Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/235863
cuisine focus Distiller Ron Cooper started championing mezcal 18 years ago, calling it an overnight success. "Everybody under the age of 35 in Mexico is drinking mezcal now, not tequila." His Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal has seen steady growth, especially since 2010. "We've almost doubled each year," he says. Chocolate. Cacao beans are blended with cinnamon and turbinado sugar and used for hot chocolate, mole or desserts. Popular brands include Seasons of My Heart Chocolate Oaxaqueño Traditional, Taza, Mayordomo and La Soledad. But foods of the region have also inspired bar chocolates, such as Mocha Mole dark and milk chocolate bars from Seattle Seasonings or Two Snooty Chefs' line featuring ancho chile, a special cocoa blend, layers of exotic herbs and spices with a hint of coffee. 5 Popular Regional Foods From trendy Mezcal to Oaxacan-inspired beers, these traditional products are available (or will be soon) in the U.S. Mezcal. This smoky, agave-based distillate is Oaxaca's biggest export, growing exponentially the past few years, fueled, in part, by the boom of mezcal bars in Oaxaca City as well as in England, France and the U.S. "Mezcal has stayed true to its organic, smallbatch roots," says Fausto Zapata, co-founder of Mezcal El Silencio, a brand recently introduced to the U.S. market. "Mixologists are picking up on it, adding layers of complexity to cocktails." Zapata brought 90 cases of El Silencio to the U.S. last summer. It sold out quickly, as did the next 228 cases. "We're finding it's much more in demand than we expected," he says. Tortillas. Not your typical tortilla formulation, these distinctive products are having a heyday in Oaxaca, though their area-specific ingredients make them a challenging product to export. "We have all these microclimates, more than any other state in Mexico," explains Susana Trilling, founder of Seasons of My Heart, a mole product line and cooking school in Oaxaca. "So there's an area where sesame Zapata brought 90 cases of El Silencio to the U.S. last summer. It sold out quickly, as did the next 228 cases. GLOSSARY: OAXACAN INGREDIENTS Chapulines: protein-rich, crunchy grasshoppers, toasted considered a nutritious delicacy; braised or deep-fried or fried and commonly served as snacks, often dressed and rolled in a tortilla or crisped up and ground into a with salt, lime, garlic, chiles, queso fresco, guacamole salt to rim glasses of mezcal or salsa Melipona bee honey: the endangered, stingless bee Chayote: green, gourd-shaped tropical fruit similar to cucumber in flavor, boiled, sauteed or stuffed with makes its hives in earthenware pots, baskets and hollow logs, producing increasingly in-demand honey with an ground meat, vegetables and cheese (shown below) earthy, citrusy quality Chilhuacle chile: grown only in Oaxaca, the ancient Nopal: prickly pear cactus similar in taste to green seeds of this chile are so prized that people keep secret beans, grilled and chopped into salads and soups or where they grow, like truffles; medium-hot, smoky, fruity made into jams and curative powders and expensive, used mainly for mole negro Guava: tropical, sweet-sour fruit tasting like a cross between pear and strawberries and used in beverages, artisanal candy and dessert into refreshing juice or infused in tea Maguey worm: found on the leaves of agave plants and ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE eaten at breakfast and dunked in hot chocolate Quesillo: white, stringy cheese used especially in quesadillas with flor de Jamaica: a flower known in the U.S. as hibiscus, made 96 Pan de yema: egg-yolk bread, similar to challah, usually specialtyfood.com calabaza (zucchini flowers) Xocolatl: the Aztec word for "bitter water," which equates to chocolate