After spending Holy Monday in Teotitlán del Valle, I returned on Jueves Santo (Holy Thursday, Maundy Thursday) to spend the day with Juana Gutiérrez Contreras in the home she shares with her husband, Antoño Lazo Hernandez, and their family. She and her husband are members of a talented family of Zapotec weavers. I’ve previously blogged about her brother Porfirio and am helping in a small way with a big project he is working on — and that is how I found myself spending several days during Semana Santa in Teotitlán.
However, this day, I wasn’t there for the weaving — as wonderful as it is. As with much of life in Teoti, there are culinary customs to be followed on Holy Thursday. After insisting I sit down for desayuno (my second of the day — I’d eaten breakfast before leaving home), we set to work preparing the traditional Jueves Santo comida of white beans.
I was tasked with grinding garlic and herbs used to season the beans.
Halved tomatoes (another of my jobs), whole onions and whole jalapeños were added to the beans.
Our attention then turned to making chiles rellenos de queso, using Oaxaca’s own chile de agua. For this, we moved to the outside kitchen set up under the shade of fruit trees.
Juana used her fingers to turn the the chiles. However, after one attempt on my part, she pointed to the tongs. Those coals were really hot!
While Juana whipped egg whites to a stiff peek, before adding the yolks, I peeled and slit the chiles.
I was also entrusted with stuffing the chiles — first a leaf of epazote, followed by a heaping helping of shredded quesillo (Oaxaca string cheese). Then Juana commenced to frying the chiles rellenos in another cazuela — gently laying each on top of a bed of egg batter and spooning more batter on top.
She was masterful in her ability to withstand the heat of the fire while carefully turning the chiles.
In timing known only to Juana and Antoño, comida was ready just as Antoño walked in the door from attending a reenactment of La Última Cena at the church — a Last Supper that featured the flavors of Teotitlán. During this Semana Santa, he portrayed Andrés el Apóstol (Apostle Andrew). So, only a few hours after we had all last eaten, we were again sitting down at the table. Alas, the food was SO delicious and I was having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures of our bowls of delicately flavored white beans and plates of chiles rellenos. Sometimes you just have to be “in the moment.”
Thank you for the wonderful description and pictures of the preparation of your Jueves Santo meal. My mouth is watering as I recall all the delicious meals we had in Oaxaca. Rick has become quite the chef when it comes to traditional Mexican food but has all but given up making his delicious concoctions here in Maryland. He can’t find the right ingredients and even when he can, things just don’t taste the same. We can’t wait to return in October! Hasta luego!
I was so inspired that I actually made chiles rellenos last week!
That looks so good! Can’t wait to get back there again for Dias de los Muertos!
It was delicious!
Great photos and description!
Thanks, Barbara!
Great job….nice photos with great description and passion. Thanks
Thank you! It was an inspiring experience.
You beautiful photos make everyday items into works of art. Thank you
Thank you! The setting made it easy. 😉
Looks like she made the chiles just like we did in class!
And, they tasted just as good!
[…] as promised, to Semana Santa spent in Teotitlán del Valle. When I left off, I had spent Holy Thursday in the kitchen with Juana and we had just sat down to eat. However the day did not end there. Following our comida, we […]
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