Gypsy Jan - 12-29-2005 at 08:08 PM
Does anyone know the history of these holiday traditions in Mexico?
I've seen stacks of fresh sugar cane and piles of salted cod in the markets during the Christmas and New Year season.
What part do they play in the holiday celebration for Mexican families?
Roberto - 12-29-2005 at 10:46 PM
I don't know the history, but I can tell you that salted cod (baccala') is a traditional Christmas dish in Italy, where I am from, as well as other
latin countries.
bajalera - 12-31-2005 at 10:39 AM
There's a whole chapter on bacalao [salted cod] in Luis Marcet's cookbook, "Los mejores platillos de la cocina espanola y como realizarlos en Mexico,"
with more than 30 recipes [one for cooking it with honey].
Marcet says bacalao is a traditional Christmas Eve dish in the Basque country of northern Spain, and that people argue about whether tomatoes--an
addition from the New World--ought to be included. [He omits them from his "authentic" recipe, but does include chiles.]
Cod is a cold-water fish, and La Paz fishermen say that what they provide as bacalao is salted shark, not cod. I don't know if this is also true for
the east coast of Mexico.