Cerocahui: As Mexican as Apple Pie

El Chepe entering one of dozens of tunnels

As a child, I rode trains from Houston to Dallas and back many times and just loved it. Those childhood memories drove me years ago to check out that mode of travel in Mexico's largest state, Chihuahua.  Ranked as one of the most scenic and spectacular train journeys in the world, the Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacifico (El Chepe) train has become my favorite activity in northern Chihuahua and mode of travel through Copper Canyon.

The Mission in Cerocahuí

While I plan to blog about several of my favorite stops along the way through the many tunnels and over the bridges crossing deep gorges from the city of Chihuahua to Los Mochis, I want to start with the little town of Cerocahui on this jouney.  A short ride from the train station, this town is a must stop; and I would have to say that the Hotel Mision there is a must-stay, also.  Not much choice there, but it would be where to stay if there were a hundred hotels.

Urique Canyon

Cerocahui is nestled on the edge of Copper Canyon's deepest canyon, Urique Canyon. Here in the heart of Tarahumara Indian country, these mysterious Indians (who make their homes only in Copper Canyon area), who number around 50,000, live mostly in caves and primitive stone dwellings and exist mainly by growing corn, beans, herbs, mangoes and various hybrid varieties of Red and Golden Delicious apples.  The apples were first brought to this area by Jesuit priests who came here as early as the 1600's to convert the Indians to Christianity. You will be caught up in the beauty and warmth of this small village and, frankly, can walk around the whole town in an hour. I am always intrigued by the electronics shop on the town square with horses tied up at the door.  The old mission is inviting and a stroll on the grounds is very relaxing to me.

Horses tied up at the Electronics Shop on the Zocalo

I remember the first time I went through the door at the Hotel Mision.  I smelled a familiar aroma immediately; I didn't know it then, but it was Mama Vilma's Tarahumara Apple Pie.  Decades ago,  when Dona Vilma Barderrama was a young girl attending nun's college in Minnesota, she returned to visit the Balderrama family's hotel in Mision and brought with her a recipe for American apple pie that the nuns had taught her to bake. The cooks at the hotel took that recipe and melded it into a local specialty by using the sweet Tarahumara apples and locally-grown and produced wheat, butter and spices.  It became a Hotel Mision signature dessert and has been so for nearly 40 years.

The rooms at Hotel Mision are comfortable

The rooms here have porches facing grape vines in the courtyard from which they make their own wine.  On a cold morning, the hotel staff will come by (at your request) to light the wood-burning stoves and warm your comfortable room. This is a time to do without your laptop and phones in the room; but it's not at all primitive. Most of all, be prepared for a comforting hot cup of Mexican coffee and Tarahumara apple pie in the morning (or dessert after dinner).

The Balderrama family graciously provided me with the recipe for that wonderful pie and I am pleased to share it with you..

Mama Vilma's Tarahumara Apple Pie

Mama Vilma's Tarahumara Apple Pie

Base (Shell):

2 cups flour

1/2 cup Shortening

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup water (2 fl oz)

Filling:

2 1/2 apples peeled and grated

1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400°F

Base (shell) Preparation:

Mix flour with shortening and salt, use a metal spoon to mix, add ice water and knead until a smooth consistency, refrigerate overnight wrapped in plastic wrap. The next day, bring to room temperature, then split into 2 round parts like a balls. Spread with a roller and to the shape of your mold and cut the excess, sealed the edges with a fork, make holes to let it breathe.

Filling 

Add ingredients to the mold, first the apple, then the cinnamon, sugar and butter and nutmeg, then cover with the remaining base pie add sugar, make little holes with a fork to let it breathe.

Put the pie into the oven, cover with aluminum foil.

Bake at 400°F for 2 1/2 hours. 

Cool it to room temp. Serve warm or cool, with your favorite apple sauce on the bottom for presentation.