Well thats it. I'm almost home. Thanks to the French striking (how they do love a stike) I have 4 hours to play with here in Paris, just about time enough to freshen up eat some food and write a blog!
My Sunday with Edith was very nice. She has a small shop in her village and we hung out there with her son Oscar who is a budding artist. When we arrive we went to a local lady who makes Atole in her barn. This is a hot drink made from maize and cinammon. You add panela (crude sugar) to taste. It was a welcome drink after the journey. We made visits to other local houses, one where cheese is made and another where they make Maza - maize meal made from fresh maize used for tortillas etc. There a row of milling machines awaits locals bringing their own maize for milling.
We also went to the market to buy ingredients to make some memolitas.. my favourite food!
Before heading back to cook we visited Edith's sister who is part of an NGO that works with the community teaching them about growing food organically and also promoting Amaranth as a crop. Amaranth is a rich source of protein - a great option for poorer people. This was really interesting and so great to hear about a grass roots project like this. Maybe this is a group I can look to work with to bring products to market in the UK... They don't just harvest the Amaranth grain but also use the leaf as a vegetable that is very nutrient rich. Then the rest of the plant get used as animal fodder. Great crop!
Returning to Edith's shop we fired up the charcoal and got the ceramic hot plate heating up to make thick tortillas for the memelitas. We made a fresh chile sauce that was awsome. From Chapulines (grasshoppers) ground in the pestal with tomatoes and chiles (soften in hot water). So simple but tasted great.
While the cooking was going on, a local man in a cowboy hat came past with a 5 litre bottle (looked like a gasoline bottle) with home made mescal in it. Selling it for 60pesos a litre. We had a try. Wish I could have just bought the 5 litre and bought it home. That was the best tasting Mescal!! I bought us a half a litre to have with lunch.. why not eh. After all it was sunday and Mescal is supposed the drink of the gods.
A jolly time was had and Edith is helping me with some other recipes.
I headed back to Oaxaca around 5pm having had a good snooze on the bus! I made it home by 11pm, after doing the rounds of the people I know here and now consider friends. Jaime invited me to dinner and wouldn't let me pay as usual... I went to hear my friend Lorenzo sing one last time... and left with a warm happy feeling leaving a place that has grown in my heart.
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Friday, 8 October 2010
Highs and Lows
Well like everything in life. There are ups and downs. I have moments when I wonder what the hell I am doing. Being alone on such a mission, with the dream of writing a book, starting a buisiness even making a TV programme... at times the lack of the immediate support of loved ones is difficult. A hug over the phone is wonderful but not the same as the real thing.
Today was a little disappointing. One of the restaurants that Jaime introduced me to, was where I was this afternoon. The lady was evidently not so keen to teach me anything, rather telling what I need to do was spend a week and pay her as a cooking school. In some respects this is fair enough, but I wish she had told me this before so that I could have done something else with my day... Even so I ended up being there 2 hours partly talking to her, partly waiting. Wanting to just walk out and go and enjoy the afternoon sunshine.
Towards the end of the 2 hours her staff changed shift. An older lady came in looking tired. I asked her if she was ok, and we chatted a while. Then I left. A little disheartened and with no new recipes, I went and sat in the last of the sun infront of the Church of Santa Domingo to read my book, which by the way is fasinating and I can`t put it down. Its called Shapeshifting by John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman. I think I`m learning how to shift my attitudes and make dreams reality. Pretty apt being here alone.
Once the sun had gone I started to head back through the crowd towards my hotel. I nearly walked right into the tired lady from the restaurant. She immediately took my arm and said give me your email address, if you want recipes I`ll give you them. Just don`t tell the Senóra. I`ve worked for her for 29 years and I do nearly all the cooking anyway. She won`t give you recipes but I can. We went to one side and sat on a bench and she said infact why don`t you come with me to my village with me on sunday, its 2 hours away and we`ll have to leave here at 7.30, but we can go there and I can teach you some things, just don`t tell the Senóra!
So on sunday an adventure into rural Oaxaca awaits! I gave her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Thank you Edith!
Today was a little disappointing. One of the restaurants that Jaime introduced me to, was where I was this afternoon. The lady was evidently not so keen to teach me anything, rather telling what I need to do was spend a week and pay her as a cooking school. In some respects this is fair enough, but I wish she had told me this before so that I could have done something else with my day... Even so I ended up being there 2 hours partly talking to her, partly waiting. Wanting to just walk out and go and enjoy the afternoon sunshine.
Towards the end of the 2 hours her staff changed shift. An older lady came in looking tired. I asked her if she was ok, and we chatted a while. Then I left. A little disheartened and with no new recipes, I went and sat in the last of the sun infront of the Church of Santa Domingo to read my book, which by the way is fasinating and I can`t put it down. Its called Shapeshifting by John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman. I think I`m learning how to shift my attitudes and make dreams reality. Pretty apt being here alone.
Once the sun had gone I started to head back through the crowd towards my hotel. I nearly walked right into the tired lady from the restaurant. She immediately took my arm and said give me your email address, if you want recipes I`ll give you them. Just don`t tell the Senóra. I`ve worked for her for 29 years and I do nearly all the cooking anyway. She won`t give you recipes but I can. We went to one side and sat on a bench and she said infact why don`t you come with me to my village with me on sunday, its 2 hours away and we`ll have to leave here at 7.30, but we can go there and I can teach you some things, just don`t tell the Senóra!
So on sunday an adventure into rural Oaxaca awaits! I gave her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Thank you Edith!
In the Kitchen
I have had 2 cooking lessons and have 3 more to come! Hope I can reproduce some of this food back home!!
First Jaime`s cook Anna taught me to make the Mole Coleradito. A rich tomato and chile sauce, and Chile`s relleno, suffed chiles. Both very tipical foods of the region..
Estel was my next teacher who from the tiny kitchen in her restuarant El Escapilario taught me a celery soup and mole verde - a vivid green sauce that contains many herbs and green vegetables. Healthy stuff!!
Estel also made me a breakfast which is one of the best I have had. An egg and cheese omlet with a smokey chile sauce and chapulines and refried beans on the side! So god dam tasty!!
First Jaime`s cook Anna taught me to make the Mole Coleradito. A rich tomato and chile sauce, and Chile`s relleno, suffed chiles. Both very tipical foods of the region..
Estel was my next teacher who from the tiny kitchen in her restuarant El Escapilario taught me a celery soup and mole verde - a vivid green sauce that contains many herbs and green vegetables. Healthy stuff!!
Estel also made me a breakfast which is one of the best I have had. An egg and cheese omlet with a smokey chile sauce and chapulines and refried beans on the side! So god dam tasty!!
Market de Abastos
My life in the last few days has been spent in Markets and Kitchens!! Good places to be.
Yesterday, My adopted guide Victor, took me back to the Abastos market. He was shocked to find that I had already been there alone. Apparently its not the safest place. He worked there as a kid so was a perfect guide. He`s married with 3 kids and works as a waiter in town, he gets paid 50 pesos a shift (4pm-12pm) - thats GBP2.50! So as you can imagine tips are pretty important.
We spent 3 hours in the market. Slightly impeeded at the start by my hangover. I had one Mescal to many the night before. Anyway searching for some food to set me right I was assure the Sopa de Panza was what I needed. Not really being "with it" I obeyed Victor and the large Senóra behind the stemming pot and sat down. I think that cow stomach soup, if I had a chance to think about it would have been the last thing I would have chosen! But it was too late, a bowl of it sat infront of me! I managed to avoid the pieces of stomach floating in the watery broth and just drank the liquid which, to be fair did set me right. The lady kept insisting that I should drink a beer as well.. But I really wasn`t in the mood for hair of the dog!
Now recovered we ambled up and down the market streets. I learned more of the chiles, vegetables, herbs and fruits. I bought some mole rojo (red chocolatey sauce) to take home as well as some chapulines (grasshoppers) and gusanos de marguey (marguay bugs) that, if you can overcome your western hangups are amazingly tasty!
If you ever come to Oaxaca I can highly recommend this experience. Going to the market that is. But it is much more rewarding with a guide. If you speak Spanish the Victor is fun and knows his way around!
I had had another invite to visit the market with a Aurora who owns a restaurant serving food of her region El Istmo - The narrowest part of Mexico. This is a fasinating little region of Oaxaca state. It is famous for being a Matriarchal Society. I think possibly the only one in Mexico. The women are proud and work hard as do the men. Aurora goes every friday early to buy from these woman that travel to Oaxaca weekly to sell their foods. We bought dried shrimp, fresh fish, special breads and vegetables.
In El Istmo, being gay has always been accepted. By the sound of it it`s a live and let live culture where everyone can hold their head high, confident of there role in life... Its said that some women consider having a gay son as a blessing because he is more likely to stay with her and look after her..
Yesterday, My adopted guide Victor, took me back to the Abastos market. He was shocked to find that I had already been there alone. Apparently its not the safest place. He worked there as a kid so was a perfect guide. He`s married with 3 kids and works as a waiter in town, he gets paid 50 pesos a shift (4pm-12pm) - thats GBP2.50! So as you can imagine tips are pretty important.
We spent 3 hours in the market. Slightly impeeded at the start by my hangover. I had one Mescal to many the night before. Anyway searching for some food to set me right I was assure the Sopa de Panza was what I needed. Not really being "with it" I obeyed Victor and the large Senóra behind the stemming pot and sat down. I think that cow stomach soup, if I had a chance to think about it would have been the last thing I would have chosen! But it was too late, a bowl of it sat infront of me! I managed to avoid the pieces of stomach floating in the watery broth and just drank the liquid which, to be fair did set me right. The lady kept insisting that I should drink a beer as well.. But I really wasn`t in the mood for hair of the dog!
Now recovered we ambled up and down the market streets. I learned more of the chiles, vegetables, herbs and fruits. I bought some mole rojo (red chocolatey sauce) to take home as well as some chapulines (grasshoppers) and gusanos de marguey (marguay bugs) that, if you can overcome your western hangups are amazingly tasty!
If you ever come to Oaxaca I can highly recommend this experience. Going to the market that is. But it is much more rewarding with a guide. If you speak Spanish the Victor is fun and knows his way around!
I had had another invite to visit the market with a Aurora who owns a restaurant serving food of her region El Istmo - The narrowest part of Mexico. This is a fasinating little region of Oaxaca state. It is famous for being a Matriarchal Society. I think possibly the only one in Mexico. The women are proud and work hard as do the men. Aurora goes every friday early to buy from these woman that travel to Oaxaca weekly to sell their foods. We bought dried shrimp, fresh fish, special breads and vegetables.
In El Istmo, being gay has always been accepted. By the sound of it it`s a live and let live culture where everyone can hold their head high, confident of there role in life... Its said that some women consider having a gay son as a blessing because he is more likely to stay with her and look after her..
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
Almost in the kitchen
Yesterday afternoon I spent a wonderful couple of hours on the guided tour of the botanic gardens of Oaxaca. This is so worth a visit if you are here - even though the tour is only in Spanish. The garden has some amazing specimens of enourmous cactus saved from road building projects. A cieba tree or caypok - sacred to meso-american culture as it grows up to 70 metres tall and was considered the link between heaven and earth. Marigolds, like we know back home but that grow as tall as me and who`s orange flowers are the reason that the chicken here is such a bright yellow colour...
This morning I went to Mitla. The other main pre-colombian site in the Oaxacan central valley. It is later than Monte Alban, which was built by the Zapotec civilisation. Mitla was built by the Mixtec people. Mitla translates as place of the dead, being predominately a burial ground. It is evidently less well financed than Monte Alban and its slight incongruous that a catholic church was built amidst the ruins. But then the shambolic nature of the place lends a certain charm.
What Mitla has that Monte Alban lacks is artistic detail. The classic Mexican design - like the Greek key pattern - that you often see in Mexican jewelery and art is all over these ruins. Something I wanted to take photos of to make drawings of for the book.
Thanks to Jaime`s help and introductions a large proportion of my last days in Oaxaca are going to be spent in kitchens! Yippee! I have met with some of the other restauranters and talked about my ideas and have been recieved graciously and generously. so starting tomorrow 9am sharp I`m in the kitchen!
This morning I went to Mitla. The other main pre-colombian site in the Oaxacan central valley. It is later than Monte Alban, which was built by the Zapotec civilisation. Mitla was built by the Mixtec people. Mitla translates as place of the dead, being predominately a burial ground. It is evidently less well financed than Monte Alban and its slight incongruous that a catholic church was built amidst the ruins. But then the shambolic nature of the place lends a certain charm.
What Mitla has that Monte Alban lacks is artistic detail. The classic Mexican design - like the Greek key pattern - that you often see in Mexican jewelery and art is all over these ruins. Something I wanted to take photos of to make drawings of for the book.
Thanks to Jaime`s help and introductions a large proportion of my last days in Oaxaca are going to be spent in kitchens! Yippee! I have met with some of the other restauranters and talked about my ideas and have been recieved graciously and generously. so starting tomorrow 9am sharp I`m in the kitchen!
Monday, 4 October 2010
Is the best food street food?
Yesterday I went to the big sunday market in a town about a half hour from here called Tlacolula. The market was fantastic, I learnt lots more about the food and did some Christmas shopping too! But the highlight of the day was what I ate!!!!!
First Memelitos. Oh my god. These are so simple but so delicious. Like little flat torilla boats with a little pork fat, refried beans, cheese and avocado and chile sauce. The flavours here come from the simple things. The chile sauce for instance made from smoked pasilla chiles, just give the food a unique flavour.
Later I had tacos. Again so simple but so delicious. Don`t worry when I get home I`m gonna figure out how to make these things in a western kitchen and post up some recipes!!! But best of all come to Mexico to try them yourself!!!
On the way back to Oaxaca I stopped in Tule. Home of the worlds largest tree! Its big! Impossible to photograph. Wanted to give it a hug but my arms wouldn`t reach. Plus there was a big fence in the way...
First Memelitos. Oh my god. These are so simple but so delicious. Like little flat torilla boats with a little pork fat, refried beans, cheese and avocado and chile sauce. The flavours here come from the simple things. The chile sauce for instance made from smoked pasilla chiles, just give the food a unique flavour.
Later I had tacos. Again so simple but so delicious. Don`t worry when I get home I`m gonna figure out how to make these things in a western kitchen and post up some recipes!!! But best of all come to Mexico to try them yourself!!!
On the way back to Oaxaca I stopped in Tule. Home of the worlds largest tree! Its big! Impossible to photograph. Wanted to give it a hug but my arms wouldn`t reach. Plus there was a big fence in the way...
Sunday, 3 October 2010
Generous hearts
Today I woke with a hangover... But then I did go out dancing last night. Yipppeeeee! But the hangover sucks..
Today I confined myself to my hotel to sort my head out - not just the hangover but to really focus on where this mission is going. I read the books I have bought and feel very certain that I want to find to food with strong prehispanic routes. After an afternoon snooze (only 3 hours!) I headed out. I decided to go back and see Jaime at La Fonda de St. Domingo, and boy am I glad I did!
After chatting about my ideas he took me on a little tour. He took me to 3 of his favourite restauantes where the food has strong pre-hispanic routes! He introduced me and told the owners what I was doing and now I have 3 appointments monday and tuesday to go back and chat some more! Wow. How the world works eh? when you get back on track!
An american named Chris, a friend of Jaime`s invited me to go to hear his friend sing in the evening. We chatted and he told me he`d been to Manchester in England.
"oh, where abouts?"
"a little place called Ulverston"
"I`m sorry did you say Ulverston? Thats where I live!"
Ulverston is a tiny town in the remote southern Lake District! It is home to a Buddist Temple called Manjushri, and for this reason Chris had been there. This is crazy enough, but its the second time on this trip that this has happened to me.... The people who organise the Longevity Now Conference that I was just at in LA have been going to Manjushri every summer for 15 years! We even recognised each other from the healthfood store where I work... that was a head fry. Think the worlds trying to tell me something about that place. I guess I`ve been saying for years I`d like to learn to meditate, and now I live with one of the worlds major meditation centres on my door step.... Hmm
A late evening feed was had at a real locals haunt. Tlyudas, sometimes called Oaxacan pizza, cooked on the street side. Its basically a massive tortilla cooked to a crisp with refried beans, guacamole, different meats of your choice and cheese spread ontop. Then folded. Its about the most impossible thing to eat but delicious! If your in Oaxaca check it out on an evening. Its on Calle Libres, between Murguia and Morelos.
Today I confined myself to my hotel to sort my head out - not just the hangover but to really focus on where this mission is going. I read the books I have bought and feel very certain that I want to find to food with strong prehispanic routes. After an afternoon snooze (only 3 hours!) I headed out. I decided to go back and see Jaime at La Fonda de St. Domingo, and boy am I glad I did!
After chatting about my ideas he took me on a little tour. He took me to 3 of his favourite restauantes where the food has strong pre-hispanic routes! He introduced me and told the owners what I was doing and now I have 3 appointments monday and tuesday to go back and chat some more! Wow. How the world works eh? when you get back on track!
An american named Chris, a friend of Jaime`s invited me to go to hear his friend sing in the evening. We chatted and he told me he`d been to Manchester in England.
"oh, where abouts?"
"a little place called Ulverston"
"I`m sorry did you say Ulverston? Thats where I live!"
Ulverston is a tiny town in the remote southern Lake District! It is home to a Buddist Temple called Manjushri, and for this reason Chris had been there. This is crazy enough, but its the second time on this trip that this has happened to me.... The people who organise the Longevity Now Conference that I was just at in LA have been going to Manjushri every summer for 15 years! We even recognised each other from the healthfood store where I work... that was a head fry. Think the worlds trying to tell me something about that place. I guess I`ve been saying for years I`d like to learn to meditate, and now I live with one of the worlds major meditation centres on my door step.... Hmm
A late evening feed was had at a real locals haunt. Tlyudas, sometimes called Oaxacan pizza, cooked on the street side. Its basically a massive tortilla cooked to a crisp with refried beans, guacamole, different meats of your choice and cheese spread ontop. Then folded. Its about the most impossible thing to eat but delicious! If your in Oaxaca check it out on an evening. Its on Calle Libres, between Murguia and Morelos.
Bugarian.com
Ok, call me crazy. Its official. Bugarian.com is born! Well I´ve bought the domain at least.
Anyone wants to help develop this concept please email me on gpwh@yahoo.com
Apparently there are around 1681 edible insects in the world. This is a highly nutritious source of protein, vitamins and minerals. These guys feature in USA military survival manuals....
Anyone wants to help develop this concept please email me on gpwh@yahoo.com
Apparently there are around 1681 edible insects in the world. This is a highly nutritious source of protein, vitamins and minerals. These guys feature in USA military survival manuals....
Saturday, 2 October 2010
Pre-colombian Mystery
Today I went to Monte Alban. The largest Zapotec site that sits upon a small mountain in the middle of the central valley of Oaxaca province. Its an amazing situation. Only once you are up there do you realize how this is a valley entirely surrounded by big mountains. Stunning. The site itself is not as impressive as Chichen Itza or Tikal, but beautiful all the same. There are some fasinating stone carvings. Many look like people in pain. One depicting childbirth and another with the structure of the female reproductive system drawn onto it. We´re talking 500-100 BC
I spent 4 hours there and got very sunburnt! I spoke with a local carving seller call Pantaleon. What a great name! Panther-lion? He´s a farmer and was telling me about how the climate has changed here. Its less predictible and more extreme, making it difficult at times to grow crops. Some years drought. This year floods....
This evening I went with Lucy to her Christian Church. Was a nice experience... A colombian woman gave her testimonial. Man, some of these Latin women sure put up with alot. Her story was about how she found God. Then found a man (in prison). He was a drug trafficer. He hated the God thing. She decided he need to find God. She had faith he would. When I say faith I mean like 10 years of it!! Seriously. They married while he was still in prison. Then he got out and wanted nothing to do with her. But she stayed. He treated her bad, she cried a lot. She had a child, she cried a lot. Then got pregnant again with twins. He still treated her bad. But she kept her faith that one day he would find God. Then it happened. He turned around to her one day out of the blue and said, I have to know this God of yours that can give you such strength to stay with me when I´m such a bad person... So that was it. He "found" God. Gave up drug trafficing. The gave all their money to the poor and now have their own ministry.... Got to take your hat off to her for sticking that out!
My food mission is re-evolving itself. I think that I have been heading down the wrong road a bit. I have been eating the local food which contains quite a lot of meat (that I would not normally eat), and few vegetable, and I don´t feel so healthy for that. I wonder why I would right a food book about food I don´t eat... Mmm.
I find myself seeking out the pre-hispanic culture. I´ve bought books about pre-hispanic food. Their diet was much healthier than that of today. I think I need to get out into remoter areas, and find people who live off the land and have stronger connections with the pre-hispanic past.
I spent 4 hours there and got very sunburnt! I spoke with a local carving seller call Pantaleon. What a great name! Panther-lion? He´s a farmer and was telling me about how the climate has changed here. Its less predictible and more extreme, making it difficult at times to grow crops. Some years drought. This year floods....
This evening I went with Lucy to her Christian Church. Was a nice experience... A colombian woman gave her testimonial. Man, some of these Latin women sure put up with alot. Her story was about how she found God. Then found a man (in prison). He was a drug trafficer. He hated the God thing. She decided he need to find God. She had faith he would. When I say faith I mean like 10 years of it!! Seriously. They married while he was still in prison. Then he got out and wanted nothing to do with her. But she stayed. He treated her bad, she cried a lot. She had a child, she cried a lot. Then got pregnant again with twins. He still treated her bad. But she kept her faith that one day he would find God. Then it happened. He turned around to her one day out of the blue and said, I have to know this God of yours that can give you such strength to stay with me when I´m such a bad person... So that was it. He "found" God. Gave up drug trafficing. The gave all their money to the poor and now have their own ministry.... Got to take your hat off to her for sticking that out!
My food mission is re-evolving itself. I think that I have been heading down the wrong road a bit. I have been eating the local food which contains quite a lot of meat (that I would not normally eat), and few vegetable, and I don´t feel so healthy for that. I wonder why I would right a food book about food I don´t eat... Mmm.
I find myself seeking out the pre-hispanic culture. I´ve bought books about pre-hispanic food. Their diet was much healthier than that of today. I think I need to get out into remoter areas, and find people who live off the land and have stronger connections with the pre-hispanic past.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Mole Magic
This morning I hit the big market de Abastos and when I say big I ain´t kidding. What do they sell in Abastos? What don´t they sell more like. Come to think of it I didn´t see any exercise bikes, but then this is Mexico not Miami...
Bags, baskets, saddles, animals, food, flowers, ballons, chocolate... Turkeys huddled together on the ground. Mountains of different dried chillies, massive sticks of cinnamon, mole pastes and black magic rubbing shoulders with plastic models of Christ... like I say its Mexico.
Yesterday I was given the heads up on some restaurantes to check out so this afternoon I headed to Los Pacos, famous for its Moles. What can I say, what a delight! For anyone who doesn´t know, mole (pronouced molaye) is a famous feature of Mexican cuisine. These are complex sauces made from ingredients ground (milled) to a fine paste then cooked into a sauce. The art of a good mole is to balance the flavours so that not one is dominant. Quite a feat when you have up to 31 ingredients. There are 7 famous Moles de Oaxaca. Today I tried 6 of them. Only 2 contain chocolate. Mole Negro which really is black and mole colorado which is the colour of red earth. In Restaurante Los Pacos they bring you the 6 moles to try with tortilla so you can decide which you want. Great!
I ate with the owners Paco and Lucy, who are just lovely people. They had some friend there too and we all ate together. I will not be privie to the mole recipes as they are handed down in secret, generation to generation, but they sell the made up paste. Think some of thats coming home with me!
Lucy is going to help me get some recetas caseras - recipes that people cook at home. Things less complex than the moles (which are normally the reserve of festivals and weddings) and more suitable for translating outside of Mexico. She´s invited me to go with her to meet some friends tomorrow evening, so I look forward to that...
Bags, baskets, saddles, animals, food, flowers, ballons, chocolate... Turkeys huddled together on the ground. Mountains of different dried chillies, massive sticks of cinnamon, mole pastes and black magic rubbing shoulders with plastic models of Christ... like I say its Mexico.
Yesterday I was given the heads up on some restaurantes to check out so this afternoon I headed to Los Pacos, famous for its Moles. What can I say, what a delight! For anyone who doesn´t know, mole (pronouced molaye) is a famous feature of Mexican cuisine. These are complex sauces made from ingredients ground (milled) to a fine paste then cooked into a sauce. The art of a good mole is to balance the flavours so that not one is dominant. Quite a feat when you have up to 31 ingredients. There are 7 famous Moles de Oaxaca. Today I tried 6 of them. Only 2 contain chocolate. Mole Negro which really is black and mole colorado which is the colour of red earth. In Restaurante Los Pacos they bring you the 6 moles to try with tortilla so you can decide which you want. Great!
I ate with the owners Paco and Lucy, who are just lovely people. They had some friend there too and we all ate together. I will not be privie to the mole recipes as they are handed down in secret, generation to generation, but they sell the made up paste. Think some of thats coming home with me!
Lucy is going to help me get some recetas caseras - recipes that people cook at home. Things less complex than the moles (which are normally the reserve of festivals and weddings) and more suitable for translating outside of Mexico. She´s invited me to go with her to meet some friends tomorrow evening, so I look forward to that...
Flavours make a civilization
Today breakfast Mexican style. Deseyuno mexicano. Eggs scrambled with tomato, onion and a little chilli served with refried beans, a little Oaxaceña queso - mozerella like cheese. And of course tortilla. Yum.
Today was a day of cultural exploration. The Museo de Santa Domingo has a great collection of Zapotec (the major precolombian civilization of the area) artifacts. All the crazy looking faces on funeral jars and the ancient cooking tools - grinding stones, pots and bowls. I was made up to find a book on prehispanic culinary culture in the book store. A quote from the book "A civilization that ignores its flavours cannot be a complete civilization". Think there might be a lesson for the modern world in that.
I think I am leaning more towards wanting to find the ancient roots of this food culture. Thats where the healthier food resides. Before the spanish brought pork and beef to these lands insects provided much of the protein source.
Inspired by my recent attendance at the longeveity now conference in LA, I can see a revolution in the concept of insects as a source of protein. They are incredibly nutritious and a great source of B vitamins (espcially B12). One of the the deficiencies vegetarians and vegans cannot avoid and have to supplement.
Infact I´m going to coin a phrase right here. Bugarian. Vegetarians who eat bugs...
Anyway speaking of bugs. For dinner I had a salad of Napoles - prickly pear (never tried before), Chapulines - tiny grasshoppers (never tried before) with cheese and herb pesto. To be honest it was not my favourite meal... The chapulines were very salty and the napoles kind of too rich... better luck tomorrow.
Today was a day of cultural exploration. The Museo de Santa Domingo has a great collection of Zapotec (the major precolombian civilization of the area) artifacts. All the crazy looking faces on funeral jars and the ancient cooking tools - grinding stones, pots and bowls. I was made up to find a book on prehispanic culinary culture in the book store. A quote from the book "A civilization that ignores its flavours cannot be a complete civilization". Think there might be a lesson for the modern world in that.
I think I am leaning more towards wanting to find the ancient roots of this food culture. Thats where the healthier food resides. Before the spanish brought pork and beef to these lands insects provided much of the protein source.
Inspired by my recent attendance at the longeveity now conference in LA, I can see a revolution in the concept of insects as a source of protein. They are incredibly nutritious and a great source of B vitamins (espcially B12). One of the the deficiencies vegetarians and vegans cannot avoid and have to supplement.
Infact I´m going to coin a phrase right here. Bugarian. Vegetarians who eat bugs...
Anyway speaking of bugs. For dinner I had a salad of Napoles - prickly pear (never tried before), Chapulines - tiny grasshoppers (never tried before) with cheese and herb pesto. To be honest it was not my favourite meal... The chapulines were very salty and the napoles kind of too rich... better luck tomorrow.
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Synchronicity City
Today has been a day of getting to know the city. Taking photos. Looking at book shops. One name that is prevalent on the cuisine shelf is an English lady that lives here called Diane Kennedy...
One restaurant I wandered past made a good photo, but the waiter insisted I come inside as it was very pretty in there too. Well I didn´t walk out of there again till 4 hours later! It turns out that La Fonda de St. Domingo specialises in traditional regional food. Just what I am looking for! The owner Jaime spoke to me for hours. He´s pretty passionate about food. Turns out he´s a close personal friend of Diane Kennedy and happily gave me all her contact details.. mental! She´s in the USA just now at the launch of her latest book on food of the Oaxaca region. Jamie showed me the Spanish version. Man what a fantastic book!
Jaime talked passionately about the concern he has about the erosion of traditional food culture. He is the chairman of an group trying to protect this. Think I might have found one good reason for this mission...
Mole negro - a traditional dark chilli chocolate sauce is made with 31 ingredients, can´t wait to try it. 2 ingredients are the chillies Chichuncle and Chilcoxtle. Apparently these are becoming increasing hard to aquire. Less farmers are growing them and around the festival The Day of the Dead their price can rise as high as 700 pesos a kilo. Thats over $60! Wow. He´s worried that one day these chilli varieties may disappear and with it a whole tradition of Mole Negro....
I ate pretty well over the 4 hours I was there. First Sopa de Chicharon - Grasshopper soup. Very nutritious! Then a salad followed by Chilli relleno - Stuffed chilli. That one puts the brakes on!!!!! What an amazing balance of flavours. I had one of those chocolat moments..... a food orgasm? yeah, something like that.
If you´re in Oaxaca check out this great restaurant!
One restaurant I wandered past made a good photo, but the waiter insisted I come inside as it was very pretty in there too. Well I didn´t walk out of there again till 4 hours later! It turns out that La Fonda de St. Domingo specialises in traditional regional food. Just what I am looking for! The owner Jaime spoke to me for hours. He´s pretty passionate about food. Turns out he´s a close personal friend of Diane Kennedy and happily gave me all her contact details.. mental! She´s in the USA just now at the launch of her latest book on food of the Oaxaca region. Jamie showed me the Spanish version. Man what a fantastic book!
Jaime talked passionately about the concern he has about the erosion of traditional food culture. He is the chairman of an group trying to protect this. Think I might have found one good reason for this mission...
Mole negro - a traditional dark chilli chocolate sauce is made with 31 ingredients, can´t wait to try it. 2 ingredients are the chillies Chichuncle and Chilcoxtle. Apparently these are becoming increasing hard to aquire. Less farmers are growing them and around the festival The Day of the Dead their price can rise as high as 700 pesos a kilo. Thats over $60! Wow. He´s worried that one day these chilli varieties may disappear and with it a whole tradition of Mole Negro....
I ate pretty well over the 4 hours I was there. First Sopa de Chicharon - Grasshopper soup. Very nutritious! Then a salad followed by Chilli relleno - Stuffed chilli. That one puts the brakes on!!!!! What an amazing balance of flavours. I had one of those chocolat moments..... a food orgasm? yeah, something like that.
If you´re in Oaxaca check out this great restaurant!
Mescal Bug Salt and Chocolate Tamales
Oaxaca (pronounced Gw-haka) is the culinary capital of Mexico and I´m here!! Yippee!
Last night in my half asleep state I stumbled out of the lovely Posada del Centro Hotel to check out the city. In the central square I settle on one of the tourist spots - Bar Cafeteria Terranova. Being a mole virgin I decided that I had to get right in there and have something with the famous chocolate chilli sauce. So Tamales de Mole it was. A maize parcel stuffed with chilli chocolate sauce and chicken wraped and cooked in a banana leaf. Yum yum yum. So good and suprising light on the digestion.
Maybe the Mescal helped. Mescal (very similar to Tequila) is delicious but it´s what came with it that was the best part of the meal! You know how we take tequila shots with lemon and salt? You want to know how its really done? The mescal comes served with a side plate of orange eighths and pieces of lime and a little mound of sal de gusano. This brick dust powder is what you dip the orange or lime in and suck on after taking a sip of Mescal. Soooo dam tasty!!! You want to know what is in the Sal de gusano? Thats right. The bug that you get in the bottom of some tequilas. Thats the gusano. They come from the root of the plant. They are dried, ground and mixed with ground chilli and salt. My god you have to try it!! Whats more is its very nutritious!! Loads of vitamin B12 in that!
Last night in my half asleep state I stumbled out of the lovely Posada del Centro Hotel to check out the city. In the central square I settle on one of the tourist spots - Bar Cafeteria Terranova. Being a mole virgin I decided that I had to get right in there and have something with the famous chocolate chilli sauce. So Tamales de Mole it was. A maize parcel stuffed with chilli chocolate sauce and chicken wraped and cooked in a banana leaf. Yum yum yum. So good and suprising light on the digestion.
Maybe the Mescal helped. Mescal (very similar to Tequila) is delicious but it´s what came with it that was the best part of the meal! You know how we take tequila shots with lemon and salt? You want to know how its really done? The mescal comes served with a side plate of orange eighths and pieces of lime and a little mound of sal de gusano. This brick dust powder is what you dip the orange or lime in and suck on after taking a sip of Mescal. Soooo dam tasty!!! You want to know what is in the Sal de gusano? Thats right. The bug that you get in the bottom of some tequilas. Thats the gusano. They come from the root of the plant. They are dried, ground and mixed with ground chilli and salt. My god you have to try it!! Whats more is its very nutritious!! Loads of vitamin B12 in that!
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