In the Spirit of Halloween...

Every year it is tradition for me to go to a pumpkin patch and pick out a pumpkin to carve for Halloween. On Sunday I went to a local pumpkin patch, Brian and Kelly's Happy Holidays, located on Broadway Avenue between Rosemont and Swan to pick out the perfect pumpkin…but I also found some other goodies!

In a previous blog, I posted about chile ristras: beautiful hanging reefs made of dried chiles that are a popular decorative item in Mexican tradition.

The chiles here come from Hatch, New Mexico – the “Chile Capital of the World”.

Hatch is a little over an hour away from Mexico. People in Hatch take their chiles quit seriously. When growing the popular chiles, the land is prepared and planted around spring time. In this picture time line, you can see the growth cycle of a chile.


Hatch always has chile festivals and contests and on Sept. 5 and 6, 2009, they will have their big Hatch Valley Chile Festival.

I find chile ristras to be a very interesting aspect of Mexican culture, as well as the process and cycle chiles go through in order to be used.

Chile ristras come in all shapes and sizes, from small reefs to long strands.


Prices for the chile ristras at the pumpkin patch range from $10.00 to $40.00 for the small peppers and large peppers.

Although pumpkin patches are a staple of American culture, it was easy to see the Hispanic influence all around this pumpkin patch. Red chile ristras were hanging everywhere; the colors are so vibrant and loud, it is worth going even if you’ve already carved your pumpkins!


Chile Pepper Facts:
1.A fresh medium-sized green child pod contains the amount of Vitamin C from 6
oranges
2.Trying to lose weight? Hot chile peppers burn calories by activation a
thermodynamic burn in the body. This speeds up the metabolism.
3.Feeling sick? Chile peppers are in teas and lozenges for treatment of a sore
throat.
4.Oleorsin, the color that comes from the red chile pepper pods, is in items like
lipstick to processed meat.
5.There are 26 known species of chile pepper.



Check out this article, with pictures and video, on Hatch, New Mexico.

The world’s BIGGEST chile ristra?



Want to cook with chiles? Learn how to make Chile Rellenos...

El Tiradito: More legends, Part Dos

Last week I went on an adventure to find a true part of historic Tucson. Located in the Barrio Viejo, is a very sacred place in which some will tell you has special powers. Some will even tell you it produces miracles.


This place is called El Tiradito, or, The Castaway, or The Fallen One.

In my blog last week, I described one of the most popular legends behind this Tucson landmark. This week, my investigating took me a bit farther.

What I find to be most interesting about this Wishing Shrine is that not many people know about it. It is typically local Tucsonans who have lived here most of their lives who come to pray at this shrine daily. There are even some locals who fought back in 1971 to keep El Tiradito alive.

Carol Cribbet-Bell, president of La Pilita Association, gave me some wonderful information on El Tiradito.

She told me that in 1971, the City of Tucson was planning to build a new expressway called The Butterfield Express. If it were to be built, it would cut through major historic neighborhoods in Tucson including Armory Park, El Hoyo and Barrio Viejo.


It was assumed that nothing could be done to save El Tiradito, but somehow local residents, La Placita Committee and Los Tucsonenses worked hard to stop the federal funding and save the shrine. Cribbet-Bell said El Tiradito is truly a place of miracles, and this being the most wonderful miracle of all: saving El Tiradito.

As I have mentioned before, there are several legends regarding the creation of El Tiradito. Last week, I talked about Juan Oliveras. He fell in love with his mother-in-law and soon after was killed by his father-in-law after discovering the affair. This legend is by far the most accepted story according to Cribbet-Bell.

However, I found another legend that people tell when describing El Tiradito. According to La Pilita Association and their brochure on El Tiradito (and it is a bit bloody):


“The wedding of a young Mexican couple was about to begin in the home of the bride’s mother near the banks of the Rio Santa Cruz. Suddenly, a rejected suitor of the bride appeared, uninvited, drunk, crazed with jealousy and brandishing a knife. With an evil laugh he announced that there would be no wedding. Then he grabbed the bride.

The groom leapt to her defense and a violent and angry struggle was finally broken up by the guests, just as a neighbor arrived to carry the blood-stained body of the town’s only priest who was to have performed the ceremony.

On the dusty street nearby, where the priest had died of his stab wounds, the old people began burning candles, a practice that has been carried on these many years.”

Not your typical shrine…

In Tucson’s Barrio Viejo, you will find El Tiradito, located at 420 S. Main Ave. between Cushing and Simpson.

I have heard so much about this unusual shrine that I wanted to see it myself. After some driving around downtown Tucson, I finally found what I was looking for. The shrine is tucked away from the street, adding to its sacredness.

There is an old black brick wall where the shrine is, evidence of the remains of a house. There are tall votive candles, pictures, small objects and flowers at the shrine. Some of the votive candles are still burning. Supposedly it is the only shrine in American dedicated to a sinner.

What is the story of El Tiradito? There are several versions of the story, but the one I most frequently hear goes like this:

Juan Oliveras was a Mexcian shepherd in the 1800’s who fell in love with his mother-in-law. His father-in-law discovered the two were having an affair and after some struggle, killed Oliveras. In the eyes of the church, Oliveras was a sinner and could not be buried on consecrated ground at the local Roman Catholic Church’s cemetery.

As legend goes, he is supposedly buried under the front porch of his house, hence the old brick wall. He is believed to still be buried there under the candles and wax. After time, many women came and prayed for his soul. To this day, people still come and pray. They bring candles and flowers; anything they can find to contribute to the shrine.

It is said if you bring a tall votive candle and pray, your prayer will come true if the candle burns through the next morning.

Even if you are not religious, it is worth your time to check out El Tiradito…and maybe even light the candles that have been blown out.





If you want to make your own votive candle to take to the shrine, check out this video:

Salsa Music, Part Dos

Señor Q y Su Nuevo Son started out as a quartet two years ago, playing at Cushing Street Bar and Restaurant.

Most people would say they play salsa music, but they would disagree with you…slightly.

Señor Q’s style of music is a version of salsa called “son”.

According to guitarist and music director, Manny Brito, “’Son’ is the root of salsa; it comes from the old generations of the thirties and forties”.

Señor Q started their group on the basis of friendship. The 8-man-band knew each other well before they started playing together and eventually decided they were good enough to make music. I have been following them for a few days now, learning about the roots of their music, all while listening to their own style of salsa.

I attended the Tucson Sunday Salsa Social again this past Sunday and instead of focusing on the dancing, I took in the music. In an earlier interview, Manny gave me some insight into salsa dancing. As a person who plays music for the salsa dancers, he explained to me why it is so hard to get people involved in salsa dancing and salsa music as a whole.

“The general public doesn’t know the difference between son and salsa,” he said. “It is hard to get people to come to events because of that intimidation factor with dance.”

Oh that intimidation factor…I know all about that! A couple blogs ago I mentioned how I was pulled out onto the dance floor to learn the basics of salsa. I was completely mortified until I actually began feeling the music and moving my body with the beat.


On Sunday I was watching Señor Q set up their instruments and next to them, salsa dance instructor, Gerardo Armendariz, was giving people salsa lessons. At first, I noticed how stiff the dancers were. I could tell some people felt extremely uncomfortable with the movement of their body. However, after about 20 minutes and a few plays of salsa music, everyone (and I mean everyone) began to feel the beat. By the end of the lesson, everyone people were twisting and twirling, and even dipping.

Like Manny said about newcomers, “Once you introduce them and once they do it, they become repeat offenders.”

I can personally tell you the beat of salsa music is very hard to ignore.

Check out a bit of Senor Q's performace...

Tortas!

Have you ever noticed those street vendors selling food around Tucson? You’ve always wanted to stop but you’re either too busy on your way somewhere, or by the time you realized, you’re too far away to turn around. “Next time,” you think, but the “next time” turns into 6 months down the road when you’ve finally forgotten about it!

This time I was determined to stop. I was driving down Broadway when I saw Let’s Go! Tortas. I’ve always noticed this stand, but like many of us, have never stopped. It usually looks busy and this day I seemed to have beaten the lunch crowd.


Let’s Go! Tortas is located on East Broadway Blvd. between Cherry and Vine next to Axis Food Mart. It is a large orange cart on wheels with an overhang and benches for people to sit on while they enjoy their food. Their specialty food item is none other than a torta: a Mexican twist on an American sandwich.

A little background: a Torta is served on a 6 to 8 in firm and crusty white sandwich roll, called a bolillo or telera. They can be served hot or cold.

Like manager Abel Jaime said, “A Torta is a Mexican style sandwich”.


Jaime also said that Let’s Go! Tortas was established about a year ago. Their busiest time of day is lunch and their most popular Torta is the “Torta Cubana”, a Cuban-style sandwich.

Beside the Torta Cubana, you can also order the Torta Pierna (pork leg), Jamόn (ham), Pollo (chicken), Milanesa (breaded steak), Carne Asada (marinated steak), Fish, Hawaiian, Cubana, Loca and Mixta.

One of the newest items is the Torta Let’s Go. This is a sandwich filled with puerco (pig), carne de res asada al carbón (steak), carne de puerco adobado (marinated pig), jamόn (ham), tocino (bacon), cebolla fresco y asada (fresh and roasted onion), lechuga (lettuce), rajas de chile poblano (poblano chile), tomate (tomato) y aguacate (avocado).


I ordered the Torta Mixta which includes puerco, carne de res al carbón, cebolla fresco y asada, lechuga, rajas de chile poblano, tomate y aguacate. It also came with a side of french fries…DELICIOSO! I was expecting the sandwich to be greasy like fast food, but instead it was extremely fresh and had an extra kick of spice.


In case you’re not in the mood for tortas, there are tacos and the hot dog estilo sonora - the Mexican style hot dog (more on this to come…)

There is a Spanish menu and English menu so if your Spanish is rusty…don’t fret!


Each torta is sold for a reasonable price at $4.50 and $4.75 and the signature Torta Let’s Go is priced at $5.50.

Want to make your own torta? Try this recipe!

Time to get "Loco"

In my search to find something new and different in Tucson, I came across Old Town Artisans, located in El Presidio Historic District at 201 N. Court Ave. Inside the 150-year-old adobe building is a restaurant and six different shops and galleries: La Cocina Restaurant & Cantina, Old Town Pot Shop, Dawn Stewart, El Presidio Gallery, La Zia, Tolteca Tlacuilo and El Chile Loco.

I feel in love with El Chile Loco.

It is a small little corner shop, about as big as your average closet, but the vibrant colors and hanging Chiles catch your eye immediately. As I walked over to the store, I could smell the aroma of the Chiles. El Chile Loco is known for their hanging Chile reefs, or, Chile Ristras. The Chiles for these ristras are hand-picked by a family who then assembles them into a colorful bundle.

What are Chile Ristras you ask?

The tradition of hanging ristras started many years ago for the simple fact of preserving the Chile as a food item. People dried Chiles in order to save them after the growing season. Chile pods would be placed outside to sun-dry and then they would be stringed together (the Spanish word for “string” is ristra, hence the phrase, chile ristra). Sometimes people spray the bundle with varnish in order to preserve them longer, but untouched ristras can last up to two years and still be edible. Today, the ristras are used as home decorations.
For more information on Chile Ristras, go here!:
http://abqstyle.com/albuquerque_chile_ristras.htm

El Chile Loco also includes something else edible: award-winning salsas.


Salsa Timoteo comes straight from Glendale, Arizona where Timoteo, his wife and kids live. There, they produce salsas that have won over 33 awards and trophies.

They have won 24 trophies in the local Southwest Salsa Challenge, and at the National level, they have won trophies at the Fiery Food Challenge for Chile Pepper Magazine, The Scovie Awards in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Americas Best Food Show in Anaheim, California.


They produce 5 types of salsa including, “Not So Hot”, “Hot”, “Kinda Hot”, “Ultra Hot”, and “Salsa Verde”, as well as a taco sauce; each sell for $8.75 (except the Salsa Verde, for $8.95).


I suggest you grab a jar today because as El Chile Loco says, “we’ve tasted them all and if it’s not good, we don’t sell it!”

Make sure you also check out Chile Fest ’08, sponsored by El Chile Loco. This “Ristra Madness” will be held at the Old Town Artisans Courtyard from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., September 27th and 28th. There will be live music from Mexican harpist Francisco Gonzalez, food vendors including Real Tortilleria and Panaderia, salsa tastings including a brand new fruit salsa from Salsa Timoteo, fresh Hatch green chilies and Chile roasting.

Spicy Salsa Sundays

I am no dance machine but every once in a while I feel the need to get my groove on.

My weekend was particularly slow so I decided to spice it up and expose myself to something new. Then I thought of a dance that is vibrant, electric, sensual and rhythmic all-in-one: Salsa dancing!

After some investigating online I came across tucsonsalsa.com. This is a fabulous website that lists everything you need to know about Salsa dancing, such as places to go and different Salsa events happening around Tucson.

Then I discovered an event called Tucson's Sunday Salsa Social. This is a salsa event held at The Arizona Ballroom Comany, located at 5536 E. Grant Rd., every Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m. The first hour is solely dedicated to Salsa lessons. Anyone who is interested in learning how to conquer this dance can come at 5 p.m. and receive an hour of dance lessons starting with the basics. After 6 p.m., the floor becomes open dance and a Latin band plays music for the dancers to groove to. There is an $8 entrance fee and children 12 and under get in for free.

Unfortunately I was stuck in Phoenix this past weekend so I did not get to the social until 7:30 p.m. When I got there I could not believe how much dancing was going on! There were probably around 25 couples scattered on the spacious dance floor. At the front of the crowd was a band called Señor Q playing live music.

After standing in the corner for all of five minutes by myself, I was greeted by Mike Maliner, a Salsa instructor. He’s only been in Tucson for five years, but is an avid Salsa dancer. He told me he learned his Puerto-Rican techniques at the Copacabana in New York. He also became my personal Salsa instructor… but we’ll get into that later.

Then I ran into Gerardo Armendariz and his wife Lupita, the hosts of Tucson’s Sunday Salsa Social. They welcomed me with smiling faces and bubbly personalities. Not meeting these people before, I could already feel the passion oozing out of them. They are serious lovers of Salsa and want to share their love with everyone around them.

Gerardo, originally from Sonora, Mexico, came to the University of Arizona nine years ago. He and his wife founded Ritmos Latinos, U of A’s salsa dancing club. They also teach choreography and dance lessons.

The couple decided they wanted to expose and promote Salsa dancing in Tucson while creating a friendly and inviting atmosphere.

“We wanted to push more for a family atmosphere here in Tucson. Most of the Salsa clubs around are only for 21-year-old people and older. So we target a group of people that can’t go to these places,” Armendariz told me.

I also ran into a fellow Wildcat who loves Salsa.

His name is John Calvo. Even though he is 21 and can get into local Tucson Salsa clubs, he still enjoys coming to the socials.

“I started out dancing Swing and Hip-Hop and then I got involved in Salsa, and I love it!” he said.

After talking to John, Mr. Maliner found me again and told me that if I wanted to report on Salsa dancing, I needed to first-hand experience it.

At first I laughed it off and told him I’d be better off on the sidelines, but he persisted and pulled me on the dance floor. Fifteen minutes later, I knew the basics of Salsa and now I am craving more!

If any of you feel tempted by the Salsa experience, I highly suggest you spend your next Sunday night at the Salsa social, and do not be surprised if you see me there twirling and twisting to Grupo Señor Q. Even if your feet are like concrete and you have no dancing skills, Gerardo assured me it is a simple and fun dance for anyone to learn. Come as a couple or come by yourself, either way you will be greeted with smiling faces, loud music, delicious food and a dance floor with endless possibilities.

Make sure you check out other Salsa clubs such as El Parador Restaurant and Monsoon Nightclub at Desert Diamond Casino.

***Check out this introductory video to Salsa dancing I found on youtube***