Mexican Food Myths - It's Too Spicy

Mexico's French Connection

Mexican Food Myth #2: 'It's too spicy.' Please. Plenty of dishes are influenced by savory French cuisine.

| Sunday, 18 October 2009 | 09:26

Sopa zana. Photos by S.M. Bata

MEXICAN FOOD MYTHS: IT'S TOO SPICY

Second in a series debunking misconceptions
about Mexican cuisine.

Sylvain Daumont, the famed French chef who arrived in Mexico in the mid-19^th century, said that a great cook needs to combine flavors and textures instinctually, just as a painter blends colors.

Mexico's cuisine has a complete palette. The most dominant flavors and textures come from the indigenous groups who predate the Spanish conquest. But from 1502 forward, waves of Spaniards, French, Germans, Jews, Italians, Czechs and Lebanese landed on the shores of Mexico. This melting pot of cultures belies the assertion that Mexican food is always spicy.

The French, in particular, have had tremendous culinary influence. In 1863, only four decades after the Spanish were defeated in Mexico's War of Independence, French troops invaded to try to bring Mexico back under Europe's sphere of influence. They installed Austro-Hungarian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian as emperor of Mexico in 1864, to the delight of some of Mexico's elite. French soldiers began to assimilate into the population as well, creating a new form of mestizaje. And so, la grande cuisine Francaise was quickly incorporated into the bourgeois Mexican diet.

For elegant dinners, menus were printed in French. Instead of sauces based with chiles, they were made of wine, cream and butter. Dinner tables were set with fine bone china showing the family crest, imported French lace linens and fine Austrian crystal.

Although the French occupiers were forced out -- in 1867 Maximilian was shot before a firing squad and his wife Charlotte returned to France -- the cuisine remained. And so the chayote, a native vegetable, is enjoyed in a light bechamel sauce and served as a side dish to a steak au moutarde, for instance. Soups such as cream of carrot are blended with cilantro, or mushroom cream soup with epazote. Huitlacoche -- corn fungus, an indigenous delicacy -- was given a new twist by being served not with tortillas, but inside crepes.

Porfirio Diaz, who ruled Mexico for more than 34 years, was enamored of anything French. When he was host to a dinner for U.S. President William H. Taft, Diaz had the meal served on Emperor Maximilian’s china. The meal was, Taft wrote to his wife, Helen, "excellent and of French influence." When the Mexican Revolution swept Diaz out of office in 1911, he sought refuge in France, where he remained until his death. He was buried at Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Sopa de fideo.

French cuisine reverberates too, through the work of some of Mexico's most renowned chefs. Martha Chapa's "The Art of Mexican Cookery" is loaded with French-inspired recipes, such as huauzontle souffle. Others, such as Patricia Quintana, have successfully blended exotic flavors in their cooking. One such recipe, called Orphan's Rice, is made with curry, bacon, ham and steak and is garnished with pine nuts, almonds and walnuts.

Perhaps one of my favorite recipes from home is the creamed chayotes my mother would make or the Italian-inspired noodle dish called sopa de fideo, which is served in a tomato broth and augmented with sliced avocado, cotija cheese and banana. For the main course we would have chicken thighs cooked in a sauce of vinegar and dried herbs such as marjoram, oregano, thyme, basil and summer savory. Because in my family we do like spicy, a salsa was always served on the side. And so while spice is a fact of life in Mexico -- it is not the rule.

Cream of Carrot and Cilantro Soup

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

8 carrots, peeled, cut into rounds and cleaned
1 small onion, crudely chopped
1 large garlic clove, crudely chopped
1/2 stick of butter
3 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup cilantro, cleaned
1/2 cup of milk or heavy cream

Directions

Saute the carrots, garlic, cilantro and onions in a large pot with the melted stick of butter. Once the butter has melted and has covered the vegetables, salt to taste.
Add 1 cup of the broth. Cover for 20-30 minutes over medium heat until the vegetables are soft.
Transfer the vegetable/broth mixture into a food processor and pulse until soft and pureed. Do not leave any chunks.
Return the pureed mixture into the pot and stir in the remaining broth and the milk (or cream).
Serve hot and augment with some finely chopped cilantro on top.

Click here to read Mexican Food Myths, Part 1: It's Fattening.

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