Oaxacan Recipe for Success by Ruth Paget
In Oaxaca: Home Cooking from the Heart of Mexico by Bricia Lopez, the family who created the Guelaguetza Restaurant in Los Angeles to serve the Oaxacan community there share some of their business secrets and many great recipes. (Pronounced “wa-ha-ca”)
Oaxaca is one Mexican state away from Central America on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. The Mexican state of Chiapas lies to the south of Oaxaca and next to Central America. The Mexican state of Guerrero lies to the north of Oaxaca and is home to the resort city of Acapulco. Oaxaca is famous for its Mesoamerican archaeological site of Monte Alban, mole sauces, and chocolate.
The Oaxacan word guelaguetza that the restaurant is named for refers to the Oaxacan custom of sharing what you have with others no matter how much or how little you have according to Lopez. (Lopez notes that families keep track of the sharing through centuries in books.)
Lopez writes that the restaurant’s owner found community through food and mezcal. His accountant told him that if he sold $300 a day, he would be profitable at year’s end. Lopez notes they made $300 the first day, $600 the next day, and $900 the day after that.
The opening day menu had four items only:
-mole negro – chile and bitter chocolate mole
-mole estofado – chile and almond mole
-tlayudas – very large Oaxacan tortillas
-tamales de mole negro – wrapped and steamed corn masa that can have shredded chicken, pork, or beef with a mole sauce
When the restaurant was reviewed by Jonathan Gold of the LA Times, business exploded. Eventually, Guelaguetza expanded to five restaurants, a money wiring service, and a newspaper.
Moles have extensive ingredient lists. I let restaurants make them. When I order them, I make sure to also order frijollas de olla as a dip to go that I eat with tortillas or with salsa at home. Sometimes I warm a large tortilla, spread the tortilla with beans, place fried eggs on top, and spoon salsa on top of that with grated Swiss cheese to make my version of huevos rancheros.
In any case, frijoles de olla are usually a good deal for your money. I order a large size and make it an appetizer for two meals. They are made with black beans, garlic, white onion, epazote (a Mexican herb), and sea salt.
Another dish I have made that resembles a recipe in Oaxaca is huevos con nopalitos (eggs with cactus). I found the cactus in Wisconsin at a Hispanic market. I used the end of a vegetable peeler to dethorn the cactues, sliced it up, and sautéed it. Then, I scrambled eggs with tomatoes and onions and added the cactus to them. The cactus tastes like a tangy calamari steak.
Tamales de mole negro are worth trying, if you can find them on restaurant menus or in Hispanic markets. Basically, these are steamed rectangles of corn masa with shredded chicken and mole negro spooned over the chicken with more masa placed on top of the chicken and mole. This rectangle of food is wrapped in banana leaves or corn husks for steaming and usually made 100 at a time.
One of my high school friend’s mom made homemade tamales and told me they freeze well and heat up nicely in the microwave. Hispanic markets like Santa Fe can probably cater these for you for a first taste. I have even seen tamales for sale at Costco.
The cookbook Oaxaca by Bricia Lopez has many great recipes and is also a good read for someone contemplating opening a Mexican restaurant or taquería.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
