Valentine’s Day Menu celebrates famous Mexican Couples

Mexican Couples Celebrated at Zarela on Valentine's

(Click on one image and they all will become large enough to see)

Who are these couples and why did I choose to celebrate them this Valentine’s Day?  This little selection represents a wide variety of love affairs.  According  to legend, the majestic Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl the volcanoes visible in their splendor on a clear day from Mexico City, were star-crossed human lovers who were turned into mountains.   Popocatepetl is usually  represented as a hunky indigenous man carrying or sitting by the side of Iztaccihuatl who, because of the shape of the volcano, looks like she is lying down and is known as La Mujer Dormida.  They are frequently portrayed on calendars, postcards and all sort of touristic mementos.

Popocatepel and Iztaccihuatl from the Mexican Calendar Series

Maria Felix was arguably  the most famous Mexican actress and Agustin Lara the most famous composer,  our Cole Porter if you will, who composed hundreds of memorable  songs.  One of his most famous is Maria Bonita written for his “wife” (I learned today that Agustin though not exactly the best looking guy in town was quite a heart breaker albeit  an extremely generous one who  liked to marry his great loves and staged fake weddings with the help of actors he hired to fulfill the official roles.)  Their relationship was tempestuous.  They both went on to marry a few more times.

Poor Emperor Maximilian, archduke  of Hapsburg. often  referred to as the “archdupe” because a group of  exiled ultra-Conservatives  convinced him that he would  be welcomed with open arms  to join the fight to  replace Benito Juarez, the poor Oaxacan Indian,  who became a lawyer and then when unbelievably was elected president instituted laws to protect the poor.  Both men shared the same ideals: education, humane treatment and government representation for  individuals, and  tempering the power of the Catholic Church.  But there could only be one leader and Maximilian lost.  He was shot by a firing squad and the execution was immortalized by Eduoard Manet in several spectacular paintings.  Carlota lost her mind and spent the rest of her life in her castle at Miramar.  The rest of the stories come after the menu!

Bisque de langosta con chochoyotes
Purée of roasted tomato with lobster and masa dumplings

Crepas Rellenas de Mariscos
Thin crepes filled with shrimp, crab meat and tilapia fish.  Served with
creamy tomatillo sauce and topped with white cheddar cheese

Tamal de Pollo en Mora
Corn masa mixed with blackberries and stuffed with shredded chicken, almonds and olives

Chile Relleno de Puerco Almendrado
Poblano chile stuffed with  pork in an almond mole

Pescado con Pico de Gallo de Granada
Fish of the day grilled and topped with a pomegranate, cucumber, jalapeno salsa.

Pierna Rellena de Pollo
Boned chicken leg and thigh filled with ham, pork and beef with pimientos, pecans  and parsley braised in a thin  ancho chile sauce.

Corazon de Betabel

Ground beets with walnuts, mint, olive oil and chile serrano

The Gabilondo family

The photo on top shows them on their honeymoon.  This one is when their family was grown up and Mane was still alive. My mother, Aida, author of Mexican Family Cooking  is the one with the gardenia on the top of her head.

My maternal grandparents, Hilario and Ana Acuna de Gabilondo lived a fairytale romance until his untimely death at age 55 undoubtedly brought on by one of his famous temper tantrums .  Papa Lalito was a man to be reckoned with but  was putty in the hands of Ana Linda (beautiful Ana) as she was called.  While the children were growing up and being looked after by her mother. Mane, they lived their romance in a separate house next door! Judging by some of the advice she gave to me I know why he was so devoted to her. Unfortunately it’s not the kind of advice suited for a food/lifestyle web site.

Though I was in boarding schools during the heyday of this popular Mexican comic strip, La FamiliaBurron created in 1948 by Gabriel Vargas, I remember it well.

Dona Borola was always worried about her husband and this piece  shows her sending everyone off to find a doctor to come and cure her husband who is very sick

Frida and Diego need no explanation.  There love story is well known.

May yours be a fairytale love story too.