Martha Chapa: An Artist in the Kitchen

“Food is art; art is food,” says Martha Chapa, who has achieved success in both fields. A prominent artist in Mexico, Chapa is also a founding member of the Circulo Mexicano de Arte Culinario--an organization of her country’s top women in gastronomy--and the author of several successful cookbooks.

Born in Monterrey, in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, Chapa showed early interest in both painting and cookery. Her mother tried to discourage her from following either pursuit: Fussing about in the kitchen would get it dirty, she admonished, and women who became painters didn’t get married. The rebellious young artist proved that the latter wasn’t true by marrying at the age of 15.

She followed her husband to New York, where he was pursuing his education. There the couple had to manage on very little money, which taught Chapa to be a versatile and resourceful cook. On her return to Mexico, one of her mentors, the celebrated Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo, scoffed at her continuing interest in food. “You are doing a very silly thing,” he told her. “Dedicate yourself to your painting.”

She strong-mindedly continued to dedicate herself to both. In the art world she became known for her symbolic use of the apple. “Anything can be important if well painted,” the great artist told her, and Chapa sees more in an apple than seeds, core, pulp and peel. “I can paint every feeling, all that I have inside, with the apple,” she says.

Tamayo eventually moderated his opinion. When Chapa produced the book entitled “La Manzana, el Sabor del Fruto Prohibido” (“The Apple, Flavor of the Forbidden Fruit”), published in Spain by Editorial Everest in 1989, Tamayo supplied an epilogue in which he gracefully complimented Chapa on the exquisite quality of her dishes.

Tamayo also wrote the introduction to Chapa’s book on the cooking of Nuevo Leon. In her books, Chapa has managed to combine her interests in food and art, preparing and styling the food for the photographs in some of them herself. The photos are as imaginatively conceived as her paintings and are sometimes unconventional, representing the artist’s unique vision.

In “La Cocina Mexicana y Su Arte” (“The Art of Mexican Cookery”), the profile of a cat serves as backdrop for a cassata . The cat seems to be part of a photograph (or is it a painting?) that includes a shadowy apple. Lipstick smudges a demitasse next to the cassata , a layered structure of liqueur-laced nut cakes cloaked with rich hazelnut cream. In the salad chapter, a Siamese stalks a bowlful of greens on a sun-dappled table. The cat, obviously, is another of Chapa’s preferred motifs. “An intelligent animal, very aesthetic,” she says.

At the other extreme, Chapa sheds the artifices of food styling. Instead of adding bright little garnishes to a pork roast in black sauce, for example, she glorifies the deep color. The pork appears only as a faint bulge in a plain white container filled with the dark sauce.

Although “La Cocina Mexicana” has been translated into English (it is published by Editorial Everest), Chapa’s other books are available only in Spanish. They include treatises on the cuisines of the Mexican states of Nuevo Leon, Sinaloa, Queretaro and Tlaxcala, and an anthology of her favorite dishes.

The artist, who now lives in Mexico City’s well-to-do Jardines del Pedregal neighborhood with her husband, Federico Ortiz Quesada, a successful physician, devotes weekends to exploring Mexican towns, ferreting out culinary treasures. She is pondering whether to focus her next cookbook on Aguascalientes or Guadalajara.

She is somewhat of a feminist, concerned with the lack of recognition accorded women in artistic fields. “Painterly and culinary expressions have permitted me, while appearing mute, to create beauty that arises from the thresholds of my feminine consciousness and offer it to the society I live in,” she wrote in an essay on her gastronomic experiences. In the same passage, she advanced the idea of “women’s liberation through the art of cookery.”

Chapa enjoys entertaining and carefully plans the plate presentations, table settings and flowers to turn each event into an artistic occasion. “I can see the people (guests) happy. That for me is something gorgeous,” she says. But food is more than entertainment or the means of satisfying hunger. “We (Mexicans) think food connects you with the divinity,” Chapa says.

This bean soup is from “Cocina de Queretaro” (“The Cooking of Queretaro”), co-authored by Martha Ortiz.

CREMA DE FRIJOL (Bean Soup)

2 dried black pasilla chiles

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup oil

3/4 pound dried pinto beans, cooked

2 cups liquid from cooking beans

2 cups chicken broth

1 tomato, roasted and peeled

1 avocado leaf, optional

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Salt, pepper

1 cup whipping cream

Roast chiles lightly on griddle. Do not allow to burn. Remove seeds and veins, then soak in warm water until softened.

Cook onion and garlic in oil in Dutch oven until tender. Add beans, cooking liquid, chicken broth, drained chiles, tomato, avocado leaf, oregano, cumin and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring just to boil and remove from heat.

Puree in blender or food processor, strain and return to low heat. Blend cream smoothly with bean mixture. Heat thoroughly but do not boil. Remove from heat and serve at once. Makes 8 to 10 servings

Note: As variation, blanch and toast 1 cup almonds. Puree with bean mixture.

Each serving contains about:

245 calories; 246 mg sodium; 41 mg cholesterol; 19 grams fat; 15 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 1.7 grams fiber; 69% calories from fat.

This is from Chapa’s first book, “La Cocina Mexicana y su Arte.”

POLLO EN MOLE DE ALMENDRA (Chicken in Almond Mole)

4 whole chicken breasts, boned and cut in half

1 cup milk

2 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon oil

8 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled and deveined

1 3/4 cups almonds, blanched

1 cup chicken broth

Salt, pepper

1 cup whipping cream

Marinate chicken breasts in milk 30 minutes. Drain on paper towels, reserving milk. Heat butter and oil in large skillet. Add chicken breasts and cook until browned. Drain and set aside.

In blender, combine chiles, almonds and broth. Blend until pureed. Fry mixture in butter and oil remaining in skillet and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in cream. Add chicken breasts and milk and simmer, covered, until chicken is tender, about 15 minutes. Makes 8 servings.

Note: Ingredients may also be used to prepare enchiladas. Fry tortillas in oil to soften. Place some of mole sauce, shredded chicken and chopped almonds in center and fold. Decorate each plate with whole almonds.

Each serving contains about:

580 calories; 271 mg sodium; 138 mg cholesterol; 43 grams fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 40 grams protein; 1.5 grams fiber; 66% calories from fat.

The recipes in “La Manzana, el Sabor del Fruto Prohibido” range from cream of cider soup with fennel to an uncomplicated dessert entitled Tentacion de Manzana (Apple Temptation). The dish, writes Chapa, merits this name not only because it is tempting to eat, but because it is so simple that one easily falls into the temptation of making it frequently.

TENTACION DE MANZANA (Apple Temptation)

2 1/2 pounds apples, peeled and cored

1/2 cup butter, melted

2/3 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups milk

4 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Additional sugar

Whipped cream

Dice apples and place in buttered, floured 2-quart rectangular baking dish. In blender combine butter, flour, sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla, baking powder and salt. Blend until evenly combined.

Pour mixture over apples and bake at 400 degrees 35 to 40 minutes, or until set in center. Serve at once, sprinkled with sugar and accompanied by whipped cream. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about:

333 calories; 420 mg sodium; 142 mg cholesterol; 16 grams fat; 44 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 1 gram fiber; 43% calories from fat.