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.
Juana Gutiérrez Contreras and Antoño Lazo Hernandez – July 2016
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.
Juana separating dried white beans.
I was tasked with grinding garlic and herbs used to season the beans.
Crushing garlic and herbs using a stone pestle in a clay bowl.
Halved tomatoes (another of my jobs), whole onions and whole jalapeños were added to the beans.
Yes, this watched pot did boil — or at least, simmer!
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.
Chiles roasting roasting directly on top of wood coal.
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!
Modern wire whisk meets traditional clay cazuela.
While Juana whipped egg whites to a stiff peek, before adding the yolks, I peeled and slit the chiles.
Epazote leaves and chiles await the quesillo.
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.
Cazuela and chiles rellenos amidst the flames.
She was masterful in her ability to withstand the heat of the fire while carefully turning the chiles.
Chiles rellenos about to be transferred to a waiting platter.
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.”
Mexican Peso Converter
View From Casita Colibrí 