''Waste not, want not,'' says Diana Kennedy
Lessons from a famous Mexican chef
By Beverly Russell

During the week-long visit to San Miguel by feisty celebrity chef Diana Kennedy, author of bestselling books on Mexican cooking, people who met her and attended her cooking classes at Sazón marveled at her strong environmental message. “Waste not, want not,” was a World War II slogan in England, Kennedy’s home country, and she has never forgotten food rationing and other deprivations she grew up with.

Today she tells everyone to “eat less and make every calorie count,” but she was quick to add that the demonstration menu she selected for Sazón was “not anything anyone could eat in one meal. These recipes are all useful for entertaining.”

As a botana, she suggested guacamole chamacuero (from My Mexico), a recipe from Comonfort which includes mangos or peaches, grapes and a dusting of pomegranate seeds. The avocado pulp is washed with finely chopped white onion and serrano chiles for a “kicky” flavor.

Minguichi III, cheese and chile strips in green sauce (from The Art of Mexican Cooking), came next, which in all honesty did not turn out as well as she hoped. “Oh dear, the cheese has not melted as it should,” she cried, as she stirred the pan vigorously. “Cooking is an art, you know, you can never tell how something is going to turn out. I have had soufflés go flat on me.” No matter, this dish tasted delicious. 

Then it was on to a velvety Tarascan bean and tortilla soup from the Morelia area (included in The Cuisines of Mexico). In the preparation she pointed to her utensils: “Wood, wood, wood, not plastic,” she emphasized, shaking her wooden spoon. “Boil them to clean them.”

A discussion about fresh cream followed. “There are so many bad creams on the market. Do you know how to test the product? Whip it up to make butter, then melt it down, cool it, and check the layers of fat:” the less fat, obviously, the better. 

Kennedy cooks her pinto beans until soft and doesn’t strain the broth, putting it all into the blender. This soup has a tomato base, “cook the tomatoes until mushy, and slightly charred,” she added, “but not too charred, keep a sense of proportion. And don’t overdo the garlic.” The soup was served with narrow strips of fried pasilla chiles and strips of fried, crisp totopos, plus a dab of crema.

“Know your chiles,” she stressed. “They are all described in my latest book, From My Mexican Kitchen (Sazón has it for US$45 or 450 pesos). “I have identified 25 different chiles in the Oaxaca region. And buy locally grown ones. I am amazed that in some supermarkets in the US they even sell chiles from China.” She nodded to the back of the class. “Do you mind not chatting so much,” she called out in her best British schoolmarm-ish voice.

The main course, barbacoa de pollo, was imitative of pit barbecuing, an original method of simple country cooking in Guerrero and many other regions. The chicken pieces are covered with a chile paste and then wrapped up in banana leaves and topped with avocado leaves, “which add a special flavor.” Kennedy sank her hands into the cooking container almost up to the elbows, slathering the chile paste around the chicken pieces.

She offered three different ways to cook the chicken: steam, bake or grill. She sometimes does all three, “although steaming does not imitate the action of the pit barbecue as most of the flavor drops back into the water.”

Following the class, which was specially organized by her friend Kirsten West, director of Sazón who has known her for over 25 years, Kennedy signed books and chatted happily about some of her recent doings. These included a visit to Buckingham Palace to receive a medal from Queen Elizabeth. “Just a lowly honor, Member of the British Empire. I didn’t wear a hat for the ceremony and I actually wore trousers, which are allowed today. I took a walking stick because I was afraid I would topple over when walking backwards from the Queen. At first the court officials wanted to take it from me, because they thought it might be a weapon.”

The follow-up was a royal tea “with delicious fruit cake” at Highgove, the country home of Prince Charles, where she was shown around the organic garden. The Prince’s enthusiasm for naturally grown food, without hormones and pesticides, matches her own lifestyle in her ecological adobe solar house in Michoacan. She believes in herbal medicines to deal with dysentery, stomach ulcers and other upsets, never lets a plastic bag inside her home—(M)“I’m so pleased to hear about the San Miguel program for recycling plastic bags into mattresses”—(M)and is pleased to report that when hinges were required for a new gate, her ranchos made them from used rubber tires.

For cookbook collectors, the next and last one will be on Oaxacan cooking. “I’m burnt out on books and I’m getting on, you know,” she smiled. 

Beverly Russell is author of Women of Taste: Recipes and Profiles of Famous Women Chefs, and other books on the arts. She came to San Miguel in 2006..