In a regular scheduled session, the City Council approved the integration of a commission for the transition process of the municipal administration.

Kiko Munro, Mayor of Puerto Penasco explained that the municipal administration is preparing for, and in the process of preparations of the delivery of the municipal administration for the years of 2018-2021 to the incoming administration, which will take place on September 16, 2021.

The outgoing government Procurator Trustee, Perla Alcántara García, as well as the council members Anahy Pacheco Rendón and Alberto Aldrete Germán, were approved to form part of the commission.

While the representatives of the City Council approved the appointment by the President-Elect, Jorge Pivac Carrillo, requesting that the commission be made up of the Municipal Elected Trustee, María Jesús Reyes Ortiz, in addition to the elected councilors Idalia Figueroa Ortega and José Enrique Gaxiola Decina.

It was also approved that the third and final Government Report by Mayor Kiko Munro be presented virtually through video conference in accordance with the current preventive measures regarding the contagion and spread of the Covid-19 virus with the Municipal Civic Auditorium, C.P. Gerardo Portugal Martínez.

 It was also approved to grant permission to Mayor Kiko Munro to be temporarily absent from office for a period of no more than 90 days, in the period beginning September 1^st, when appointed as Local Deputy for the next legislature of the Legislative Power of the State of Sonora during the recent 2020-2021 electoral process. “To be in a position to take the legal oath before the State Congress on September 1^st, he must not be active as mayor at that time.

Faced with this situation, the council body approved the appointment of councilor Miguel Bastida Fernández to serve as Interim Municipal Mayor on September 1, for the duration of the requested license.

A small fishing boat succumbed to the waves of the sea and sank with four fishermen on board, but they managed to swim to the shore so they could be rescued.

The seafarers who lived to tell about it, spent the night in the open on the coast being harried by coyotes, are José Ramón Orozco Rodríguez, Thomas Scribner, Francisco León Pérez, and Julio Guadalupe Félix Murrieta.

Alan Ontiveros López, director of Civil Protection and Firefighters, reported that the sinking of the ship occurred on Monday morning, but the rescue of the fishermen did not occur until the morning of this past Tuesday.

He revealed that the four fishermen were able to make it from the site of the sinking in sea to the shore of Cholla Bay after the sinking of the “Gema Zuleth”, by hanging onto a blue and white ice chest and two life jackets. They had departed around 6 in the morning on Monday, and had plans to return between 5 and 6 in the afternoon of the same day, but they did come back.

When they didn’t arrive, the relatives of the men reported their loss around 9pm to the Marina and the Harbor Master's Office. They also coordinated a private panga, which went out to seach the area where they were fishing, between 22 and 26 miles from the shore, however they were not located by the searchers. Later, at around 4 in the morning another search was carried out on land by car in hopes that they would be found safe and sound on shore somewhere. That search finally did yield favorable results, as the fishermen were located around 6 in the morning.

The Director of Civil Protection and Firefighters explained that, according to the fishermen's version, around 9 in the morning, three hours after leaving port, water began to enter the panga through the engine area and as they tried to bail the water out, the waves overtook them and the boat sank.

Given this, he added, the men had only two life jackets and a cooler, to help them swim to shore - which they did for about 11 hours.

Ontiveros López indicated that, once located, the men were treated by paramedics from the Civil Protection and Firefighters and the Red Cross, who ruled that they did not suffer any injury nor did they present a delicate state of health, only fatigue and fright due to the negative experience that they had lived.

The director of Civil Protection and Firefighters stressed that in this mishap, fortunately, there are no victims to regret. But, he endorsed the call for those who go to sea to do so with the proper protocols and equipment, in order to minimize the risk of accidents and, in an extreme case, facilitate rescue and location tasks.

The Governor-elect Alfonso Durazo Montaño continues to create his new administration’s agenda with a recent announcement of an important megaproject that will bring a huge investment to our state for the installation of a photovoltaic park in Puerto Peñasco, in order to provide cheaper electricity to the state and allow the surplus energy produced could be sent to Baja California.

Alfonso Durazo at a press conference said that an agreement was reached with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador during his recent visit to Sonora. There has already been a meeting with Manuel Bartlett, General Director of the Federal Electricity Commission, for the creation of a company that regulates the production of electric energy taking advantage of sunlight, with 54% of shares owned by the Federal Electricity Commission and 46% by the State Government. The income obtained by the company will be directed to families in need within the state for the payment of their electricity bills.

Durazo Montaño assured the press that the megaproject will begin shortly on a 2,000 hectare site and a team of specialists comprised of experts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the University of Sonora. The transition team and staff from the Federal Electricity Commission have been integrated to prepare for its start-up.

He explained that the plant will be operational by March 2024 and that it is based on the generation of energy from solar radiation, on the 2,000-hectare site to be located in the municipality of Puerto Peñasco. "It could grow to 3 thousand hectares, the only condition that the president puts on us is that we finish before March 2024, because he does not want to leave any project unfinished at the end of his term. It is an investment of approximately 2 billion pesos and the size of the project will allow Baja California to be supplied with energy as well”, he said.

He also commented that Sonora is in the strip of greatest exposure to the sun's rays in the world and that this gives it a special potential, hence the choice of location in order to seek to take advantage of that energy irradiation to generate the electric flow at the highest possible capacity.

Durazo Montaño noted that a second meeting has already been held at the Puerto Peñasco Convention Center during the recent presidential visit in mid-July and that it is also expected to have a third meeting in the country's capital. He explained that a joint venture will be made with the Federal Electricity Commission, so that the company will have 2 owners and the government of Sonora will have 46% of the shares and the CFE the remaining 54%.

Conapesca's attempt to continue exporting coastal fishing shrimp to the United States, despite the embargo decreed on April 30, apparently caused the Joe Biden administration to set its eyes on the catch along the coastlines of the states of Sonora, Sinaloa, and Baja California Sur, where more than 15,700 tons of shimp are produced per season.

The US Government decided to withdraw the certification of all wild shrimp from Mexico because it did not like the misuse of the Turtle Excluder Devices (Det's) in the offshore fleet during inspections carried out over a two-year period.

In response, the National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission (Conapesca), sought to negotiate with the United States to leave open the export of non-industrial shrimp, caught by riverine communities, after committing to deliver a strategy to differentiate between the captured product by the larger boats and small boats (pangas) no later than June 1st.

In a letter addressed to David Hogan, director of the Office of Marine Conservation of the US Department of State, dated May 17, Bernardino Muñoz, general director of Planning, Programming and Evaluation of Conapesca, sent detailed information on coastal fishing of shrimp, geographical distribution, types of nets, and number of vessels with valid permits, in order to obtain their approval not to close the borders entirely to the product.

What the United States apparently wanted was for Mexico to present a traceability strategy to be able to follow the shrimp route from when it is caught at sea until it reaches the final consumer in order to ensure that it did not come from the larger fleet vessels that are used – the trawler method.

The problem came after the information provided by Mexico was reviewed. David Hogan responded that the US State Department is not in a position to issue a determination on the export of coastal shrimp, as they discovered a potential impact on sea turtles from the use of other fishing nets that were not identified in the small boats (trawlers, cast nets, suripera and brass bands), so now they have to examine and inspect that activity.

In the case of pangas that use “long lines” for fishing, the United States concluded that "this fishery represents a significant threat to turtles and there does not appear to be any mitigation measures. Therefore, shrimp harvested in this way would not be eligible to enter the US ".

In this way, a new issue is raised that Conapesca will have to resolve in regards to the shrimp embargo on Mexico. Shrimp season begins in September, and now in addition to the ships, the United States wants to review the smaller vessels or pangas to reduce risks from incidental catch of sea turtles.

In an interview with Excelsior, Juan Manuel García Caudillo, director of Responsible Fishing and Fair Trade, announced that in total there are 21,693 pangas, which now would also have to comply with the United States regulation if Mexico wants to recover the certification of reopening the market for wild shrimp exports.

He explained that in Sinaloa there 11,532 registered riverine vessels, while in Sonora there are 6,146, and in Baja California Sur 4,115.

The expert added that at the national level, artisanal shrimp production is 38,900 tons per year, which is one of the main sources of income for fishing communities, most of their inhabitants living in poverty.

What is a fact is that at this time, is that the sale of all wild shrimp of Mexican origin is prohibited until further notice by the United States, whether caught by the deep sea fleet or through artisanal fishing, the total of both which could represent a loss of $257 million a year.

Fishermen manage to exceed the previous record set in 2018, when 61,000 tons were collected. This year has exceeded that number and there are still boats which have yet to report their catch numbers.

This cannonball jellyfish season has been historic for the fishermen of the Gulf of Santa Clara as they have managed to surpass the previous record, making this year the highest catch in a single year on record. At this point, the fishermen have recorded over 63,000 tons and they expect that number to rise as the rest of the fleet report their catch.

According to the authorities of the Fisheries Office, it is very possible that the amount of aguamala (jellyfish) caught will go up even more before the end of the season and as the remainder of the boats bring in their catch. They said that it is very possible that this year’s catch will reach 70,000 tons.

While this year’s numbers are impressive and break all previous records, they are still far from the figure of 80 or 100 thousand tons which was the early estimate from Marco Antonio Navarro, president of the Association of Processors and Marketers in the State of

One reason for the impressive season may be the earlier date of the season start this year. For 2020, the season opened in mid-May, while most years, the season starts in June. The size of the catch has also been a factor this year. "Many fishermen realized the size of the jellyfish and went out to fish it, they took advantage of the good size."

In comparison, in 2018 they had a total catch of 61,000, in 2019 it was 49,000, and in 2020, the catch came in at only 19,000. There was no official explanation given for the extremely low catch in 2020.

A fishing-free zone will no longer apply in the upper Gulf of California to protect the critically endangered vaquita marina porpoise, of which fewer than a dozen are believed to remain.

A fishing-free “zero tolerance” zone where the use of gillnets was prohibited had been in place in the upper reaches of the gulf – the only place vaquitas live – and was even enlarged last September but the federal government on Wednesday officially abandoned the policy of maintaining it.

The “zero tolerance” zone has been replaced with a sliding scale of sanctions if more than 60 boats are repeatedly seen in the area where totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder is a delicacy in China and sells for thousands of dollars per kilogram, coexist with the vaquitas. Many of the latter, the world’s smallest porpoise species, have died after becoming entangled in nets set to catch the lucrative totoaba.

The deaths continued even after the “zero tolerance” zone was established in 2017 as fishermen frequently encroached on it and authorities were unable to enforce it. Now the situation appears likely to become even worse.

Environmental experts cited by the Associated Press (AP) said the decision to scrap the fishing-free zone effectively abandons the remaining vaquitas to the gillnets responsible for their near extinction.

Alex Olivera, Mexico representative for the Center for Biological Diversity, said the new rules stipulate a sliding scale of punishments for something that shouldn’t be allowed to occur in the first place.

For example, the National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission said it will only use 60% of its enforcement personnel if 20 or fewer fishing boats are seen in the vaquita’s Upper Gulf of California habitat where the “zero tolerance” zone was established.

“This is stupid. They are waiting to count boats in an area designated as ‘zero tolerance,’ where there shouldn’t be a single boat,” Olivera told AP. “They are letting in dozens of boats. This is the end of the concept of zero tolerance. There is just going to be dissuasion.”

The new rules “imply not protecting the vaquita,” said a conservation expert not named by AP due to a fear of repercussions.

“It appears that fisheries authorities want to drive the vaquita to extinction,” the expert said.

AP said the sliding-scale punishments “seem doomed to irrelevance” given that authorities were unable to effectively enforce the “zero tolerance” zone. The navy has worked with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to remove gillnets from the area but they have often been outnumbered and even attacked by fishermen.

The Sea Shepherd vessel the Farley Mowat has been attacked on repeated occasions, including in January this year when fishermen aboard at least five pangas threw lead weights and molotov cocktails at both the crew and military officials who were on board.

The gillnets used to catch totoaba are expensive and fishermen consequently harass conservation vessels to try to get their crew to return nets they removed. Fishermen say they have not received any compensation from the federal government for income they have lost due to restrictions on where they can fish.

Meanwhile, the vaquita population continued despite successive governments pledging to strengthen the fight against illegal fishing. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio and billionaire businessman Carlos Slim even joined the efforts to save the vaquita during Enrique Peña Nieto’s 2012-2018 presidency but in early 2019 scientists estimated that just 10 of the marine mammals remained.

Sightings of the porpoises are now very rare but experts can estimate their numbers by using subaquatic listening devices that graph the high-frequency sounds they make.

The foreign minister said the program would multiply Latin American technological power by 20 times

Six Latin American nations have agreed to form a new regional space agency, the foreign minister announced on Saturday.

Mexico joined Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay and Costa Rica in the commitment, which has been in the offing for a decade, at a meeting of the 32 country members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac).

The plan was first announced in January 2020 when Mexico took over the rotating presidency of the organization, which was created in 2010 in Caracas, Venezuela, as a counterbalance to the Organization of American States (OAS), which is headquartered in Washington, DC.

“Now we are going to [work on space projects] in combination and the [shared] resources will multiply by 20 times … It means multiplying by 20 the technological and scientific potential and power of America and the Caribbean,” Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said.

His Bolivian counterpart, Rogelio Mata, also voiced his optimism about the project. “It’s a fantastic way to not remain behind in knowledge development,” he said.

The Associated Press reported that satellite technology, international partnerships, national pride and local development are all potential benefits of space programs in less developed nations, while critics view them as vanity projects and a diversion from pressing problems on the ground.

Prospects of global internet access from satellites, offering access to data to guide crop-growing and natural disaster management, and to track other conditions linked to disease were further factors named by AP.

Costa Rica-born NASA astronaut Franklin Chang Díaz said criticism of space programs were par for the course. “A lot of people criticized the creation of NASA in 1958 when the United States was struggling with the worst economic recession of the postwar era,” he said in a March statement.

Representatives at the meeting also reached consensus on the necessity for collaboration to distribute Covid-19 vaccines. The meeting was attended by 24 foreign ministers, three deputy ministers and five special envoys.

Authorities are likely to present a concrete plan at the sixth meeting of the Celac Congress in Mexico City on September 18.

About one year ago, Walmart entered the cell phone market in Mexico with its Virtual Mobile Operator (OMV) BAit, and since then it has accumulated 700,000 users, however, now it wants to take the next step into the telecommunications sector and compete in the home internet segment, with a pilot program being run in 365 of its stores.

In an interview with Forbes México, Beatriz Núñez Jiménez, Vice President of Growth of the company, says that the MVNO was the first product in this sector, but more vertical services will come, of which in their sum is for value they deliver to the client.

” We are also launching in 365 stores where internet is already available at home, also a very aggressive offer in terms of price and connection capacity for our customers, they only buy a modem, it arrives at their home, they connect it and they can immediately enjoy BAit”.

Likewise, he anticipated that bundling, integration with other verticals will come, since Walmart has an ecosystem initiative with different verticals, from telecommunications, credit solutions, remittances or health.

Núñez Jiménez highlighted that BAit can go where others cannot, since its partner Altán has a commitment to reach rural populations, which boosts the connectivity of the population; so, as part of their plan they are doing a pilot test to place antennas in their stores.

“BAit hand in hand with Altán is reaching populations that no one else reaches and we already have stores in those rural areas where there is no connectivity, so they use this physical asset to put up antennas and provide connectivity,” said the directive.

For this phase, he stated that they are going to carry out a pilot test in 3 stores, where they seek to analyze the technical capacity of coverage, services, adoption, and after the help of Altán to be able to scale to more cities where it has stores and there is no connectivity.

In fact, Beatriz Núñez said that in the medium term she sees the company as a protagonist of digital inclusion in the Mexican market, since she considers that BAit has an enormous opportunity to play a leading role in the Mexican market.

In the last year, virtual mobile operators have registered an explosion in the Mexican market with the entry of new players, where more than one commercial chain has seen an opportunity; according The CIU data in the first quarter of 2021 represented 3.1% of mobile lines, against 2.6% in the same period of 2020.

And it is that, in the last year, IPOs went from 2.33 million customers to 3.95 million, which represented an increase of 1.62 million, equivalent to 69.9%; while its income had an annual increase of 98.7%, from 315.2 to 626.2 million pesos, according to the consulting firm.

In this sense, the firm points out that all virtual mobile operators, with the exception of Altán, are growing in absolute terms, but are losing market share; where Freedom Pop continues to be the leader, with a share of 31.1% and around 1.2 million lines.

While the MVNOs incorporated into Altán, The CIU have had exponential growth due to an aggressive commercial offer, agreements with a greater number of relevant companies, an aggressive market strategy aimed at niches, and a positive consumer experience with the network.

Until last March, Altán’s partner companies, such as Walmart’s BAit, represented 22.1% of the market, approximately 872,000 lines; while Elektra’s OUI has 21.7%, with around 857,000 clients.

The consulting firm specifies that Virgin Mobile has a 6.3% stake, followed by Megacable with 5.3%, Oxxocel with 2.1%, Izzi with 2.4%; while other players accumulate 9.1% of the MVNO market.

In the case of Oxxo, the convenience store chain launched its service a little over a year ago, in November 2019, with the aim of providing its customers with a mobile phone service over the largest network in the country, in addition to exclusive benefits, achieving in these months to be one of the main 10 players in the market.

While in June 2020, Walmart deployed its Bait (Bodega Aurrera Internet y Telefonía) nationwide, with a prepaid offer from the country, unlimited internet for 50 pesos per week and 200 pesos per month.

In turn, in July 2017 Soriana entered the MVNO market through its first telecommunications service Soriana Móvil, with which it will offer prepaid plans and recharges, in addition to benefits that are linked to its reward card for using the service.

Last year the pandemic caused the closure of one of the sales channels for wine: restaurants; However, Concha y Toro México, a wine company, managed to capitalize on changes in habits, beer shortages, even the trend of cooking at home and growing by 20%, however, it also made a strong commitment to electronic commerce, where its sales increased up to 300%.

The director of Business and Marketing of the brand, María Fernanda Loyo Loyola, told Forbes Mexico in an interview that 2020 was good, since although there were many industries that were affected by Covid-19, in the case of the company the consumer favored them when making a purchase choice.

“ We had to adapt and make e-commerce one of our points too, where we participated before was self-services … since last year we did a meticulous job from the catalog, that the name of the products was correct, the photos were up-to-date or the technical sheets ”.

They opened their store in the Mercado Libre marketplace with their entire portfolio, in addition to investments in delivery applications, such as Cornershop and Rappi, to be closer to the consumer

What allowed them that their sales by electronic commerce registered an advance of 300%, although the bases were very small; but the trends are still positive and internet sales currently maintain a greater dynamism compared to the traditional channel.

“ We had a total company growth of approximately 20% in sales in value and 19% in volume, which was also complex, since we had to redo all our plans, especially to communicate at a time when people were not leaving. to self-service and the digital channel became more relevant than before ”, he affirms.

And it is that, he says, that the channel of specialized stores, such as La Castellana or La Europea, was more affected for the category because it is who supplies the restaurants, so the purchase was turned over to the retail channel and Mexicans began to purchase wine for their homes.

“The total category of wine in Mexico did not show growth, there was only a switch of channels, what was consumed in the consumption centers was allowed to consume and was taken home, which in principle could be influenced by the shortage of beer, however, wine has been positioned over time as an accompaniment to food, in this trend of cooking at home, recipes with friends, wine has become an accompaniment ”.

María Fernanda Loyo highlights that the consumer opened the door to their home, a trend that she hopes will continue throughout 2021, which, added to the reopening of restaurants, would boost wine growth in the country this year.

In fact, it points out that the wine category is still small in Mexico, the per capita consumption is 850 milliliters, it has great potential, where the purchase decision point becomes fundamental.

Wine Market in Mexico 2020-2021

The wine market in Mexico has shown annual growth of approximately 8% during the past 5 years.

Importations have increased during the past 10 years, increasing its value by 88%.

Mexico has the second-highest consumption growth rate worldwide according to the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV).

Current Trends in Mexico

Mexican wines accounted for 29% of Mexico’s consumption, while the remaining 71% corresponds to imported wines.

Wine consumption is primarily concentrated in 3 cities, Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara, with a potential increase in touristic locations.

Due to the health contingency generated as a result of the COVID19, online sales of the various supermarkets have increased by 300% during 2020.

Digitalization of processes represents a huge potential in terms of sales increase, and are expected to grow by 40% yearly.

Consumers in Mexico are under 45 years old, having a pretty good balance in terms of gender (55% male and 45 female).

Types of wine consumed (71% red, 11% white, 9% sparkling, and 9% rose and others).

Chiles en Nogada (chilies in walnut sauce) is a classic Mexican dish, and is a specialty of the city of Puebla. Here's what Diana Kennedy in her seminar The Cuisines of Mexico has to say about the dish:

The recipe is said to have been concocted by the grateful people of Puebla, who were giving a banquet in honor of Don Agustin de Iturbide's saint's day, August 28 in 1821. He and his followers had led the final revolt against Spanish domination; as self-proclaimed emperor he had just signed the Treaty of Cordoba. All the dishes at the banquest were concocted of ingredients of the color of the Mexican flag; in this dish were the green chilies, the white sauce, and the red pomegranate seeds.

The classic Mexican dish uses a pork picadillo with dried fruits and spices. Some recipies use ground chicken and some adaptations use ground turkey. This dish is a bit involved, but the effort is worth it. It really is an extraordinary blend of flavors.

Chiles en Nogada (Chilis in Walnut Sauce) Recipe

PREP TIME 75 mins

COOK TIME 90 mins

TOTAL TIME 2 hrs 45 mins

SERVINGS 6 servings

You must start this dish one day ahead by soaking the walnuts for the nogada sauce overnight.

We are using ground turkey in this recipe, you could also easily use ground chicken or pork.

The Walnut Sauce:

1 heaping cup of shelled walnut halves

Milk (about 2 cups)

1/4 lb queso fresco (or farmer's cheese)

1 1/2 cups thick sour cream (or creme fraiche)

1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

The Chiles:

6 large poblano chiles (use only poblanos, not another type of chile, for this dish)

The Picadillo:

1 1/4 pounds ground turkey thigh meat

Kosher salt

4 Tbsp olive oil or canola oil

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1 Tbsp butter

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup of crushed, fire roasted tomatoes

1/2 cup of golden raisins

2 Tbsp blanched and slivered almonds, roughly chopped

1 apple, peeled, cored, chopped

Garnish:

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

Method:

The Night Before:

Remove the papery bitter skins from the walnut pieces. (This is the hard part.) Sometimes the skins easily rub off. I have found that usually, for us, the skins don't easily peel off and we need to blanch them for one minute in boiling water first, to loosen the skins. If you blanch the walnuts, let them cool to the touch and carefully peel off as much of the bitter skins as you can. This is painstaking work, but unless your walnuts are shed of their bitter skins, the sauce may be a bit bitter.

Place the walnuts in a bowl, cover them with milk to soak, and chill them overnight in the refrigerator.

The Day Of:

Roast the chiles:

Place the chiles directly over the flame of a gas stove, or place under a hot broiler, to char the outside tough skin. Turn the chiles to char them on all sides. Get as much of the outside skin blackened as possible, it will be easier to remove that way. (See How to roast chile peppers over a gas flame tutorial using Anaheim chiles.)

Place the blackened chiles in a bowl and cover with a plate or damp clean towel and let sit for 20 minutes. The burned skin will then flake off very easily and the flesh will become a little more cooked in the steam. Make a slit in the side of each chili and carefully remove the seeds and veins. Be careful to leave the top of the chili, the part around the base of the stem, intact. (A tip from Diana Kennedy: if you taste the chiles and they are too spicy hot, soak them in a mild vinegar and water solution for about 30 minutes.) Rinse the chilies and pat them dry.

Make the walnut sauce:

Drain the walnuts. Place the soaked and drained walnuts, the queso fresco, sour cream, sugar, and cinnamon into a blender and purée until completely smooth.

Make the picadillo stuffing:

Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a large wide saucepan on medium high heat. Working in batches to prevent crowding the pan, brown the meat on at least one side, sprinkling the meat with a little kosher salt as it cooks. Add another tablespoon of oil if needed for the subsequent batches. Remove meat to a bowl and set aside.

Add a tablespoon of cooking oil to the pan and heat on medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the cinnamon, black pepper, cloves, and garlic and cook another minute.

Melt butter in the pan and return the ground meat to the pan and use a wooden spoon to break up any clumps. Add the crushed tomatoes, golden raisins, and chopped slivered almonds. If the mixture seems a little dry, add a tablespoon or two of water. Add chopped apple to the picadillo mixture. Adjust spices, add more cinnamon, salt, ground cloves to taste (go easy on the cloves, they can overpower).

Assemble the chiles en nogada:

Stuff the chilies with the picadillo until they are well filled out. Place them on individual plates or on a serving platter.

To serve, cover the stuffed chiles with the walnut sauce and sprinkle with pomegranate arils and chopped fresh parsley or cilantro.

Maybe you have visited Mexico and heard someone say that somebody “has been eaten by the witch”, it is a common expression used when somebody is missing and can’t be found anywhere.

To this day, in many parts of Mexico, there is still the belief that witches roam at night in search of victims to suck their blood, just like vampires in other cultures.

But where does this superstition come from? Like almost all traditions in Mexico, this legend has a pre-Hispanic origin. In Tlaxcala, these creatures are called tlahuelpuchis which, in the Nahuatl language, means “luminous incense”.

The Tlahuelpuchis were originally a kind of shape shifters who have the ability to turn into animals and commit atrocities. Today they are considered related to witches. They are ordinary women in appearance who have been given a gift by the ancient gods that some use maliciously.

According to the legends, the Tlahuelpuchis are common women in sight of everyone, to whom the gods have granted a gift that some use maliciously. The legend says that these women are carriers of this gift when they reach puberty, specifically when they have their first menstruation, that’s when they come into contact with the potential of their powers. With time and practice, they become able to develop these powers completely, until finally mastering the technique of becoming animals.