Crema de Naranja - Orange Cream

Crema de Naranja - Orange Cream Recipe by Susana Gertrudis Jimenez Moya
Photo by Leticia Alaniz © 2015 

Hosting an elegant dinner party makes special occasions more festive, especially when you celebrate with good food and good friends.  Fine food, does not always mean complicated dishes.  Sometimes, it can be several small courses that can be as simple as starting with a plate of fromage or cheese course with nuts, herbs and honey; followed by a course of grilled or baked vegetables and a salad with a light vinagerette or even a soup served warm with bread.  For the main course, a dish than can be grilled  or roasted ahead of time and kept warm before serving, is always a very nice way to present an elegant plate.  Best of all, it keeps the host free to enjoy as much time as possible with the guests, rather than spending too much time in the kitchen.  

The last course is one of my favorites as the evening warms up with lively conversation.  It’s the dessert course that can be made ahead of time and served with a glass of sparkling wine, cordial, a velvety Spanish jerez (sherry), or a fine brandy.  Many desserts taste even better if they’re made the night before so that if they’re served cold, they can have plenty of time to set.  

Why do we love desserts?  Medieval and renaissance phisicians used to promote the value of a little bit of sweets in our diets for good health and mental wellbeing.  Most cultures of the world did not need to be told twice about the benefits of having dessert after a meal or in between meals.  It was just a natural instinct that has evolved with us.  Who wants to take a chance and not do something good for our health?  It’s a good thought and at least it’s good for our souls!   

When I asked my very special friend from Spain, Susana Jimenez Moya, what is one of her favorite desserts to serve after dinner, she mentioned Crema de Naranja or Orange Cream.  Spain is a major contributor to gastronomy when it comes to desserts.  Many have a rich heritage in dairy so it's no surprise Susana has suggested a sweet cream.  In Spain,  every region has their own culinary traditions and each region has their own signature dulces or desserts that have travelled the world over and have endured for centuries.  The Spaniards have followed the recommendations of physicians of yesteryear to the letter, and desserts and sweets are a very proud part of their varied and elegant cuisine.  

Susana Gertrudis Jimenez Moya
Málaga, Spain

Susana is from the picturesque southern region of Andalusia, specifically from Málaga.  Pronounce out loud Andalusia several times and it sounds like you’re reciting a poem.  With the beautiful seaside and rural landscapes, fresh ingredients and a cool fragrant breeze, it’s a perfect environment for creating special meals in the kitchen or better yet outdoors, which is exactly what Susana does.  Susana is a very passionate cook and food is one of the subjects we love to talk about.  So, on we go to make the recipe that Susana has contributed for Crema de Naranja.  It’s so simple yet sophisticated, with a silky finesse texture, you’ll want to make it often.  Once your dessert is made, you can proudly exclaim as the Andalusian people do, “¡Olé!”, which is an expression to mean well done, or to say a task or play was triumphant.  

Crema de Naranja (Orange Cream)

Ingredients

3 to 4 Valencia or Málaga oranges

Juice of one small lime

10-12 tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon of orange grated zest

fresh mint leaves for garnish

Directions

Grate enough zest from an orange to make at least 1 teaspoon.  Cut the oranges in half and squeeze the juice.  It’s important to obtain as much pulp as possible as that contributes to the concentrated flavor.  Don’t waste any.  In a bowl,  beat the orange juice with the lime. Add the condensed milk.  Next, add the orange zest and mix.  That’s it!  It’s so creamy and fragrant.  Pour into small containers or the halves of the juiced oranges and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.  Even better if it’s chilled overnight so that the flavors can intensify and set.  Garnish with fresh mint leaves and serve at your next dinner party.  

• Susana is a passionate cook and reaches deep down into her roots to learn ancestral recipes that weave the very essence of Spanish culture.  She is a talented artisan with a successful boutique, named aptly Glamour Marie Antoniette that features her very own handmade artistic creations.  She is passionate about traveling and world cuisines form part of her cooking repertoire such as Italian, French and lately Indian.  She is an avid day dreamer and lover of literature and fine arts.  

Pomegranates - The Ruby Jewels From The Ancient East

A Pomegranate split open showing its juicy red seeds
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2005  All Rights Reserved

One of the most ancient fruits known to man has long been associated in religion and mythology as a symbol so powerful that it has long endured thousands of years.  Considered to be the fruit of love and passion, it is no wonder it is associated with desire, fertility and marriage, abundance and prosperity, life and death, rebirth and eternal life.  The ruby red interior fruits of the pomegranate have been appreciated and valued as the fruit of perfection, the product of a woman's womb and the red of her lips.  

Pomegranates are a fruit known by their scientific name as Punica granatum.  They are native to the land known in ancient times as Persia, now modern Iran.  The name "pomegranate" derives from Latin pōmum apple and grānātus  "seeded" or grain.  By the spanish it is called granada, by the French, grenade.  The ancient Persians called it dulim or dulima.   In classic Sanskrit the word was taken from the Persians dadima or dalim.  They grow from a deciduous shrub or small tree that reaches a height between five to eight meters.  The shrub is much-branched, more or less spiny, and extremely long lived, some specimens have been known to have survived two centuries.  

A Pomegranate Bloom

Nearly round but crowned at the base by the prominent calyx, the fruit which can measure anywhere between 2 1/2 to 5 inches (6.25-12.5cm) wide, has a tough, leathery skin or rind, yellow more or less overlaid with light or deep pink or rich red.  The interior is separated by membranous walls and white spongy tissue into compartments packed tight with transparent sacs filled with tart, flavorful, fleshy, juicy, red, pink or whitish pulp.  

Pomegranates are a fruit long steeped in history and romance.  For centuries it has been admired as a fruit of passion for its luscious bright red color.  It has been featured in Egyptian mythology and art, praised in the Old Testament of the Bible, written and described poetically in the Quran and in the Babylonian Talmud, and it was carried by desert caravans for the sake of its thirst-quenching juice.  During the Moorish conquest of 711, the ancient Andalusan city of Granada, Spain was renamed after the fruit.   Spanish colonists later introduced the fruit to the Caribbean and Latin America.  It traveled to central and southern India from Iran about the first century A.D. and was reported growing in Indonesia in 1416.  It has been cultivated throughout India and the drier parts of southeast Asia, Malaya, the East Indies and Tropical Africa.  

It is rather commonly planted and has become naturalized in Bermuda, West Indies and warm areas of South and Central America.  In Mexico it is a cherished and much admired plant and has become a much celebrated fruit associated with harvests and religious festivals.  During pomegranate season, the markets are filled with mountains of these fruits beautifully displayed half open with the jewels sparkling and enticing the eyes of passersby.  

Pomegranate juice is rich in vitamin C and is a good source of potassium, polyphenols such as tannins and flavonoids and is an excellent source of vitamin B_5.  

Believed to be rich in fiber and antioxidants, for thousands of years it has been used medicinally in the reduction of heart disease and in eradicating free radicals which cause cancer.  It is known to reduce high blood pressure, inhibit viral infections, and its extracts have antibacterial effects against dental plaque.  

Since medieval times, pomegranates were used to cure blood diseases, following the principle of similarity that was identified because of its juice being a blood red color.  It has long been valued because of its magnificent astringent properties.  In Ayurvedic medicine every part of the plant (root, bark, flowers, fruit, leaves) is used for medicinal purposes.   

Due to its form and structure, the most important meaning of the pomegranate fruit, is the adjustment of the diverse and multiple all in one unit.  In many cultures it symbolizes the unity of the universe and fertility.  

Jews celebrate the beginning of a new year in September and pomegranates are eaten in many houses; because of their abundant little juice filled sacs, they also represent the number of good deeds that a person must try to accomplish reflecting equally the number of wishes that may be granted. 

A favorite dish from Mexico: Chile en Nogada traditionally
embellished with pomegranate seeds most popularly served during the month of September.

In the month of September, pomegranates appear in one of the most impressive manifestations of the mexican culinary arts: the Chiles en Nogada.  The famous dish that consists of a stuffed grilled poblano chile, covered in a walnut sauce and adorned with pomegranate jewels that glisten like rubies.  The blanket of creamy and fragrant walnut sauce over the green chile with the little jewels, apart from being a delight to admire visually, announces the most patriotic month of the year in Mexico. 

In the Middle East, pomegranate juice is very popular sold streetside in thousands of stalls when in season.  In India, fresh seeds are used in preparation of a curd rice.  Prior to the arrival of the tomato in the Middle East, granadine, which is a thick red syrup made from the fruit is commonly used in a variety of persian foods.

Anardana, a spice which is made from drying the pomegranate seeds for 10 to 15 days is used in India and Pakistani cuisines.  Literally the word comes from (anar) seeds and (dana) in Persian.  The seeds are used as an acidic agent for a variety of chutneys and curries.  

Chile Peppers - Its Journey From Mexico to Europe and Asia

Since the dawn of cooking, people around the world have added spices to their foods to make them taste better.  But no other ingredient is more popular and widely consumed than the chile pepper.  There is evidence that supports the notion that "countries with hotter climates use spices more frequently than countries with cooler climates". 

Nomenclature

Plenty has been written about the etymology of the various words used to describe the capsicums: pepper, chile, chili, chilli, and chile pepper, chili pepper.  Pepper,  of course, is derived from the early confusion with the black pepper genus, Piper, while chilli, chile, and chili are, the Nahuatl (Aztec) and Spanish spellings.  

The Plant and Its Power

Chile peppers are perennial subshrubs, native to the Americas.  They are a part of the large nightshade family, or Solanaceae, and are closely related to tomatoes, potatoes, tobacco, and eggplants.  They are not related to black pepper, Piper nigrum.  The chile pepper genus is Capsicum, from the Greek kapto, appropriately enough, meaning "to bite."

The active principle that causes heat in chile peppers is a crystalline alkaloid generically called capsaicin, produced by glands at the junction of the placenta and the pod wall.  The capsaicin spreads unevenly throughout the inside of the pod and is concentrated mostly in the placental tissue that holds the seeds.  The capsaicin in chiles is an incredibly powerful and stable alkaloid, seemingly unaffected by cold or heat, thus retaining its original potency despite time, cooking, or freezing. 

Capsaicin is one of the most pungent compounds known, detectable to the palate in dilutions of one to several million.  It is slightly soluble in water, but very soluble in alcohols, fats, and oils.  Capsaicin has no flavor, color, or odor.  Therefore the precise amount in chiles can only be measured by specialized laboratory procedures.    

There are some people more sensitive to the burn of the chiles more than others.  Our human taste buds can detect sour, sweet, bitter and salty.  Scientists have identified a lipid molecule called PIP2 that plays a crucial role in controlling the strength of the burning sensation caused by capsaicin.  A lipid molecule is a fatty molecule, insoluble in water but soluble in fat solvents and alcohol -- just like capsaicin.  In the mouth there is a capsaicin receptor called TRPV1, and the lipid molecule PIP2 is bound to it.  In the presence of capsaicin, the PIP2 molecule separates from the receptor, causing a painful sensation. 

In plain language, sensitivity to capsaicin is determined by genetics -- some people's lipid molecules have a stronger bond with capsaicin receptors than others.  But the fact that biochemical and pharmacological mechanisms can also play a role could explain why some people become desensitized to capsaicin and can take more and more heat. 

Origins of the Chile

Chiles originated in the remote geologic past in an area bordered by the mountains of southern Brazil to the east, by Bolivia to the west, and by Paraguay and northern Argentina to the south and as far north as central America and the jungles of Mexico.  Not only does this location have the greatest concentration of wild species of chiles in the world, but here and only here, representatives of all the major domesticated species within the genus do grow.  Scientists are not certain about the exact time frame or method for the spread of both wild and domesticated species, but suspect the birds were primarily responsible.  The wild chiles (like their undomesticated cousin of today, the chiltepin) had erect, red fruits that were quite pungent, which discouraged mammals from eating them.  But they were very attractive to various species of birds, which unaffected by the pungency, ate the whole pods.  The seeds of those pods passed thru their digestive tracts intact and were deposited on the ground, encased in a perfect fertilizer.  In this manner, chiles spread all over South and Central America long before the first Asian tribes crossed the Bering land bridge and settled the Western Hemisphere.  

The earliest evidence of chile peppers in the human diet is from Mexico, where archaelogists discovered chile seeds dating from about 7500 B.C. during excavation at Tamaulipas and Teotihuacan.  These pods and Peru's Guitarreo Cave (dated 6500 B.C) seem to indicate that chiles were under cultivation approximately 10,000 years ago.   However, the date is extremely early for crop domestication, and some experts suggest that these specimens were harvested in the wild rather than cultivated by man.  

It was in Mexico that the annuum species reached its greatest diversification of pod shapes.  By the time the Spanish conquerers arrived in what is now Mexico, chile peppers of all sizes and shapes were available in the marketplaces, as recorded by historians such as Bernandino de Sahagún, who described "hot green chiles, smoked chiles, water chiles, tree chiles, beetle chiles, and sharp-pointed red chiles."  Chiles were combined with virtually every meat and vegetable available, they were made into sauces and were even used in hot chocolate drinks also native to Mexico.  

Dispersion Around the World 

Credit goes to the most famous explorer Christopher Columbus for the dispersion of the chiles.  While trying to find a short cut to the East Indies, he landed first in Mexico thinking he had made it to the sought after land of the "black pepper".  He sampled a plant, thought it was a relative of the black pepper and dubbed it a "pepper".  So began several hundred years of misinformation about chile peppers.  Unlike what Christopher Columbus thought, they aren't related to black pepper and they didn't originate in India.  

Shortly after Christopher Colombus brought back the first chile pods with seeds from Mexico, the word was out about the pungent pods.  Pedro Martir, a cleric in the service of the Spanish court in Barcelona, wrote in 1493 that the new hot pepper was called "caribe, meaning sharp and strong," and that "when it is used, there is no need of black pepper."    

From 1493 on, chile seeds from the Americas, were available to the Spanish and Portuguese for transmittal throughout Europe and to ports anywhere along their trade routes.  Spanish and Portuguese ships returning home were loaded not only with gold and silver but with packets of the seeds of the New World plants, destined for monastery gardens.  Monks and amateur botanists carefully cultivated the capsicums and provided seed to other collectors in Europe.  

In 1494, papal bulls of demarcation divided the world into Spanish and Portuguese spheres of influence; Portugal controlled Africa and Brazil, while Spain effectively ruled the remainder of the colonies of the New World.  Thus Spanish and Portuguese traders spread chiles from both the Iberian Peninsula and other major colonies throughout the Eastern Hemisphere by way of their extensive trade routes.  

Traders carried seeds to Africa and India, and from there they were dispersed to Southeast Asia, the islands of Indonesia, and then to China, Japan, and the Philippines.  Eventually, chiles were transported to the islands of the Pacific.

From that point on chiles became a food craze around the world as the Spanish traded them with other countries.  They spread like wild fire throughout Europe to Asia and the rest of the world in a short period of approximately 50 years.  Its spread happened in a time when horse-drawn and wind-driven vehicles were the primary means of transport.

Today, chile peppers around the world are used lavishly on many dishes no matter what language you speak or what continent you live in.  As the previous is a known fact, everyone knows that Columbus carried chile peppers to Spain, but why didn't the cuisine of Spain become fired up like that of India, China, or even Hungary?  No one knows for certain.  Chiles do not dominate the cuisine -- except in one part of Extremadura in the far west, the same region where they were introduced.  

Chiles were welcomed in many cuisines around the world.  An Indian curry and most of its cuisine would never be the same without the chiles, or the Szechuan cuisine from China wouldn't even exist.  Imagine Thai dishes without chiles or the famous Baharat, very popular in Turkey, Berbere, from Ethiopia, and Charmoula from Morocco.  The list could go on and on.  One thing is for certain, chiles are very addictive and the more we eat of them the  more we crave them.  Chiles make everything taste better.

Chiles are not physically addicting -- you don't have withdrawal symptoms when you stop eating them, but they are psychologically addicting; spicy-food lovers miss the burn if they are deprived of spicy food for a while.  When chiles are ingested, our bodies produce endorphins, which is a chemical produced by our pituitary gland that gives us the feeling of exhilaration similar to that of excitement, pain, love, and orgasm, and they resemble the opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a feeling of well being.  Once someone starts enjoying fiery foods, they are likely to continue enjoying them for life. 

Tortas - The Mexican Quintessential Sandwich

Torta al Pastor
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2011 All Rights Reserved

In Mexican gastronomy, a torta is a kind of grilled sandwich.  It is usually prepared with a telera roll, although depending on the region of the country, it is also prepared with other types of bread such as a bolillo, birote, micha, pambazo, etc.  The bread is split in half and filled with a kaleidescope of fillings that are limitless, then further grilled to a crunchy perfectness.  

It is a culinary "antojito", prepared street side on gourmet food carts or in establishments called "torterias".  Although for a Mexican, the torta is considered a street snack, don't confuse this with fast food.  It is far from that.  Epicureans consider it a gourmet feast as the ingredients are all fresh, grilled, and include all the exotic ingredients you can imagine. 

Like all mexican food, the torta has a unique history well described by "Tortologo" Roberto Ayala in his book: "El Gran Libro de las Tortas".   According to his findings, there is an account that dates back to the sixteenth century:

Leonardo Da Vinci

It happened one day that Leonardo Da Vinci wanted to surprise his guest and protector Ludovico Sforza with something to eat, but he did not have much to offer.  He improvised a quick delightful snack that consisted of placing a piece of bread between two hard pieces of meat as hard as cobblestones and covering the entire dish between two larger pieces of bread.   This could be considered the initial stages  of the torta, placing Leonardo Da Vinci in the culinary history books as its inventor. 

From then on people began placing ingredients between two pieces of bread to conceal what was inside, especially if the ingredients were not very impressive.  Eventually, the torta or sandwich has been prepared in some variation in many parts of the world.

Leonardo Da Vinci may have had the ingenious idea of putting a piece of meat between two buns, but who reinvented the torta and turned it into a popular and exotic dish were the Mexicans.  The torta is so important for Mexicans that an annual festival is organized in the esplanade of the delegation of Venustiano Carranza in Mexico City.  

When the Spanish arrived in Mexico in search of riches, they brought with them wheat, a Spanish staple and religious necessity, the only grain recognized by the Catholic church as being suitable for the Euacharist wafer.  One important way of colonizing and christianizing the natives, was to replace the native grains such as amaranth with wheat.  

Bread production began in Mexico with the new grain, but it wasn't until the arrival of the french colonizers in Puebla in the 1800's, that Mexican bakers soon developed a baking tradition unique in its own way, making it one of the most inventive in the world.  

From the Mexican and French marriage in Puebla, the telera was born.  It is highly prized for its flavor and crusty golden outer shell with which the tortas are made.  Even though Puebla may take the credit for introducing the torta,  it is Mexico City whom is the superstar for being the most inventive in making the most impressive tortas.  

Not only are the ingredients with which the tortas are filled raised to a higher level of cuisine, but their names are also the most ingenious reflecting the culture of Mexico and their love of humor.  

There are an endless array of tortas, but some are more famous than others.  The creativity of the Mexican does not have borders but it does contain a lot of humor:

"La Chancla" (flip flop), consists of shredded chicken cooked in "guajillo"  chiles and spices.  The telera roll is stuffed with the chicken filling and avocado slices.  Then it is topped with guajillo salsa.

"La Ahogada" which translates to the "drowned one", was invented in Guadalajara, Jalisco.  The torta is called that because it is submerged in a "chile de arbol" salsa.  A hard and crunchy birote roll, characteristic of the region, is filled with fried pork, then submerged in the spicy red liquid.  The consistency of the bread permits the torta to be submerged without crumbling or dissolving. 

"La Guajolota" the name given to a torta that consists of a telera roll stuffed with a tamal. (literally it translates to a large turkey hen).

"El Chavo" (the kid), a torta that is a favorite among children, but also made famous by the Mexican television farcical sitcom.  It consists of a telera or bolillo roll, ham, and avocado slices.   

"La Hawaiiana",  called that because it is filled with grilled pineapple and ham, then topped with asadero cheese.

"Lambada", aptly named after the famous brazilian dance craze.  It consists of grilled meat, chorizo, and asadero cheese.

"La Cubana", no translation needed, just about every ingredient you can name stuffed into the bread.  

Then there are the tortas named after certain places even though, they are all Mexican: "Michoacana, Española, Rusa, Alemana, Suiza, La China, etc"

But it does not stop there, in the "torterias", you will find yourself amused at all the humorous names: "La Gringa (the name given to a foreigner of English descent), Mariachi, La Tejana, La Negra, La Mora, La India, La Tortuga, Francis, La Torta Loca, La Macha, la Pobre, Cantinflas, Pachuqueña, La Arabe, La Milanesa, Al Pastor, La Capulina, La Barbi, etc..."

All tortas are usually served with lettuce and tomato, queso fresco, avocados, onions, fiery hot salsas, pickled jalapeños, and even crema.  But when you visit a torteria, no dictionary is needed, just bring a huge appetite. 



Para Español

Potosí Bolivia - Cerro Rico, The Mountain That Eats Men

Potosi, Cerro Rico, Bolivia

Considered one of the highest cities in the world at an elevation of 4,090 meters (13,500 ft), Potosí is the capital of the department of Potosí in Bolivia, a South American country located in the lanlocked area between Brazil to the north east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, Chile by the south west, and Peru by the west.  

It lies on the Andean mountanous region, and prior to Spanish colonization,  Bolivia was part of the majestic Incan Empire.  The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century.  The mountain was known in Quechua as "Sumac Urku", which translates as beautiful mountain.  

The city has thrived for hundreds of years beaneath the Cerro de Potosi, often reffered to as Cerro Rico (rich mountain), as it is rich in silver ore, which is the reason for Potosí's historical importance.  The mountain has been exploited for almost 500 years, and it was the major supply of silver for Spain during the period of the New World Spanish Empire.  

Potosí was a mithical land of riches having supplied according to official records over 45,000 short tons (41,000 metric tons) of pure silver from 1556 to 1783.  Indian Incan laborers, forced by Francisco de Toledo were enslaved and made to mine deep in the mountain for the precious commodity that was to make Spain wealthy.  

In addition to the indegenous labor force called the mitayos, that had to transport the ore up the shafts to the mouth of the mine, the Spanish imported 1,500 to 2,000 African slaves per year.  An estimated 30,000 African slaves were taken to Potosí during the colonial era.  The African slaves were forced to work as acémulas humanas (human mules).  Since mules would die after a couple of months pushing the mills, the colonists replaced the four mules with twenty African slaves.  

It is estimated that over eight million people have died in the mines, not simply from brutal labor, but by mercury poisoning and the inhalation of silicosis which damages the lungs.  

Today over 9000 Indios work in miner owned cooperatives, in search of any remaining minerals within Cerro Rico.  Sadly, among the workers are many child laborers often as young as ten years old.  They work in a maze of over 20,000 tunnels.  Fatal accidents are often and most miners fall victim to the black lung disease and die by age 40.  It is known as "The Mountain That Eats Men".  

To gain strength enough to go deep into the mines, the miners chew on coca leaves, which will give them the energy to stay down often for up to eighteen hours at a time.  The coca leaves help with controlling fatigue and hunger.  

Due to exhaustive mining, the mountain has shrunk from it's original glory by a few meters and there is very little mineral left.  The miners meticulously search and pick for the last few remaining "veins" of silver and as a result, the mountain is in danger of collapsing making the ardous work extremely dangerous and life threatening.

Imposed by the Spanish rule, the governors of the mine struck fear into the workers if they refused to work.  And according to their Incan beliefs, God does not exist deep below.  So the Spaniards played on that idea, and made them to believe that if they did not work in the mines "El Dios" the God of the underworld would punish them.  

"El Tío", the lord of the underworld venerated and respected
deep in Cerro Rico, Potosi, Bolivia.

In Quechua the Incan locals did not have the "d" sound, so they pronounced  "El Dios" with a "El Tio".  To enter the mine, they enter into the realms of the malevolent being or el diablo (the devil) where El Tío, or uncle presides.  If an accident or collapse occurs, they say it has happened only because the Tío has been angered.  But if a miner is lucky to find a "plentiful vein", then it is due to El Tío's blessings.  He is the lord of the underworld.  "What happens inside depends on Mother Earth and El Tío".  

Everyday, before beginning their work, the miners make offerings to a statue in the form of a goat with horns representative of El Tîo.  They offer coca leaves, water, fruits, cigarretes, colored paper, bottles of grain alchohol, incense, and prayers in hopes that he will spare their lives.  

El Tío rules over the mines, simultaneously offering protection and destruction.  At the openeings of the shafts, at regular intervals the villagers of Potosí offer a sacrifice to the devil in the mines, ritually slaughtering a llama and smearing the animal's blood at the entrance to the mine in hopes of calming El Tío and diverting him from claiming more lives.