Cinco de Mayo and Guacamole

Cinco de Mayo or 5th of May is a Mexican holiday celebrating the victory of the Mexican army over the French army in the battle of Puebla on the 5th of May 1862. Contrary to popular belief in America and other parts, this is not the celebration of Mexican Independence from Spain, that happened on September 16 1810. Even though the meaning of the holiday is misunderstood by many people outside of Mexico, as a Mexican I find it very flattering and intriguing that this holiday is celebrated by so many people around the world. Cinco de Mayo is a holiday that is important and mostly celebrated only in certain regions of Mexico, like Puebla where the battle took place. My family is from another region on the opposite side of Mexico, so for us this was not a holiday we celebrated. I can remember being in America during this holiday and seeing and hearing my friends and business getting both excited and ready for Cinco de Mayo celebrations. To me this was a bit funny and a little strange but very flattering that non-Mexicans were wanting to celebrate. As for my family it was just another day with no special plans or thoughts. This melting and welcoming of different traditions is one of the things that make America unique. There are so many people from so many different backgrounds and eventually peoples traditions, celebrations and foods just become part of the mainstream norm in the US. In all of the different countries I have traveled to I have yet to see this melting of the different celebrations and traditions.

Wondering what the French think about this holiday? they don't! A couple of Cinco de Mayos ago we were in Paris and I was giving our French friend a hard time about how the (underdog) Mexican army kicked the French army's butt. He looked at me plainly and said "what are you talking about?" we gave him a quick history lesson and he said, "funny, is not something we really learn our know about here",Too bad for me I wanted to rub it in :)

I think that for us Mexican expats far away from home and from the US, Cinco de Mayo has become more of a celebration or remembering our traditions and customs. We haven't made special plans or have a party planned, though that could change, I know many people are looking for some Mexican recipes for their parties. Today I'm going to share my Guacamole recipe that you can use both as an appetizer or a topping for virtually any Mexican dish.

Your Ingredients:
3 ripe Haas Avocados
1 large Roma Tomato
1 small white Onion ( can substitute with yellow onion)
1 small lime
1 fresh green Serrano or Jalapeno pepper ( add more for spicier version, I am using the only fresh pepper I found a red pepper)
big handful of Fresh Cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

Large bowl and fork

1. Prepare the tomatoes, onion, chili pepper and cilantro by chopping all of them into small even bits, set aside. Peel and core the avocado then scoop out into a large bowl, next evenly pour the lime juice over the avocado and begin to mash the avocado with a fork. Continue mashing until it has broken down into a smooth consistency.
2. Mix in the tomato, onion, chili pepper and cilantro until all the ingredients have combined well. Lastly sprinkle in some salt and a little black pepper, again mix the guacamole to combine all of the ingredients. Done!

Guacamole can be served as an appetizer with plain tortilla corn chips for dipping. You can also use the guacamole as a topping on quesadillas , nachos or anything else you want to put it on top of.

If you are looking for other Mexican dinner ideas please visit my archives for more recipes. I also have a small collection of salsas you may want to also try for your Cinco de Mayo recipes.

This is a Molcajeta, a traditional Mexican mortar and pestle used to make Guacamole and salsas. If you want to impress your friends and family serve either in your Molcajete.

Where ever you are in the world, are their Cinco de Mayo celebrations happening near you?

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Bean and Tortilla soup with Memories

Some of my most vivid childhood memories are usually triggered by smells. It doesn't make me special or unique in fact, scent is the sense most strongly tied to memory. It is also quite normal or common for these smells to trigger emotions in us. Whether the emotions are of happy or not so happy memories to just memories of experiencing something for the first time. The other day while I was boiling pinto beans, something that I do often, I suddenly had one of the most vivid childhood memories. I was immediately transported back to my Mother's kitchen in Mexico in the mid 80s and sitting around the table with my sisters waiting for our lunch. My Mother's sopa de frijoles con tortillas ( bean and tortilla soup) , was a lunch she often made for us, and my sisters and I all loved this soup. I could not only remember the taste of the sopa but the way it looked in our white bowls with the slices of tortillas floating around in the soup. We were all sitting around that ugly green Formica table (that was so popular back then) , I could even see the way the sun light would shine in from the patio into the open kitchen. Wow, I haven't had such a strong memory like that in a while. It brought back such beautiful memories of my childhood that the emotions it evoked in me stayed with me for a few days.

Coming back to the present, I craved my Mother's sopa so much that I right away changed my dinner plans so I could include the sopa that night. The only problem was that I never saw how she made it so I didn't have a recipe. Immediately I logged into Facebook and sent a message to my sisters to please give me the recipe or contact Mom for me. Unfortunately being that we are on opposite sides of the world, the recipe didn't come until quite late that night and after my dinner time. So I ended up just experimenting myself. First is the recipe for the way I made it following that I will share my Mother's actual recipe.

( 1 large serving, but can be adjusted to larger portions)
Your ingredients:

Boiled/cooked Pinto Beans
2-3 Corn Tortillas ( if you can't find real corn tortillas try my substitute recipe)
ground cumin , a pinch
garlic powder, a pinch
salt and black pepper to taste

1. Whether you are using whole home cooked or whole canned pinto beans, reserve the liquid for the soup base.
2. In a large pot add about 1 tsp. of corn or sunflower oil and add the cumin and garlic, fry for about 1-2 minutes. Next ladle in 2 cup of the boiled beans mixed with liquid. If you are using the canned beans pour in the entire can contents. Add enough liquid from the boiled/cooked beans to cover the beans. If using canned beans you may need to add some water to get the soup consistency.
3. Cook for 10 minutes ( or as long as you want), taste for salt and add a pinch of black pepper. When you are ready to serve, warm up the corn tortillas then cut into triangles or just tear into pieces. Ladle the soup into bowls and add as much tortilla pieces as you like, then mix into the soup.

The soup was delicious! Even though it was very good it still didn't taste just like my Mother's sopa but it did give me some comfort and satisfied the craving. Now for my Mother's recipe, 1. Boil/cook the beans and right before serving tear up the warm tortillas. Ladle the beans into the bowls and add the torn up corn tortillas. Serve! That's it, no other spices just the beans and tortillas. I couldn't believe that was all the went into something that tasted so magnificent.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and perhaps if you make it for your children they will enjoy it as much as my sisters and I did.

Now tell me what food triggers the most vivid or fond memory for you ??

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