Traditional Mexican Cooking Pots and Utensils
You might have been lucky enough to try real authentic Mexican food and, if so, perhaps some traditional Mexican pots or utensils were used in its preparation. Mexicans use different cooking methods, such as baking, deep-frying and slow roasting and they have pots and pans for these purposes. They also use a lot of fresh produce, including herbs and spices, so any Mexican kitchen will have plenty of sharp knives and a mortar and pestle.
Authentic Mexican Cooking Pots
Ollas or Barros are big, deep clay cooking pots, which are great for simmering soup, stew or beans. Barro means mud or clay and olla means pot. Clay is a good medium because it heats evenly and is fine to sit over a direct flame all day. The even heating means you can avoid burnt spots in whatever you are cooking.
You do need to warm clay before using it else; it might crack if you suddenly expose it to a high heat. If you are baking, you can let the pot warm up as the oven does. Your Mexican food will have a subtle earthy taste if you cook it in a clay pot.
Comals are used in Mexican cookery and these are big, round griddles made from cast iron, clay, or aluminum. Modern ones normally have a non-stick finish and they are used to roast chilies and warm tortillas.
A cazuela is used for simmering mole and other sauces. This is a large, round clay dish, which is between five and seven inches deep. The outside might be painted in bright colors and the inside is glazed. A cazuela has handles so you can put it over an open fire.
A tortillero is a Mexican tortilla press with two wooden discs or round plates. You put a ball of masa between the plates and press down to make a tortilla. These machines used to be wooden but are normally cast iron now. You can get cheap aluminum ones too but these break easily.
Handy Mexican Cooking Utensils
A metate y mano is a well-known Mexican implement. It is platter sized, usually made of rock or stone and is a bit concave and sits on three legs. There is a big round stone, which is rolled on the surface to mix or grind ingredients.
A molcajete y tejolote is a mortar and pestle, which consists of a small stone, clay, or wooden bowl with an elongated cylinder or the same material, rounded on both ends. The end of the cylinder is used in a circular motion to grind the item in the bowl, to pulverize it.
The Mexicans love hot chocolate and they use a wooden whisk called a molinillo to make the top frothy. The molinillo is spun between the hands and some are plain but others are highly decorated. The molinillo is a small yet fascinating part of Mexican food culture. You can make Mexican food without having the equipment but using it can be fun and it looks good displayed in the kitchen.
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