Oaxaca at Home: Two Soulful Recipes for Mexican Comfort Food
Mother-daughter duo Iliana de la Vega and Isabel Torrealba are a powerhouse of Oaxacan culinary knowledge. Celebrated chef Iliana is a James Beard-nominated whiz in the kitchen, while food writer Isabel has a master’s degree in cultural reporting. Together they lead Oaxaca: Tastes of Past and Present.
Ahead of our next trip to Oaxaca, Iliana shares some recipes that will bring the Mexican culinary capital to your kitchen—and Isabel writes about what makes her mom’s cooking so unique.
It’s nearly impossible to talk about my mother’s cooking without sounding biased. We’re all trained to love the food we grew up eating—our taste buds adapt to those flavors, which feel and taste like home and comfort. My mother’s cooking, however, has this effect on anyone who takes a bite of her guacamole, enchiladas, or one of her delightful moles. Even if her Oaxacan recipes are unfamiliar, her food has a way of bringing comfort to those who try it. There’s a sense of warmth and care to her cooking that’s hard to explain, but easy to understand if you meet her and allow her to feed you.
My mother’s cooking is honest, in the sense that you can taste all the ingredients in it. Eating her food is a layered experience, with every bite bringing a delicate new flavor and sensation. Take her sopa de frijol negro a la Oaxaqueña (Oaxacan black bean soup). The first bite will be a strong taste of black beans, but then there’s the crunch and subtle flavor of the fried corn tortilla strips. Next, in the back of your throat, there’s a hint of smoky spice from the pasilla chiles. And then an herbal note only an Oaxacan native will recognize as the avocado leaves. The cream, cheese, and avocado tie all of it together, creating a perfectly balanced soup. Balance is another word that describes my mother’s food and approach to cooking.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what makes my mother’s food so comforting. Maybe it’s the fact that she makes elegant versions of Mexican home cooking. Or perhaps that she treats each ingredient carefully and with respect. Perhaps it’s that she genuinely enjoys bringing joy to people through her food. I also suspect it has something to do with my mother being self-taught. She learned to cook from her mother and her aunt, as most Mexican women traditionally do. But for my mother, cooking was more than just a way to feed her family—it’s her passion. And while my food isn’t as magical as hers, her philosophy of cooking with care, always intending to bring joy to others, is something I keep in mind whenever I’m in the kitchen.
Sopa de Frijol Negro a la Oaxaqueña
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
3 tbsp. canola oil
2 thick slices white onion
1 garlic clove, peeled
4 avocado leaves
2–4 Oaxacan pasilla chiles, clean reconstituted in hot water*
4 cups cooked black beans (with some broth)
6 cups water
Salt to taste
Garnishes:
10 corn tortillas
1 cup canola oil
8 ounces panela cheese (or queso fresco) diced
1 avocado, diced
1/3 cup crema Mexicana
In a stockpot heat 3 tbsp. oil, add the onion and garlic and sauté until soft and golden. Remove and discard onion and garlic. Reserve the flavored oil.
Place avocado leaves in a small skillet, heat up until fragrant; transfer them to the blender, along with 2 chiles pasilla, 1 cup of beans and 1½ cups water and process until very smooth. You can also pass it through a strainer, adding water if needed.
Warm up the seasoned oil over medium-low heat, add the pureed beans. Continue blending beans in batches and adding to the stockpot. Season with salt, and check for chile flavor, adding more blended chiles if needed.
Cut the tortillas in julienne. Heat the oil in a sauté pan; when sizzling hot, add the tortillas in batches, removing with a slotted spoon when crispy and slightly golden. Place over a rack to drain excess oil.
Serve hot, topped with the fried tortillas, garnish with, the cheese, avocado, and crema.
*Substitute with morita chiles or chipotles if pasillas are not available.
Mole Amarillo con Camarones
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
6 large green tomatoes
10 tomatillos
1/2 white onion
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 Ancho chiles, seeds and veins removed
12 Guajillo chiles, seeds and veins removed
1 tsp. cumin seeds
8 black peppercorns
4 cloves, whole
1/2 cup masa harina flour
1/2 bunch cilantro, tied in a bundle
2 tbsp. canola oil
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 chayote
1/2 lb. green beans
36 large (13/15) shrimp, peeled and deveined
Gently dry roast the chiles on a comal or skillet set over medium heat for a few seconds until aromatic. Soak the chiles in hot water for 15 minutes, drain and set aside.
Dry roast the green tomatoes, tomatillos, and onion on a comal or skillet over medium heat. Keep turning until soft and blistered, about 15 minutes. Dry roast the garlic separately over low heat. When brown spots appear on the papery skin, remove the garlic and discard the skin.
In a small skillet dry roast the black pepper, cloves, and cumin until fragrant.
Puree the chiles in the blender, adding water as needed, to form a smooth puree. Pass the chile puree through a fine mesh strainer and set aside.
In same blender, puree the dry roasted vegetables and spices with water, as needed, to form a smooth puree. Pass through a small mesh sieve and set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium low, add and fry the chile puree until most of the liquid evaporates, when you can see the bottom of the pan when scraped and the oil rises to the top.
Add the pureed vegetable mixture and stir occasionally until reduced over medium heat. Once the mole covers the back of a spoon, and you can see the bottom of the pan when scraped, add 2 cups of water.
In a small bowl mix ½ cup of the masa with 1 cup water. The mixture should be very smooth - no lumps. Add the masa mixture to the mole in a steady stream, stirring constantly while pouring. Cook the mole for 5 minutes, add the cilantro and season with salt.
In a medium saucepan bring 2 ½ quarts of water to a boil. Add salt to taste and cook the chayote until it turns bright green, about 5 minutes. Remove and immerse the chayote in an ice bath. Remove the core, and slice lengthwise.
In the same boiling water cook the green beans al dente. Remove and immerse in an ice bath.
Season the shrimp with salt; heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and sauté the shrimp until done.
Garnish the mole amarillo with rajas de chile con limón and serve with white rice and warm corn tortillas.
By Nick Papa
I’m the editor of the Atlas Obscura trips blog. I talk to our trip leaders, travelers, and friends in the industry about how they explore the world’s wondrous places.
