Salsa Atápakua de Hongos Silvestres

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Volcanic stone molcajete and tejolote
• •Comal de barro or cast iron comal
• •Wide clay cazuela from Cocucho or another heavy earthenware cazuela
• •Wooden spoon
• •Small bowl and whisk for thinning the masa

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the mushrooms

   Brush the terekua with a clean damp cloth and trim only the hard ends. Do not soak them. Wild mushrooms drink water like gossip and then refuse to brown. Tear them by hand into uneven pieces so the sauce has body.

2. 2

   Roast the vegetables

   Heat a comal over medium heat, or set it over leña if you have that kitchen. Roast the chile perón, white tomato or tomatillos, Roma tomatoes, onion, and garlic until blistered in spots and softened. Turn them often. The chile perón should wrinkle and smell floral, almost citrusy. That perfume is the Meseta speaking.

   Chile perón is Capsicum pubescens, not jalapeño and not serrano. If you substitute, you lose its yellow-orange color, thick flesh, and floral acidity. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
3. 3

   Grind the salsa

   Peel the garlic and onion. Stem the chile perón. Grind the roasted chile, garlic, onion, tomatoes, and tomatillos in a volcanic stone molcajete with the sea salt until martajada, coarse and alive, with little skins of chile still visible. A blender works for a larger batch, but it makes the texture smoother and duller. The molcajete is the proper vessel. Así se hace y punto.

4. 4

   Sear the mushrooms

   Melt the manteca de cerdo in a wide clay cazuela over medium heat. Add the torn mushrooms and cook until they release their liquid, the liquid cooks away, and the edges begin to brown. Listen for the pan to change from wet bubbling to a soft sizzle. That is when the mushroom flavor concentrates. La manteca es el sabor, and here it carries the forest into the sauce.

5. 5

   Fry the base

   Add the ground chile and tomato mixture to the mushrooms. It will sputter. Stir with a wooden spoon and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the color deepens and the raw edge of the tomato is gone. This is atápakua, not mole. Do not add nuts, seeds, bread, chocolate, or plantain. The body comes from corn.

6. 6

   Add broth and epazote

   Pour in 3 1/2 cups of the broth or water and scrape the bottom of the cazuela. Add the epazote sprigs and bring to a steady simmer. Cook for 12 minutes so the mushrooms season the liquid and the epazote gives its sharp green backbone. Taste before adding more salt. Mushrooms vary, especially wild ones.

7. 7

   Thicken with masa

   Whisk the fresh masa with the remaining 1/2 cup broth until smooth. Pour it slowly into the cazuela while stirring constantly. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce thickens enough to nap a spoon and coat a piece of fish or chayote without running off. Masa thickens as it cooks, not the second it hits the pot. Give it time.

8. 8

   Finish and serve

   Remove the epazote stems. Fold in the quelites or verdolagas if using and cook just until tender. Taste for salt. Serve the atápakua warm in the cazuela with tortillas, or spoon it over pescado blanco from Pátzcuaro, boiled chayote, roasted squash, or eggs. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy wild mushrooms only from a vendor who knows them by name. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado. If the vendor cannot tell you where they were gathered, leave them there.
• •Chile perón is a Meseta and lake-region chile with thick flesh, yellow-orange color, and a floral citrus bite. Manzano chile is the closest relative outside Michoacán, but even that is not the same. Serrano gives heat and loses the perfume.
• •Fresh masa from a tortillería gives the best texture. Masa harina will work if you hydrate it well, but the flavor is flatter. You are using corn as architecture, not as a filler.
• •This sauce is not a mole. Mole may use seeds, nuts, bread, tortillas, or chocolate depending on the state. Atápakua is P'urhépecha, masa-thickened, and tied to the wood-fire kitchen of Michoacán. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
• •If the rainy season has not brought good mushrooms, make atápakua with chayote, squash blossoms, or verdolagas instead. Don't force a mushroom dish out of tired supermarket buttons and then blame the recipe.

Advance Preparation

• •The roasted chile and tomato base can be ground up to one day ahead and refrigerated. Fry it with the mushrooms only when you are ready to build the sauce.
• •The finished atápakua keeps refrigerated for two days. Reheat gently with a splash of water or broth because the masa continues to thicken as it rests.
• •Do not freeze this sauce. The mushrooms turn spongy and the masa thickener separates. Some foods are meant to be eaten when they are made.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 235g)