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..