Chiapas Wild Mushrooms with Hoja Santa

This comes from Los Altos de Chiapas, from the markets around San Cristobal de las Casas, San Juan Chamula, and Zinacantan, where the rains bring baskets of wild mushrooms down from the pine-oak forests. The women selling them know which ones are good today, which ones need a longer cook, and which ones you leave alone. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado. With mushrooms, pride is not enough. Knowledge keeps you alive.

Hoja santa is called momo in much of Chiapas, and that leaf is the identity of the dish. It smells of anise, pepper, and wet earth, but it does not behave like parsley or cilantro. You do not throw it in raw at the end like decoration. You tear it and let it soften in the hot lard and mushroom juices so it perfumes the whole cazuela. Epazote is sharper and more direct. Together they tell you this is southern Mexico, not a generic mushroom saute.

The fat is manteca de cerdo. Use it. The mushrooms are lean, the herbs are strong, and the lard carries the flavor across the pan. If you use a neutral oil, the dish will still be edible. It will not taste like the highland kitchens where I learned it. La manteca es el sabor, and this is a 32-state cuisine.

Serve these hongos with thick hand-pressed corn tortillas, not flour tortillas. Flour tortillas belong to the north. In Chiapas, the tortilla is corn, hot from the comal, ready to carry the mushrooms and their green, herbal juices. Cada estado, su propia cocina.