Mexican Spice Blend

Many savory recipes for Mexican cooking call for a combination of three items: garlic, peppercorns, and cumin seeds. The garlic and spices are the very essence of Mexico in a variety of dishes. In the southwestern United States, we are fortunate to have access to a store-bought Mexican spice mix that contains cumin seeds and peppercorns already blended. They are combined with fresh garlic and added to a molcajete, a lava rock mortar and pestle, and ground to a paste. This is the traditional