experience. For generations, since 1940, his family has dedicated itself to the coconut industry. He’s also president of Coco Pacifico Sur, a group of 10 coconut producers from Coacoyul who formed the entity in 2008 in response to their longstanding plantations reaching the end of their productive stage. The group now visualizes the possibilities of taking advantage of their old plantations’ wood and replicating orchards with hybrid palm trees, a move which a state government program subsidized.

Espino is also running for mayor of Zihuatanejo, the municipality which encompasses Coacoyul.

An entrance to the museum, which features a restaurant and a gift shop.
An entrance to the museum, which features a restaurant and a gift shop.

The museum, Museo del Coco, “was a dream of the family” when they opened it just two years ago, says Espino’s wife, Ana Alba Vargas. Their children are also involved in the day-to-day operations of the museum and its restaurant and are also creators of some of the artisan items sold in the gift shop.

Vargas believes the museum to be the only one of its kind in the state, if not all of Mexico.

The museum seeks to educate locals and visitors by way of posters that track the early years of the coconut in the area and progresses to the present day. The aim is to inform about the varied uses of this highly versatile fruit and the importance of coconut cultivation as a means of development for the state of Guerrero.

Its exhibits illustrate the wide range of products derived from a single coconut — everything from virgin coconut oil, coconut milk, yogurt, butter and cottage cheese.  The museum encourages the consumption of the fruit and its ingredients by raising awareness of the health benefits of this fruit. There’s even a bar where you can purchase tequila shots or rum to imbibe with coconut.

Further illuminating the versatile uses of the fruit, a small gift shop at the entrance carries many coconut-based products, such as luxurious soaps, toys, candle holders, bowls and more. In addition to some of the designs being by Espino’s family members, they also sell pieces by various artisans from throughout Guerrero.

Jesús Espino, the Coconut Museum’s founder, with his wife and daughter.
Jesús Espino, the Coconut Museum’s founder, with his wife and daughter.

At the end of last month, the museum opened an onsite restaurant featuring coconut, including many regional dishes. Other developments in the works this year will include a massive double-sided mural on the grounds by well-known local artists Leonel Maciel Sánchez and Carlos Quijano. A smaller model of this planned mural already sits on display in the museum and depicts the coconut’s story, its journey and its impact on the area and beyond.

Although limited now by Covid-19 (mask-wearing and social distancing rules apply), the museum normally welcomes tour buses and private tours and even hosts weddings, birthday parties and other special events seven days a week.

The Museo del Coco is easily accessible by taxi or by contacting your local tour guide or through WhatsApp: 755 55 7 74 05 or at 755 55 7 81 31.

The writer divides her time between Canada and Zihuatanejo.

Massive tree-planting program has contributed to deforestation

By
MND Staff
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A woman in a straw hat plants a tree seedling in a grassy field
Sheinbaum cited the government tree-planting program Sowing Life, which operates in Central America, as an example of Mexico's work to address the root causes of migration. (File photo)

Its raison d’être is to reforest more than a million hectares of land in Mexico but the federal government’s tree-planting employment program is paradoxically encouraging deforestation.

A Bloomberg news agency journalist said in a report he saw evidence of deforestation associated with the US $3.4-billion Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life) program during a trip to Yucatán and Campeche in late February.

The federal government’s flagship environmental initiative is designed to help Mexico achieve climate goals while providing jobs and income – currently 4,500 pesos (US $212) per month – for some of Mexico’s most disadvantaged people.

But while the government said the program had planted or prepared 660 million saplings by the end of 2020 and is on track to grow a billion by the end of next year, Sowing Life is also causing environmental destruction.

The Bloomberg report said that forested land in Yucatán has been burned so that saplings can be planted where mature trees formerly stood.

“This is what Sowing Life does,” José, a Yucatán farmer, told the news agency while kicking a blackened tree stump. “[But] what can we do? It’s the only opportunity there is.”

The problem is that in order to participate in the reforestation program and collect a monthly wage from the government, farmers need access to cleared land where they can plant timber-yielding and fruit trees. Sowing Life thus incentivizes farmers to clear forested land.

“In many cases people said, ‘Well, I have my hectare of jungle but the program is coming so I’ll cut down the jungle, use the trees for my house or to sell the wood or whatever, and when the program comes I’ll sow seeds again,’” said Sergio López Mendoza, an ecology and conservation professor at the University of Science and Arts of Chiapas.

According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), a United States-based environmental non-profit organization that has collaborated with the Mexican government to assess the results of the reforestation program, Sowing Life may have inadvertently caused the deforestation of 73,000 hectares of land in 2019, the first year the scheme ran.

The estimate came from a study that used satellite images to measure recent deforestation. In addition to Yucatán and Campeche, land in Veracruz, Tabasco, Quintana Roo and Chiapas has been deforested due to people’s desire to participate in Sowing Life, WRI found. Bloomberg noted that the estimated area of land deforested in 2019 is almost the size of New York City.

Some people in Mexico believe that the extent of the destruction could be even greater. Juan Manuel Herrera, a forestry engineer from Campeche, told Bloomberg that there has potentially been much more deforestation in that state than the WRI estimate suggests.

The president, center, inspects a tree nursery growing saplings for the tree-planting program.
The president, center, inspects a tree nursery growing saplings for the tree-planting program.

In one village, more than two-thirds of Sowing Life beneficiaries felled trees in order to participate, one participant said.

Antonio, who asked for his surname not to be used out of fear of repercussions, showed Bloomberg a parcel of land where he and other family members cleared a thicket of trees including Caribbean walnut and Red Chaca so that they could join Sowing Life.

A representative of the program in the village, which Bloomberg didn’t name, rejected the claim that trees had been cut down so that people could become participants, asserting that land on which cattle was formerly grazed was used.

But Antonio said that he and his relatives didn’t plant saplings on such land because their cows needed it. He said he only wanted to remove some small trees from the forested area and replace them with saplings that are part of Sowing Life but the program representatives were only looking for land that was cleared completely and he couldn’t afford not to participate.

“Sowing Life’s inconsistencies add to [President] Lopez Obrador’s poor track record on climate,” Bloomberg said. The news agency’s revelations come after the newspaper El Universal published a report last June that said the tree-planting program was riddled with operational flaws and corruption.

Despite the problems that have been exposed, López Obrador has described Sowing Life  as a “blessed program” and touts it as the most important reforestation initiative in the world.

For his part, the executive director of the Mexican Climate Initiative, a non-governmental organization, warned that poorly-designed environmental programs can have unintended consequences.

“These types of programs, if not well designed, can give birth to perverse incentives,” Adrián Fernández Bremauntz told Bloomberg.

In the case of Sowing Life, communities that have lived amid jungle for hundreds of years are left with a dilemma, the news agency said: “Cut down your habitat or turn away much-needed income.”

Source: Bloomberg (en) 

Historic church goes up in flames in Paracho, Michoacán

By
Michelle Aguilar
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The historic church in flames on Sunday.
The historic church destroyed by Sunday's blaze.

A historic 17th-century church built by Spanish missionaries in one of Michoacán’s original indigenous Purhépecha areas was destroyed by fire Sunday afternoon.

Emergency officials said they don’t yet know what caused the fire at St. James the Apostle Church in the town of Nurio. Residents noticed around 6 p.m. that the church’s wooden roof and its inclined support beams were in flames.

Residents attempted to put out the conflagration but it had already consumed a large part of the roof and by the time firefighters arrived from Paracho and Uruapan the church was severely damaged.

According to the newspaper Monitor Expresso, a lack of available water to fight the fire, as well as fire hoses that did not extend more than 20 meters and were themselves highly flammable hampered firefighters’ efforts.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) is investigating the extent of the damage but media accounts indicate that while the exterior walls are still standing, nothing remains of the roof and the interior.

Federal Culture Secretary Alejandra Frausto described the church, which dates back to 1639, as “one of the most beautiful churches in the world.”

The Archdiocese of Morelia called it “an architectural jewel of incalculable value.”

Constructed of painted stone with an imposing entrance featuring a cut stone porch and Corinthian columns, the church was built in the Mudejar style, a Gothic architectural design with Islamic influences that was prevalent in Spain from the 12th to the 15th century.

Over time, features of the outer construction were replaced with masonry, but much of the church’s inner construction was done by local woodworkers.

The church featured intricate religious paintings and sculpture on its walls and ceilings dating back centuries. Its choir, according to Monitor Expresso, was one of only two with its distinct architectural style in the world; the only other is located in a historic church in South America.

The church was a central feature of Nurio’s religious and public life, with many holy days and Catholic saints’ feast days celebrated there, including that of St. James, the town’s patron.

The church's wooden interior was gutted by the blaze.
The church’s wooden interior was gutted by the blaze.

It had survived at least two previous fires; one in the 1980s took out some of the church nave’s historic painted ceiling panels. Another fire in 2015 damaged its vault.

Sources: El Universal (sp), Monitor Expresso (sp)

LP gas thefts soared in 2020; economic cost estimated at US $1.4 billion

By
MND Staff
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Tanker trucks at the scene of an LP gas pipeline tap.
Tanker trucks at the scene of an LP gas pipeline tap.

Illegal taps on LP gas pipelines soared above 20,000 last year, contributing to losses of more than 30 billion pesos (US $1.4 billion) due to gas theft, according to the president of the LP gas industry association Amexgas.

Carlos Serrano told the EFE news agency that there were more than 23,000 illegal taps on gas pipelines in 2020, up from 12,581 in 2018 and 13,136 in 2019.

Approximately 60% of all illegal taps detected since the turn of the century were discovered during the past three years. Serrano described the problem as “extremely serious” while noting the immense cost of LP gas theft.

“Armed groups are taking control of the [distribution] routes and imposing conditions that don’t benefit the final consumer and place society at risk,” the Amexgas chief said.

A security chief for a gas distributor told EFE that theft also takes place in Pemex storage and distribution centers due to corruption and that gas company vehicles are targeted.

The man, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of reprisals from organized crime, said the states most affected by gas theft are Veracruz, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, Querétaro, Mexico City, México state and Guanajuato.

“In those states … the main impact on companies is the theft of vehicles and equipment they use to distribute gas. Tanker trucks and portable tanks of gas are stolen,” he said.

The security chief said that commission agents play a key role in getting stolen gas to businesses and people’s homes, explaining that they while they normally purchase gas from legally established companies they sometimes turn to criminal groups to get the product more cheaply and increase their profits.

He also said there are groups that obtain money from gas distribution companies in exchange for providing protection to them in the areas they operate. Once an organized crime group controls gas distribution in a certain region, it imposes its own conditions on all links of the supply chain and the consumer, he said.

“They affect the final consumer – the housewife, the hotelier, the tortilla maker and the baker. They force them to buy a certain quantity of gas every month … at a certain price, even one that is above their commercially viable cost,” the gas company employee said.

A legal representative of another gas company told EFE that the authorities are flagrantly violating their responsibility to prosecute criminals that operate in the gas sector and prevent theft from occurring.

“Until now we have no knowledge of any investigative file that has been initiated because of these crimes [even] when they are committed flagrantly and reported by entities such as Pemex,” he said.

Theft of petroleum from pipelines has generated losses in recent years that ran into the tens of billions of pesos for the state-owned oil company. But the federal government says it has drastically reduced the problem and that the losses are now a small fraction of what they once were.

Source: EFE (sp) 

Security forces rescue US woman held captive by Sinaloa Cartel

By
Michelle Aguilar
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One of the suspects taken into custody in Culiacán.
One of the suspects taken into custody in Culiacán.

Federal authorities have rescued a United States woman who had been held prisoner for more than a year in Culiacán by the Sinaloa Cartel.

According to officials, the unidentified woman had been moved around to various safe houses controlled by the cartel in the Sinaloa capital since she was kidnapped in February 2020. They said the woman was in good health.

They did not offer a motive for her kidnapping nor say if the woman’s family had been contacted to pay a ransom.

The federal Attorney General’s Office, working with a police task force on organized crime and navy personnel, rescued the woman Monday at one of the cartel’s safe houses after a federal judge issued search warrants for three buildings that authorities demonstrated had links to criminal activity.

The woman was found in the first building searched. The rescue went smoothly with only one shot fired, the Attorney General’s Office said. A man was arrested at the scene.

Authorities found a man with a gun in the second building and arrested him as well before proceeding to the third location where a woman was found with 243 grams of heroin and weighing scales.

All three are suspected members of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Sources: Diario Contra Réplica (sp), Milenio (sp)

20,000 march in Mexico City for justice for women and an end to the violence

By
MND Staff
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Marchers in Mexico City on Monday.
Marchers in Mexico City on Monday.

Approximately 20,000 women took to the streets in Mexico City on Monday to demand justice in cases of rape, femicide and other gender crimes and an end to the violence that claimed the lives of an average of 10 women per day last year.

Chanting slogans such as “enough impunity already” and “not one woman less,” the participants in the International Women’s Day protest marched through the streets of central Mexico City to the National Palace in the historic center.

This year’s event, about one-quarter of the size of the massive march in 2020, was spurred by anger at President López Obrador over his support for accused rapist Félix Salgado Macedonio, who was chosen as the ruling Morena party’s candidate for governor of Guerrero despite the allegations of several women.

Some women shouted “a rapist will not be governor” as they marched and warned the government they would make their views clear when Mexicans go to the polls to elect federal, state and municipal representatives on June 6.

“Aggressors must go to jail, not into power” and “President, break the [chauvinist] pact” were among the messages written on placards.

Bearing placards and chanting slogans, women march to the zócalo.
Bearing placards and chanting slogans, women march to the zócalo.

Anger at the president’s ongoing support for a man accused of rape, the lack of justice for women victims and the government’s perceived inaction on women’s rights was exacerbated by the installation of a three-meter-high “macho wall of shame” around the National Palace to protect the seat of executive power, which doubles as López Obrador’s residence.

The erection of the metal barrier, which was turned into a memorial for victims of femicide, proved that the government is more concerned about protecting a building than the lives of women, feminist activists and victims’ family members denounced.

Anger spilled over into violence as a minority of radical protesters attacked the barrier with hammers, bats and blowtorches and succeeded in pulling a section of it down. Police stationed behind the fence “fired volleys of flash-bang grenades into the crowd, causing several small stampedes,” The New York Times reported.

The Mexico City Security Ministry said 62 police and 19 civilians were injured during Monday’s protest. At least nine police and one protester were taken to hospital for treatment but their injuries were not life threatening. Mexico City authorities said a group of men infiltrated the protest and attacked policewomen.

Four female photojournalists reported that they were attacked and detained by police in the Hidalgo Metro station while on their way to cover the protest. “From the beginning we identified ourselves; however, they beat us, threw us, handcuffed us and held us [in custody],” an EFE photographer said on Twitter.

Police officials said later they had identified the police commander who gave the instruction to arrest the women and that he and other officers had been suspended, the newspaper Milenio reported.

There was anger among many of the protesters at the Mexico City march.
There was anger among many of the protesters at the Mexico City march.

Protesters denounced that police used tear gas against them during confrontations at the metal barrier but government security official Marcela Figueroa denied that was the case, telling a press conference that the authorities didn’t use any kind of irritating substance to repel and disperse people. She said police only used fire extinguishers after Molotov cocktails were hurled at them. Figueroa also said there was evidence that it was in fact protesters who fired tear gas.

At one stage of the protest, panic overtook the zócalo, Mexico City’s main square, when men were spotted on the roof of the National Palace toting what appeared to be high-caliber weapons. But government spokesman Jesús Ramírez said on Twitter that the suspected weapons were drone defenders used to prevent drone flights over the National Palace because it is a “reserved area.” No one on the roof of the National Palace was armed, Ramírez said.

The protest continued into the night, with groups of women continuing to chant anti-government and anti-violence slogans as a bonfire burned in front of the protective metal barrier.

Ivette Granados, a 49-year-old woman who marched with her 16-year-old daughter, told The New York Times that she didn’t support the use of violence by protesters but added that it appeared to be the only way to get the nation to take notice of women’s lengthy fight for equality.

“I have already seen it throughout history in the peaceful marches of women — they did not give any results,” she said.

“I think that these things make governments and people turn around. And even if I don’t agree, life has shown me that only then do they turn around to see these situations,” Granados said.

women protesters
Some of the anger turned to violence.

“Look, I don’t agree to destroy monuments or damage, right? But it is also clear to me that a monument is not worth more than the life of a girl.”

Granados and her daughter, Maria Puente, told the Times they were angry about the daily struggle against sexual abuse that women across Mexico are forced to endure.

“Mother and daughter took turns listing off the assaults they said they had suffered over the years: being grabbed in the street, on the Metro or at a party, and men flashing their genitals at them in public,” the Times said.

Mexico, one of the most dangerous countries in the world for girls and women, has been plagued by femicides and other gender violence for years. There were well over 3,000 murders of women last year, of which more than 900 were classified as femicides, and some 16,000 reported cases of rape.

With impunity in sexual abuse cases still rampant despite López Obrador and his government pledging to provide access to justice for victims of all crimes, some sections of the feminist movement have become increasingly emboldened recently, demonstrating that they are prepared to resort to aggressive tactics to bring attention to the grave situation they face.

Just six months ago, a feminist collective took over the Mexico City headquarters of the National Human Rights Commission  and turned it into a shelter for victims of gender-based violence, while acts of vandalism and violence committed by a minority of protesters have marred recent women’s marches.

Many women see their fight against gender violence and the struggle for women’s rights as a matter of life and death.

“We fight today so we don’t die tomorrow,” was one of the slogans chanted during Monday’s march. “Not one more, not one more, not one murdered woman more,” was another.

Source: Milenio (sp), The New York Times (en), El Universal (sp) 

4th annual competition recognizes 180 Mexican wines and spirits

By
MND Staff
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mexican selection

Baja California winemakers were once again the big winners at the latest edition of Mexico’s premier wine competition, taking home 67 of the 141 medals awarded, while distillers from several states including Oaxaca and Chihuahua shared the spoils in the spirits category.

Sixteen wines were awarded grand gold medals at the 2020 edition of the Mexico Selection of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, which was held in Chihuahua in late February. The event was originally scheduled for September but postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Eight of the grand gold medal winners were wines from Baja California, home to the Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico’s best known wine region. Winemakers from the northern border state also dominated the 2019 edition of the competition.

Four grand gold medal-winning wines came from Coahuila, two came from Querétaro and winemakers in San Luis Potosí and Chihuahua produced one each.

A total of 68 wines from seven states – the five listed above plus Aguascalientes and Guanajuato – were awarded gold medals while 57 received silver medals.

As for spirits, six were awarded grand gold medals. Three of them were mezcales from Oaxaca, one was a mezcal from Guerrero and two were sotol, a liquor made from the desert spoon plant, from Chihuahua.

Twenty spirits including a mead (honey wine) from Veracruz and a gin from Baja California received gold medals while 13 were awarded silver.

A total of 606 wines and spirits from 18 states underwent blind tasting by 23 judges during the February 24-26 competition. After Baja California, the highest number of medals went to winemakers and distillers in Coahuila, Chihuahua, Querétaro, Guanajuato, Oaxaca and San Luis Potosí.

The fifth edition of the event will be held in Guanajuato at the end of the year.

The full list of the grand gold medal winners, the states from which they come and the wineries or distilleries that made them appears below. Full results are available on the Mexico Selection website.

Wine

• Anxelin Shiraz 2017 / Chihuahua / Encinillas Distribuidora

• Beatus Malbec 2016 / Querétaro / Paso de Serra

• Bodega Los Cedros Fusión 2017 / Coahuila / Productos del Campo Vibe

• Bodegas Los Cedros Rosado 2020/ Coahuila / Productos del Campo Vibe

• Chateau Camou Merlot 2017 / Baja California / Chateau Camou

• Corona Merlot Reserva 2015 / Baja California / Bodega Corona del Valle

• Don Leo Sauvignon Blanc 2020 / Coahuila / Viñedos Don Leo

• Eclipse Tinto 2018 / Baja California / Hoteles y Viñedos del Valle de Guadalupe

• Emilia Rosado 2020 / Querétaro / Puerta del Lobo

• Enoteca Rocha Zazueta – Mezcla Bordalesa Gran Reserva / Baja Californa / Viñas de la Erre

• Luna del Valle Sombra 2016 / Baja California / Vinos Y Mas

• Monte Xanic Selección 2019 / Baja California / Monte Xanic

• Mundano Reserva Merlot 2015 / Baja California / Vinos Para el Mundo

• Quintanilla Reserva Chardonnay 2019 / San Luis Potosí / Cava Quintanilla

• RU Rosa de Uva 2020/ Coahuila / Bodegas del Viento

• Tinto de la Hacienda 2016/ Baja California / Bodegas Hacienda La Lomita

Spirits 

• Dangerous Don 2017 / Oaxaca / Mexikhlo

• Sotol Coyote Triunfo del Desierto / Chihuahua / Secretos de la Vid

• Mezcal Joven Señor Mono Ensamble 2020 / Oaxaca/ Elixir De Agave

• Sotol Especia Wheeleri / Chihuahua / Soto Honorable su Señoria del Desierto

• Mujeres Tlacotitlanapa Mezcal Artesanal / Guerrero / Mujeres del Mezcal y del Maguey de México

• La Última y Nos Vamos Mexicano / Oaxaca / Familia Rodríguez Lizarraga

Source: El Universal (sp) 

Smooth, tangy feta takes even everyday recipes to the next level

By
Janet Blaser
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Spicy and salty combine with flair in these feta-stuffed tomatoes.
Spicy and salty combine with flair in these feta-stuffed tomatoes.

Regular readers may have noticed that I write about everything from tomatillos, poblano peppers and arroz con leche to salmon, potatoes and broccoli. While those last three don’t seem very “tropical,” my intent is to share recipes and food topics relevant to living in Mexico. This doesn’t necessarily mean traditional Mexican ingredients (although they’re included!) but rather what can be found in Mexico and may end up on your table, in your grocery bag or in your cupboards.

As I started looking for interesting recipes this week, one in particular came at me from every direction: Baked Feta Pasta, trending on the online social media platform TikTok, being made on talk shows and raved about by celebrities. Since January, #fetapasta has had more than 600 million views worldwide!

Before we look at the recipe, though, it behooves us to understand a little more about what feta is. Like its Italian cousin Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan for short) or its French cousin champagne, in Europe feta is a “protected designation of origin” (PDO) item. That means it must be made in certain regions of Greece from local sheep and goat’s milk.

Cow’s milk feta does exist, but it lacks the sharp tanginess and smoothness of that made from sheep or goat’s milk. In other parts of the world, any compact, white brined cheese can be called feta. For the best flavor, though, look for real Greek feta, or at least feta made from sheep and goat’s milk. I’ve found it in the deli cases in Soriana, La Comer and even sometimes at smaller regional grocery stores.

So what is this extremely easy and delicious dish that it seems everyone loves? Like a recipe we previously ran, cherry tomatoes drizzled with olive oil are baked to bursting in the oven and then mixed with pasta. The difference is that a block of feta cheese is baked along with the tomatoes, and then the whole mixture is stirred into hot pasta to form a smooth, creamy sauce. The tomatoes caramelize and release their sugars and juices, the feta softens, flavors merge and, well, voilà!

The secret to this pasta sauce is caramelizing the tomatoes.
The secret to this pasta sauce is caramelizing the tomatoes.

TikTok Baked Feta Pasta

If you can’t find a block of feta, chunks will work too.

  • 2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes
  • 4 cloves garlic, halved lengthwise
  • ½ cup olive oil, divided
  • Salt
  • 1 block (7 oz.) Greek feta cheese
  • ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 12 oz. medium-length dried pasta (bow ties, rigatoni or rotini)
  • Garnish: Fresh basil leaves

Preheat to 400 F. In a 9×13-inch baking dish, combine tomatoes, garlic and ¼ cup olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and toss to coat. Place feta in the center of tomatoes, top with remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and black pepper. Bake, uncovered, about 40 minutes until tomatoes burst.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain the pasta. Mash feta and tomatoes with a fork and mix until combined.

Combine sauce with pasta, adding the reserved pasta water as needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with basil leaves and serve.

Whipped feta is an innovative take on typical dips and spreads.
Whipped feta is an innovative take on typical dips and spreads.

Whipped Feta Dip

Guaranteed to become one of your go-to recipes, use this as a dip or as a spread on toast or sandwiches. Or add a dollop to soup.

  • 8 oz. feta cheese
  • ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

In a food processor or blender, combine feta, yogurt and garlic; process until very smooth. Add olive oil and blend well. For silky-smooth texture, pass through a fine-mesh strainer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spicy Chicken Tacos with Corn & Feta Salsa

  • 1½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
  • 1 Tbsp. oregano
  • 2 chipotles in adobo, plus 1 Tbsp. of sauce
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 2 ears of corn, kernels sliced off OR ½ cup frozen corn kernels
  • ½ cup crumbled feta
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
  • For serving: 8 corn tortillas, warmed; ½ cup cilantro leaves; 2 ripe avocados, pitted and sliced; lime wedges, sliced scallions

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken and brown on both sides, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate; set aside.

In same pot over medium heat, add onion and jalapeño and cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in cumin and oregano, chipotles and their sauce. Stir to combine, cook 1 minute. Add broth; put chicken back in pot. Adjust heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer chicken to a clean plate. Allow cooking liquid to reduce slightly.

Shred chicken with two forks. Return chicken and any juices to pot and cook until warmed through, about 3 minutes.

For corn salsa: combine feta, corn, 1 Tbsp. lime juice and pepper in a small bowl. Stir remaining lime juice into chicken; spoon onto tortillas.

Serve with corn salsa, cilantro, avocado, lime wedges and scallions.

Corn and feta salsa make these chicken tacos out of this world.
Corn and feta salsa make these chicken tacos out of this world.

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes with Feta & Roasted Peppers

Classic Greek flavors combine in this spicy, salty mix of simple ingredients. Use Greek feta cheese if you can find it.

  • 4 ripe but firm medium tomatoes
  • 4 oz. crumbled feta cheese
  • 2 roasted red peppers from a can or jar, chopped
  • 2-4 Tbsp. chopped pickled jalapenos or other hot peppers
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ tsp. oregano
  • ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil

Core and hollow out tomatoes. Allow to drain upside down on paper towels. Combine feta, both peppers, garlic, oregano, black pepper and crushed red pepper in a medium bowl. Fill tomatoes with feta mixture. Nestle stuffed tomatoes, right side up, in an 8×8-inch baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake at 350 F until tomatoes are tender and slightly wrinkled and filling is warm, about 25 minutes. Serve immediately.

Janet Blaser is the author of the best-selling book, Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats, featured on CNBC and MarketWatch. A retired journalist, she has lived in Mexico since 2006.

3 years of rising crime seen as major threat to Tulum’s success

By
MND Staff
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tulum police
Part of the problem is that Tulum hasn't enough police, says security council representative.

It’s best known for its beautiful beaches and party vibe but the Caribbean coast town of Tulum is also gaining a reputation for crime and violence. In fact, the situation is becoming so bad that a National Security Council representative believes that the ongoing success of the Quintana Roo tourist destination is at risk.

Homicides in Tulum increased 109% in 2018, surging to 23 from 11, before rising 47.8% in 2019 to 34. The upward trend continued last year with homicides up 44.1% to 49.

Several other crimes including home burglaries, muggings, domestic violence and extortion have also increased over the past three years, while small-scale drug trafficking offenses soared 783% between 2019 and 2020, according to National Public Security System data.

James Tobin, a Quintana Roo-based citizens’ representative on the federal government’s National Security Council, told the newspaper Reforma that violence has increased in Tulum due to turf wars between criminal groups.

According to the Quintana Roo government, six criminal groups operate in the resort town including the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Zetas Vieja Escuela (Old School Zetas) and the Sinaloa Cartel.

The main lure for the gangs is the retail drug trade: many tourists go to Tulum to party and take drugs in a “tremendous way,” according to Tobin, and they are prepared to pay to get their hands on the ones they want.

Another problem, he said, is there aren’t enough police officers in Tulum, which became its own municipality in 2008 after separating from Solidaridad, where Playa del Carmen is located.

“…[There are] 150 police for 80,000 residents, … they can’t deal with the situation, they’re overwhelmed,” Tobin said.

“We have to pay a lot of attention to Tulum because the success of Tulum could be killed. [Otherwise] what will happen in the end is that it will become a fertile ground for criminal groups,” he said.

Juan Noriega, executive director of the Tulum Hotel Association, said the business owners he represents have all been affected by the increase in violence and crime in one way or another.

“All of them have been affected to a greater or lesser degree; the insecurity is latent in some cases and patent in others,” he said.

“… Hoteliers are alarmed because their customers, the tourists in other words, are being harassed by the criminals and when they seek help from the authorities they don’t get a response. … I’m talking about one issue – [drug] trafficking,” Noriega said.

He said the situation is most serious in the hotel zone, which is located on the coast about five kilometers outside the town.

Quintana Roo Public Security Minister Lucio Hernández acknowledges that drug trafficking and turf wars are problems in Tulum, telling Refoma that the recent arrival of the Sinaloa Cartel – the criminal organization once headed up by notorious convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán – is one factor behind the increase in violence.

He said his ministry has also received reports of hotels and restaurants in Tulum being victims of extortion and is dealing with the situation.

Tulum was a sleepy fishing town with limited tourism capacity until relatively recently. However, the number of tourists, especially visitors from the United States, has increased rapidly over the past decade, and there has been a development boom – replete with its own problems – to accommodate them. There are now more than 7,000 hotel rooms in Tulum, making it one of the major destinations in Quintana Roo.

Tourism in the coastal town is only set to grow in the years ahead as a new airport is slated to open in 2023.

Source: Reforma (sp) 

Red Queen of Palenque, ‘inspiration for women of Mexico,’ gets a new home

By
MND Staff
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The headdress and mask of the Red Queen
The headdress and mask of the Red Queen, now on display in Palenque. inah

The Red Queen of Palenque, a 7th-century Mayan ruler’s wife whose remains were discovered in 1994, has a new resting place in the museum adjacent to the Palenque archaeological site in Chiapas.

The Pabellón Reina Roja, or Red Queen Pavilion, was officially opened by President López Obrador on Sunday.

Speaking at the event, Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto said that people will be able to visit and admire the Red Queen in her native land at the new facility.

“We’ve come to open again the home of the Red Queen Ixik Tz’aka’ab Ajaw [Lady Ruler of Generations], the queen who will be an ancestral symbol for contemporary women as she was in her time for the Mayan culture,” she said.

“The Red Queen will be an inspiration and symbol for girls, adolescents and Mayan women of today” as well as all other Mexican women, Frausto said.

A sculpture of the queen in Palenque's Alberto Ruz Lhuillier Museum.
A sculpture of the queen in Palenque’s Alberto Ruz Lhuillier Museum. inah

“… The Red Queen is in her home, may she remain here and may people know her and learn about her culture through her,” the minister said.

The stone sarcophagus of the Red Queen – consort of Pakal the Great, a ruler of the Palenque city state – was found in 1994 by Fanny López Jiménez and other National Institute of Anthropology and History archaeologists. The woman was dubbed the Red Queen because her remains and other objects in the sarcophagus were covered with bright red cinnabar powder.

The Red Queen is believed to have died in A.D. 672, 11 years before Pakal, who was ajaw – ruler or king – from 615 until his death in 683. Her remains had been deposited in a subsection of Temple XIII, located next to the Temple of the Inscriptions, where Pakal the Great’s tomb was discovered by the archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier in 1952.

Interred with the queen was an elaborate headdress and a 116-piece mask, among other items. Made of 110 pieces of malachite, two of obsidian and four of white jade, the strikingly realistic mask was partially placed over the face of the deceased queen prior to her burial.

A garment worn by Mayan royalty known as a k´ub covered the queen’s chest and shoulders. It was decorated with more than 170 small discs of jade, omphacite and albite and also featured a small rosette and miniature carving of a monkey’s head.

Entrance to the Red Queen Pavilion and the rest of the Alberto Ruz Lhuillier Museum is included in the price of a ticket to visit the Palenque archaeological site, one of Mexico’s most impressive pre-Hispanic cities. The site is about eight kilometers outside the city of Palenque, located in the northeast of Chiapas.

Mexico News Daily 

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