My expectations for good tasting food in Oaxaca has been granted above and beyond. Their main sources of protein are eggs, chicken and beans, goat is a favorite,with some pork and beef. Meat is expensive, but eggs are fairly cheap. Cheaper cuts can be purchased at the open air market. I know it's fresh, because there is no refrigeration and it had to have been killed that morning to last!
Most of the poorer native women were buying just a pile of chicken feet or innards or a leg. Chicken feet are very, very flavorful, so I am sure they got their money's worth.
Not quite brave enough to do the chicken feet thing, at the market, I purchased a chicken breast for 70 pesos. That was expensive and got Gringo price. I pointed to the piece I wanted and she hauled out of a bucket beside her a whole chicken, gutted and de-feathered, with feet and head attached to hack off the middle breast part. With a big cleaver, she whacked, whacked, whacked it apart, skinned it and then handed it to me in a plastic baggie. Good enough.
I also purchased from various vendors some fresh tomatoes, an onion, jalapeno peppers, avocados, garlic, tiny bananas, a big ripe papaya, little limes, and some fresh tangerines. I would walk up to a vendor with her wares laid out on a cloth on the ground or table. Each item in a pile and pick what I wanted, hand it to her and she would bag it. Or I would point and she would start loading up the bag. Obvious disappointment clouded the eyes of on vendor when I only wanted 2 little jalapenos. They came in a big 3 lb. bag and I was not about to inject that many!
The homemade tortilla lady was a quiet soul, with a large metal bin of freshly made, medium sized corn ones, that were all being kept warm with a small fire below creating a steamer of sorts. They were not the typical white ones we see in the packages at home. They were made from maize flour, ground and made into the dough and put through the tortilla machine that morning. They were very good. She grabbed a stack of around 2 kilos, wrapped it twice in rose colored paper, then handed it to me. They were cheap. They stayed warm all the way home and I got one out of the wrapper as soon as I could and ate it with nothing on it. Tortillas come in all sizes here. They are made from corn or wheat, although the whole wheat ones are not white, but brown. The wheat tortillas are chewier and have fantastic flavor. An native Mexican women (a mother of one of our new Doulas) made some for us last week. These have been my favorite of all. They were very large,thin, and obviously hand patted out, not by machine, then cooked on a large flat grill over a fire. They had a slightly smoky taste, along with an occasional ash piece.
Obviously very annoying to another vendor was my last purchase of one head of garlic. I chose a larger vendor, because all I had left was a large bill and I did not want to leave without garlic in my back pack. I chose the garlic head, handed the bill and then waited with an apologetic smile on my face. He said something in Spanish and then shook his head, but went to his mother to get change. Thankfully she had what I needed and was able to royally take advantage of my obvious state of over abundance by charging an absorbent price for the garlic head. Ah well. Then I caught my skirt on a nail sticking out of a box of potatoes on the ground, and that seemed just reward for my white foolishness by the look on their faces and giggles.
There is certainly an abundance of pastellerias (bakeries) that sell many kinds of sweetish breads. Nothing is as sweet as the doughnuts or even cinnamon rolls that we get in the states. These pastries of various sizes and shapes are all made with white flour and many taste like a combination of a roll and a not-so-sweet cookie, with different toppings and slight flavorings of topping or fillings. I likes the coconut ones and the ones that were more like a turnover.
The bollios (rolls) are eaten like our loaves of bread are. They are made fresh in the bakery and do not stay soft for very long. They are great with different fillings. The most popular fillings are bean and a white, crumbly mild tasting Mexican cheese. Another one has tomato, beans, chicken and avocado.
The small markets are more expensive, but sell things like milk, eggs, laundry soap, cereal, and such. I got by nicely by just going there and not going into town to the large grocery store in Oaxaca. That in combination with the Saturday market. The little stores do not sell meat or cheese or any fresh items. They do sell yogurt, which is a big favorite. LaLa brand of milk and yogurt is the most popular. The strawberry yogurt I got (my only choice)actually wasn't too sweet and had real strawberries of good size in it. It was the typical bright artificial bright pink color, but it was good. I am sure that it wasn't full of the live yogurt bacteria that I normally look for at home.
I have really enjoyed the lunches that we have been eating at the birth center each day. They have mostly been tostadas, round crispy discs or boillios that are spread with beans and then different things like tomatoes, cheese, avacado, chicken. The winner of the bean recipe was yesterday. The retired OB nurse made the beans and brought them to share for lunch. They were the usual black beans, cooked and made into a no-lump slurry. They are flavored with a little salt and she cooked the beans with avocado leaves that made a slightly anise flavor.
I also enjoyed a green tomatillo sauce with small patties of cooked, shredded then fried pork. I can tell it was probably a cheaper cut of pork with what it looked like inside, but the flavor was good.
Lila has also treated us to great meals each night. She bemoans the fact that she doesn't have the ingredients she'd like, but then produces great meals out of the "not much". They are simple meals, but great tasting. The other night she made a special meal for one of the teens that was leaving for school in the states. She made the same sort of meal we would get down in Mitla at Taco Brown's (the name of their favorite taco place). It was a savory meat, beef, filling, to be tucked into fresh tortillas along with different things like guacamole, fresh salsa, lime. She cut up a fresh pineapple and had made a chocolate cake. What a feast! Unfortunately the guest of honor did not show up until much later. We enjoyed the meal anyway.
Last night I used the last of my fresh chicken from the market. I used 1/2 white onion, a couple cloves of garlic and sauteed them along with 1 jalapeno at the end. I cut the chicken up in small pieces and sprinkled curry powder, the local chili powder with some sea salt. I put a few tablespoons of corn starch in with the chicken and coated the chicken pieces. Then I sauteed the chicken in some olive oil until brown and crispy. I added a cup pf chicken broth and let it cook down until it made a thick sauce like. I added back the onions and turned off the propane stove.
The rice I had started was just finished perfectly at about the same time as the chicken was done. So I piled a nice mound of rice in my bowl, then topped the rice with my chicken, peeled a tangerine and called it dinner. Oh, yes, a perfectly ripe avocado for dessert. Actually I ate a chocolate covered coffee bean for desert. I had not tried one before and it was pretty good. Sort of crunchy and very coffeey. (obviously).
About the coffee. They sort and roast their own coffee beans here. It is sort of a ritual that the kids do outside at the table chatting away. Then it is roasted in hot spinner that keeps the beans turning so they don't burn. The fresh coffee is made quite strong and has a slight cinnamon flavor. Very Mexican. The hot chocolate I liked best was purchased downtown at a Italian Coffee shop. It is not too sweet and has a good solid chocolate taste that means business, but not overpowering. If you like chocolate and cream, you'd love this version.
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