Traditional Mexican Food Over a Fire

ppine

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Yesterday we had about 25 people over for a backyard get together at the campsite. I have several friends that were raised in a small town in Mexico that had no roads to it. They learned to do everything like make their own shoes and saddles.

I have a large sheet metal stove that sits on some decorative cinder blocks. My friend say it and said that is what they call a comal and how she cooked as a young person.
I made carnitas and pollo verde in Dutch Ovens, and my friends made maize tortillas with a wooden press and cooked the torts right on the sheet metal. We had charro beans, Spanish rice and 4 homemade salsas. A bunch of ensaladas.

For the first three hours or so it was just me and the 4 friends cooking over a fire and playing Mexican musica. Las hermanas, the two sisters liked to have a few tiny shots of good tequila with limon y sal. I learned some new Spanish yesterday and had a blast with a great group of friends. It was definitely a party with a theme, and worth trying at home. Muchas gracias mis amigos.
 

ppine

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Too bad no one gets this post. I would like to try it with some Native Americans or people that have hiked the PCT. People that live outdoors have some great ideas about how to cook on a fire. It is a magic idea for a party in the back yard. I never have BBQs, cookouts, or picnics. We cook on a fire in the backyard campsite.
 

Grandpa

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I've sat in on many deep reservation Indian meals and find their food rather bland. Son-in-law is a high school teacher and coach at Sho-Ban high school in Fort Hall. Their food now is more flavorful than the old Pine Ridge food of 60 years ago. When I was in high school, we got snowed in on a central Idaho elk hunt. My brothers friend was a basque, and had spent his youth in the sheep camps. Boy did he make beans and everything else taste good. My father was a wrangler for a large sheep ranch back in the 19 teens and his cooking also had that basque flavor. My own fireside cooking tends to poorly imitate basque. Grandma worked for many years for the state and had a lot of our Mexican migrant workers for clients. We ate many meals with them and they shared their recipes with grandma. But then grandma's cooking takes on any flavor she wants. She is an excellent cook with any ethnic cuisine.
 

Cappy

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For me its Cajun cuisine. The ole fashioned stuff not what they call Cajun now a days. I love the old dishes and its a good thing too cause its what mama knew how to cook
 

Grandpa

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For me its Cajun cuisine. The ole fashioned stuff not what they call Cajun now a days. I love the old dishes and its a good thing too cause its what mama knew how to cook
Cappy, on our first trip to New Orleans we weren't that impressed with cajun food. Then a friend from there told us that all we had was New York City cajun food. On our next trip he told us of a couple of places to get the real stuff. And it was much much better. Our daughter has really got into old cajun cooking and does an excellent job with it.
 

ppine

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My two dependable friends have stepped up to talk about cuisine. Thanks you guys. I did a job on the Sho-Ban Res for Simplot/FMC out of Ft Hall. We were working on the environmental permits, reports and I did a reclamation plan. Native food relies on salt and fat for flavor, much like traditional Yankee American food. Hot sauce and salsa really help it a lot. I worked with the Navajos during two trips a year for 6 years. Their cuisine is mixed up with Mexican culture.

Last week I drove past a band of sheep on the way to the Basque Deli in Carson City. I had the lamb stew. My girl's sister joined us for lunch and she is a retired professor of Basque Studies at the U of Nevada. She co-authored the Basque/English dictionary. She used to have professors from the Basque Country over to our house. They are a great group and still active in NV and ID especially. The theme for Elko Nat Poetry Gathering this year is Basque culture.

Years ago I took my girl to New Orleans for Thanksgiving. We rode around in the carriages pulled by mules, and got to know some drivers. We always got references for places to eat. We ate our way across NOLA and had fantastic food the whole time.
 

Cappy

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just so yall know nola aint cajun its creole. That means that because of the exposure from the river the food there is a medley of flavors and yes its very good. I aint down talking it at all. Very touristy so ya gotta get the inside scoop from somewhere. When ya get further from the river the food is more traditional due mainly to a lack of trade from the river. Cajun food was left simple basic and with the ingredients grown or caught local. It is very well seasoned but not as spicy as folks think.
 

ppine

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Mule drivers are a great source of information.
Thanks for the lowdown Cappy. For outsiders it is all very confusing, but deliscious none the less.
 
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