Biscochitos

I went in search of lard the other day.  A pound of lard to be exact.  I had to visit two grocery stores to find any.


Why, you might ask?  Why in the world would someone in the 21st century need to purchase lard?


Here's a hint...anise seeds.  The combination of lard and anise seeds might not mean anything unless you lived in or visited New Mexico.


Biscochitos are a New Mexican folk cookie.  They are a form of shortbread...shortbread made with lard and as the recipe states "no substitutions".

Recently we attended a wedding in New Mexico and they had bowls of biscochitos on the table.  They brought back memories.  When I was growing up in Albuquerque my mother and I used to make biscochitos.  One time in particular that I remember was when I had a school project that required everyone to bring a local dish.  My mom suggested biscochitos and we went in search of lard and anise seeds.  They are a simple cookie...flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder and salt in addition to the beforementioned lard and anise seeds.


After the dough is mixed together you add a little wine to make it softer.  It needed to be a sweet wine so I sacrificed my last bottle of Montana Riesling that I bought this summer.  It may have only been 10:00 a.m., but a little wine for the dough and a little wine for the baker.  Then the dough goes in the frig for 24 hours.


Then it was time to roll it out and cut the cookies.  They're supposed to be super thin which I was having a hard time accomplishing.


They still tasted great, but next time I will try harder to make them wafer thin.  The recipe made about seven dozen cookies which is a lot for two people.  Lots of them went into the freezer, some are going to be for Thanksgiving and some of them are being enjoyed now.

It's been 40+ years since I made biscochitos.  They were definitely worth the wait.

Do you have a local favorite food where you live?


Comments

Yogi♪♪♪ said…
I forgot all about bischochitos until this post of yours. They are good.

November 24, 2021 at 11:53 AM
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