![[LA Weekly] Tamale Trivia: 10 Fascinating Facts](https://dainabeth.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/mamas-beef.jpg?w=290&h=290&crop=1 "[LA Weekly] Tamale Trivia: 10 Fascinating Facts")
Last week, we told you about 10 spots for terrific Mexican tamales in L.A., from King Taco to Rivera. What we didn’t say is that the tamale is so versatile that hundreds of varieties exist within Mexico alone, not counting nouveau creations with ingredients like foie gras and truffles. Turn the page for 10 other fascinating facts about tamales…. Continue reading
![[LA Weekly] 10 Best Tamales in Los Angeles](https://dainabeth.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/ceramicmural-560.jpg?w=290&h=290&crop=1 "[LA Weekly] 10 Best Tamales in Los Angeles")
At L.A.’s Mexican restaurants, the classic combination plate — you know, the No. 5 or the “Macho Combo” or the “Pancho Villa Platter” that serves up a burrito, taco, tamale and chile relleno topped with yellow cheese along with refried beans, rice and flour tortillas — tends to be ridiculed in this epoch of obsession with “authentic” Mexican dishes. So we must choose. Sometimes the tamale plate wins out, especially for those of us who don’t have a Mexican grandmother at home turning out tamales from a family recipe perfected over generations. After all, Mexicans have been making tamales in the Americas since the pre-Columbian era. Perhaps your abuela even makes her own masa. Then there are the tamale fillings: maybe pork stewed in a red chile sauce, or a 100-ingredient mole. Continue reading
![[LA Weekly] Diana Kennedy at LACMA: Oaxacan Foods, Book Signing + Proper Tortillas](https://dainabeth.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/dianakennedy-slideshow.jpg?w=290&h=290&crop=1 "[LA Weekly] Diana Kennedy at LACMA: Oaxacan Foods, Book Signing + Proper Tortillas")
Diana Kennedy, the Mexican cuisine authority and cookbook author, doesn’t often travel outside of Mexico, where she lives in rural Michoacán a few hours from Mexico City. For the past 65 years, Mexico has been her home, and a laboratory for her studies and writings about Mexico’s regional cuisines. So her appearance last Sunday at the L.A. County Museum of Art for a brief talk and book signing presented a rare opportunity for Angelenos to meet the woman who’s often called “the Julia Child of Mexican food.” Like Child, Kennedy has shared her vast knowledge on a topic that had previously been both exotic and esoteric in the United States. Her latest book, Oaxaca al Gusto from 2010, ismuch more than a cookbook. The 450-page tome presents a study of Oaxacan cultural history illuminated by glorious photographs, many taken by Kennedy herself…. [keep reading] Continue reading
![[LA Weekly] Josef Centeno’s Bar Amá Coming This Fall](https://dainabeth.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/barama.jpg?w=290&h=290&crop=1 "[LA Weekly] Josef Centeno’s Bar Amá Coming This Fall")
Most diners at Bäco Mercat have probably tried to guess chef Josef Centeno’s upbringing from what they see on their plates. Jonathan Gold has observed that the menu mixes “flavors from Italy, France and Western China, Georgia (U.S.) and Georgia (eastern Europe), Tuscany and Peru.” In fact, the chef comes from San Antonio, Texas. Hence, the new restaurant he plans to open next fall: Bar Amá. The menu? Tex-Mex, the food Centeno grew up with… Continue reading
![[LA Weekly] Where to Eat on Cinco de Mayo in Los Angeles: Food, Drink, Party](https://dainabeth.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/033.jpg?w=290&h=290&crop=1 "[LA Weekly] Where to Eat on Cinco de Mayo in Los Angeles: Food, Drink, Party")
Every year, we read articles revealing the true origins of Cinco de Mayo. Nope, not Mexican Independence Day, which happens Sept. 16. Cinco de Mayo commemorates a minor battle in the state of Puebla in 1862 where an army of mostly Mexican Indians beat Napoleon III’s French troops. The holiday isn’t celebrated widely in Mexico. It only became popular in the U.S. during the 1970s when Chicano activists grasped the David-and-Goliath symbolism and gave the holiday a boost, recognizing a parallel to their own cause…. Continue reading
You might suspect Gustavo Arellano, the brain and wit behind the popular syndicated and OC Weekly column ¡Ask a Mexican!, as one of those Mexican food sticklers who bristles at ideas of yellow nacho cheese, the chimichonga, the chicken fajita pita, enchilada combination plates and Taco Bell’s 50th anniversary festivities. Yes, Arellano admits to having once been fanatical about authenticity. But he’s reformed… Continue reading
![[LA Weekly] Eat This Now: Pambazo at Metro Balderas](https://dainabeth.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/105.jpg?w=290&h=290&crop=1 "[LA Weekly] Eat This Now: Pambazo at Metro Balderas")
D. Solomon pambazo at Metro Balderas Angelenos who visit Mexico City inevitably return home on the hunt for certain foods. Squash blossoms. Huaraches. Mollejas. And the mighty pambazo. While the sandwich can be found in various regions, it’s especially ubiquitous on the streets of el Distrito Federal. Variations abound, but pambazos are essentially sandwiches stuffed with fried mashed potatoes, … Continue reading
![[LA Weekly] Read This Now: The New Yorker on Misión 19’s Javier Plascencia](https://dainabeth.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/027.jpg?w=290&h=290&crop=1 "[LA Weekly] Read This Now: The New Yorker on Misión 19’s Javier Plascencia")
Misión 19 in Tijuana, chef Javier Plascencia’s first independent venture, is celebrating its one-year-anniversary. Read “The Missionary,” a profile of Plascencia by Dana Goodyear in this week’s New Yorker, and you’ll learn why that matters. Plascencia’s mission is to bring innovative but authentic cuisine to the notorious border city where he grew up, Goodyear writes. And he’s created Misión 19 as an ultra-hip spot to draw locals and tourists alike into the fold. His ambition is no less than to spur a culinary renaissance in troubled but vibrant Tijuana… Continue reading
Nowadays, many chefs are often associated with razzle-dazzle and celebrity – as any Food Network fan can attest. But what about the steady hard-workers who are just as dedicated to the craft of cooking, yet never reach fame? Who continue making meals and opening restaurants even in the toughest of circumstances? And whose dishes are just … Continue reading
Lotus land 