Tortilleria Nixtamal

So today, as a group, we went to Corona to visit a restaurant that Girelle reserved for us. It was a small restaurant that was called Tortilleria Nixtamal. The restaurant had its Mexican traditions with the food, the music, and the people. The front of the restaurant was very noticeable in the neighborhood. It was just full of bright colors. When we went inside, we were welcomed by a lovely person who worked there, Shawna. She wasn't like all the other workers there but she knew what was going on and what was being said for the most part. When we entered the small place, the first thing I heard was, "IT SMELLS LIKE MEXICO!" by Laura Lopez and Stephanie Hernandez. That just made me feel like Mexico. Anyways, the very first thing we noticed was a big green machine which I didn't know what it was called but I knew what it did. It made the famous TORTILLAS!! There was a guy by the machine who made them. What he had to do was insert some dough into the machine and then the machine itself would make the dough into a tortilla shape. Then, that would cook or warm up and the tortilla shaped dough would come out to be ... TORTILLAS. We took one and the tortillas were delicious.

After observing how they made the tortillas and tasting them, we went straight to the basement. Downstairs was the kitchen. This was where tortillas are used for making tostadas, nachos, tacos, and last but not least, TAMALES!! The kitchen was where the dough was being made to begin with. Shawna showed us the corn that they use to make the dough for tortillas. What they do it they put the dry corn into this huge sink. Inside that sink is where they wet the dried and corn and make them soften. Afterwards, they put it into a huge "funnel" where it makes the corn into dough. The dough is then ready to be used to make the foods. The ladies that were there already, taught us how to make the dough into tortillas. What they do is they make the dough into a round circle and then they place it into this "squisher". They use the "squisher" to flatten out the dough. We each took turns making one and it was fun.

The tortillas were delicious, but we had to move on. We moved on to what we have arrived for. TAMALES!! That's right! We finally made our own tamales. The dough that they had used to make the tamales was very unique, in my point of view. For these tamales that we were going to make, was going to be sweet. It had no chicken or any other meats involved. Just fruits and its sweetness. The lady that was there with us taught us how they make Tamales de Dulce (Sweet Tamales). She had a rectangular container where it contained the dough that was going to used. In order for her to make into the way she had to have it, she included milk, butter, food coloring (pink), pineapples, and raisins. It looked very good even though she was still making it. It looked very exhausting by the way she was mixing it because she was mixing it with her hands and it makes her arms move a lot. Anyways, after mixing it fully, she put the pink dough into two other containers for each of us to put into a "hard peel". It was an exciting experience making our own sweet tamales.

After making our tamales, we stayed and we munched on delicious Mexican dishes. We had people order tostadas, nachos, the famous tacos, tamales, and quesadillas. It was the best lunch we've ever had and this was a fun experience. Overall, this entire trip taught me a lesson:

DO NOT IGNORE TORTILLERIA NIXTAMAL EVER AGAIN!

 =) Jennifer (=

Yesterday:) the first day

Yesterday was our first official day of rensizzle  it was so fun we were talking about different foods and cultures behind them . but the ultimate joy was getting to cook at Girelle's mothers house we had a amazing time cooking spanish delicacies. I was able to make the vegetarian food. It was pretty interesting with all the different flavors . We made Fruit salad chicken stew plantains rice and beans and deserts.Today we wen to a little tamale place we were able to see how they make their tortia bread and everything it was a joy to be there and the food was good to . Over all the experience so far has been really good:)

~Brianna

tamales with the girls

Today in the morning we went to 103rd and Corona to Tortelleria Nixtamal. The lady that was giving us a tour was talking about the machine people use in Mexico to make tacos. She said that people barely use the machine in the U.S. After, she took us down stairs where the rest of the workers were. They showed us how to make flour with corn and then a lady showed us how to make sweet tamales. It looked really easy to make. The best part for me was when the lady added pineapples on the sweet pink tamales. We had to wait 45 minutes so we decided to eat.  What I had was delicious tostada de bistec. After that, my dessert was a Mexican coconut ice-cream. That was very delicious; I wanted another one. I learned a lot about Bachata and how in Santo Domingo, Bachata was misleading towards women.  People in D.R wouldn't listen to Bachata, but if they did listen Bachata, they would be known as a bad person because Bachata was only about violence, sexual abuse, and alcohol abuse.

~Daisy

Pollo Guisado at Girelles House

Yesterday was a very unique experience. We went to Girelles house, our goal that day was to make Pollo Guisado(Chicken Stew),Platanos Maduros Asados(Grilled Ripe Plantains), Ensalada de frutas (fruit salad), and Atole (Pudding). My goal for the day was to make Chocolate Pudding for dessert. I loved how everyone worked great as a group. All of us would procrastinate but still get all the food done. Everyone learned something new by the end of the day. Yesterday was the first time I made pudding from scratch.  I was really into making the pudding because I never had experienced cooking as a group.  Once we started eating, everything tasted so good. The whole group was satisfied after eating the food we had made.After that day I was really happy that we had accomplished making a whole meal by a group of teens.Everything came out great, no one complained about the food. All we herd were compliment.I Loved the experience I had that day and would never forget it .
                                                               -Stephanie H

     I love how cooking connects geography and history to our lives.  Today, Girelle displayed spices that Islamic Moors brought to Spain between 800 and 1400, and that Spanish conquerors brought to the "New World" after 1492.
     After a bus ride to Girelle's Mom's home, the students cooked wonderful foods.  The ingredients for Pollo Guisada (chicken stew) came from native American traditions (e.g., tomato paste, tomatoes) and from Spanish and Moor traditions (e.g., olives, pepper, sugar).  This is the best chicken stew I've ever had.   Furthermore, the recipe for Moros y Christians combined rice-olive oil-cloves (inherited from Spanish Moors) and beans and chile habanero (inherited from central American groups).  I wish I could have captured the magnificent aromas today.  We also had Rose-scented Corn Pudding (rose-scent from Islamic Moors)  and Chocolate Corn Pudding (chocolate from Aztec America).  Throughout our meal, we benefit from the special combination of Old World and New World!
     All the students pitched in to turn recipes and ingredients into a most delicious meal.  They cut, measured, stirred, double-checked the recipes, and then ate.   But, even more important, everyone contributed to a most memorable day.  

I hope our photos convey the shared spirit of today.  (cutting and measuring; browning the chicken)  ~Carol

Pollo guisado al tomate.

Today was the first day of Rensizzle. I can honestly say we had so much fun! We spent the first few hours in school. It was worth it though; I learn where each Latin American country is on the map and where mole comes from. We had our laughs and jokes , but then it was time to get to work. We left to go to Girelle mom’s house to cook. We made a huge meal.

We made:

©     Moros y Cristianos
(Rice with Black beans)

©     Platano amarillo dulce
(Sweet Ripe Plantains)

©     Pollo guisado al tomate
(Tomato chicken stew)

©     Queso guisado al tomate
(Tomato cheese stew)

©     Atole de rosa
(Rose corn pudding)

We each had an individual task to do. I work with Daisy, together we made Pollo guisado al tomate. I’m personally not the type to be in the kitchen but, I actually had a lot of fun cooking today. Everything turned out great and delicious. I came back home and was beyond excited. I think I even told my mom I was going to cook it for them, I hope she didn't think I was serious. I would do it again but I think what made it a lot of fun was that we did it in a group. I was looking at the videos I took and in each video you can see someone doing something. Someone was stirring, chopping or slicing, all of us had a big smile on our faces and were laughing a lot! I’m pretty enthusiastic for tomorrow. We are making Tamales! 

-Laura