Chiapas Milpa Roasted Squash (Calabaza Asada)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Hardwood ember bed, charcoal grill, or outdoor fire pit
• •Long tongs and a heavy board for handling the roasted squash
• •Cast iron comal or wide clay cazuela
• •Volcanic stone molcajete
• •Amatenango del Valle clay cazuela for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the rescoldo

   Build a hardwood or lump charcoal fire and let it burn down until you have a deep bed of gray embers, 35 to 45 minutes. You want steady heat, not active flames. This is how the women in highland kitchens make one fire do several jobs: tortillas on the comal, beans in the olla, calabaza in the dying embers.

   If you are cooking in an apartment, heat the oven to 475F. The oven version will sweeten the squash, but it will not give the ash-dark edge of rescoldo. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
2. 2

   Vent the squash

   Pierce the calabaza 8 to 10 times with the tip of a heavy knife, especially near the stem and blossom end. Rub the rind with 1 tablespoon of melted manteca de cerdo and 1 teaspoon of sal de grano. Do not peel it. The rind is the cooking vessel. The blackened shell protects the flesh while the inside turns dense, sweet, and soft.

3. 3

   Roast in embers

   Set the whole calabaza directly into the embers and bank more embers around the lower half. Turn it a quarter turn every 15 to 20 minutes with long tongs. Roast 70 to 90 minutes, until the rind is blistered black in places, the squash feels heavy and soft, and a skewer slides through the thickest part without resistance. If using the oven, roast on a heavy sheet pan for 75 to 90 minutes, turning twice.

   Do not wrap the squash in foil. Foil traps moisture and gives you wet flesh instead of concentrated sweetness. No me vengas con atajos.
4. 4

   Toast the seasonings

   While the squash roasts, heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile ancho about 20 seconds per side, just until it smells raisiny and the skin relaxes. Toast the chile Simojovel only 5 to 10 seconds per side. It is small and already smoky, so wake it up, do not burn it. Toast the unpeeled garlic until spotted and soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Toast the pepitas until they puff and start to jump, 3 to 4 minutes.

   Burned chile turns bitter. If a chile goes black and sharp-smelling, throw it out and toast another. There is no fixing bitter chile later.
5. 5

   Grind chile manteca

   Peel the toasted garlic. In a molcajete, grind the chile ancho, chile Simojovel, garlic, remaining 1 teaspoon sal de grano, and three quarters of the toasted pepitas into a coarse paste. Stir this paste into the remaining 3 tablespoons melted manteca de cerdo with the naranja agria juice and chopped epazote. The lard carries the chile into the squash. Vegetable oil sits on top and tastes thin. La manteca es el sabor.

6. 6

   Rest and cut

   Move the roasted calabaza to a board and let it rest for 15 minutes. Split it through its natural ridges. Scoop out the wet seed mass and stringy center, but do not scrape away the good flesh. Cut the squash into thick wedges, 2 inches wide at the rind. Keep the blackened rind attached. Diners pull the sweet flesh away from it at the table.

7. 7

   Sear the wedges

   Heat the comal or a wide clay cazuela over medium-high. Brush the cut sides of each wedge generously with the chile manteca. Set the wedges cut side down and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until the edges darken and the manteca glistens in the ridges. Turn and sear the second cut side. Scatter the chipilin leaves over the wedges during the last minute so they soften against the hot squash.

8. 8

   Serve in barro

   Line an Amatenango del Valle clay cazuela with the softened hoja de platano if using. Pile the wedges family-style, spoon any remaining chile manteca over the top, and scatter the reserved toasted pepitas. Serve with lime halves and thick hand-pressed corn tortillas. This is not calabaza en tacha. No piloncillo. The embers already did the sweetening. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Chef Tips

• •Buy calabaza criolla in autumn from a Mexican or Central American market. It should feel heavy for its size, with a hard rind and a dry stem. If all you can find is kabocha, use it and understand what is missing: the thick rind and field sweetness of a true milpa squash.
• •Chile Simojovel is the Chiapas chile to look for. Ask at Chiapaneco stalls, specialty Mexican markets, or online chile vendors. If you cannot find it, use 1 chile morita and 1 chile de arbol for every 2 chile Simojovel. That gives smoke and heat, but it is not the same. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado.
• •Do not make this sweet with brown sugar, maple syrup, or piloncillo. Calabaza en tacha is a different preparation. Here the sweetness comes from the squash and the embers. Asi se hace y punto.
• •Use manteca de cerdo for the finish. If you do not eat pork, make a separate milpa version with toasted pepita oil, but do not pretend it tastes the same. A substitution is a compromise.
• •Not all Mexican food is about heat. The chile Simojovel should prick through the sweetness, not bury the squash. This dish is smoky, earthy, and sweet from the field.

Advance Preparation

• •The chile, garlic, and pepita paste can be ground up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Warm the manteca and stir in the paste, naranja agria, and epazote just before dressing the squash.
• •The squash can be roasted 1 day ahead, cooled, cut into wedges, and refrigerated. Reheat and sear the wedges on a hot comal with the chile manteca before serving.
• •Do not add the lime at the table until the last moment. Acid sitting on the squash too long dulls the sweet flesh.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 285g)