How to cook Mexican food without a recipe (and survive!)

Published in the Pacific Pearl December 2019 issue

Have you been inside a Mexican kitchen? Have you ever seen how Mexican mothers and grandmothers create everyday food like refried beans, red rice, Mexican meatballs or home-made flour tortillas? If you’re lucky enough to see the magic in action, then you might notice one major difference with your own kitchen: nobody uses a recipe book (GASP!).

My own story with Mexican food started in the early 2000’s when I met my Mexican husband in The Netherlands, my home-country. He created these wonderful dishes that were unfamiliar to me: Tinga de Pollo, Cochinita Pibil and Rajas poblanas. Everything I tried was scrumptious and the vibrant colors of the food mesmerized me. It couldn’t have been more different from Dutch food. Mexican food was the way to my heart and for the last 15 years I can proudly call Mazatlan my home town.

The two wedding gifts that I received from my mother-in-law upon arrival to Mexico were not what I expected. I got a used lava-stone Molcajete and a pressure cooker. Not the fancy electric Instant Pot, but the good old “it-might-blow-up-in-your-face” pressure cooker. Her welcoming message with these gifts was: “Now that you’re marrying my son, you better cook him good food.” Right…. No pressure at all! Much later I realized that receiving a seasoned Molcajete is a big deal, because it’s usually passed on from mother to daughter.

But since I’m always game for a challenge, I didn’t blink and took up the dare. However where to start? My mother-in-law was kind enough to share some of her recipes with me, so I could at least put something decent on the table. Here I was with my notebook and pen, ready to scribble down all the culinary wisdom. But was I in for a surprise: Mexican mothers-in-law don’t use teaspoon, tablespoon or cup-sizes to prepare their dishes. So I cut short my Mexican cookbook idea and realized that in order to learn, I had to get my hands dirty and learn by doing!

The basics turned out to be pretty easy: how to use a pressure cooker safely, how to make boiled beans and chicken stock (using chicken feet!) from scratch, how to make red rice and Rajas poblanas and all those recipes I never thought I would master. Feeding my hungry (and growing) family was the best way to keep practicing these cooking skills.

But after some time another challenge was thrown at me. The holiday season calls for more labor-intensive dishes like Cuete Mechado, Lomo de cerdo adobado, tamales or Pozole. I’m a huge fan of Pozole, devouring large portions whenever I get a chance. However I had never thought about what goes into a proper Pozole. In essence its key ingredients are hominy corn, dried Ancho and Guajillo chilies and pork. To my surprise it isn’t just plain pork meat. In order to make a mouthwatering and authentic Pozole you need to use pig’s head or pig’s feet. So off we went to the market where my mother-in-law ordered half a pig’s head. Back at home she expertly prepped the pig’s head and cooked it in a large pot together with the other ingredients. If you’re not making Pozole enough to feed an orphanage, then it’s not worth the work. That night I savored the Pozole, despite knowing there was pig’s head in there and decided that some things are best left to the professionals.

Now if you ask me if I never use any recipes when cooking Mexican food? The truth is sometimes I do, but learning to cook with my mother-in-law has helped me become more confident in my own cooking skills. So what if I put three tomatoes instead of two in my stew, sometimes my Mexican meatballs taste a bit more like cumin and sometimes more like garlic. Life isn’t always the same, just as cooking Mexican food. The beauty lies in realizing that’s ok.
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