Monday, January 24, 2011

Tejate - a traditional Oaxacan drink

After eating the higaditos on Saturday, we were offered another special treat: a cup of Tejate. (Click on the link to see a photo of the actual drink.)

First of all, I confess that many teams have asked me about the lumpy frothy drink served in the open market in Oaxaca, and I have simply gagged unobtrusively and said I didn't know. Something about seeing a woman with her bare hands in a big bowl, swishing unknown ingredients around, adding water as they go... I don't know, it just didn't appeal to me enough to ever try it.

Finally I have actually tasted Tejate and even learned to pronounce the name properly, not to be confused with Tecate, which is a brand of beer.

Tolerable is the word I would politely use to describe it (the Tejate, not the Tecate). Truly it wasn't bad at all. The texture is a bit of a put-off, but the taste is mildly nondescript. Not sweet. Not anything recognizable. The amazing thing was how stuffed I felt after drinking half a cup of it. It is a very heavy drink to follow liver and eggs, bread and hot chocolate, especially when I've been on a restrictive diet the past few months.

Doing a bit of detective work on the internet, it looks like the main ingredients are maize flour and cacao beans and fermented flor de cacao , which I kid you not (click on the link for proof), is the Funeral Tree.

Thinking it would be nice to provide a visual aid, I took a short video clip with my digital camera. Being even more thoughtful, I turned the camera sideways to zero in on the Tejate-making process, blocking out all the other distractions. Note to self: horizontal videos are much more effective. Just turn your computer screen sideways to view this. Either way, it is likely to leave you with your head cocked to one side wondering why this drink should be such a special treat.

As a friend pointed out, it is an interesting study in the old mixed with the new. Outside the women are stirring a cauldron of soup and making Tejate by hand when probably inside one of the shrink wrapped wedding gifts is a brand new blender they might have used to simplify the process. They still choose to do things the traditional way. That's just how it is in our little town of Mitla and other indigenous areas of Oaxaca. I respect them for that.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Little Wedding Livers

This delicacy is typically served in Oaxaca on the morning of weddings, and therefore called higaditos de boda, which translates as "little wedding livers." Generally the family begins a day ahead of time, preparing the spices and the broth, and then the day of the wedding they make an enormous cauldron of the soup-like dish to serve to all well-wishers who come bringing wedding gifts.

Last night, as you know if you read the post Mexican Weddings on my other blog, I was to serve as "ring bearer" for the wedding of some friends' daughter. (More on that in a separate post.) Earlier in the day I took Bekah and Jonny with me to a special afternoon meal at our friends' house.
First we were served little loaves of bread to dip in hot chocolate. Whatever we didn't finish was added to the huge decorative loaves of bread they gave us to take with us. At any party in our town, the guests expect to be given plastic bags or buckets to take home extra food.

The next course was the higaditos which we ate by using corn tortillas as a scooper. This makes the meal twice as filling, and we were struggling to pick up as much liver and eggs with each scoop until finally we were given spoons. We're always thankful for spoons! Just when we were despairing of ever getting close to the bottom of the bowl, the hostess gave each family a small plastic bucket (with the bride and groom's name and the wedding date printed on it with a permanent marker as a souvenir) to pour the leftovers in to take home.

By this time my kids were antsy and begging to be excused, so I sent them home with the bread and the bucket of wedding livers. This was a social faux pas because the hostess intended to fill the bucket the rest of the way with yet more of the dish to take home for another time. Too bad. Some of us really like it.

In case anyone is interested in tasting this treat, here is a recipe I found online. Enjoy!

Eggs with chicken livers: Higaditos by Karen Hursh Graber © 2008

This recipe, with its fresh salsa, is adapted from Seasons of My Heart by Susana Trilling. I suspect the version they make here is much more elaborate and time consuming.

Ingredients

For the sauce

4-5 plum tomatoes, roasted and peeled
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 fresh green chilies, seeded if desired
Salt to taste
3 sprigs cilantro
½ cup water

For the higaditos

½ cup vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 pound tomatoes, finely chopped
1 pound tomatillos (tomate verde) husked and finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
¼ pound chicken livers, boiled and finely chopped
½ cup parsley leaves, finely chopped
½ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
salt and pepper to taste
15 eggs

Preparation:

Grind all sauce ingredients in a molcajete or food processor, leaving the sauce a bit chunky.
In a large, deep non-stick frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, tomatoes and tomatillos, and cook until soft. Add the garlic, livers, parsley, oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook for10 more minutes.

Beat the eggs well and add to the pan, mixing them in gently. Push the eggs away from the sides of the pan as they set. Continue cooking for another 10 minutes, until the bottom is set and browned.

Using a spatula, divide the egg mixture into quarters and flip each quarter. Continue cooking until set and remove the eggs section by section, draining any excess oil. Cut into smaller pieces to serve. Serve with sauce and warm corn tortillas. Serves 8.

Link to Source Article

More photos: