AUTOMOTIVE IndUsTrY In MExIcO Ready to Overtake - ProMéxico

72 Negocios ProMéxico | The Lifestyle
From BareFoot relay races
to social Networks
The zacahuil has over 6,000 followers on Facebook, illustrating the
ground this Pre-Columbian delicacy has covered over the centuries.
Loosely translating as ‘big bite’ or ‘corn husk in a basket’, the
word zacahuil is derived from the indigenous languages of the
Huastec Nahuas, Totonacos, Tepehuas and Téneeks. One of Mesoamerica’s
main trade and migration routes crossed this region,
which explains its rich and varied cuisine.
Anthropological and gastronomic research has found similarities
between the zacahuil and the mucbil, chicken tamale from the
Yucatán Peninsula typically wrapped in heliconia or plantain
leaves. Although not as big as the zacahuil, it is also made with a
whole chicken and annatto, and is cooked in an underground earth
oven, like the traditional cochinita pibil.
the tamale Fair
Every year since 1992, the National Museum of Popular Cultures has been
organizing the Tamale Fair. If you visit Mexico City’s Coyoacán district in late
January/early February, you will be able to sample tamales of every shape, size
and flavor.
The Mexican states of Chiapas, Morelos, Puebla, Oaxaca, Hidalgo, Yucatán,
Michoacán, Veracruz, Guanajuato, Tamaulipas, Sonora, Tlaxcala, Coahuila,
Estado de México and Mexico City have participated in 2012, along with Colombia,
Venezuela, Honduras, Ecuador, El Salvador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile and
Guatemala adding an international element.
Corn, that humble plant sacred to Pre-Columbian culture, takes on multiple
forms in this original tamale fest. So whether you prefer yours poblano,
mazatec or ranchero-style; if corundas, uchepos or those magical bean pulacles
are your weakness; if you like them filled with chipilín, hoja santa, corn, morita
chili, black, red or yellow mole, there’s no beating the tamale of tamales, the
zacahuil, that giant of the Huastec mountains and its close relative from Yucatán,
the chicken mucbil, extracted steaming hot from the bowels of the earth.
A firm believer in carrying on Mexico’s culinary traditions,
Leticia Esquivel is a seasoned cook who has been making zacahuil
for cultural events for 15 years. She herself was born in
Mexico City, but learned the recipe from her husband, who is of
Huastec origin.
“Not many people are familiar with the xoco, which is a sweet
version of the zacahuil. It has a firm texture and its ingredients
couldn’t be more Pre-Columbian –it’s sweetened with raw sugar.
The sweet xoco tamale is baked at the same time as the savory
zacahuil, which is what gives it its distinctive flavor. I have been
taking part in the Tamale Fair in Coyoacán, in Mexico City, for 15
years and I know from experience that when people taste these
unmistakably Mexican delicacies, they start to appreciate them.
Before only the Huastecs knew about the zacahuil and now more
and more people ask for it,” she says. n