The Essential Reference for Mexican Candied Fruits (and much else)
This gloriously decorated slab of milk fudge called jamoncillo gives a hint of the glory of Mexican confectionary.
Yesterday on Facebook, José Luis Curiel commented on my post on Mexican candied fruits. So I thought it was time to revise a post from a year or so ago, because José Luis is THE expert on the making of traditional Mexican confectionary.
About a year ago he published La Dulcería Mexicana Historia, Ciencia y Tecnología (Mexican Confectionary: History, Science and Technology) (Mexico City: Limusa).
In it he drew on a lifetime of experience: training as a chemical engineer; a specialty in food science and technology; time working with both Mexican and American candy companies; the foundation of one of Mexico’s premier culinary programs in Mexico, the degree in Gastronomy at the University of the Claustro of Sor Juana; and several books and lots of articles on Mexico’s culinary history.
At its presentation in a packed room overlooking the cloisters of the old convent that houses the university, the audience told stories and sang songs about the sweets that had played such an important role in their lives, testimony to the very living tradition of Mexican sweets.
In José Luis’s book you will find:
a brief history of confectionary in Mexico from the convents sweets that were already specialised according to the convent by the end of the sixteenth century
a description of the science and technology of Mexican (and other) sweet making: sugar chemistry, acids and enzymes, colors and flavors, lipids, water, hydrocolloids, and milk sweets
sample historical recipes from this sweet making tradition beginning with the 13th century Baghdad cookbook, continuing through medieval and early modern Spanish texts, and then modern Mexico
detailed instructions for dozens of Mexican sweets, including nut brittles, milk cajetas, fruit cajetas, fruit pastes and rolls, chilied tamarind, alegrias, charamuscas, cocadas, alfajores, and candied fruits.
Tomorrow I’ll pass on his careful analysis the different kinds of sugared fruit and how you actually do make them.
I’ll need to get this book on my next trip. Does he mention Queso de Tuna? I thought it was just a reduction of tunas but apparently there’s a kneading or whipping stage before it’s molded and I’m curious.
Hi Steve. No nothing on queso de tuna (though lots on the related fruit ates and cubiertas). I’d not heard about the manipulation. I’ll ask around.