The Clay Cooking Pots of Mexico
Just before I left Mexico, I picked up a lovely book, Barro y fuego: El arte de la alfarería en Oaxaca (Clay and Fire: The Art of Pottery in Oaxaca) in 2011. (For details of the organizations and government agencies that supported the years of research it took to produce this book, see below.)
Mindling visited thirty-seven pottery-making villages (carefully mapped in his book) and recorded how the pots were shaped, how they were fired, the diversity of designs and how they are changing. Oaxaca probably has a particularly rich heritage of pot making but across Mexico pottery making villages still exist even if threatened by plastic.
I always hankered after doing a similar study in Guanajuato. Understanding pots and how they work is so important to food history.
All these pots embody considerable technical skill, the mix of clay and sand, for example, being adjusted to the use to which the pot will be put, or the thickness of the clay being varied across the pot depending on the structural support needed. And it’s important to realize that these pots are made without a potter’s wheel. Only two of the thirty-seven pottery villages utilize a wheel. In all other cases, the pots are built up by hand using a variety of different techniques. Thanks to Ken Albala for the comment that prompted this clarification.
Indeed, I think archaeologists could learn a lot from the author’s careful analysis of the technology.
Clay griddles lined up ready to be fired in a village in Oaxaca, Mexico
Anyway I’ve taken the liberty of copying a tiny portion of the photographs because I’d like this lovely book to get a bit of exposure outside Mexico. (And forgive the gutter shadows. My enthusiasm for sharing this book did not extend to breaking the spine).
Much of Barro y fuego is given over to recording the three basic cooking vessels in a traditional village kitchen in Mexico. Here is a small sampling of ollas, used to simmer the beans, cook maize, prepare guisados (stewed dishes). They can also be used to store grains or as a safe haven for chicks. Many come in standard sizes depending on whether you usually prepare a half kilo or a whole kilo of beans at a time. For festivals there are some are big enough to prepare a whole goat. (The small print under each olla identifies the village of origin).
Cooking pots (ollas) from different villages in Oaxaca, Mexio
And below are the comales, the basic griddle usually big enough to hold four or five tortillas expertly flipped in sequence by the cook. She also uses the comal to roast onions, tomatos, tomatillos, squash seeds and other ingredients for salsas. They are seasoned with lime (calcium hydroxide) to prevent sticking so the cook can even use them to fry an egg.
Clay griddles (comales) from different villages in Oaxaca, Mexico
And here’s the third basic, the cazuela (which goes by a variety of other names). It’s a wide open pot, sometimes deep, sometimes shallow, sometimes with handles sometimes without. Different varieties are used for cooking, particularly moles, for serving, and for eating.
Cazuelas (cooking and serving pots) from Oaxaca, Mexico
These three basic forms are far from exhausting the pottery repertoire. There are tall, handled jars for carrying water (cántaros), tall jars with wide mouths (tinacos), pierced pots (pichanchas) for draining the calcium hydroxide solution in which maize is briefly cooked and that makes it possible to make tortillas when the wet maize is ground, bulbous jars with narrow mouths (jarras) for serving liquids, cups for drinking chocolate, oval serving vessels, bowls with ridged interiors (molcajetes) for grinding, mezcaleros (very tricky to make) for distilling mezcal, braziers for burning the incense, copal, and one of my favorites, the ingenious patoja.
Pots (patojas, big feet) to be placed in the embers with the mouth accessible above the fire. From different villages in Oaxaca, Mexico
Looking at these pots, it’s no wonder that one ancient Greek theory was that the world was made of earth, air, fire and water. For that is all they are, earth and water dried in the air and finished by fire. And sometimes the pots seem almost to spring to life.
Trumpeter Rabbit
Barro y fuego was produced by Innovating Tradition, a non-profit
organization. Funds were provided by AECID (Spain), FONCA (National Fund for the Arts), and the government of Oaxaca. An English edition is in preparation.
Where can you get this book if you want it right now? I found Barro y fuego in the Coyoacán branch of the bookstore chain, Gandhi in Mexico City. It’s possible that you could order it on the preceding link and that it would reach you.
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This is very cool. I think another thing to consider is the physical properties of the clay when being thrown. Some shapes will support themselves, others will collapse if too wet, thin, wide. Hips, necks, feet and other anthropomorphised features often serve practical functions at the very start, in firing, and in cooking.
Thought you might like this Ken. And actually the clay is not thrown. These are hand shaped pots. There are various techniques for the hand shaping.
Rachel, lost knowledge in my area.
I fear to put a clay pot on a gas stove. I’m sure they’ll burst!
They are available anyway, mostly from the Portuguese in this city.
Is there someone who could guide me over my fears?
Bick, I’m not sure the Portuguese ones will work on an open flame. Mexican pots are low fired and work well. I believe that some high fired pots do not and do crack. I’ll see if I can pin this down.
I just found this blog, while searching a contact for Francisca Aparicio and I find it delicious! Thanks for posting so many beautiful things about my land: Mexico.
Thanks for commenting.
I love this book. Each state deserves its version!
I especially love how they “cook” the comales, as in your photo. No kiln needed!
What’s really interesting is how the different clays respond to heat. These red clay pieces from mostly southern Oaxaca/Guerrero are thinner and suck up whatever you cook in them. The darker red pieces from San Marcos Tlapazola have a more mineral flavor and cook very high, sometimes even burning the food, but I think they are the prettiest. We’re importing tan pieces from a Mixteca family in Los Reyes Metzontla (actually in Puebla, but also in this book) and the pieces are much thicker and have an earthy flavor. They look a little bland new but with use they’re gorgeous.
Rachel, you were such a trouper driving me around GTO in search of bean pots. The clay from San Felipe was so different! Almost sandier and lighter. Most of the pots were glazed (and leaded) but beautiful.
Again, each state needs a version of this beautiful book. Thanks for posting about it.
Glad you enjoyed the post, Steve.
A safehaven for chicks! Wonderful.
Thank you so much for sharing this book. I have to find it. So far no luck from the store you mentioned. If you have any other leads I would very much appreciate it.
I cook every dish I make in Clay. My blog is dedicated to sharing my recipes and experiences with clay cookware from around the world. I am currently working in Colombia with the women of La Chamba and their fabulous ancient tradition of clay cookware. And just starting a project in Jalisco, Mexico with digging clay for cookware based on Pre Columbian shapes and design of this region. I hope you do your book/study on the Guanajuato area!
Dear Nathalie, I will be going to Mexico in the Fall and will see what I can do to locate this book. I love your blog and perhaps we both know where some of your Mexican pots come from. I have left Mexico so I won’t be able to do my Guanajuato project. But let’s stay in touch as you follw your nearby project.
I got this book and tried to replicate this process (the way they’re layered in the wood)to make some clay comals using New Mexico low fire clay, but they blew up in the fire. I’m going to preheat them slowly next try and shield them from direct fire with sheet metal and the previous broken shards.Any advice?
How interesting. I’m sure these big comals are tricky and need a lot of tacit knowledge. I’ve not tried anything like this, nor seen it done, so I’ll be interested to hear about your next experiment. But no, no advice.
Hi! I’m Paige from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and I am enjoying your review on this book as well as the images provided. I am in a ceramics class in college and doing a research paper on Mexican vessels, specifically ones that hold food.
Thank you for all the information.
Hi Paige, Many thanks for taking the trouble to comment. There is a lifetime of work to be done on ceramics and food in Mexico. I’m glad that you are at least dipping your toe into it. And I love your blog. One of the best things about having a blog is that I meet others like yourself whom I would never run into in the normal course of events.
I would love to buy this book. Any idea how I can find a copy?
Your best bet would be to look up the Mexican bookstore Gandhi. I believe they do mail order.
Hi Rachel. Thank you so much for this sweet review of our book, we found this page a little late, but you can find us as Innovando la Tradición.
We’re about to print a new edition in english of this book, but your followers can buy the spanish version at: https://1050grados.com/
Thanks again for spread the word about the wisdom of the oaxacan clay world.
Greetings from sunny Oaxaca :)
So glad the book will come out in English.
In 1970 I visited ‘Tejas, Tlahuitoltepec Mixe’, then hiked to the summit of Cerro Zempoaltepetl trapping ‘cola corta’ mice with two biologists from the University of Kansas. Seeing the unusual pots, I asked a lady if I could purchase one; she brought me a brand new one. I asked her if I could get a used one instead, and today I still have the black, fired Mixe pot, a treasure and reminder of my special trip to the top of the mountain.
How wonderful
Hello,
I have what I think are authentic original La Chamba ollas with matching lids. Can anyone assist me to where I can submit images? They are quite large and heavy. I was planning on sending them out for a TL test but that requires a major amount of work and money.
Thanks,
Bill
Sorry to be so long responding. I’ve no idea why WordPress is not sending notifications of comments to my inbox. If you are up to dealing with Facebook, there’s a very active group there called “Cooking with Clay.” That’s where I would start.