Polvorones Jarochos de Xico

Veracruz, in the mountain country around Xico, makes these polvorones for walking, gifting, and carrying through a fiesta without pretending they are delicate. Xico sits near Xalapa and Coatepec, where coffee, vanilla, piloncillo, and wheat pastries meet the humid green of the sierra. This is not beach Veracruz. This is the highland kitchen, with a basket on the table and colored paper ready for the romeria of Santa Maria Magdalena.

The fat is manteca de cerdo. Say it clearly. Butter makes a fine cookie, but it does not make this crumb. The lard coats the flour so the polvoron breaks under your teeth, then disappears before you finish arguing about whether it needs more canela. La manteca es el sabor, even in pastry. No me vengas con atajos.

I learned a version of these from a woman outside the Xico market who sold them tied in bright papel de china, stacked next to pan dulce and little bags of mole xiqueno. She pressed one into my hand and told me, 'No lo amases como bolillo.' Do not knead it like bread. That is the whole lesson. Work the dough only until it gathers, or you will make a tough cookie and blame the recipe. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.