Sorry for our absences here and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, et al. I've been in Mexico mostly, first with our annual tour and workshops at the hacienda in Hidalgo (much more on this later) and then home for a few brief days before heading back and hitting the road. I was lucky enough to visit Xochistalahuaca in the state of Guerrero, where our stoneground chocolate is made. We then made our way to Oaxaca and explored the beaches and clay pot makers along the coast until we hit Tehuantepec. Did I ever mention how much fun Mexico is? I think...

In April of 2011 I made my way down to the Yucatan with my friends Yunuen and Gabriel. The goal was to eat well, relax, get a tan and drink beer on the beach but inevitably we were drawn to the mercados and eventually to the salt marshes. The locals have been collecting the salt in the same way for generations. There were a few collectives in different parts of the coast but we found a group of women who seemed to do the best job and we've now imported salt from them. I asked Yunuen if you were supposed...

I awoke this morning to a text from my friends in Mexico. Normally this would mean that U.S. Customs wasn't sure what a garbanzo bean was and we need to send documentation or maybe it would be a warning that some obscure saint was having his day and the village where the beans are from was celebrating, delaying a shipment. But today's text was about a delivery. My friends Yunuen and Gabriel had a baby girl! And I'm to be the godfather. At first when she told me she was preggers, she said, "And you are going to be the...

My last trip to Oaxaca was mostly spent in the car, driving to markets and to meet potential farmers. It was very productive and it's always a pleasure for me to be in Mexico but after all the driving and heat, it seemed like a little pit stop at the beach was in order. Right in the middle of our map was Puerto Escondido. It's a lovely place with a more tasteful "international" gringo side (Playa Zicatela) with restaurants serving things like "handmade whole wheat lasagna" and smoothies. There are a few taco stands and I think the cafe/restaurant, El...

After the tour of the bean and corn fields, it was time to eat! Lupe shows off the masa made from blue corn. These tasted as good as they look. Note this clever contraption that allows you to heat the tortillas over a wood fire. Many of us tried our hands at making tortillas. Many of us should keep our day jobs. Time to unveil the barbacoa. The pit contains lamb that's been roasting away for hours, covered by maguey leaves. The consume. Searingly hot salsa The best taco ever. The pancita. As the farmers told me how much hope...

As part of our tour, I think one of the unexpected highlights was visiting the bean farmers in Hidalgo. They grow our Moro and Ayocote Morado beans and they were a little overwhelmed with our large group, traveling so far to meet them and see how they grow the beans using such traditional techniques. Everyone in our group was interested in food production and some of us are in the business. Seeing these guys working the horse and plow for real, not just for the "cutes", was amazing. This is a shot of me with Yunuen and Gabriel (from Xoxoc)...

Bean farmer Roberto demonstrates one way of making a nice crunchy tostada without deep frying. Lupe offers a platter of taquitos. The salsas she served with them were out of this world. My favorite Huastecan band, Trio Renovacion. These guys are incredible and they're the foundation of the collective that sends us their Oregano Indio. They swing hard and at moments it's not unlike Western Swing or Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. All three had great voices and they played for us through dinner, through our bonfire and even after. I'm working on getting their CD for sale via...

I don't think you can take too many classes on tamal making. Each teacher has a slightly different trick or technique and it's always fun to get together and make them. ' After a very full day, the guests on the tour made their way to the tamal workshop. It's always odd that so many of us think nothing of making fresh pasta, or pad thai and yet these key Mexican techniques are so foreign to us and we share a border. I aim to fix that. A good tamal is thing of beauty and worthy of your attention! Tamal...

I always chant that the foundation of Mexican cuisine is chiles, beans and corn. Restaurants that don't specialize in these things may have some nice dishes or a hip bar, but they're missing the essence of Mexican cooking. There are shortcuts and there are the traditional methods that are simply superior. As part of the tour of the hacienda grounds, we made our way to a neighbor's cornfield (milpa) and then Gabirel and Antonio had everyone harvesting ears of field corn. Believe me, the not so subtle irony of gringos being supervised in an agriculture setting by Mexicans was not...

I just spent an amazing few days with some of my wonderful Rancho Gordo customers from the US in Hidalgo. It was a pipe dream a few months ago but we pulled it off. We were hosted by my business partners from Xoxoc and psent most of the time in their ex-hacienda. The food and drink were incredible but the chance to meet some of our bean growers, their families and see how much they love what they do and their appreciation for our support was pretty moving. I'm so tired I'm almost goofy but I'm filled with recent memories...

Our trip to Mexico, Noche Mexicana, is really happening. It's sold out but I think we may have to do it again one day. In the meantime, here are some shots of the ex-hacienda Sam Jose el Marquez.

On Saturday, I had a big, boozy fiesta at the Fonda del Recuerdo in Mexico City. The food and ambience are from Veracruz and both are great. After a huge plate of appetizers, we had a lot of music and some pretty lethal drinks. I was feeling no pain and helping the musicians express themselves. I'm glad there is no recorded proof. Yes, these musicians are mariachis, more appropriate to Jalisco than Veracruz, but there was something like a Battle of the Bands and on the opposite side of the room was the more typical Jarocho music. I love it...