Mexicans love beans. They're an essential part of our daily diet. As a teenager, I remember my mother whipping up amazing dishes with just beans, chilies and masa.... you could make an infinitive amount of delicious meals with beans- she would say- and she's right!

I'm run down. This is not surprising at all after two weeks of wisdom tooth drama, which included a painful surgery, and a dose of unexpected and horrific influenza; my body just shut down and although I feel way better now than I felt last week, I'm tired, cranky and my energy levels are at an all-time low.  So lately, all I can think of is broths... restorative, nurturing and above all, really, really tasty.

The last ten days have been crazy. I hadn't been feeling entirely well and it all came to a halt on Saturday morning when I was admitted to hospital with a suspected appendicitis.

I spend a lot of time reading about food. It's what I like doing the most; yet, when I sat down to write this particular post, I realised most of what I know about Tamales was from either the stories my mother and grandma had or from general common knowledge. I decided to research a little bit more about it, what I found out really surprised me! For example, did you know that the oldest records place tamales as far back as 1200 BC in Mayan paintings?!

Tacos al Pastor (or Shepard's Style Tacos) are one of my favourite tacos EVER and I don't say that lightly. In the north of Mexico they are called 'Tacos de Trompo', because they are cooked in a vertical spit called 'trompo' (spinning top) similar if not identical to the one Kebabs are cooked on, with a piece of fresh pineapple and a big onion on top. The cooking method and the gadget were brought by Lebanese immigrants to Mexico in the late 1910 and early 1920's.