My first day in Oaxaca was thrilling and something I was looking forward to for quite some time! I walked from Las Bugambilias B&B to Pilar’s cooking class at Casa de los Milagros, operated by Pilar’s brother Rene. (Three beautiful rooms each with private bath @ $120USD each.) Our group of seven included a couple from Guadalajara celebrating their anniversary, two couples from Washington state who come to Oaxaca frequently, and me.
I was as enthralled by the kitchen arranged around a U-shaped maize-colored concrete counter with commercial cooktop and sink strategically positioned, as I was about the Amarillo menu: quesadillas with mushrooms and Oaxaca quesillo (string) cheese, sopa de flor de calabaza (squash blossom soup — my absolute favorite), mole Amarillo de pollo (yellow mole with chicken), and for dessert — arroz con leche. For the salsa, Pilar chose Salsa de chile pasilla oaxaqueno.
Squash blossoms ready for stuffing with quesillo, perhaps?
Today, no one is vegetarian, so we go with the menu as presented, pick up our colorful shopping bags and climb into Pilar’s CRV and a taxi to travel to the Mercado de la Merced, eight blocks from the casa, at the corner of Calle Republica and Murguia. Pilar grew up in Barrio de la Merced. She personally knows each vendor and going through it is an expedition in determining and selecting the very best, freshest, most fragrant ingredients. She knows that what she buys is organic , grown by small farmers from the local countryside. Our shopping list includes fresh masa for making homemade tortillas, quesillo for the quesadillas, rice, fresh whole milk (not pasteurized and likely coming from a contented cow early that same morning), mushrooms (and we also find corn smut — huitlacoche, considered a delicacy that we will add to the quesadillas). We also buy epazote, a leafy herb for the quesadillas, and cream for the soup.
Pilar describes huitlacoche
Someone asks and Pilar advises that it is fine to take photos of the food and to ask people if they would agree to have their photos taken. She never pays anyone for taking a photo, although people ask for 10 pesos (about a dollar). Sunday is the best day to go to this market, when vendors come with folk art and crafts. She points out the comedor “La Guierta” frequented by Rick Bayless.
La Guerita, a Rick Bayless favorite
We pass by ancient women vending calla lilies (alcatraz), roses from Ocotlan (Pilar says she loves rose petal sorbet), piles of chiles, handcrafted cheeses, and arrays of beautiful squash blossoms. We stop at the family-owned chocolate stand where I buy molded treats to take home for hot chocolate and choco-cafe (100 pesos for one kilo). We open our bags like little birds opening our beaks as Pilar buys and deposits chile pasilla (smokey and dark red), a plastic bag filled with fresh whole milk, squash blossom, choyote squash, mushrooms, and masa.
A young woman sits on the ground in front of two large baskets of chapulines. Pilar points to them. These are not fresh, she says. See how dull they are, they must be shiny to be good. We sample tejate, a pre-Hispanic drink made from ground maize, cacao, and the seed of the mamey fruit.
Sipping tejate
We learn that poblano chiles are from Puebla, and are not popular in Oaxaca. Chile Oaxaca is small and yellow. Chile serrano is called jalapeno when it is green and chipotle when it is red. Black chilehuacle is the principle ingredient for mole negro (the most complex and difficult to prepare). Never wash dried chiles, says Pilar, it degrades the flavor. Clean it instead by wiping with a cloth.
Piles of basil, rosemary and other herbs grown for herbal cleansing and aromatics lean against the rough wood walls of the herbalists’ stall. These are not used for cooking like in North America, Pilar says. Bright yellow chicken is either painted or dipped in a corn-coloring; these are not organic. Only white chickens are organic. Chico zapote is a brown-yellow color but tastes like a sugary pear. There are many types of mango, and mango pina is sweet and juicy with a green skin.
La Petrita vendadora de chocolate
We meandered, sampled and savored, breathed in the aromas of the small diners assembled around the inner courtyard, soaked in the visual excitement of colors, shapes and people. After an hour of food shopping, we climbed back into our liveries and returned to the kitchen where we would get down to serious business.
Oaxaca Shopping Mania: Take Advantage of My Weakness
Gold + Silver Leaf Mirror by Talleres Zegache, $125 + shipping
I’ve just published a number of new items for sale on the Gallery–Shop Here page of this web site (see home page, click on button under banner). I don’t usually shop for and buy Oaxaca art and craft because I need it. I do it to support the artists and artisans. The creativity that is expressed through these art forms is extraordinary and often I find myself digging into my pocket or going to the ATM in order to sustain the art, their creators and their families. You might say, ‘Norma, this is just an excuse.’ Nevertheless, here I confess my weakness. However, in order to curtail the acquisition in-flow, I am offering a few wonderful pieces for sale that I found during my recent Oaxaca comings and goings.
The piece above is just one fine example. It is from Santa Ana Zegache, the small Ocotlan area village where famed Oaxaca artist Rudolfo Morales restored and painted an extraordinary church and supported artistic expression through the foundation he established before he died. Talleres Zegache is a workshop of village craftspeople who restore and reproduce colonial mirrors. Click on the photo where I have provided a more complete description. This particular mirror (above) uses gold and silver leaf, and cochineal red paint. It is extraordinary!
If you are visiting Oaxaca, please stop by Talleres Zegache. They are well hidden, not easy to find, tucked way in the back (I suspect because the rent is cheaper), at Plaza Lucero, 5 de Mayo #412. I don’t know much much longer they will be there because business hasn’t been brisk (tourism is down all over Oaxaca because of the drug war scares). A pity, since the area is safe, family-friendly and gorgeous.
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Travel & Tourism
Tagged Mexico, Oaxaca, postaweek2011, Rudolfo Morales, Santa Ana Zegache, Talleres Zegache, Travel and Tourism, Travel Guides