Cocina de la Casa
By Gonzalo Martínez, photos by Chuck Jones,
Dec 8, 2006

The December kitchen

As I was growing up here in San Miguel, every season brought its own special bounty of flavors, scents, fruits and vegetables that identified the time of year. Christmas meant sweet sugar cane, tiny granadas chinas (kumquat) and deep green-skinned zapotes with their soft black centers.

It meant that my mom’s kitchen was steamy with the December scent of a spicy seafood soup called chilpachole. 

Now that I am a father, seeing children laughing in the streets brings me the warmest feelings. In December, the favorite time of year for Mexican kids, children are excited, awaiting colorful Christmas treats: shiny piñatas, little bags of posada candies, ponche with its delicious mix of fruits. 

As I write this, I am in the process of planning several menus for Casa de Sierra Nevada, including Christmas dinner, and all these thoughts and memories are ingredients that help me decide what to create. I never start with a final idea of what will be on the menu. I start with the basics of here and now. What products are available? What do I remember was the best of this season from my own childhood?

I begin by taking a trip to the mercados to gather seasonal items and talking with the local rancheros who come to my kitchen to supply me with organic cheeses, meats, fish, fruits and vegetables. I set before me my collected ingredients, such as granada china, acelga (chard), zapote negro, tamarindo (tamarind), guavas, and tejocote, a small orange fruit distinctive to Mexico. My table full, I look at all the items in front of me, smell them, touch them, taste them, and decide how I’d like to experiment with each of them.

Since Christmas is the time for children, I work backwards, beginning with a dessert that will bring sweet memories of piñatas and posadas. I decide to incorporate the magical flavor of ponche in whatever dessert it is that I will create—guavas, sugar cane, tamarind, and that special holiday treat, tejocote. I cannot tell you yet exactly what that dessert will be. It’s still in progress, but it will probably have a ponche-flavored sauce. 

Next, I move to the soup, where I want to offer something home-style and cozy. On Sundays in cold weather, I loved coming into my mother’s warm kitchen where a pot of seafood soup—chilpachole—was simmering on the stove, steaming up the windows. The main ingredient in my mom’s soup was shrimp, but I like to add mussels, octopus and scallops. Definitely, chilpachole will be on my Christmas menu. 

For the entrée, I will use tamales for inspiration. Our holiday tamales are not savory, but sweet, and I think I’ll go with this season’s tamale flavors of roast beef, red wine and currants. Still, I don’t want too much sweetness in an entrée, so I will add something savory to balance it out. Of course, we can’t forget to add buñuelos someplace in the menu; these fried pastries, usually flat, are an essential part of the holidays.

My hope is that as I share my process of creating menus, meals and dishes, you will be inspired in your own planning and gain a better understanding of our Mexican ingredients, both the common and the exotic. Gradually, as the flavors and subtleties become more familiar to you, I’m sure you’ll start experimenting with original recipes of your own. 

As a chef, I am always trying and tasting, tossing what doesn’t work, and writing down what does work so I remember for next time. So whatever I end up with on the final menu will be a bit of a surprise to me, which is exactly what the creative process of cooking is about. What I do know is that the meals I am planning this December will bring all the flavors of a Mexican Christmas together. 

I wish you joy in your own cooking adventures, and a holiday season filled with the magic of Mexico. ¡Felíz Navidad!



December recipes

The recipes I’d like to share with you for December include a festive cocktail for the adults and a traditional sandwich for the children.

Red Tuna Margarita

Tuna, the fruit of the nopal (prickly pear) cactus, gives a ruby red color and subtle melon-like flavor to holiday margaritas. It is my newest cocktail recipe. For a sweeter, more intensely flavorful fruit, pick the smaller tunas when shopping. Although we use fresh ingredients here, many grocery stores in the United States and Canada carry tunas in jars. 

2 tunas rojas (red prickly pear fruit)

1 oz. Tequila Tradicional

1 oz. controy (cointreau)

1/2 oz. jugo fresco de limón (fresh lime juice)

1/2 oz. jarabe natural (simple sugar syrup)

Mix all ingredients together in a blender, then strain and serve in a glass over ice. Garnish with a slice of fresh tuna and a wedge of lime. Cheers!



Niño Envuelto

You will see this sandwich, niño envuelto tradicional (Swaddled Baby) in homes all over Mexico during the holidays. It’s very traditional, easy to make, and especially great for the children. I’ve included strawberry jelly and coconut here (a favorite of Mexican kids!), but you can use anything you like: chutney, berries, carnitas, ground beef, chiles. I use a half-sheet pan, but any baking pan that’s about 18 × 13 × 1.25 inches will work. This recipe, sliced, serves 12. 

6 yemas (egg yolks)

6 claras (egg whites)

1/4 cup azúcar granulada (white sugar)

1/4 cup harina cernida (sifted white flour)

Mermelada de fresa la necesaria (strawberry jelly as needed)

Coco rayado para decorar (shaved coconut to decorate)

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture forms a string when you lift your whisk. Add flour and mix with a wooden spoon. Whip the egg whites to a soft peak and stir into the rest of the ingredients. Line the baking pan with parchment paper. Using a spatula, pour the mix so it is not quite an inch high. Bake at 175°C for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and turn onto a damp towel. While it is hot, spread the jelly over the whole surface, then roll into a folded, wrapped “niño.” Cover with the towel and cool. When cold, sprinkle with shaved coconut. Slice to serve.

If you use a savory filling, you don’t even have to bake it. Simply brush pieces of Bimbo bread with chicken stock, just enough to get them wet, so they stick together. Line up the slices side by side on a lined half-sheet pan. Then, fill them with any warm, cooked meat or vegetable filling, and roll them up like the sweet Niño Envuelto. Slice to serve.



Gonzalo Martínez is the executive chef at Casa de Sierra Nevada. Born in San Miguel, he spent 12 years working with renowned chefs in some of the finest US restaurants, including the legendary Windsor Court in New Orleans. Each month in Atención, Gonzalo will share recipes and secrets of seasonal products and innovative Mexican cooking. The Casa Sierra Nevada website is at www.casasierranevada.com