Monday

From the kitchen of 'El Indio' Fernandez///Mexico News

BY VICKY COWAL/The Herald Mexico
March 17, 2005

From the 1930s to the early 1950s Emilio "El Indio" Fernandez was a shining star in the heyday of Mexico's "golden age" of film. As both actor and director, in such classic movies as "Maria Candelaria," "Flor Silvestre," "Enamorada" and "Pueblerina," he sought to bring back old indigenous values and dignity. He also did a great deal to revive traditional culinary values. Throughout a 20 plus year period, in his immense house in beautiful colonial Coyoacan in Mexico City, in both his daily life and as host at his frequent highly popular parties for the artistic crowd, he set an example of trying to dress, drink and eat a la mexicana .

The house on Zaragoza in Coyoacan was known as "The Fortress of the Indian" as Fernandez was a Kikipu Indian from the state of Coahuila. While there is room after room in the house, the kitchen, according to his daughter Adela, was the welcoming heart of the household with its scrubbed red tile floor, white stucco walls, wood burning stoves and wooden beams from which hung all the accoutrements of Mexican cuisine: clay pots, wooden spoons, copper casseroles, straw fans, dried chiles, sausages and garlic to ward off evil spirits. The pantry was amply stocked with barrels of dried corn, beans, chickpeas and lentils, with hanging herbs and spices, honey, cheeses, wines and maguey-based spirits. Just imagine the enticing fragrances and colorful appearance of it all.

His large staff included cooks from many regions of Mexico and they prepared foods in the old style from their separate regions. The Oaxaquenas made chocolate dishes, those from Puebla mole poblano, the Michoacans fixed sweets, the coastal region cooks put together tamales. There was constant activity from very early in the day when the staff rose to pat out and cook the hundreds of tortillas that were consumed daily to the last late evening meal of El Indio and his guests.

The group that surrounded the eccentric bon vivant Dolores del Rio, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Lupe Marin, Maria Izquierdo, and almost every other cultural luminary of the era including many non-Mexicans such as Arthur Rubenstein who was said to have developed a taste for tacos and Andre Breton who liked (horrors) iguana skin was not precisely of the people, but the effort they were making to recapture the spirit of Mexico in all its aspects was legitimate and went a long way in helping to erase many of the excesses of the previous French-influenced period under the dictator Porfirio Diaz.

Adela Fernandez in 1989 wrote a short, loving tribute to her father in the way of a cookbook, "La Tradicional Cocina Mexicana y Sus Mejores Recetas," still in print in paperback and can be found in most Sanborns. There is a vivid description of how life was in the kitchen on Zaragoza in Coyoacan, a brief history of Mexican cooking and many fine recipes similar to those that were prepared at El Indio's. I have had to do a little work on the recipes as they are sometimes a bit more lyrical than exact, but I have not changed the basic idea or the ingredients.



SOPA DE AGUACATE

- 4 Hass avocados.

- 1 large white onion.

- 4 serrano chiles.

- 2 tablespoons butter.

- 2 tablespoons flour.

- 8 cups strong chicken stock.

- Salt and pepper to taste.

- Garnish: chopped cilantro, sour cream.

Carefully cut the avocados in half horizontally and remove the pits. Take out the pulp and cut in small cubes. Finely chop the onion. Seed and mince the chiles. In a bowl, mix the three together with salt to taste. Put the mixture into the 8 avocado shell halves and put one beside each table setting.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and stir in the flour. Cook until just starting to brown and then whisk in the stock. Season to taste and simmer until it thickens a little. Pour into soup bowls and let each person serve their avocado mixture and pass the cilantro and sour cream. Makes 8 servings.



ZUCCHINI STUFFED WITH CHEESE

(Look for the round zucchini, calabacita criolla, sold in all supermarkets.)

- 1 bunch squash blossoms.

- 1 small white onion.

- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.

- 2 tablespoons butter.

- 10 round tender zucchini.

- 1 slice bread, crusts removed, broken up and soaked in 1/2 cup milk.

- 1/2 cup grated Manchego cheese.

Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C). Lightly grease a baking dish large enough for the 10 zucchini.

Wash the squash blossoms gently. Dry , remove the centers and chop. Finely chop the onion. In a medium-size skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and fry the onion for 5 minutes. Add the squash blossoms and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring. Melt half the butter.

Boil the zucchini for 5 minutes. Remove from water and cut off the top ends. Scoop out the pulp and mix this with the bread that has been soaked in the milk, the melted butter and half the grated cheese. Add the cooked onion and squash blossoms and combine.

Stuff the zucchini with this mixture and place them in the baking dish. Sprinkle cheese over the top and dot with the rest of the butter. Cook until the cheese is melted and browned, about 15 minutes. Makes 5 servings.



HUACHINANGO A LA VERACRUZANA

- 1 large red snapper (4 to 4 1/2 pounds).

- 2 pounds tomatoes.

- 2 medium-size white onions.

- 3 tablespoons olive oil.

- Salt and pepper, to taste.

- 1/2 cup capers (alcaparras ).

- 1 cup green olives (aceitunas ).

- 1 jalapeno chile in vinegar.

Clean the fish and cut horizontally into portions. Purée the tomatoes in a blender, adding a little water if they don't purée easily. Halve and sliver the onions.

In a large clay cazuela (pot), heat the oil over medium heat and cook the onions for about 7 to 8 minutes. Add the purée, season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Add the fish pieces, the capers, olives and chiles and simmer until the fish is cooked and the sauce slightly thickened. Makes 6 servings.