I first heard this word on a recent trip to Corvallis. Jan, a friend and faculty member at OSU (one of 4 OSU's I'm aware of, 2 of which have orange and black as school colors... Sorry, I got sidetracked already.).... Jan told us of a Mexican restaurant new to the area, Mexico Lindo which she recommended. She also said she really liked the Molcajete. I ordered it and enjoyed it. Recently, we ordered take out from our local Los Zarapas (There are at least 4 Mexican eating establishments in our small town.) While waiting, I saw Molcajete on their menu. I didn't get it then, a rather long explanation that I will spare you from at this point. That evening, our grand-daughter's Mexican husband was at our house, and Molcajete came to my mind, so I asked him what it was.. Here is where my confusion began. He had a problem thinking about it as a food, but said it was a grinding bowl, like a morter and pestle. Hmmm!!! This week it worked out for us to "eat in" at Los Zarapas and I ordered the Molcajete. I should tell you now that the Molcajete I had in Oregon looked like the typical US Mexican restaurant plate full of slop, but the sauce was very tasty. I say this because when my Molcajete arrived at the table at Los Zarapas, I was pleasantly surprised and all my confusion melted. No doubt, you have already looked at the picture. (cell phone version). Yes, the dish was prepared (at least cooked) in the Molcajete (it was hot). The sauce tasted nearly like that in Corvallis and was very good. I couldn't eat the whole thing. As I sat down to write this post, I thought I should look up Molcajete (Actually to be sure I was spelling it correctly.) There were ads for the bowl and pestle as well as listings for Molcajete recipes. At this point, it seems that if I use the word again, I will have to be sure to make it clear whether I am speaking of the grinding tool or another type of very tasty Mexican food. If I have sucked you into my curiosity zone, have fun. Oh, here is a link to a recipe for one version of Molcajete (the food).
http://www.food.com/recipe/Mexican-Style-Meat-and-Vegetable-Stew-Aztecas-Molcajete-114910
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| Molcajete from Los Zarapas |