Name: Ixtepec-style Stewed Beef with Fruits (Estofado de Res de Ixtepec)
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 1 dried avocado leaf; 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano; One 1-inch piece canela; 3 ripe plantains, peeled; 3 ancho chiles, tops and seeds removed; 2½ pounds beef chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes; 4 large ripe tomatoes; 1 thick slice (1½ to 2 inches) ripe pineapple, peeled and cored; 3 bay leaves, lightly bruised; 1 large onion; 5 guajillo chiles, tops and seeds removed; 1 small, tart green apple, peeled and cored; 1 cup lard (preferably home-rendered), warmed just to the melting point; 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste; 1 cup fine, dry brioche or challan crumbs

Preparation info

6 to 8
servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Food and Life of Oaxaca

By Zarela Martínez

Published 1997

About

My friend Venancia Toledo Hernández is a tehuana. Everyone in Oaxaca would know just what I mean by that. Venancia is a woman of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where the women mean business and business means women—men tend to be relegated to lesser positions in family-owned businesses.

This is what you expect of a tehuana: A big, bold-featured woman whose clothes are as commanding as her presence. She