On Christmas Day we went in the afternoon to visit Alejandro's favorite aunt and uncle. The apartment was filled with relatives, including the newest addition to the family, their 6 month-old great grandson. Before we left, one of Alejandro's cousins, Silvia, gave us some food to take home, two more dishes that are traditional in Mexico for the Christmas season... "bacalao a la vizcaina" and "picadillo". Even though we still had plenty of leftover turkey, we had the "bacalao" and the "picadillo" for our supper on Christmas evening.
"Bacalao a la vizcaina" (Basque style cod) is not an easy or quick dish to make. The dried, salted cod fillets must be soaked for one or two days. Then the bones must be removed. The fish is combined with a number of ingredients, including onions, garlic, tomatoes, green olives, capers, and slivered almonds. (To be perfectly honest, I prefer a much easier and cheaper recipe which Alejandro's mom used to make in which cans of tuna were substituted for the cod.)
The "picadillo" is a kind of ground meat hash combined with numerous ingredients depending on the cook's recipe. I thought that the "picadillo" was very tasty.
Alejandro's sister prepared "ponche navideño" (Christmas punch), another Mexican tradition for Christmas. The base of this spiced, hot punch is "jamaica" (hibiscus flower) tea, It is mulled with "piloncillo" (unrefined brown sugar), cinnamon sticks, and fruits such as pitted prunes, guavas and "tejocotes" (a small, tart, Mexican fruit).
Our Christmas, from a culinary standpoint, has been very traditional!
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