The Mexican Vegan Cooking Book “Comida Casera” aims to break myths associated with meals based on plants

There are many reasons why people change their diet. Some develop allergies or intolerances, some may decide to be more concerned with their health, and some may have moral objections or environmental concerns.

But for various reasons, veganism and vegetarianism have increased over the years. Consequently, the stigma that a meal based on plants cannot be tasty and the garnish has been evaporating.

But another concern that some have is that vegan dishes can distance people from their culture, which can be deeply linked to their food.

The head of San Antonio, Dora Ramírez, has set himself the mission to prove that this is not the case. His new “Comida Casera” cooking book examines “more than 100 vegan recipes, traditional Mexican dishes with modern Mexican dishes”. In the book, she veganizes her family recipes, her traditional Mexican recipes and has teamed up with Aboriginal cooks in Mexico to share their naturally plant -based recipes.

Addressing the Texas standard, Ramírez explained how she was inspired to work on such recipes after her mother was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and shares some recipes from the book. Listen to the interview above or read the transcription below.

This transcription has been modified for more clarity:

Standard Texas: You were born and grew up just in front of the border of Del Rio, right?

Dora Ramírez: Yes, I come from Acuña.

And I bring your family together has a restaurant there, but I hear that it was not where your passion for cooking really comes. I read that it was when you went to become a nun. You have to tell us about this very quickly.

Yes, after high school, I went for a year to become a missionary and I wanted to discern my vocation. And so I lived with nuns and one of my tasks was to work in the kitchen. And so that’s a bit of what started my love for cooking, quite funny.

How interesting is. Well, let’s talk a bit about this false idea that eating a diet based on plants keeps you away from your culture. You have decided to show that this is not the case. What do you say to the people who told you this kind of thing? That “I can’t eat what I grew up on?” This kind of me takes away from who I am ”, in a sense.

You know, the first thing I said is that you should certainly try it because I make a nasty pozole. This is my grandmother’s recipe. This is my grandmother’s recipe, but I veganized her.

So what do you leave pozole and what do you do to replace it?

So, instead of meat, I use the Jacquier, who is I know that it seems weird …

I was going to say that I would never have thought of the Jacquier.

Yes, the Jacquier when he is ripe is very sweet, but when he is not ripe, he really has no flavor. It’s like a green Jacquier.

So the reason we use it is because it has the texture of the meat. You can pull it like meat, so it gives the impression of being meat. But the flavor really comes from chili sauce in the pozole.

It’s great. How did you find this?

You know, the Jacquier has been used in veganism for some time now as a meat substitute.

Well, see, I didn’t know. But I think a lot of people don’t know, and it’s a bit in the center of what you are trying to get. Give us another example of how you took a traditional dish and you have changed it to be plants.

I really do this, very good Rajas Con Crema. And therefore the cream, which, in your opinion, would be very difficult to make vegan …

So, to make it without dairy products, I make the cream of almonds. And so the almonds go to the mixer with a little almond milk, water, lemon juice, garlic and you mix everything and it makes a cream sauce.

Wow, it sounds well. I know there are a lot of people there … Maybe their doctors told them to cut the meat or cheese, or incorporate more vegetables into their diet. They may not yet be willing to become complete vegans.

But I wonder if there is a recipe that you have found that could be a good primer for the vegetable-crieux, if you want.

Yes, one of my most popular recipes is my mushroom chorizo. So I do chorizo ​​with mushrooms and crumbled tofu, but it is the seasoning sauce that really makes the recipe.

It is therefore the same traditional chili sauce that is used to flavor pork chorizo, but I use it to season mushrooms and tofu.

How much the original flavor can you use these alternative ingredients?

You know, the funniest thing is that I was going to say that it has the taste of true chorizo.

It’s amazing. Now you are also talking about the concept of decolonizing your food and including indigenous recipes where you associate with someone from the community. Like the Taupe recipe.

Can you talk about partnership and sharing of these indigenous recipes as part of the book?

Yes, I wanted to include indigenous recipes because we cannot really talk about mexican food from plants without respecting the origins of the kitchen, which is an native kitchen.

And so I didn’t feel like I was qualified to talk about it myself. So I joined forces with Cocaneras in Mexico and I have traveled to document their recipes. And these recipes are recipes that are naturally based on plants. They were not changed. These are only recipes that are consumed in this community that were just based on plants.

And so it was a very good experience to find out more about my own past and my inheritance, but also to be able to share this knowledge with the world.

It’s wonderful. Since you have had a lot of experience by looking through the whole range of Mexican cuisine, does meat play an excessive role or not as much as you think about it?

In modern culture, this is the case. Many Mexican dishes are centered on meat. But in the pre -colonial era, the kitchen, I would not say that it was completely based on plants because the indigenous peoples ate insects as we know. They also eaten animals and wild fish. But the base of the regime was corn.

So they ate a lot of corn – corn tortillas, tamal with vegetables – then meat was more a compliment. It was not as centered on meat as today.

But there are rural communities in Mexico, especially the very poor, who eat a lot of meals based on plants because they cannot afford meat.

It’s really interesting. What has so interested in this style of eating instead of staying with meat where it exists in recipes?

So I started because of a health problem. But what really interested me in making Mexican vegan food was when my mother was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and her doctor said that she needed to eat healthier foods, more plant foods.

And so, I was already vegan at that time and I said to myself: “Mom, you have to do that” and she said to me: “No, no, I’m not going to do that.” And I would try to feed his things that were not Mexican. I think I tried to give her tofu and she almost denied me.

It was he who said to me: “Why can’t you do it Mexican?” And I say to myself: “Oh, Duh.” Yeah, she was right.

Now you have written this book because, if I understand correctly, you want there to be something there when you have stopped eating meat. I mean, is this in the end what attracted you to make a book? Because it’s a whole leap – from cooking to the library.

You know, when I decided to become a vegan, it changed my life, it changed my business, it changed my health and I wanted to talk to everyone.

And I also wanted everyone to know that you don’t have to abandon Abuelita’s pozole, that you don’t have to abandon the Tamales for Christmas – that you can have them. And they are delicious. You don’t have to miss.

You don’t have to fail to share the food with your family. And I thought that writing a book was the best way to disseminate it so that most people see it.