The Most Spectacular Day Cooking With Zarela Martinez!

Hi foodies! Last week I had the most amazing food experience any fellow foodie could ever ask for! Mexican food god, Zarela Martinez, invited me into her home and we cooked all day. Here is what happened.

I walked in to her beautiful home which had a nice kitchen. Although I was a complete stranger to her, she immediately gave me a kiss and a hug hello and warmly welcomed me into her house. Before I get started with my story, I bet you are wondering how Zarela invited me over and how we came into contact with each other. What happened was I just emailed her and spoke to her about my love of food and she replied that she would love to cook with me sometime on a Sunday which is when she test recipes. We emailed a few times back and forth and I ended up in one of the best Mexican chefs kitchen (If you didn't know, just recently closed her restaurant, Zarela's). It is amazing how nice she was just to invite me into her home like that, which really goes to show you that anything can happen. Anyway, when I settled in, she went to get me a chefs jacket. She gave me one of her jackets from her former restaurant, Zarela's. I was so excited to start cooking. She gave me a bunch of tips and we cooked a ton of food.  Here is pretty much what we made.

1. Chorizo (Check out this recipe! http://www.zarela.com/2011/chorizo-norteno/ )
2. Pineapple Salad w/ olive oil, red wine vinegar, red onions, and cilantro
3. Pozole
4. Escabeche w/ cauliflower, turnips, carrots, jicama, jalapeno, white onion, and garlic
5. Zarela's famous rice w/ sauteed poblanos and white onions, sour cream, queso fresco, and cilantro (Check out this recipe! http://www.zarela.com/2010/creamy-rice-casserole )
6. Chicharones w/ tomatillos sauce
7. Chicharones w/ tomato, avocado, and onion
8. Brisket fried in vegetable oil 

Everything we made was incredible. While I was at Zarela's I picked up a lot of useful tips. Here are a few.

• Always cook with kosher salt
• Cook everything in stock to enrich flavor
• Put a wet  towel under a cutting board to prevent the board from moving
• Always measure cilantro dry because it retains a lot of water
• Always cut with a sharp knife

Zarela is the most amazing person. She is such a pleasure to be around and really lives life to the fullest. If you read her blog, which is incredible and really interesting, you might of seen her entry on guavas. She told me they are the little jewels of the city and that she thought you can only get these in Mexico. She said it brought her back to her childhood and she wanted me to have one. The guava she gave me was beautiful. It was sweet and had an interesting flavor. I am so grateful she gave me one.

She also let me keep the chefs jacket that I wore all day.This is an experience that I will never forget. I really hope she opens a restaurant in New York City again so you can all try her spectacular food but you can of course get recipes from her website and any three of her cookbooks which are Zarela's Veracruz, The Food And Life Of Oaxaca, and Food From My Heart. Also if you want to check out Zarela's blog check out this link, http://www.zarela.com/2011/seven-basic-rules-for-cooking-mexican-food. It was the most incredible day with Zarela and I am so glad to be able to share it with you all. To anyone out there who has a passion for something, for example if you are a foodie, your start could be an email away. Check back for a few restaurant reviews and food event updates in New York City and Long Island.   

-Mike