First you drink, then you feast: Cenkali's ponche Navideño, a traditional Mexican Christmas punch, is heavy with tejocote (Tay-ho-Co-tay). When simmered on the stovetop in the company of cane sugar, cinnamon, guava, apple, and prune, the speckled, crabapple-like fruits become infused with sugar and spice, and they soften to near-creaminess. Mind the little seeds, though.
Shown below, from a previous occasion: my tamal de rajas con hongos (cut open to expose vegetables and mushrooms) and a fellow diner's tamal de mole negro (featuring tofu). In recognition that many pre-Columbian indigenous peoples had little access to game animals, Cenkali maintains a vegan menu.
Cenkali Products
www.CenkaliProducts.com
Various pop-up locations, lately at the "Deck the Stalls" holiday market, Water St. at Fulton St., Manhattan
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