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Posts Tagged ‘empanadas’

An hour south of Oaxaca city, the Zapotec village of San Antonino Castillo Velasco has much to recommend it. Besides the fields of flowers raised to decorate graves and altars throughout the valley and inspire elaborate floral designs on its blouses and dresses, the cocineras (cooks) of San Antonino serve a distinctive and delicious Empanada de Amarillo — a dish I never miss and one that has earned the village the (perhaps self-proclaimed) title, “world capital of the empanada.”

The main ingredients of the filling are pork broth, chile guajillo, masa, manteca, and cilantro. However, undoubtedly each cook adds her own secret seasoning(s).

Hot off the (tortilla) press, tortillas are placed on the comal to cook.

Once they reach the correct texture, the filling is spooned onto the tortilla and it is folded in half to be cooked, flipped, cooked, and flipped again until ready to serve.

The empanadas are traditionally served on a bed of lettuce and garnished with radishes and lime wedges and there is usually a small dish of pickled onion slices to further enhance the flavor. Yes, I ate the whole thing and it was riquisima!

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And now we have the sixth annual Festival del Tejate y el Tamal de San Andrés Huayapam!  A large tent covers half of the Plaza de la Danza and over 100 “tejateras” who belong to the Unión de Mujeres Productoras del Tejate set up shop early this morning to sell refreshing cups of this pre-Hispanic beverage made from corn and cacao.

The festival is part of an effort to preserve the food culture of the Zapotec.  San Andrés Huayapam (aka, San Andrés Huayapan) is about 7 miles north of the city and its main economic activity is the sale of tejate.

Packages of tejate lined up on a table

The festival also features empanadas, hot off the comal…

Empanada being cooked on a comal

and six kinds of tamales:  Salsa verde, Amarillo, Rajas, Verde, Chichilo, and Tamal de mole.A variety of tamales in a metal bucket

I wanted them all!  However, for today’s comida, I opted for chichilo from this gal…

Woman serving tamales

Why chichilo?  The answer is, because I’ve never had that kind before!  Chichilo is one of the seven moles of Oaxaca and is only served on special occasions, such as weddings and christenings, or when the crops have been harvested.  Chilhuacle negro, mulatto, and pasilla chiles; blackened tortillas and seeds of the chiles; and avocado leaves, the latter imparting a subtle anise flavor, give it its distinctive flavor.

Woman reaching into steaming hot cauldron of tamales

She picked out a good one… it was delicious!

People sitting and eating at long tables.

¡Buen provecho!

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