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July 10, 2004
Currency conversion: $1 = about 11 pesos.
This On the Road comes with my own travel advisory: do not read it if you're hungry or on
a diet! I cannot be responsible for the consequences!
One of the big payoffs of living in Mexico is the food. Not everywhere I've lived have I felt this way, since the
cuisine of England, Sweden, Poland, and Germany didn't excite me that much when I was there. In fact, I found some
of it to be absolutely dreadful. Indonesia's was superb, but it lacked a great deal of variety. I'd always loved
Mexican food and had eaten tons of it when in Arizona due to a sizable Mexican-American population guaranteeing
hordes of restaurants serving up various dishes from across the nearby border. But as I mentioned in my first On
the Road after arriving in Zamora, the chow is better south of the border… by far!
In my opinion the finest fare and best value can be found at the tiny food carts that line the neighborhood streets.
These are everywhere and for no more than $2 you can fill up on the likes of tacos, burritos, flautas, enchiladas,
tostadas, quesadillas, tamales or tortas. I suspect that most of you reading this are familiar with many of these
dishes as they're standard fare in Mexican restaurants around the world. The possible exception is a torta - essentially
a roll sliced in half, lightly grilled and chocked full of goodies, e.g., meat, cheese, avocado, onions, sauce…
the works!
For those of you unfamiliar with this cuisine, here's a quick overview. It's a vast country so the cuisine is somewhat
varied, but in general it's based on corn products supplemented by beans (refried and called "frijoles"),
meat and chiles, of which there are over one hundred varieties ranging from mild to incendiary! The general perception
of Mexican food is that it's very hot ("muy picante"), but actually it can be surprisingly mild with
the option of adding homemade chili sauce to fit both your taste buds and tolerance.
One staple at virtually every meal is the tortilla, a thin flat pancake made from corn or wheat flour and cooked
on a grill. Either the dish is rolled up within the tortilla, or they're placed on the table in a basket and wrapped
in a cloth towel to keep them warm. Vendors usually make their own flour or corn tortillas on the spot… sometimes
literally seconds before they're loaded up with yummy ingredients and served to you.
A long-time personal favorite of mine are tamales, parcels of cornmeal sometimes filled with meat (also found vegetarian
style) plus a hint of spicy sauce. They're wrapped in cornhusks and steamed and when well-made are absolutely exquisite!
Usually the tastiest ones are sold on street corners by old ladies who've developed them into a personal art form.
Beware - there's a sweet ("dulce") version that's quite popular and might unpleasantly surprise you as
much as it did me.
About fifty meters down the street from where I used to live is an amiable middle-aged woman who sells tacos and
tortas every evening and I stopped about twice a week for dinner around 8:45 after finishing up teaching. She had
two choices: chorizo (sausage) or bistek (beef), both freshly grilled and chopped up… then topped by freshly diced
onions and cilantro (coriander leaves). Included are limes, the juice a brilliant addition when squeezed over just
about anything (or when added to beer!). I would buy three of both options "to go" and the total cost
was 21 pesos.
Almost every night, around the corner and a block away was a van that had been converted into a mobile restaurant.
A few white plastic chairs and tables are set up under the trees and most nights it's surrounded by hungry patrons.
Their specialty is burritos: flour tortillas filled with beef or chicken and smothered by chopped tomatoes and
onions, plus sour cream and salsa (a spicy sauce). The cost: 20 pesos.
Very close to the school where I taught is another taqueria which offers only tacos and freshly squeezed orange
juice (jugo de naranja). It's open from 8 til noon each day and usually has a line of teachers and locals waiting
for the vast variety of tacos they serve. There're about a dozen different kinds you can buy, or you can endlessly
create various combinations, as well. My favorite of theirs was chilaquiles, torn-up tortillas cooked in sauce.
(Chilaquiles are also a key ingredient in a regional favorite called Sopa Tarasca, a delicious soup.) Nopale, which
comes from young leaves of the prickly pear cactus, is another taco filling that generates an almost religious
devotion. .
There were many dishes I ate I'd never experienced before, despite regularly frequenting Mexican restaurants while
living in Arizona for over eighteen years. One is mole (pronounced "mo-lay"), a paste made from chocolate,
chile and spices. I can hear it now, "Chocolate and chile together… that sounds disgusting!" It is in
fact an acquired taste, but trust me… it seriously rocks! Once we'd discovered how to make it, one of my housemates
Mike and I jointly cooked a mole dish each week, which was always an event to look forward to.
Mole is a paste of varying flavors, just as Indian curries can be. I bought the mole paste at a tiny shop called
Don Pancho's - owned by Rosie, a wonderfully friendly lady whose English is fairly good and who I bought everything
I could from: nuts, grains, granolas, powdered soy, etc… all sold in bulk. I stopped every week and chatted with
her in a mixture of Spanish and English and she always complimented me on my Spanish, "Oh, you're getting
SO much better!" When I got my moles from her she explained about each one - which region it originated from,
for example. Then I stopped in the market to buy freshly killed and chopped up chicken, along with freshly made
blue corn tortillas.
Once home the chicken was partially cooked (with the skin), then that broth was carefully mixed with the mole paste
to get just the right consistency. Then the chicken (without skin) was later added for additional simmering. Served
with rice and the tortillas the final result is spectacular!
I had my other favorites, usually family-owned operations that are simple, cheap and very popular. Some are comedores,
which are often found near the markets. These are Mexico's cheapest sit down meals with a limited menu - you squeeze
in on a long bench and the food is prepared in front of you. There are several upscale restaurants featuring full
dinners, sometimes with seafood, but for the money you just can't beat the funky little eateries. Trust me on that!
For most Mexicans the main meal is at lunchtime, often followed by a siesta time when many shops and businesses
are closed. A great bargain can sometimes be found when "comida corrida" is served. This is a set meal
that usually varies every day, is always well priced, and usually offers something a bit different from the norm.
Typically it features four courses: 1) soup, such as vegetable; 2) a "sopa de arroz", which is rice seasoned
with tomato or chile, or perhaps a plate of vegetables, beans or guacamole (avocado mashed with tomato, lime juice
and chile); 3) the main course; 4) and then dessert, which is often a pudding or flan (crème caramel).
There are other sorts of sweets (dulces) too and it seems that each region has its unique specialty. In Zamora
it's chongos zamoranos, which a fellow teacher referred to as "milk gone bad" - cottage cheese in syrup
made from milk and sweetened with sugar and cinnamon. One of my students brought it into school one day so I could
try it and I bravely fought back the temptation to gag while sampling it. Nasty!
Neverias are everywhere in this country selling ice cream and sorbets in bulk, as well as palletas on a stick.
As if Mexican food wasn't fattening enough, locals are also hitting the ice cream pretty hard too! In these shops
are usually sold agua frescas, which are made by adding sugar and water to fruit juice or syrup made from grains
or seeds. These can be spotted in big glass jars on the counters. There're also juice bars selling licuados, sweetened
fruit juice. I had my favorite juice bar where I frequently got a "fresca con fruta de leche"…usually
fresa (strawberry) flavored.
Good luck trying to stay slim in this country! When I arrived last fall I was quite thin and steadily added weight,
despite all the bicycling I did. There were just too many carbohydrates and too much fat in the food and I ate
too much of it to not do so. There is clearly a problem with obesity in Mexico and a look around at what's being
eaten instantly strips away any guesswork as to why. I made peace with my added kilos. I still felt good, I told
myself… plus, I knew I'd lose a good share of it after leaving… and I already have.
Getting back to the drinks, excellent coffee is available as it's widely grown in Mexico. If you're a tea drinker
though, you'll have a hard time getting much of a selection. But beer drinkers will hardly be disappointed as the
"cerveza" is superb. Most of the varieties are a light, lager-style brew, but darker ones are available
too, my favorite being Negro Modelo which is first-rate! Of course, who can write about beverages in Mexico without
mentioning tequila, the most famous of all the spirits. Served straight with lime and salt, it's everywhere and
ranges in quality from super cheap rotgut crap that'll put a tortured expression on your face, to the finest, smoothest,
sublime nectar - distilled only from the blue agave cactus. It'll set you back quite a few pesos. The infamous
mescal is the less refined alternative with the worm often added to each bottle, which by the way is not hallucinogenic
despite all legends to the contrary. Then there's pulque, a fermented cactus juice that's both cheap and dangerously
high-octane!
There are limited options when it comes to eating out in Zamora. If you can't fend for yourself in the kitchen
and don't like Mexican food then you're pretty much out of luck! On Mendoza Street (called American St. by one
of my colleagues), you'll find a Pizza Hut, Dominos, McDonalds and Baskin Robbins. Around town a few other establishments
offer pizza. There's a sushi restaurant I never visited and on my way pedaling out of town I passed but never entered
a Chinese restaurant on the outskirts. That seems to be about it here. No Indian. No Italian. No Middle Eastern.
No Thai. No luck there! It's a good thing I liked Mexican food!
So in order to maintain some semblance of variety in my diet, and in an effort to avoid regaining all the weight
I'd lost in Indonesia, I only ate out once a day… at most. My breakfast was usually yogurt with fruit and nuts,
or oatmeal, or possibly tacos. Lunch was something I whipped up in my kitchen, virtually all the ingredients having
been purchased at the sprawling mercado (I avoided the supermarket as much as possible). It was usually Indian,
Italian, Thai, Indonesian, Mediterranean or some other vegetarian dish, like some beans and rice concoction. After
work I'd usually grab a quick meal from one of the cheap eateries I've mentioned.
How can I write about food and not contribute a recipe, right? The following I got from a woman who is essentially
the office manager where I worked - Lupita. And after having some of her guacamole at a picnic I twisted her arm
to get this, which I've translated for you:
Lupita's Guacamole
Ingredients:
- 3 mature avocados
- 2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
- ¼ onion, finely chopped
- chile pepper… to taste and finely chopped
- ¼ kilo fresh cheese, finely chopped
- salt
- cilantro…about 5 sprigs, finely chopped
- juice of ½ lime
Combine all ingredients, being careful not to make it into a puree… you want it lumpy. Retain the avocado pits
which help preserve the freshness. Chill and serve.
 Well, I think that's enough
on the subject and I'll wrap it all up with a very loosely connected observation about what you might see written
on people's t-shirts. I recently saw one that had been distributed by the major bread manufacturer in Mexico and
I chuckled when I spotted a young woman strutting around with "Bimbo" in large letters across her ample
chest.
Buen provecho,
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Peace,