Editor's Note:  We are delighted to introduce Wayne Lundberg who here begins a series of columns about Mexican food and cooking, complete with advice and a little nostalgia.  Many of the recipes have been gleaned from his mother whose life in Mexico, and whose aptitude as a cook led her to teach Mexican cooking. Wayne's respect and love for the Mexican kitchen and for his mother's abilities led him to master this subtle cuisine himself.    Many of the recipes will be based on the hand-written book Wayne's mother, Virginia Savage put together in her life in Mexico, many will come from Wayne's vast store of knowledge.  Let's listen to his words:

Mom rarely cooked as I was growing up with her. When we lived in Mexico, the maids and ranch-hands did it all. But the whole family talked about the magic of Mexican cuisine at every meal - all the time in fact. She kept notes of this and that. Later we moved to San Francisco, and she grew a bit bored.  She took the challenge of teaching Mexican cooking through the YWCA.  Her students loved her and motivated her even more.

Years passed.  In our peripatetic life, we were living in Colorado.  By now, she was hired to teach classes in Mexican cooking.  One day she had something else to do, and she asked me to pinch hit for her for one of her classes. The dish was rajas con hongos, a delight which I still use as a treat for my family and friends. That's when I opened my eyes to the reality that Mom was one heck of a great chef and teacher.

Toward the end of her life she knew she was going to pass on. I wanted to give her something to enjoy, so I persuaded her to share her recipes with me suggesting that we would collaborate to make a cook book. This was about the time that Diana Kennedy was beginning her work on Mexican cooking. Under other circumstances, it might have been possible for Mom may to have opened the path to Mexican cooking instead of Diana Kennedy.

Shaped by my mother's interest, I have always pursued Mexican cooking whether I was in or out of the country. With great respect for my mother, I continue the traditions she followed, adjusting as she did to advances in technology that have made Mexican cooking easier for us all, such as the pressure cooker and blender. Not to mention the ever increasing availability of Mexican food ingredients in our US supermarkets. In Colorado, Safeway stores were the first in the US to set aside space for cilantro, chiles Jalapenos, chiles Poblanos, chiles Serranos, plantains, tortillas, canned salsas and other essential ingredients... all thanks to mom's perseverance with the store management.

There are never-ending debates about just what constitutes so-called authentic Mexican food. Some proclaim that anything made from the available ingredients before the conquest by the Spanish in the early 1500’s – other claim that Mexican food is truly evolutionary starting with the nuns in Puebla as they fed the myriad of travelers between the port of Veracruz and Mexico City. Every dignitary who ever traveled to ‘the new world’ had to stop and rest in Puebla. It became the center for introducing Mexican cuisine to European taste buds. Talk about Montezuma’s revenge!

Historically, we must consider that geographic location and the time-period of it’s apogee, as an important element to Mexican culinary art.

We have reached a compromise, by simply acknowledging that Mexican food is still in evolution and will probably continue to be so for generations to come. Ten years ago a burrito was unheard of in central Mexico. Today it is common. Same with sliced bread, today Bimbo rules with sliced bread and flour tortillas everywhere. Beans in Tex-Mex chili would be considered as criminal act as horse-stealing according to some.

There is one thing that remains constant. Mexican food south of the border rarely is made with the chili in the cooking. The chile is prepared in salsas and set on the table for the eater to use as they see fit. Just like in any Denny’s you will have catsup and Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper, sugar and cream packs as optional.

Wayne has a blog http://waynelund.blogspot.com/ dealing with innovation and the problems therein.  Please read and enjoy.

Wayne's Articles on The Mexican Kitchen - La Cocina Mexicana

  The Mystery of Maize or Life in Mexico without Tortillas click here

How to Make Arroz con Pollo - click here

Salsas from a Mexican Kitchen- click here

Please also read these article and find recipes :

Recipes: mexican recipes  
about mexican food and cooking  
popular mexican ingredients   
chiles , chillies, peppers  
huitlacoche 
falling in love with mexico  
maize or corn
make mole with a chef

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