Bonus: In the Kitchen with Virgie (plus recipe card!)
Virgie wants to make you a snack, a tasty Mexican bread pudding called Capirotada. As she prepares it, she walks you through the recipe and tells the mysterious history of the dish. She also answers listener questions while she creates some kitchen magic!
Virgie: [00:00:00] Hey, Rebel Eaters! Today, we're doing something a little different. Come sit with me in my kitchen in San Francisco. I want to make you a snack. I told you a little about my kitchen. In the last episode, it has a cozy little breakfast nook, and the cabinets are all painted robin's egg blue. There's a big window that lets in lots of sunlight and the linoleum is a groovy 1970s yellow.
[00:00:31] Okay. Are you imagining yourself sitting in the breakfast nook? Good. Because today I'm making Capirotada, it's a sweet and salty Mexican bread pudding. I'll tell you a little history about the dish and share everything you need to know to make your very own. And while we put it together, I'm going to answer a couple of listener questions.
[00:00:55] Ready?
[00:01:00] [00:01:00] When I was a kid, my grandma used to make Capirotada around Christmas, but it is traditionally associated with Lent. It is in the bread pudding family, but it's much more relaxed and requires no eggs. It's full of yummy spices, dotted with raisins, and has salty white cheese melted on top. And t. Is. Glorious let's get started.
[00:01:27] First, gather up your ingredients: a stale baguette, a cup and a half each of water and dark brown sugar, two cinnamon sticks and a few whole cloves, if you like. A handful of raisins, two tablespoons of butter and one cup of shredded white cheese, like Monterey Jack or Parmesan. Got your ingredients? Good. Before we start putting them together, let's take a look at a question [00:02:00] sent in by one of you.
[00:02:02] This one came in on my Instagram page. Okay. Here's the question. What do you recommend doing when your in-laws are being fatphobic? Ugh. When it comes to fatphobia, there are two types of in-laws: respectful ones who are open to having their minds changed, but maybe just aren't quite hip to the self-love revolution that is happening under their noses.
[00:02:29] The second type is disrespectful in-laws who are dead set on doing whatever the hell they want, no matter who they harm. It's important to determine which type you're dealing with, so you can decide how much energy to put into dealing with them. If you have respectful in-laws, then the more you communicate clear boundaries, the more they will learn, they need to change their behavior around you.
[00:02:55] And hey, maybe beyond just you. With [00:03:00] disrespectful in-laws you largely have to minimize time you spend with them, do pre-care and post-care before and after interacting with them. I really liked something called the broken record method. You can use it with both respectful and disrespectful in-laws the broken record method involves repeating the same script again and again and again, without changing it up pretty much at all.
[00:03:27] You'll need about 30 minutes to an hour to write your script. Start with writing out some of the common offensive things you hear your in-laws say, and script out brief responses that include the following actions. One: name the behavior. Two: set a boundary. Three: close the conversation.
[00:03:49] So your in-laws say something fatphobic. Your script could read like this - first, name the behavior. 'Talking about people's bodies like that isn't okay with [00:04:00] me.' Second - set a boundary. 'My family believes that all bodies are equally good. It's okay if you don't agree, but I don't want that said around me.' Third, end the conversation. 'Hopefully this will go better next time.' Feel free to exit after that. Say, 'I'll be right back. I have to take care of something.' Or redirect. 'So how was your weekend?' It might feel awkward at first, but trust me, it gets easier with time.
[00:04:31] Best of luck, friend. And remember you deserve to not have fatphobia be a regular part of your life. You are not asking for too much.
[00:04:42] More questions and Capirotada, after the break.
[00:04:58] All right back to our [00:05:00] Capirotada. Let's put the water and sugar together in a sauce pan, along with the cinnamon sticks and cloves. Bring the pan up to a simmer, and we're just going to let it sit there for about 10 minutes. I have to tell you the interesting history of Capirotada.
[00:05:21] Let's start with the word. One definition is jumble, and another is casserole. And there's some debate around whether the name Capirotada is derivative of the word for hood or shroud. Like I said, the dish is usually eaten by Catholics around lent and it's infused with religious symbolism. The bread is supposed to represent the body of Christ.
[00:05:47] The syrup represents blood, the cinnamon sticks and cloves represent the cross and nails used during the crucifixion. The cheese is said to represent the [00:06:00] Holy shroud that Jesus was buried in. Capirotada goes way back. It first showed up in a book published during the inquisition. It's not clear to me how exactly it was used, but preparation and knowledge of the Capirotada was used at the time to figure out if someone had actually converted from Judaism to Christianity. Capirotada may have come to Mexico to escape the inquisition.
[00:06:38] Okay, I'm going to pick up the mic, get it into the boiling water area. Okay. My pot with the sugar water and spices has been simmering for a few minutes. I'm going to let it go a little while longer. While we wait, let's take another question.
[00:06:56] This one came up from a listener, a during a workshop I taught a few [00:07:00] weeks ago and I know it's one, a lot of people are struggling with.
[00:07:04] The listener asks: I feel like my own disordered eating has ruined my kids' relationship with food. Do you have any advice for me? First of all, I don't believe that people can be ruined. People can change their relationship to food until the day they die. Second, I always think it's important to forgive ourselves when our own food or body trauma may have negatively affected our relationship with others.
[00:07:33] Beyond that, I don't think that believing you have ruined your kids' relationship with food is going to help you or them. It sounds like you're moving into healing and that's leading to awareness around accountability. These are super wonderful, valuable, and educational human processes for your kid to witness in a way that feels appropriate and authentic. I think it's okay to tell them that [00:08:00] you'd like to help build some new rules and plans for the house that promote all types of food and body as good. Tell them you're learning. Good news is that kids can teach us amazing ways to relate to food. So let them be teachers too.
[00:08:17] Thank you for this question.
[00:08:26] It's been 10 minutes. So I'm going to take this pot with the sugar syrup off the stove. I sliced up the bread earlier, and I'm going to butter a baking dish, line it with baguette slices, dot each slice of bread with little chunks of butter, and sprinkle the raisins on top. This is my favorite part.
[00:08:49] Now I'm going to pour the syrup over the bread and raisins. Mmm.
[00:08:57] Okay. I'm setting the oven to 350 [00:09:00] and while it heats up, we'll let the bread soak in that syrup. Once that's good and soaked up, then I'll sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top. I personally like using Parmesan cheese because it offsets the sweetness so dramatically. Depending on the region of Mexico you visit, the version of Capirotada that you might make at home will differ.
[00:09:23] Some have no cheese, some have nuts, some don't include fruit, some even have meat. Each version represents local customs, availability of ingredients and a family's personal tastes and creativity. It's time to put the Capirotada in.
[00:09:50] While we wait for it to cook, let's take one more question. This one is from the Rebel Eaters Club hotline.
[00:09:58] Voicemail: [00:09:58] Hey Rebel Eaters Club, [00:10:00] um, Virgie, I was wondering how working on the podcast has changed the way you think about food.
[00:10:07] Hi Friend, and
[00:10:08] Virgie: [00:10:08] thank you for your question. It's changed the way I think of food in so many ways.
[00:10:14] I think the show has challenged some of my most important preconceived notions. Like I tend to find what's wrong with things, and then I stop there, without pushing myself to see if there's anything good that can be salvaged. This season in particular has challenged me to remember that even when it comes to things that have a lot of problematic history and practices like dietetics or medical research, there are still things that are important and even life saving.
[00:10:43] And we need those fields. We need them to be better, but we need them. The show has reminded me how connected all of our foods are with history, and it's taught me how much people really need new rules - or better yet - [00:11:00] non-rules for eating that allow them to center joy, pleasure, healing, and connection.
[00:11:06] I've also learned that I really, really love croissants. Oh, the Capirotada is ready!
[00:11:17] I invited my boo to enjoy it with me.
[00:11:22] Ready? Take a crunch. Mmmm. It's like the raisins with the cheese. I'll be honest. I, I put a little bit of extra spices in there, so good. And then I zested a little bit of orange peel. If you want to take this dish to the next level, zest, a little bit of orange peel on top and just be taken straight to heaven.
[00:11:58] If you want to get recipe [00:12:00] card with the Capirotada recipe on it, head over to RebelEatersClub.com.
[00:12:09] As always, I love hearing from you. You can call the hotline at 862-231-5386. Or send us an email at rebeleatersclub@gmail.com. This bonus episode was produced by Lacy Roberts and Mitchell Johnson. This season's lead producer is Jordan Bailey. Sarah Nics edited the show and Gretta Cohn is our executive producer.
[00:12:33] Thanks so much for being here this season. Remember you deserve to eat, and you deserve to eat well, Rebel Eaters!
[00:12:48] Don't forget to lick your butterfingers! Okay. I think we've got it. [00:13:00]