Article by KC Kudra
Perhaps you have eaten Mexican food in a top quality Mexican restaurant or even in a Mexican home. If you have, maybe some authentic Mexican cookware or utensils were used to make the dishes. Mexicans use a range of different cooking methods, including baking, slow roasting and deep-frying and they have unique pots and pans for these methods. Mexicans like to use plenty of fresh produce in their cuisine, including spices and herbs, so you will find sharp knives and a mortar and pestle in any Mexican kitchen.
Traditional Mexican Cooking Pots
Ollas or Barros are big, deep clay cooking pots, which are great for simmering soup, stew or beans. Barro means mud or clay and olla means pot. Clay is a good medium because it heats evenly and is fine to sit over a direct flame all day. The even heating means you can avoid burnt spots in whatever you are cooking.
Clay can be sensitive to temperature changes so you need to warm it gently before using it to prevent it from cracking. One excellent reason for cooking in clay pots is that it gives the food a slightly earthy flavor.
Comals are used in Mexican cookery and these are big, round griddles made from cast iron, clay, or aluminum. Modern ones normally have a non-stick finish and they are used to roast chilies and warm tortillas.
A cazuela is a big clay dish for simmering sauces like mole. A cazuela is about six inches deep and round like a bowl. These Mexican pottery dishes usually have handles so you can place it over an open fire without burning yourself and the outside might be brightly painted. The inside of a cazuela is glazed.
An authentic Mexican tortilla press is called a tortillero. These used to be made from wood but are often made from cast iron now. Some tortilleros are made from aluminum but these often break. There are two round plates or wooden discs in a tortillero and a ball of masa is placed between them to make a tortilla.
Useful Mexican Utensils
A metate y mano is found in most Mexican kitchens and this is a platter sized, concave dish made from stone. It sits on three short legs on the table or three long legs so you can pull a chair up to it. There is a large, round stone, which you roll on the surface to grind or mix your ingredients.
A Mexican mortar and pestle is called a molcajete y tejolote and this is a small clay, wood or stone bowl with a long cylinder made of the same material. The cylinder is rounded on each end and you use it to pulverize the ingredients in the bowl by rolling the cylinder in a circular motion.
Hot chocolate is a popular Mexican drink and a wooden whisk called a molinillo is used to make froth on the top. You spin the molinillo between your hands to do this. Some are plain and others are highly decorated. The molinillo is a small but significant part of the exciting world of Mexican food customs. Even though it is possible to make delicious Mexican recipes without the proper equipment, it is more fun to use it. Mexican pots and tools look great displayed in the kitchen as well.
Not having authentic Mexican pots, pans and cooking utensils is no excuse not to make Mexican food! If you need some recipe inspiration, there is plenty to choose from at http://www.MexicanFoodRecipes.org and you will also find more articles on Mexican cookery and the fascinating history of Mexican food culture