The kitchen: The place of fire I

Antojitos de masa en PueblaCocina Cinco Fuegos

Rural scene, the improvised tlecuilli at ground level.

The wood that feeds the fire comes from the branches and leaves of trees in the region.

The chinamite -which is the stick that remains of the milpa at the end of the harvest-, the zacomite -which is its root- and the totomoxtle -the leaves of the corn that are not used for wrapping- are also used, only that the latter smoke a lot .

In the image you can see the tlecuilli, a woman who grinds in the metate, another who "throws" tortillas and still others who take care of the cooking of food.

La cocina el lugar del fuego ICocina Cinco Fuegos

Los Reyes Metzontla, Puebla, a smoke kitchen. In the tlecuilli the tortillas that two women prepare are cooking. The fire with wood causes a wide, uncontrolled flame and gives off a large amount of smoke, the rod wall facilitates ventilation.

In San Jerónimo Tecuanipan, in the house of Doña Carmen Hernández Tepayotl, the tlecuilli with adobe masonry is specially made for cooking tortillas. The firewood changes according to the season of the year: capulín, avocado, dollar, apple tree, lemon.

La cocina el lugar del fuego ICocina Cinco Fuegos

The kitchen of Doña Catalina Cuautle Meza, in San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, with the tlecuilli to cook the tortillas.

5 La cocina el lugar del fuego ICocina Cinco Fuegos

Tlecuilli formed with brick masonry and with its mouth for the entrance of the firewood, on top, the already cured clay comal. Curing the comal is for two purposes: that when put on the fire it does not thunder and that when cooked the tortillas do not stick.

It is cured by putting the comal on the fire and while it is heating up, several layers of a mixture prepared with nejayote -nixtamal broth- are applied with a totomoxtle leaf, to which more lime has been added.

La cocina el lugar del fuego ICocina Cinco Fuegos

Rustic stove for cooking with firewood. It is common that, where the construction or restoration of a house is carried out, the construction workers take care of providing themselves with an appliance to heat their food.

La cocina el lugar del fuego ICocina Cinco Fuegos

Stove attached to the walls, its structure is made of wood and on top it has a masonry base, the stacked partitions serve to support the metal grill.

The fire produced by the burning of the wood has smoked the walls and the clay pot in which the beans are cooked.

La cocina el lugar del fuego ICocina Cinco Fuegos

Hirschmann family kitchen. Brazier with four mouths and covered in Talavera, bell on one side. A woman is observed cooking.

La cocina el lugar del fuego ICocina Cinco Fuegos

Graphic illustrating a kitchen scene: a brazier and on top of it, a pot and a casserole. Also, a woman with a blower blows air to fan the fire.

La cocina en el bolsillo. Cuadernillo No. 5 by Fototeca Lorenzo Becerril and Cocina Cinco FuegosCocina Cinco Fuegos

Booklet "The kitchen in the pocket", published in the Antonio Vanegas Workshop, where the engraver José Guadalupe Posada made an important work with traditional scenes.

This cover shows the kitchen with the brazier and utensils and a woman in her traditional dress.

La cocina el lugar del fuego ICocina Cinco Fuegos

For the engraver José Guadalupe Posada, the kitchen and its components were the ideal setting to set certain horrible and frightening events.

13 La cocina el lugar del fuego ICocina Cinco Fuegos

Book "La cook poblana", on its cover you can see the kitchen and a woman dressed from China Poblana, who, with a blower, stokes the fire.

14 La cocina el lugar del fuego ICocina Cinco Fuegos

The utensils hanging on the wall together with the brazier -converted into a service table-, are the center of interest of the image and also the ideal background for the portrait of the two women.

15 La cocina el lugar del fuego ICocina Cinco Fuegos

In an apartment house, a brazier no longer used. This retains its original characteristics: it is attached to the wall, covered with Talavera tiles, painted in Prussian red and in its two mouths it has the boxes and iron grills.

16 La cocina el lugar del fuego ICocina Cinco Fuegos

"The kitchen of Aunt Jertrudis", the kitchen of the imagination. Rafael R. Contreras, creator of present-day former vows, recreates this kitchen scene with the classic brazier and its miniature bell, casseroles and clay pots and completes it with a couple wearing indigenous clothing.

17 La cocina el lugar del fuego ICocina Cinco Fuegos

Clay pot with wooden spoon. Sheet brazier whose fire is produced by coal. A resource used by cooks when it is required to cook several foods at the same time, and the stove with its four grills is not enough.

18 La cocina el lugar del fuego ICocina Cinco Fuegos

The essentials for managing fire with charcoal: the vegetable fiber blower to blow air and the iron tongs to remove the charcoal.

19 La cocina el lugar del fuego ICocina Cinco Fuegos

Pot con chileatole, the fire in a reed brazier with charcoal, keeps it hot.

Credits: Story

Curator: Lilia Martínez y Torres
Photographers / creators: Lilia Martínez y Torres: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 15, 17, 18, 19. 
Angela Arciniaga foto: 3.
Andrés Lobato foto: 2.
Fototeca Lorenzo Becerril A.C. / Cocina cinco Fuegos: 1, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.Caja escultura: Rafael R. Contreras: 16.












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