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A chef in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region of Oaxaca is tantalizing taste buds with her culinary creations that boast a range of distinctive Zapotec flavors. Nabila Nichdali Aguilar Bla, a
31-year-old Zapotec woman who studied at the Culinary School of the Southeast in Mérida, Yucatán, uses a variety of Isthmus cheeses and locally-grown fruits in her popular cakes and
desserts. After returning to her home town of Unión Hidalgo in the Juchitán district of the Isthmus region six months ago, Aguilar started experimenting with local ingredients as she put her
years of training in traditional baking techniques to use. She now uses three different types of cheese in her orange cakes and caramel custard flans to strike a perfect flavor balance
between sweet and savory. One of the cheeses is known as _quesu bidxi_ by the Zapotec people and is characterized by its saltiness and intense flavor. The others are _queso oreado_, which
also has a strong flavor but is less salty, and _queso fresco de leche, _which is made with cow’s milk_._ Locally-grown fruits also caught the eye of Aguilar, who ventured to start her own
culinary business despite the difficulties of doing so during the coronavirus pandemic. The young chef decided to use _coyol_, a fruit from a palm tree that is cultivated in Unión Hidalgo,
in some of her cakes and desserts. She also flavors cold beverages with a whitish liquid known as _taberna_ that is extracted from the same tree. “The palm tree from which the _taberna _and_
coyol_ come is only cultivated in Unión Hidalgo; they are two gastronomic elements that are only produced and consumed in this area, they belong to us. I buy them directly from the
producers and contribute to their economy,” she told the newspaper _El Universal_. Aguilar also uses _tejocote_, or Mexican hawthorn, as the base ingredient for a jam to which she also adds
mezcal – Oaxaca’s world famous spirit, basil and other locally-grown herbs. She then uses the jam as an ingredient in some of her baked goods. “I’ve always believed in recipes that combine
[ingredients], … that’s why in our creative cuisine we never stop combining regional and natural flavors,” she said. Her products have found a loyal following in her home town in the months
since she started selling them and Aguilar even sends orders beyond the Isthmus region. Despite being busy with her new business, the chef has found the time to teach, along with a local
artist, a cooking and art workshop for children who have been stuck at home attending virtual classes for the past year. “We saw that the people most affected [by the pandemic] are children
because [they attend] classes on line but don’t have spaces to have fun together … so we started the workshop,” Pedro Hernández, the artist, told _El Universal_. _Source: El Universal (sp) _