"gunner" > wrote in message
access...
>
> "Wayne Lundberg" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> "Why is cumin not mentioned in any of Kennedy's books? I have them and
> have
> searched. Also just using my experience in Mexico that is over 60 years.
> We
> never used cumin."
>
>
>
> I can't speak for Diana Kennedy. You will have to ask her why, Wayne but
> I'm confident that you know the absence of fact is not proof of fact.
>
> As for using her to give authority to your argument? As well respected as
> she is, I do not see that her intent has ever been to validate her books
> as "authentic" just because they do or do not list cumin. Knowledge
> changes all the time as new information/understanding is discovered.
> There can be many reasons she may not have listed cumin. Yet, to counter
> your argument, here are recipes attributed to her that do list cumin,
> one is a mole: http://www.ramekins.com/mole/yellowchickmole.html , the
> other, the Maya pork dish, Cochinita Pibil from her web site:
> http://www.dianaskitchen.com/page/pork/pibil.htm. As both dishes are
> touted to be from SOT, that quite weaken your argument.
>
> Nor does being an honorary member of the Old Gringo Chapter of the Ancient
> Free and Accepted Society of MesoAmerican Juggernauts for over 60 years
> give status as an authority. Truth be told, that just says ya old.
> Stating that "We never used cumin" is a bit impotent. Ya gotta support
> your thesis with facts, facts that can hold up to scrutiny. Otherwise,
> they are just tall tales like the stories of Texas Chili, Chile en Nogada
> and Mole Poblano. Just because one repeats these tales often (and/or
> loudly) will not make them credible. You know there are many Mexican
> and Latin American recipes with cumin (cumino) and from such noted chefs
> and authors such as Elizabeth Lambert Ortiz, Zerela Martinez, her mother;
> Aida Gabilondo, Patricia Quintana, Jim Peyton, Susan Trilling, Rick
> Bayless, Reed Hearon, and Cheryl and Bill Jamison which are just as often
> touted as authentic with the requisite little bits of "researched"
> folklore mixed in their books. Why would we not assume cumin in Southern
> Mexico was as prevalent as we find in other Latin American areas to the
> North, South and East along with trade? You also see anise, coriander
> (cilantro), cloves, fennel, marjoram, peppercorns, thyme as well as
> oranges, raisins, sesame, and almonds to name a few other exotic in
> Mexican cooking, but the addition or omission of these old world
> ingredients it is never touted as making it authentic or not used. With
> all the other spices they use, it certainly is not to distance them from
> Moorish or Spanish influence. Perhaps it is a disparaging slight to
> Norteno cooking?
>
> With all these contradictions, I would still like to know specifically why
> you insist there is no cumin in authentic dishes SOT and why you said
> cumin is a recent addition in Chorizo fresco? Butchering a hog to get a
> pound of sausage didn't make much sense to me either.
>
>
Great argument going here Gunner. Butcheering a whole hog to get some
chorizo is not the reason to butcher the hog. Butchering the hog is an
occasional thing on a Mexican ranch and as I said, there is nothing that
does not get used except for the stuff inside the intestines. The intestines
themselves used as sausage casing - chorizo and blood sausage.

My Mexican food teachers were all from the 'campo' and none were city
dwellers until later in their life. The principal 'teachers' were my
stepfather's mother from Veracruz, and his two sisters - both raised and
taught to cook in Veracruz, Puebla and Mexico City.

My comment, or statement that cumin is a recent addition to Mexican food
comes simply from never having seen it in any recipe nor used in any of
ours, including those meals prepared by our servants from other parts of
Mexico and my mother's own research where there is no mention of cumin in
any of her writings.

Rolly, if you re reading this, does Dona Martha use cumin? If so is this a
recent thing with her also?

I'm sure it has been a key ingredient to Chili since the chili queens
'invented' it in San Antonio all those years ago since beef is rather
tasteless if not mixed with chile and loaded with cumin. Which implies trade
with New Orleans, maybe.

Burritos were not known in Mexican fare until recently also. Burritos were
'invented' by the brazeros in the 40's and taken back home to share with
friends and family showing off their newly aquired taste for wheat tortillas
they had discovered in the north along with the refried beans and beef
inside them when possible. Again, beef is not a favorite meat for Mexicans.
Pork, chicken, turkeys, kid and lamb are the real favorites.

Of course all of this is opinion and lacking in true scientific research.
It's nothing more than sharing what I know and believe to be true.

Wayne
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