Zacahuil, Pumpkin and Coffee

Some days ago my roomie F. introduced me to a local specialty from his home town Poza Rica. As I mentioned before Mexican cuisine is highly diverse among the different regions. So, when his family visited him, he asked them to get a vegetarian version of Zacahuil.

Unwrapping the still warm Zacahuil.

Zacahuil

It's like a giant tamal, made out of crushed corn, flavoured with non spicy chili, normally filled with some kind of meat and cooked between 6 to 12 hours in a clay oven. Extremely time consuming. The taste is... well... oily, "corny", to be honest also rather plain. I gave it to some other Germans to try and they shared my opinion. It's a bit sad that we concluded never having been in a country where we will really not miss anything from the local cuisine after having left. Mexico, where are your irresistible dishes?! Anyway, very nice to let me try the specialty...

Fried Zacahuil

Yesterday my roomie fried another Zacahuil which he had frozen beforehand. That one was better.

 Also tried another Mexican specialty: Calabaza en tacha - candied pumpkin.

Source: Chef Luis Aranda

The preparation method is pretty straightforward: Pumpkin, unpeeled and unseeded, cooked with piloncillo (unrefined whole cane sugar), cloves, cinnamon...

Source: Ecos del Sonar

 It's incredibly sweet, with a very strong piloncillo flavour. What really kept me munching was the interesting texture of the pumpkin seeds, whose slightly bitter taste nicely contrasts with the sweetness. I'm not sure if the skin was intended to eat, but I liked the crunchy texture. But still, the same as the Zacahuil: Nice to try, but enough as one time experience...

Now, what I really like is my "Grandpa's coffee" shop, where I always get my freshly ground caffeine fix:

Grandpa's coffee

Freshly toasted and ground

Enjoy your day with a delish steaming hot coffee!