Forbes Magazine says Mexico City is the hottest place for food. They are not talking temperature. Mexico City has it all — from gourmet cheeses and meats found in pricey restaurants to humble street food like tacos and tlacoyos. Today, I focus on eating on the street where people consume complete meals or snacks, sitting on stools or standing at the curb. This is Mexico’s version of fast food and is something I have shied away from. But my secret yearning to sample was finally realized because I want to eat like a Mexican, too! Thanks goes to Lesley Tellez who started an off-the-beaten-path, non-touristy culinary walking tour called Eat Mexico (see below for contact information).
This is real food, homemade by women and men who work at portable cook stoves at street corners or at little stationery stands who continue home-style family traditions. We discover, however, that humble is a misnomer and what we taste rivals any high-end restaurant for quality if not for presentation. Lesley has done her research well. All the food is delicious, and the preparation is safe and clean.
Our guide Natalia and guide-in-training Arturo, meet us at the designated spot, then lead us down a side street to a corner seafood taco stand that has been in business for over forty years. We belly up to the outdoor bar, gaze at the selection of fresh crab, shrimp, lobster, fish, and octopus through the protective clean glass that separated us from the cooks. We choose either the blue crab tostada or a deep fried mixed seafood quesadilla. Luckily, Debbie and I can share so we choose one of each, drizzled with lots fresh lime and Valentina sauce. YUMMY and AMAZING after first bites.
After a block or two, we turn the corner near the San Juan artisans market and come upon a stall that is operated by a third generation cook. Right on this corner, whole turkeys are cut up on the seat of a plastic chair, then deep-fried in a giant cauldron filled with oil until done. The meat is then sliced, layered on a toasted roll (torta), slathered with homemade chipotle chili salsa (another OOOH, AAAAH here), and topped with avocado. We are invited to add a papalo leaf to the ingredients before closing up the sandwich to eat. This is a minty herb with a sharp, flavorful taste unlike anything I’ve ever eaten before. We each get a half-sandwich to sample. What I notice while I inhale this treat is how the plastic plates are wiped with a cloth only used for this purpose. The plate is covered with a clean piece of paper before the sandwich finds its resting place. I have no concerns about sanitation here.
It’s the middle of July and the rainy season in Mexico. As we enter San Juan market, boxes are filled with just-delivered mushrooms, varieties of which I have not seen before. This market offers a gourmet food experience and many top chefs shop here for exotic meats (like ostrich, lion, and kangaroo), fruit and vegetables. We sample fresh rambutan, chico zapote, mango, jackfruit, figs, nectarines. The mamey tastes like a creamy sweet potato and I love it. Eat it solo for dessert or try it as an ice cream.
Coffee, anyone? The barista grinds beans from Veracruz and brews me a cup of Americano from the espresso machine. MMMMM, good.
Next, is a tasting of fruit jams and jellies, tapenades, and honey. I walk away with a jar of jalapeno jelly and rose petal jam. Next door is the cheese purveyor who puts out a sampling plate of world-class varieties like smoked gouda, pistachio infused manchego cheese, brie, and a mozzarella, all made in Mexico. He offers us cups of red wine to sip along with the tasting. Baguettes of fresh, crusty French bread hang from the overhead rack above his stall, ready to take home.
By now, I am full, but we press on. Our guide Natalia explains the history of the market dating from pre-Hispanic Aztec times. Mexico, she says, gave the world three gifts: chocolate, chiles, and vanilla. At the next intersection is the chile vendor where some of us buy mole rojo and vanilla beans at 20 pesos each (that’s about $1.50). Natalia recommends we put a vanilla bean in the sugar jar for a great taste.
At the Oaxaca specialty food stand, we pop chapulines (grasshoppers) into our mouths. No one is reticent. The big ones are the females. The little ones are males. They are roasted with salt and chiles, crunchy and tasty. I say no to another taste of Oaxaca quesillo. No more space in my stomach. Debbie buys a bag of peanuts roasted with chile, salt and lime juice. I watch her pop a few!
We move out onto the street in the direction of the common people’s market Arcos de Belen. On the way, we stop at a molina to see how the corn is ground. Next door is the tortilleria where the masa dough is formed and cooked by machine. (In Teotitlan del Valle, we can still get handmade tortillas!) Natalia gives us a history of corn as part of the cultural identity of Mexico, where it was first hybridized eight thousand years ago in the Oaxaca valley close to where I live.
After we tour the market food courts, we all pass on a taste at the fresh juice bar (estoy lleno–I am full) and move on to the corner where a woman sits making blue corn tlacoyos.
The finish is at the pulque bar, where the double swinging doors look like a saloon entrance. The décor is decidedly neo-Aztec with bright figures painted on walls and ceilings. We cozy up to a side bar where the owner brings us a sampler tray of flavored pulques – pineapple, celery, coconut, oatmeal, guayaba plus au natural (a viscous, sour taste). The sweetness helps mask the milkiness. Natalia tells us the Aztec history of the drink and explains that it is fermented, not distilled, from the agave plant and must be served fresh. It is cheap, gives a nice buzz, and is favored by university students who represent most of the clientele this day. I take a liking to the celery and pineapple.
University students at the pulqueria
We say our goodbyes at the next street corner. What a great adventure, very fun, educational, and gastronomically delightful. I have a map but I’m not going to share it with you!
I recommend you sign up for Eat Mexico Culinary Tours and discover this great food experience for yourself!
P.S. The cost of $85 per person includes guide services, map, a bottle of water, and all food and drink along the way. We sign up in advance and pay online. Very easy. Eat Mexico sends lots of email communication to tell us where to meet, what to wear that would be comfortable, and a little bit about our guide so we recognize her. Be sure to check out Lesley Tellez’ The Mija Chronicles blog, too.
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Street Food: Perhaps the Best Tamales in Oaxaca
It was one of those perfectly glorious Oaxaca days.
Our walking destination: corner of Calle Armenta y Lopez and Calle Cristobal Colon on the southwest side of the Zocalo. There on the southwest corner, tucked into the shade of the Parisina building protected from the strong Oaxaca sun, is perhaps the best tamale stand in all of Oaxaca city.
Who says so? The people who line up everyday starting at two o’clock in the afternoon. Sometimes the line snakes halfway down the block. The busiest times are from two to four in the afternoon, when most locals take their lunch. Eating on the street is a Mexican tradition.
For me, tamales are right up there with Oaxaca’s famed seven moles. Here at this little corner of heaven is a selection of ten different tamales: mole negro wrapped in banana leaf, cheese with squash blossom, spicy green chile with chicken, raja chile (sliced jalapeño) with chicken, yellow mole, red mole, spicy red mole, bean, chipil, sweet with pineapple and raisins, and corn kernels.
Customers are loyal and keep coming back.
Why do you like these tamales? I ask the patient man waiting his turn. Estan muy rico — they are very good — he answers, emphasizing the very, and then adds, and they are big.
Another hears my question and adds, Si, muy rico. Riccisimo. El mejor de Oaxaca. The best of Oaxaca. There is an echo as I hear muy rico repeated among the crowd, like a chant in the round.
Indeed they are big. The tamales are wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves depending on the variety, each giving the masa a distinctive flavor. They are plump filled with lots of steamed ground corn, lots of salsa or mole, and either chicken, cheese, pork or herbs.
Note: Most of Oaxaca corn is organic, and there is social/political resistance to Monsanto and genetically modified versions coming in. Original corn is astoundingly flavorful, nutty, crunchy, delicious and nutritious.
It takes the Dueña at least five hours daily to make a fresh batch of each variety which she transports to the corner every day except Mondays. She is there promptly at two o’clock in the afternoon and closes at eight o’clock at night, sometimes earlier if she sells out. People gather to wait for her opening.
Today I bought at least one of every variety to take home and serve at a gathering of friends this Sunday afternoon. I don’t think I could put out a tastier spread!
Special thanks to Stephen for this discovery and introducing me to these delicious tamales.
My confession is that even after a hefty lunch elsewhere, when the Dueña offered me a taste of the frijol tamale with a touch of hierba santa slathered with a picante salsa, I could not resist. I added my own muy rico y mil gracias.
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Food & Recipes
Tagged culture, eating, food, Mexico, Oaxaca, street food, tamales