My Mother-in-law’s Secret Recipes
G Brady
 Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico, Jenuary 19th 2008.- My dear sweet mother- in-law, La Suegrita, has raised eight healthy children, cooking for them on a daily basis, until now they are well into their thirties, with no end in sight. She is an expert practitioner of the traditional Jalisco school of vittles. I am constantly amazed at the variety of elaborate, time consuming, labor- intensive, delicious, nutritious, and, above all, thrifty dishes she turns out on a daily basis. So when Hector and Sandra gave me the opportunity to launch a new column, I thought: how about cashing in on this treasure trove of lore! La Suegrita graciously yielded to my pleas and has, perhaps a bit reluctantly, consented to reveal some of her secrets.
My first suggestion was: duck pozole. You haven’t lived until you have tried my mother- in- law’s duck pozole. So I made an appointment for ten or eleven last Sunday morning, when we all gather at her nearby house for menudo (future recipe number three, I promise!), with the intention of interviewing her and coaxing her into revealing the ingredients and so forth. Well, as is often the case, my plan did not happen. Strolling down the lane I spied La Suegrita walking hand in hand with my darling daughter, who is suffering greatly from the ongoing “cold spell”. They were on their way in search of “petroleo” for her respiratory ailment. So, instead of duck pozole, we present the following cough remedy (which I must admit undeniably alleviated her bronchial suffering, where commercial cough syrups had failed; believe it or not!)
Homemade Throat Lozenge Ranchero
Step 1: Rinse out a small jam jar and take it down to the nice neighbor lady who sells “petroleo” and fill it up for a few pesos. I am not sure what “petroleo” is exactly, and attempts to translate the word were unsuccessful It looks and smells like a mixture of kerosene and gasoline, though I was assured it is neither. It is not highly flammable, as step 5 will show.
Step 2: Clean and dry a stainless steel bowl, place on tile floor. Add half cup or so of sun dried sugar.
Step 3: Find a clean paper bag, start tearing off strips, twisting them into little torches and lighting them repeatedly over a candle.
Step 4: Using a stainless steel tablespoon, delicately sprinkle a few drops of petroleo into the pile off sugar, stirring rapidly while jabbing the flaming paper strip into the mixture.
Step 5: Patience! Repeat step 4 over and over for 20 or 30 minutes.
Step 6: When eventually the stubborn mush begins to burn with a flame that is blue on the bottom and yellow on top, and the kitchen is filled with the aroma of cotton candy, you’re on the right track. Keep stirring and jabbing!
Step 7: As the beige sugar crystal suddenly start melting into a dark brown sludge, keep stirring until there is nothing left but a big sweet blob of melted goo with bits of ash stuck in it.
Step 8: Pour the hot caramel tar onto two clean sheets of paper. Allow to cool until crunchy. Break off little pieces and let them slowly melt in your mouth. Presto! You’re throat feels better!
Next edition: duck pozole.
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