The food of a people reflects its environment, its way of life. Here's a little look ...
The territory that the Spanish colonizers occupied and that today is known as Durango is a harsh and rugged territory with extreme climates between hot and cold. The first settlers were semi-nomadic indigenous: acaxas, xixenes, tepehuanos and zacatecos, who subsisted on hunting and gathering nopales, organs, mesquite and some herbs. Later they began to cultivate corn, beans and chili. In view of the shortage of ingredients the kitchen was very incipient. The settlers who settled were mainly miners, soldiers and cowboys, for the same reason there were few women in the communities and food was usually cooked by men. Thus, out of necessity, the technique of drying food began, since they took advantage of the short harvest seasons and then dried them, generally in the sun, since this guaranteed the existence of food for the cold season or to face droughts.
Although today circumstances have changed and food can be found at all times, the flavors of yesteryear are still ingrained in the palate of Durango people, as is the case of the past chili (large green and hot chili peppers, sun-dried, roasted and peeled) , dried meat, pinole and marinated meat.
Currently, tobacco, sweet potato, corn, chili, beans and squash are produced, among others, as well as a great variety of fruit trees such as apple, pomegranate, peach, apricot and quince. Pigs and cattle and sheep are also raised, which is why rich cheeses are made.
Some of the typically Durangueño dishes are the fresh or dried meat caldillo with past chili and tornachiles, the patoles (white beans stewed with chorizo), the peanut enchiladas, the panochas (flour tortillas), the cartas, the quince jellies and perón, atoles, sweet potato and pumpkin with piloncillo honey.
As can be seen, in our days there is nothing lacking to delight the palate of both Duranguenses themselves and that of their visitors, who are invited to return.
Durangueño soup
(For 10 people)
Ingredients
- 500 grams of tomato
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 medium onion
- 4 tablespoons of corn oil
- 12 chili peppers hydrated in water and crushed
- 4 poblano peppers roasted, peeled, deveined and sliced
- 1 kilo of beef fillet cut into squares
- 3 tablespoons corn oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 liters of beef broth (can be made with powdered beef broth)
Preparation
The tomato is ground together with the garlic and onion and strained. In a saucepan, heat the oil, add the ground, salt and pepper, and fry until the tomato is very well seasoned; then the passed chiles and poblano peppers are added. The fillet is fried in the oil until golden brown and added to the sauce; it is left to taste for one or two minutes and then the broth is added. Let it simmer for a few minutes and serve hot.
Note: It can also be made with dried meat instead of steak.
Easy recipe
The same steps of the previous recipe are followed, but instead of frying the tomato, it is replaced by a package of spiced fried tomato and the spent chiles can be substituted, although the flavor is somewhat different, for ½ cup of chili sauce corridor.
