Drive by window-shopping is my weakness. I was on my way to meet professor Robin Greene, who leads our Oaxaca Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat: Lifting Your Creative Voice, at our mid-way breakfast diner in Sanford, NC. Almost there, and I noticed some pretty remarkable, huge pinatas hanging in a store front on the highway. The rubbernecking angels sat on my shoulder as I made a mental note to stop on the way back.
Which I did! making a quick (and careful) left-turn from the center lane on the highway.
La Cumplidora is filled with nooks and crannies of Mexican, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, and Columbian food. The selection represents all nationalities of clientele who live and work in the area.
I was the only gringa!
And, I felt at home among people who I know work hard for the food they are buying and are conscious of cost. Children were hanging on to the hems of mothers’ skirts as they shopped for fresh and beautiful produce: limes (7 for $1), avocados (99 cents each), choyote squash (99 cents each), cilantro (59 cents a bunch), plum tomatoes perfect for salsa, six different varieties of dried peppers, fresh habaneros and poblanos.
Tip: Save Money and Shop at Your Local Latino Mercado
All the produce was a fraction of the cost of what I find in the major supermarkets and much better. I found perfectly ripe mangoes — 8 for $7.50 — a price unheard of at Harris Teeter (usually $1.65 each) where you might slice one open to find a dark center damaged by early picking and refrigeration even though the skin is ripe and it is soft to the touch.
At the way back is a full-service carneceria — butcher shop — with all types and cuts of fresh meats — beef, pork, chicken, and goat. In the corner is the queseria — cheese shop — where the imported from Mexico fresh cheese is sold by the pound. There is even some house made entrees for carry-out.
Just like in Oaxaca, the pasteleria/panaderia (pastry and bread bakeries) section was doing a bustling business. The fresh out of the oven concha rolls were exactly like those I see in the bakery on Garcia Virgil. Several young men held aluminum trays in one hand, tongs in the other, opened display case doors, reached in and piled the savory mouth-watering treats onto the trays.
They looked liked confectionary pyramids:
Pink rolls filled with sweet cream, sprinkled with chocolate. Flaky pastry cones stuffed with vanilla custard. Alternating chocolate and white layered cake squares with mocha frosting. Jelly rolls. Sesame cookies. It was all I could do to pass this by (I’m watching my calories.)
Food is so important to retaining culture. It keeps us connected to our families of origin, the memories of growing up, our way of keeping our identities in our adopted homelands. And, for keeping the memories of a satisfying vacation or travel adventure alive.
As I stood in line in a U.S. “village” 35 miles from my own North Carolina home among warm and friendly people, I was reminded of my own family’s immigrant status at the beginning of the 20th century.
And, if you are ever in Sanford, North Carolina, be sure to make a stop at La Cumplidora. Or discover the local Latino market in a neighborhood near you. A world of wonder will open up to you and you will save on the grocery bill.
Oh, and the pinatas: huge fanciful animals and stars and dolls decorated with crepe paper streamers in bright colors, pictures of boys and girls, sparkles, perfect for containing the candy treats to celebrate a birthday.
La Cumplidora, 901 South Horner Blvd., Sanford, NC 27330, (919) 776-1060.
Boulenc: Bringing a World of Flavors to Artisan Bread + More in Oaxaca, Mexico
We invited Martha Sorensen to write this post. She has raved about Boulenc since they opened. Martha makes it a daily breakfast habit to include a slice or two of toasty, crusty rye or whole grain bread from Boulenc topped with their not t00 sweet house made mango jam. She’s got me hooked.
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Bernardo Davila (left) and Juan Pablo Hernandez, founder, welcome bread lovers
Walk through the doorway of Boulenc and the comforting scent of fresh-baked bread and pastries envelops you. On the high shelves behind the front counter, whole grain sourdough loaves topped with artistic flour swirls or leaf patterns delight the eye. More than a bakery, good food to eat is here, too. Boulenc is a cafe, restaurant, bakery and provisions shop.
In the glass cabinet below, cardamom rolls sit beside ricotta berry Danish, orange chocolate brioche and buttery concha rolls decorated with a sprinkling of cocoa powder. Each beckons with the promise of a taste sensation.
To the right, a bread oven from Sweden purchased via eBay warms the room. The six bar stools are usually filled. Behind the bar is a bookshelf with a collection of master bread making books, including Tartine Bread from San Francisco’s renowned artisan bakery. In the kitchen, four young bakers look up from their floury hands with a smile of greeting. Can this be Oaxaca?
Born in Saltillo, Coahuila, Juan Pablo Hernandez, a.k.a. Papa, is the founder of the European-style artisan bakery Boulenc. He began baking years ago while still in school, ordered books and later experimented in a friend’s Oaxaca restaurant. Passionate about producing the highest quality, he gave away bread in exchange for comments.
Then, he sold loaves at El Pochote while learning the art of baguette and croissant making from a young French baker who was traveling through Mexico. In January 2014, with Bernardo Davila and two other friends from Saltillo, he opened Boulenc.
Juan Pablo’s European apprenticeship came from an unlikely source: a Dubai entrepreneur who found him via an international bakers’ Facebook group. She was looking for someone to open an artisan bakery there. Last autumn she sponsored his travels to Sweden, Denmark and France. In October, he was in Dubai for a month where he made sourdough pan de muertos. Juan Pablo says that over 5,000 Mexican families live in Dubai.
His time in Scandinavia was life-changing. In southern Sweden, he took a sourdough course from world-renowned baker Manfred Enoksson, (who taught him to make cardamom rolls) learning more about stone-milled organic whole grains and the sourdough fermentation process. The living microbes in the culture need care. As Juan Pablo says, it is a relationship that must be nurtured. “It makes you humble,” he says. Most of products in Boulenc have a sourdough element. All other ingredients are sourced as locally as possible, including wheat from Nochixtlan in the Mixteca region of Oaxaca and cacao cream from another part of Mexico.
Using a term from his permaculture training, Juan Pablo says that he and his partners see Boulenc as “a spiral, not a pyramid.” While there is some specialization, everyone at Boulenc has multiple roles, contributes ideas for new products, and values working together for the good of the community. This includes sharing sources and information with new bakeries that have a commitment to quality.
They have given one bread making class and hope to do more. At the end of the day, any bread that is left over goes to an orphanage and a social service organization. Part of Juan Pablo’s mission is to educate about the importance of eating bread that is nutritious vs. bread made from white flour and chemicals in an industrial process. He sees this as vital, particularly here in Mexico where obesity rates are among the highest in the world.
Boulenc, Porfirio Diaz 222, between Murguia and Morelos, Centro, Oaxaca, (951) 514-0582
Boulenc’s future plans include opening a pizza cafe at a location nearby. For more information, including photos and short videos go to:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Boulenc/534647166618801
Norma’s Notes: Belly up to the bar and grab one of the six bar stools that overlooks the kitchen. Come for breakfast and order Shakshuka, a Lebanese poached egg and spicy tomato dish or a Belgian waffle drizzled with chocolate syrup, nuts and fresh fruit. Don’t be in a rush. This is slow food. Wait with a cup of the organic coffee or aromatic hot chocolate made with milk. Lunch offers up pizza rolls and tasty sandwiches on crusty bread. My favorite is the 100% rye infused with nuts, a meal in itself.
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Dining and Lodging, Food & Recipes, Photography, Travel & Tourism
Tagged artisan, bakery, Boulanc, Boulenc, bread, cafe, cooking, European, food, Mexico, Oaxaca, organic, permaculture, restaurant, sourdough