mexirish...nz

Last night we attended the first night of the Hola Mexico Film Festival in Wellington.  The first movie of the season was Arráncame la vida (Tear This Heart Out) , the story of a woman who marries a Mexican General in the years following the Mexican Revolution of 1910 .   I found it to be a real genre breaker as far as Mexican cinema goes.  Over the years, we've seen several Mexican movies, and the general theme seems to be heart breaking tragedy, and rarely a happy ending.  This one was different however.  Although tragedy played a huge part in the story (I don't want to give anything away, but don't get too attached to the Carlos character.  He doesn't last long..), the ending seems quite uplifting.  Well, comparatively at least. The story starts when the protagonist is 15 years old, and being whirlwinded into a marriage with a famous (or infamous) general, twice her age.  It tracks her sexual awakening as a teenager, through to her...

Well, I experienced my first Mexican Posada on Saturday night.  I have to admit, I was a little trepidatious before it.  As you may know, I have little time for all thing religious.  It just gets under my skin, and makes me feel like my brain is being sucked out.  Don't get me wrong : I have a lot of respect for the kind of person who can, in the face of mountains of contradictory evidence, still insist on believeing the various tenents of any of the world's religions.  I mean : talking snakes? Jeeeeze... Anyway, I digress.  I was very nervous about people coming into my house to take part in what is, after all, a religious cermony. I really needn't have been.  As I might have guessed, most people where only really interested in the food, the drink, the dancing and the piñata.  Yes, there was the part where they ceremoniously re-enact the nativity.  But it was actually very pleasant. This is where some of the the people go outs...

We worked long into the night finishing the Piñatas and the tamales for the posada party. Our good friends Tom and Alfa came round, and helped us - then (finally - after getting a bit lost) Michaela arrived to lend a hand too.  The 5 of us worked hard - mixing the dough, making the mole & salsa roja, constructing the tamales and finally getting them cooked.  But even after everytone left, Jacqui and I stayed up, finishing the tamales and putting finishing touches to the Piñatas.  While waiting for the tamales to finish, I also made several batches of Fairy Cakes (or cup cakes - same thing I reckon).   Hard work, but absolutely worth it. Here's some photos of the preparation.  I'll do another post after this one with some images from the posada proper. The Piñata; complete. Isn't it beautiful? Tom getting his hands messy - making the tamale goo (thanks tom!)   Mole - delicious chocolate & chilli sauce.  Goes in the tamale...

My da (hi da!) has pointed out that the reason our First Conchas Attempt didn't work out so well might have been because : ...the yeast didn't get fed enough or long enough & the paste was  overworked.   This is usually the reason for hard bread etc.   Well, that's interesting.  We've managed to improve our conchas quite a bit, but the actual reason has always been something of a hit & miss mystery.  I'm going to make 'em again in a few weeks, I'll bear dad's advice in mind when I do.

Turns out Conchas made properly are fan- bloody - tastic . The extra kneading takes it's toll on your fingers and hands, but the final result makes up for it. I guess this is true for all bread recipes, but it's cool to realise the fact through results. They turned out rounded, plump and were sweet and tasty. The sweet bread reminds me a little of a French Brioche, but the topping makes it less poncy. They contains lots of eggs and butter, so I guess this is why they taste so good. So we brought the second attempt to our Mexican friends for them to try, and the were very impressed, so I reckon that's pretty cool. I'm making some more tonight. I'll not bother posting any more about this mind you. I think you get the idea.