April 2009 Archives

Jalisco, Mexico is known for Mariachi, Blue Agave Tequila, and world famous, 5 time grammy winner Maná . And from the looks of it, Oakland can now add Cocina Poblana to that list.

Always on the lookout for unique and exciting tamales to show-case at A Taste of Tamales by the Bay, I made a bee-line for Oakland's Jack London Square after hearing from three different people, have you tried Cocina Poblana yet? to taste for myself what everyone else already seemed to know.

What I found was Lito Saldaña, founder of Cocina Poblana, and a wonderfully thought out restaurant. From menu, which includes a unique selection of tamales - two of which will be featured at the third annual A Taste of Tamales by the Bay - to music, it's clear Lito has spent time going over the details that represent his home and the hospitality of Jalisco. Of course, it almost goes without saying, I also found a thoroughly exciting menu of the other kind -- tequila. You'll want to try Cocina Poblana's Avocado Margarita -- trust me on this one.

Here's an insigt to Lito's vision, taken from Cocina Poblana's website.

This humble yet colossal affirmation conveys not only the need but the style of service which Cocina Poblana brings to the Bay Area. We feel that there is a need for refined Mexican cuisine focusing on traditional colonial flavors and fusing them with modern techniques and trends.

Poblana refers to the region of Puebla Mexico the heart and soul of fine Mexican cuisine. Culinary traditions have been passed down for centuries from generation to generation yet the essence our ancestors remain very much alive. Poblana also refers to; pertaining to the pueblo (township) many of our dishes display the nature of home cooked meals and how you would generally find them in rural Mexico.

The true nature of our cuisine however is a perfect marriage between Puebla and Jalisco Mexico. Offering the refined delicate flavors of Puebla, along side of the robust and rustic style of Jalisco.

Cocina Poblana has been a culmination of ideas and hard work that for the past 15 years is now flourishing into what the restaurant is today. Lito Saldaña the founder/ creator of Cocina Poblana has been known for many years as a casual chef walking the unbeaten path. His cuisine has focused in bringing the distinct flavors from traditional Mexican pueblos and showcasing them with a modern twist. However his strong roots and values have kept him concentrated on using family recipes and keeping food simple but very enjoyable. Mama Luisa & Don Pedro two predominant menu names and persons in Chef Lito's life. His parents Pedro and Luisa have been the inspiration for his career and his greatest Culinary instructors since day one.

!Buen Provecho!

Used with permission from: Cocina Connection Tamales by © 2006 La Plaza de Cultura y Artes

All around the globe and far beyond the boundaries of Mexico, other creative cooks have come up with the idea of wrapping delicious fillings inside leaves. In some places, the leaves are just a wrapper for the food that is eaten, as in tamales; in other countries or cultures, the leafy wrapper is eaten along with the filling.

Come along on a tour of some foods that, when you stop to think about them, are surprisingly similar to tamales. As you explore the world of food on your own, you'll probably find even more examples. Take a look:

The Americas

Costa Rica and Nicaragua
Nacatamales: Buttery cornmeal masa mixed with potatoes, onions and chiles,stuffed with seasoned chicken or pork
and steamed in banana leaves.

Dominican Republic
Niño envuelto: "Wrapped baby,"
seasoned ground meat and rice
wrapped in edible cabbage leaves and cooked in a spicy tomato sauce.

Puerto Rico
Pasteles: Pork or beef with mashed banana, boiled inside a cornhusk or the leaf of the plantain tree.

AFRICA

Congo
Liboké: Bite-sized pieces of beef or other meat with peanuts, onions and chiles, steamed or roasted inside a banana leaf.

Gabon and Zaire
Chickwangue: Mashed cassava or yucca root steamed inside banana leaves.

Ghana
Kenkey: Ground dried corn, partly cooked as a porridge and then wrapped in banana leaves or cornhusks and steamed.

Nigeria
Nyami: Large sweet root vegetables
wrapped in banana leaves and baked.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

China
Joong or Zongzi: Sweet rice with black bean paste--or savory rice with meat, dried shrimp, egg yolk, water chestnuts and peanuts--steamed inside a bamboo leaf.

Nor my gai: Sticky rice with
bits of roast pork, sausage,
shrimp, mushrooms and egg,
steamed inside a lotus leaf.

Patra ni macchi:
Spicy fish fillets steamed inside a
banana leaf.

Japan
Norimaki: A type of sushi, made by rolling up sticky rice with fish or vegetables inside an edible sheet of dried seaweed, nori.

Laos
Moke: Fish with lemon
grass, chiles, garlic, herbs and
sticky rice, steamed inside
squares of banana leaf.

Philippines
Bodbod: Sticky rice with coconut milk, steamed inside a banana leaf.

Patupat: Rice cake steamed inside a banana leaf. Pinais: Shrimp with shredded coconut steamed inside a banana leaf.

Thailand
Gai hoh bai toey: Spicy chicken meat steamed inside a square cut from the sweet, fragrant leaf of the pandanus plant, known as bai toey.

Japan
Norimaki: A type of sushi, made by rolling up sticky rice with fish or vegetables inside an edible sheet of dried seaweed, nori.

EUROPE

France
Chou farçi: A hollowed-out whole edible cabbage filled with chopped meat, onion and herbs, simmered in broth.

Greece
Dolmathes: Seasoned rice or ground
meat with pine nuts simmered or baked
inside edible grape leaves.

Poland
Holishkes: "Little doves," seasoned ground beef and rice wrapped in edible cabbage leaves and simmered in a sweet-and-sour tomato sauce.

Ukraine
Golubtsi or Holubtsi: Ground meat and rice with onion, rolled up in edible cabbage leaves and simmered in tomato sauce.

!Buen Provecho!

In Nicaragua, they're known as Nacatamal, in Venezuela Hallaca, in Colombia, Bollo; Guatemala knows them as Paches or Chuchitos. Of course, in Mexico we know them as Tamal - or when more than one gathers --Tamales. Within Mexico, tamales are further distinguished by region, available ingredients and customs, like the Corunda of Michoacan, or the Zacahuil of Veracruz.

Oh, but then there's the Humitas from Chile (also Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru), and no one makes these savory, soft corn, basil infused South American delicacies like Chef Guiselle Osorio of Sabores del Sur.

You can taste for yourself at the third annual A Taste of Tamales by the Bay where Chef Guisell will not only offer samples of her Humitas, but will demonstrate the art of making these Chilean summertime favorites, and talk about how they differ from, yet are similar to, the more familiar Tamal.

Don't miss your chance to taste from the wide variety of Tamales - from the unique to the sweet and savory. Sample the differences, draw your own conclusions - and then vote for your favorite.

No matter what you call them, in the words of that famous 15th Century Mexican bard, Enrique Espigadeoro "That which we call tamale, by any other name still taste as sweet..."

!Buen Provecho!

credit for the lovely picutre of Guisell's Humita from the 2008 A Taste of Tamales by the Bay, goes to those wonderful folks at Bunrabs

You haven't had beans until you've had Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans. Seriously.

Steve Sando, owner of Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans, has single-handedly resurrected the humble legume from the brink of the land of forgotten foods. His tireless enthusiasm has brought a new market, a new generation of bean lovers to the table. In doing so, Steve has changed the public's perception and appreciation of beans. And if you're a bean lover like me, this makes you very happy.

Because of Steve's commitment to providing a wide variety of always fresh, unique and never genetically altered beans, Rancho Gordo's success has outgrown its Napa Valley warehouse, and spread well beyond California. Here's an excerpt of what the New York Time Magazine had to say about Steve:

Ingredients are the new chefs on some level," Steve Sando, the founder of Rancho Gordo, summarized with a naughty chuckle as he bounced around Napa in his messy pickup truck recently. He has reason to be happy: thanks to him, long-lost legumes with names like Good Mother Stallard, Eye of the Goat and Yellow Indian Woman appear on menus at the French Laundry, Manresa, Ubuntu Restaurant and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and are selling out through his Web site and his farmers'-market stand to the tune of 250,000 pounds a year.

Steve is clearly passionate about what he believes in - and we're so happy he believes in A Taste of Tamales by the Bay. In this, his third year with A Taste of Tamales by the Bay, in addition to offering tastes of his Rancho Gordo beans, Steve will be on hand to give a presentation and talk about his new book Heirloom Beans , a wonderful collection of delicious recipes, pictures, and amazing stories about beans and the people who love them. Copies of Steves book will be available for purchase at the Omnivore Books on Food booth. Buy your copy - Steve will be happy to sign it.

A selection of Rancho Gordo beans will also be available for purchase. So, sample the beans, ponder the possibilities, then take home a bag and cook them using one of the many recipes in the book , or give them your own spin and see for yourself what so many already know - you haven't had beans until you've had Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans.

You can trust that whatever beans Steve brings to taste, they will be an excellent choice to pair with the many varieties of tamales and other tamale friendly foods at A Taste of Tamales by the Bay

!Buen Provecho!

this action shot of Steve Sando explaining the complexities of his Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans is attributed to Bunrabs at bunrabs.com

Meet Yessica Alfaro.

Yessica's dream is to start her own jewelry business. She is well on her way after completing a successful Shine Your Brilliance Workshop where she taught her students how to make colorful jewelry.

Yessica came to the United States almost 8 years ago from Huacho, a small costal town a few hours North of Lima, Peru. Although Yessica had a degree chemical engineering and worked on weekends and holidays, her wages in Huacho were low. When her husband could not find work and she was pregnant with her first child, the family decided to move to the United States in hopes of finding better opportunities.

Soon after Yessica arrived, her baby was born. She struggled to learn English while working full-time and raising her children. As a hobby, she started to make jewelry for herself. Soon her jewelry elicited the notice of her friends, who were impressed by her beautiful and original designs. One day she heard an interview on the radio about C.E.O. Women. Yessica decided to enroll because she wanted to do something for herself and wanted "the opportunity to have a different life".

For Yessica, the training class was a place where she was free of the issues of daily life, where she could meet people from all different places who were also pursuing their dreams, and where she could focus pursuing her own goal of starting a business selling her own jewelry.

Yessica is currently making many beautiful new bracelets, necklaces, earring designs that will be available for sale at the third annual A Taste of Tamales by the Bay on Sunday, April 26, 2009 at Fort Mason Center.

!Buen Provecho!

There'll be plenty of tamales, wine, margaritas, tequila, fun and learning to be had at the third annual A Taste of Tamales by the Bay

What you may not know is that your chances at winning some pretty exciting stuff is mucho grande - click on the link to take a look at three great raffle prizes up for grabs Raffle Flyer 2009 Final.pdf. The best thing? You don't have to be present to claim your prize.

But you do have to be present for your chance at one of the amazing door prizes: tickets to the happiest place on earth - Disneyland, Culinary Institute of America Master's Collection saute pan, a cooking class at Ramekins Culinary School, Trader Joe's grab bag, a signed copy of Gary Soto's book Too Many Tamales, certificates to Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco among others.

Friends don't let friends miss a good thing. So, go ahead, call 415.695.9296 and buy your tickets.

!Buena Suerte, y Buen provecho!

Thy Tran is the founder and director of the Asian Culinary Forum, a San Francisco-based nonprofit dedicated to teaching the public about Asian food around the world.

Professionally trained as a chef, she coauthored The Essentials of Asian Cooking, Taste of the World and the award-winning guide, Kitchen Companion. Follow her kitchen adventures at www.wanderingspoon.com.

On Sunday, April 26, 2009, Join Thy at A Taste of Tamales by the Bay and listen to Thy tell about the Spanish Galleons that plied the waters between Acapulco and Manila for 250 years, connecting the Americas to Asia and sparking culinary creativity on both sides of the Pacific.

Learn how the humble tamale traveled the world, absorbed ingenious adaptations, and survived centuries of political and cultural shifts. Savory samples of Filipino-style tamales will be offered.

You do not want to miss this!

!Buen Provecho!