Food Systems Track: Week 2

Aprons on, and ready to go!

This week for Food Systems, we started cooking! On Monday, we were in the classroom with both Amy and Cynthia teaching our nine person class. They are both French-method trained cooks so they put a lot of stress on noticing taste and being organized and precise with our cooking. We reflected on our experience in Huayapam seeing how the corn gruel drink, Tejate, is made from Sunday. Then we learned how to write a “mise en place” which means “everything in place” in French. It is a way of rewriting a recipe so that it includes the precise order and timing that every step of the preparation of the foods and cooking requires.

Mid week we spent two days at COMI learning some basic cooking skills and preparing two huge ‘comidas’ for our class as well as several COMI employees and migrants from Honduras and Guatemala. On Tuesday morning, we all met at Mary Lou’s apartment to compile an ingredients list. We then headed to a market to compile our ingredients for the day. Once arriving at COMI,  Cynthia taught us some basic knife skills—how to properly chop and mince an onion, how to julienne a carrot etc.  Afterwards, we divided into our groups to tackle the huge meal we were going to prepare. One group on the appetizer, another the salsas,  another on the main meal, and the last group the tortillas and drinks. Amazingly, we pulled it off without any major mishaps (unless you count Sean completely unscrewing the bottom of a blender filled with pureed black beans). After several hours of hard work we had created a beautiful meal of enfrijoladas, arroz de chepil, botana de cacahuates, salsa de pasilla, salsa de aquacate, blandas, jamica juice and Oaxacan hot chocolate. By the second day, we were really able to fine tune our skills…we made another awesome meal of tlayudas, salsas, a beautiful salad with vinegar dressing and platanos…overall a great couple of days at COMI. Cooking a huge meal for ourselves and the amazing staff and migrants at COMI was definitely a rewarding way to practice our new found cooking abilities.

On Thursday, we arrived bright and early on Calle de Crespo in order to catch our cabs out to a pueblo called Teotitlan. We eventually arrived at the Vida Nueva compound, ready to cook. We were separated into groups, assigned to a family, and set to learn how to make either soups, desserts, or the main courses. We embarked with our hosts to fetch ingredients from the market, then took note of recipes as we watched them cook—we hopped in with our tea/tablespoons to measure salt added, which the women planned to otherwise toss in by the dash. For the soup-group, we made sopas de caldillo (with cactus petals, peas, and shrimp), calabaza (squash), and garbanzo. For entrees on the first day, we didn’t have time for a mole, so that group made tamales de chepil and frijoles (beans). The final group made flan, arroz de leche (rice pudding), cirvela de dulce (I think we just used peaches in this recipe), and several juices. We observed, built up our appetites, and dined like champions. We then returned to Oaxaca, compiled our recipes, and prepared for the day to come.

First meal that we made at COMI: enfrijoladas, rice, salsas, hibiscus juice.

Friday marked both International Women’s Day and Good Samaritan’s Day. We followed the same routine as the previous day, only this time we came prepared to cook. With recipes at hand, we replicated the meals that we’d already witnessed—except the entrée group had the opportunity to make a mole negro, a sauce that is considered comida especial here in Oaxaca. Before the meal, with everything prepared, some of us explored the town. Because of the Catholic holiday, there was a massive assembly of people at the church handing out free juice, from horchata to agua de calabaza. We filled ourselves up on these sweet drinks, and once again, had a feast. Both days were hugely successful, met with delicious foods.  The mole on our last day, with its broad range of flavors, really topped it off however. After thanking our hosts and gratefully presenting them with gifts, we returned to the city for the weekend with plenty of work to do.

Abrazos y Besos,
Amanda, Corey, & Gretchen :*

Good Samaritans Day celebration (March 8) at the church.

Gretchen, Amanda, and Jess making tamales

Us with the ladies of Vida of Nueva and our meal on Friday.