Cinco de Mayo!

Today, just for fun, we celebrated Cinco de Mayo. Although not an obligatory holiday in Mexico, says Wikipedia, because it is not Mexican Independence Day, but instead a day to remember when a small band of Mexican soldiers defeated the much larger and well equipped French Army. We’re using it as a day to remember the people who are normally our neighbours to the South.

Re-creating the typical Mexican feast is not an easy feat in a country so far from the regional influence. The hardest part was finding a good source of refried beans. A small can of Rosarita refried beans in the States might cost as much as a dollar depending on where you buy it and whether it’s on sale or not. In New Zealand, it’s considered exotic food and can cost almost NZ$5. So I bought some dried beans (not easy to find either) and decided to make my own. I didn’t bring any cookbooks to New Zealand because we were trying to conserve on weight, but using a tip from my sister-in-law, Becky, I was able to locate a recipe on-line. Making the beans from scratch took a bit longer but I made a large batch that we’ll be able to enjoy several times. Tonight we enjoyed fish tacos (on corn tortillas from Grandma Judy that slipped through customs) with refried beans and Spanish rice (I had to use the same on-line recipe trick for the Spanish rice, too). New Zealand avocados and Old El Paso salsa (made in Australia) added more authenticity (?) to our meal.

All of this may be well and good, but Ben received an email from his friend, Denise Schmitz, recounting a different series of events that led to a celebration on this day. Following is the story he received:
Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York. This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost. The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day. The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as Sinko de Mayo.