Dear Tere:

Your favorite espresso will work beautifully in the chocoflan. We use espresso from our restaurant. Just keep in mind that regular, finely ground works best. 

San Miguel and the Guanajuato region are not as well known for their cuisine as Oaxaca, Veracruz or Mexico City-- but there is still tons to be found.  The street food is always delicious. I like Dona Mecha's gorditas on Insurgentes,and the all-night tacos on Mesones and Insurgentes comes to mind.  I would always recommend checking out the Mercado Ignacio Ramirez, for the authentic market experience -not to mention the mouthwatering carnitas close by (Apollo XI on Mesones).

For the most part, if its great soulful cuisine your looking for, steer clear of most of the restaurants (many are geared towards passing tourists).  The one notable exception is La Posadita, on Cuna de Allende.  Beautiful view of the Parroquia and delicious food.

Most importantly. Have fun, be adventurous. Sit in the Jardin and have a fruta with limon and chile de arbol.  I mean how could you not thoroughly enjoy yourself?!

Dear Mary:

Papalo is typically eaten in simple preparations like guacamole or as an herb on sandwiches (the cemitas from Puebla are Mexico's most famous use of papalo).  A little goes a long way, as you've discovered.

It is quite easy to grow and prolific.  I've sowed it directly in the ground after any chance of frost had passed, giving it a sunny spot and plenty of water.  It did very well. 

RB

Dear Izzy:

I've always been a Maná fan, but who hasn't been one at one time or another?  A similar band, Elefante, was a favorite for a while, though these days I've gotten into Nuevo Cumbia--especially Grupo Fantasma.  Their second album is what I've been playing every day for a week.  I love Lila Downs, though I can't listen to her albums over and over.  Same goes for Ozomatli and Café Tacuba.  For those artists, I usually choose my favorites and make playlists.  I also like a lot of older Mexican music--little of it is mariachi, though--and some other Latino artists (Manuchao's most recent album is a current favorite).  I could go on and on, but that gives you a little glimpse into what I'm listening to right now.

Dear Brad:

Unless I'm using a high-speed blender like VitaMix, I ALWAYS strain red chile sauces to remove all the tough little bits of unblended skin.  Personally, I don't enjoy the texture of unstrained red chile sauces. It doesn't take a fancy strainer to do the job, however.  Medium-mesh strainers, like the ones sold in grocery stores, are perfect for the job (and easy to use).

RB

Dear Paul:

Dried pastas, especially in soups and occasionally in a pasta dish, are very common in Mexico.  So common, in fact, that every single person I know who was raised in Mexico pines for his mother's or grandmother's

sopa de fideos (vermicelli soup).  

Dear Stefan:

Glad you like the show and glasses.  They're ic! Berlin.

RB

Dear Truc Mai:

I wrote Authentic Mexican after living in Mexico for several years, and it is really a snapshot of people and places.  That book sketches Mexico's regional cuisines and sets them in both cultural and historical context.  The recipes are classic and, I have to admit, ones that I still turn to regularly after 22 years.  I wrote Mexican Kitchen after nearly a decade behind the stoves at my side-by-side restaurants Frontera Grill and Topolobampo.  I treated that book as if it were my master class in Mexican Kitchen, revealing how I thought about Mexican building blocks (salsas, sauces and condiments), how I developed dishes (both traditional and contemporary) for my restaurants menus and what I'd learned about each ingredient after so many years in the kitchen.  For everyday Mexican cooking, my book "Mexican Everyday" is your best bet.

RB

Dear Heidi:

Okay, I'm going to let you in on some of my strategies when going into a place I don't know well.  Truth is, I haven't been to Puerto Escondido in so long that I'd hesitate to give you any recommendations.  Ask any locals you come across (servers in restaurants, clerks in stores) where they'd like to go for their birthday or where they'd take their mom for a special occasion or who makes the best local tamales or shrimp in mojo de ajo.  If you just ask for a good restaurant, you'll likely get a recommendation for a touristy one.  So my trick is to find out where the locals like--especially by asking about a restaurant for a special occasion or a restaurant that is famous for a local specialty.

RB

Dear Jeremy:

I've decided that most of the world is made up of closet (or not so

closeted) bacon freaks.  You can't imagine all the e-mails I've gotten about that shirt!  You can get yours at CafePress.com, along with hundreds of other bacon-related shirts.  Just type "bacon" into the search box and you'll never look back.

Dear David:

Both dry- and oil-toasting are good, but for different reasons.  Oil-toasting gives you a more thorough toast and a more velvety end result.  That's why I use it mostly when making mole.  Dry-toasting yields a leaner and less mellow end result. 

Dear Shirle'

Depending on your climate and soil, the fully grown tomatillos from the (heirloom) purple tomatillo plants will be between 1 1/2 and 2 inches in diameter.  They should completely fill out the papery husk, eventually splitting it to let the sun "kiss" the exposed part of the berry and turn it purple. Most people like to pick them at the mature green stage, to emphasize their tangy flavor.  But you can let some mature to the yellow stage and try those:  they're much sweeter, less acid.  In any case, the tomatillos you grow will likely be much more flavorful than the commercially available ones.