September 29 is National Coffee Day: Two Great Mexican Coffee Recipes

Mexico is a big coffee growing country. In fact, it is the largest producer of organic coffee, producing 60 percent of all organic coffee grown in the world. Coffee export is a big money maker for Mexico.

The country did not begin growing coffee until the late 1700s, when the Spanish brought plants from Cuba and the Dominican Republic. They did not begin to grow it commercially until a number of years later when German and Italian immigrants arrived to begin its cultivation.

Most of the coffee is grown in the southern part of the country, where the land narrows and turns in an easterly direction.

Mexican Coffee

This recipe comes from Edith’s Restaurant posted on FoodNetwork.com.

You will need:

• Two teaspoons of sugar, divided
• Three ounces of tequila, divided
• Three ounces of coffee liqueur, divided (Kalhua is recommended)
• Ground cinnamon
• Two cups of prepared coffee, divided
• Two scoops of vanilla ice cream, divided
• Two cherries

How to make it:

Frost the rims of two cups with sugar. Add the tequila and the coffee liqueur to the cups and light with a flame. Dust the liquid with the cinnamon and then add hot coffee and a scoop of the vanilla ice cream to each cup. Top with a cherry.

Here is a non-alcoholic version from allrecipes.com.

You will need:

• Six cups of water
• One-quarter cup of brown sugar
• One cinnamon stick
• One whole clove
• One-half cup of ground coffee
• One-half teaspoon of vanilla
• One-quarter cup of chocolate syrup
• One cup of whipped cream

How to make it:

Bring the water, cinnamon, sugar, and clove to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Stir the mixture until the sugar is dissolved, then take it from the heat. Add the coffee grounds, stir the mixture again and cover, and let the mixture brew for five minutes. Add the vanilla and the chocolate syrup. Then, strain the mixture through several pieces of cheesecloth to take out the coffee grounds and the spices. Serve the coffee with a mound of whipped cream. It takes about ten minutes of prep time and about ten minutes to cook.

We hope you’ll visit Mattito’s soon to eat your fill of some of the best Tex-Mex cuisine in the greater Dallas region.