They are all a bit skeletal here in Oaxaca

Today's post is a collection of the skeletons, and los catrines that I've seen around the city of Oaxaca over the past week. Most of them are women, or la catrina, the origin of which the hivemind at Wikepedia describe thusly:

La Calavera Catrina ('Dapper Skeleton', 'Elegant Skull') is a 1910–1913 zinc etching by famous Mexican printmaker, cartoon illustrator and lithographer José Guadalupe Posada. The image depicts a female skeleton dressed only in a hat befitting the upper class outfit of a European of her time. Her chapeau en attende is related to French and European styles of the early 20th century. She is offered as a satirical portrait of those Mexican natives who, Posada felt, were aspiring to adopt European aristocratic traditions in the pre-revolutionary era. She in particular has become an icon of the Mexican Día de los Muertos.

I'm starting off with this one that was in Le Merced market yesterday because I think this fruit seller had style with his catrine.

The rest are much more classic. The ones that look like they're in jail are all just in the windows of shops that are almost universally behind iron bars.

Chapulines finalmente

Spent much of the last few days having anxiety about verb conjugations, which has led to much wandering around town, yakking with people, and doing not much in the way of studying, which is what I should have been doing

But, as I'm sure everyone has been waiting with bated breath to find out, I have now tried the chapulines. That's grasshoppers to you who don't have a strong grasp on Spanish.

They eat a fair amount of insects here but the chapulines are the most prevalent. There is, of course, the worm (or gusano) in the bottom of the mezcal bottle but they eat them on tacos and such as well. I'm sure also before I quit this place, I will have tried some ant mole.

The chapulines are sold all over the streets and markets of Oaxaca. They come in three flavours: natural (lime and salt), garlic, and chile. They also come in a variety of sizes. Being a bit of a grasshopper virgin, I asked around and most people told me that they preferred the little ones. So at the market the other day, I got a handful of each flavour of the little ones and gave them a go. Ate them straight up. Not bad. Tastes like the flavours that are on them although they do have a very distinct smell (which is amplified when it is both hot and humid/rainy, which it has been the whole time I've been here). I liked the garlic the best but don't eat them if you're planning on having smooches any time in the near future.

I really tried to eat one of the bigger ones but as it sat on my plate the other day with it's grasshopper legs and crunchy aspect to it, I just couldn't do it. I still might but for now I'm going to ride the wave of having eaten grasshoppers at all.

Tamales!

They are crazy for tamales in Oaxaca. I thought tamales were mostly made for festivals because they take forever but here they eat them all the time - stuffed with moles, veg, chicken, etc. I have probably eaten tamales at least every second day since arriving. 

While I am in Oaxaca, I am staying with a family along with three other students from my language school. The four of us, along with the family of five, plus a dog and cute puppy make for a big household. Although the house is big and the students all have rooms with an ensuite (mini) bathroom to ourselves. While here, we get breakfast as well as the choice  of having our main meal. There's also a little restaurant in the garage that pops up every night. So there's cooking going on around here.  So I asked my host Eunice the other day if I could cook tamales with them one day and today was the day.

After lunch at 3, I hung around in the kitchen and tamale making started. Usually tamales are wrapped in either dried corn husks or banana leaves. Today, we used swiss chard, which was really awesome.

The tamales were pretty basic and easy to make, as tamales go.

Eunice showing me how the pros do it; the salsa, and the wrapped tamales getting ready for a steam.

The stuffing was thin slices of jalapenos (rajas de jalapeno), tons of onion, and tomato and shredded chicken. That's it. Basically cook it up into a salsa. In order to use it for the stuffing, just scoop some out of the pan and strain it so you don't get all the sauce, then add some chicken and that's it.

The masa (corn meal mixture) that is used for tamales is really hard to replicate back home but you can do a decent approximation using the pre-packaged masa that's available in lots of stores. Here's it's fresh and therefore much lighter and smoother. To the masa, which you can buy around the corner from pretty much anywhere, you add quite a bit of fat which makes the batter rich, and a few teaspoons of baking powder. 

Roll the masa into little balls, then turn those into a little cup, fill with salsa and chicken, seal them up, then wrap in the swiss chard. Then you just steam them until they're ready. In a pressure cooker it takes less time but in a regular pot, steaming would take about an hour and half. 

Once they're ready, simply serve with a bit of the salsa with juice as well as a bit of crema and crumbled queso fresco. Easy, peasy (and no messing around with unwrapping steaming hot leaves or corn husks!)

During the whole affair, I was chatting away in Spanish with Eunice, who told me my Spanish was pretty good. Her mom even said she understood most of what I was saying. So the whole Spanish lesson thing seems to be paying off. Maybe by the end of all this I'll be able to read and understand those kids books I bought at the book fair in the zocalo last night.

All about mezcal

Mezcal is the drink they pride themselves on in Oaxaca. Tequila is totally second class here.  So despite my tendencies toward things fruit juicy, I had to try mezcal. I gathered a couple of new friends from language school and we set ourselves the task of become more familiar with the drink. But before we get to that, you're all biting and your nails trying to figure out what's the difference.

Since I am no expert, here according to Mezcal PhD [http://mezcalphd.com/2012/08/tequila-vs-mezcal/] (who obviously is an expert) are the three main differences between mezcal and tequila:

• Tequila and mezcal are produced in different states of Mexico (though there is overlap).

• Tequila can only be made, by law, with one variety of agave:  the Blue Agave.  Mezcal can be made with upwards of 30 varieties of agave, though most are made with the Agave Espadin.

• The production process for mezcal is different from tequila which leads to a distinctly different flavour profile for mezcal.

Dr. Mezcal also notes that about 90 per cent of all mezcal is made in Oaxaca and there are pretty passionate about it. And while some of it might be made on an industrial scale, much of the Mezcal that I've had is made by small artisnal producers.

Today I went on a whirlwind tour of many things (more on that in another post) but one of the stops was a small mezcal distillery for lessons on how it's made. First of all as senor PhD notes above that meszcal can be made from any number of agave plants. The one that can be cultivated/farmed is maguey espadin. It's the one that most mezcal is made from. The others all grow only in the wild or naturally and therefore the mezcal from this is much more expensive but also each plant from each area has its own really distinct taste.

The pina, the kiln, the cooked fruite, and the masher.

Back to basics. The plants can take anywhere from 5 to 25 years to mature. Once their flower stem grows, then it's time for the harvest as after they flower, they die. So the only part of the plant that is used is the pina, or heart, of the plant. The flower stem and leaves are not used for the making of the alcohol.  The pina is then chopped up into pieces and stuck into a fiery pit to cook for five days. It becomes soft, sweet, and smokey during it's time in the "kiln."  Once it's taken out of the kiln, it gets all mashed in a large stone mill that, in the case of the place we were anyway, is done by a horse. I am quite sure that the more industrialized operations do not use this method. Anyway, once there's mash, it goes in to ferment for a bit and then that alcohol mash goes into the distiller. Again in this case, the distiller is copper and they literally light a big wood fire under there and let it all get done.

That's the traditional and artisanal method of making all mezcal. Ones produced from the maguey espadin are then often aged in white oak barrels for anywhere from six months to many years. There are four basic types: joven (not barrel aged), reposado (rested in the barrel for 6 months or so), anejo (aged five years or so), and then basically anejo plus/grand reserva or whatever each distiller calls it.  With the mezcals made from the wild plants, they are genrally not aged in barrels because they all have very distinct flavours that will be tainted by barrel aging. Some are distilled in clay pots, or some other part of the production process uses different materials but they are distilled into the bottles and then are ready for drinking.

On our drinking night in the city, we went up to a really nice little mezcalaria on Alcala near Humbolt. The owner, Coca, served us up some unique tequilas from a variety of the wild maguey (or agave) plants. They included bicuixe (bi-kwish-eh), cuixe, papalometl, and tepextate. At the distillery we also tried one from the coyote. The all-natural one as mentioned each have a really distinct flavour profile but one thing they all share is a substantial alcohol punch: 50% or more.

And one thing is that anywhere they sell mezcal in the city or any of the nearby distillers will give you as much to try as you want. Many also have fruit cream versions as well, which in the end taste like milkshakes and can likely lead to some very bad headaches the next morning if you're not careful.

So I can't say that I want to drink it all the time but mezcal definitely tastes better to me than tequila. And because most of it is pretty much organic and natural, you don't feel bad drinking it. I'm sure if you drank a lot, that might not be the case, but in moderation, all good.

The cooking show

First cooking class was today and I ended up being the only one in the class so it was essentially a private course and got to pick exactly what I wanted. Things started off brilliantly when I arrived and was offered coffee or chocolate. I had chocolate and it was brought to me steaming in a huge bowl with a side of sweet bread and hibuscus preserve. Dip that baby into the chocolate and you've arrived in heaven.

The class began with cleaning and preparing corn to make tortillas. We then stuck it in a bucket and headed out to a local "molino" — essentially a place where you bring stuff (corn, mole ingredients, chiles, chocolate, beans) and they grind it for you. In our case from the corn came masa, ground superfinely.

We continued with a trip to the neighbourhood market, Sanchez Pasquas, where I learned much about local herbs, fruits, and more. Most of that info has promptly been forgotton because I wasn't taking notes. I will say that there is lots of green stuff I can't buy at home. I am most sad about avocado leaves. This little market was pretty much only food and was a lot less busy, shall we say, than the big markets near the centre of town. We bought a bunch of ingredients for our class like cheese and squash blossoms, as well as these local plums that I had never seen and we used to make aqua fresca (basically sweet fruit water). Also discovered a new kind of basil here, that has a really sweet, lovely scent to it and which is not used at all for cooking but for "guarding" your business and also as a body cleanser.

Grinding the corn and making the tortillas. The ones on the bottom are the flavoured ones.

Back at Casa Crespo, we made three kinds of tortillas with our masa: plain, with plantain, and squash blossom and epazote (a widely used herb in Mexican cooking that is delicious cooked but smells like diesel fuel when raw).

Also three kinds of basic tomato salsa, well one salsa with two additions to make different flavours: cumin and avocado leaves. The latter was my favourite and I'm going to have to try to bring some dried ones home.

The first course was the plain tortillas with quesillo, the Oaxacan string cheese, and my salsas.

Tortillas con quesilla y salsa, ceviche, the local plums, and making rose petal ice cream. 

I had also opted to make ceviche, since I never have, so we made a version that was simply white fish (I didn't ask what kind) along with pickled chiles, olives, capers, onions, and tomatoes. Topped with a few slices of avocado it was totally spectacular.

Luckily that course was quite light because the squash blossom soup was rich, rich, rich.  We used an ear of corn, tons of squash blossoms, mushrooms, and a little squash with some onion, a fair amount of milk and a bit of cream but the thick double-cream type cream.  What I really noticed was when sauteeing everything in butter that it smelled very sweet. I took a small taste of the fresh butter and it was like nothing I've ever tasted before. Fresh, sweet, creamy but with a particular flavour that I suppose is due entirely to the cows and the terrain from which it comes. 

Squash blossoms (flores de calabaza) that became a rich soup.

The main course I chose was not one of the seven "official moles" of Oaxaca but one the chef called mole de fiesta, obviously served for holidays and festivals and the one he said he would be making in the restaurant next week for Day of the Dead. It had many ingredients: onions, tomatoes, pecans, almonds, raisins, guajillo and ancho chiles, plantain, oregano, chocolate, allspice, garlic, and cloves. Unlike many that I've made, this mole starts with frying most of the ingredients in oil (rather than dry roasting). It makes it very rich. I'm sure given more time to sit around the flavours would deepen dramatically but even after the short hour of cooking it had, it was really quite amazing. I had it served with poached chicken.

The ingreadients for mole de fiesta and the final product. 

Then last but not least on this eating fest, we made ice cream and since I'd never had it decided to go with rose petal ice cream rather than Oaxacan chocolate. It was also a taste sensation but probably one of those things that you'll either really like or dislike. Again, the bonus of being the only one in the class was I didn't have to worry about whether anyone else wanted to do it.

I, of course, got to eat this giant feast after I made it, sitting solo in the chocolate room in the restaurant. We didn't make anything too crazy: ant mole or worm tacos (they are on the menu there) but it was totally worth it and really pleased to have done it.

Everyone needs a certificate of conpletion. 

La celebracion del senor del rayo

Yesterday we went on a class trip — we are doing a few of them which is a great way to see some new things — to the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, which like all good cathedrals is located right along the zocalo. The church was being prepared for a uniquely Oaxacan festival, la celebracion del senor del rayo.  Oct. 23 is believed to be the day the statue of Christ miraculously appeared in the cathedral and that miracle is celebrated annually.

The most remarkable aspect of it is that the entire inside of the cathedral is decorated in flowers, predominantly lilies, and on the 23rd, there is a special mass celebrating the miracle. Apparently the statue of Christ is usually kept behind glass in a side chapel but it is brought into the main sanctuary for this special occasion.

I did not attend the mass but the zocalo and areas around the cathedral were absolutely packed with people (of whom I believe many were local indigenous people who had marched many kilometres to protest their living conditions).  But on the day we visited, even though the decoration was not complete, you still were assaulted with the scent of flowers and a sense of wonder when you entered the cathedral. It was quite spectacular. The whole evening will be capped off with fireworks, which Mexicans love and take every opportunity to set off.

Update: I went to the fireworks and they were the craziest. It was all set up right outside the cathedral with  a large metal structure that obviously had fireworks on it and was going to be set off. Around that was a small roped off section of sidewalk upon which the municipal works team were setting up the fireworks launching cannons or whatever. What there wasn't was really any safety zone beyond a few feet behind the rope. So seeing this I had to wonder exactly how it was all going to play out.

I was with a couple of students from my house so we wandered around a bit, I met some locals who were dressed up in traditional costumes and took a pic, and then came back to the cathedral at 9. There was a band playing traditional tunes on horns and drums, People were throwing sweets and stuff into the crowd and it was a mad scramble to get them. Then a group of men started dancing and a few of them had contraptions that they wore on their heads that lit up and spewed fireworks. I'm sure their dance was telling a story but I dont know what. That went on for about 15 minutes. Then they started shooting the big fireworks into the sky. So we were right under all this and while the view was unusual and spectacular, the whole crowd was also in the debris zone and it rained down on us. Later in the evening, something quite large smacked me in the eye and left me with a bit of a black eye.

The musically accompanied fireworks show consisting of the dancers, the big fireworks, and smaller fireworks on the metal structure went on for about 45 minutes. It ended with the top of the structure lighting up with the words "viva el senor del rayo" and then on the front of the cathedral bright white fireworks cascading down across the whole front of it like a fiery waterfall. It was quite spectacular. And was definitely the wildiest fireworks experience I have ever had.

They protesteth much

Oaxaca is quite well known for its vibrant political scene, or as some would describe it, its vibrant protest scene. While protests continue daily in Oaxaca, primarily the one led by the teachers' union that has not always been the case. In 2006, violent protests or protests that turned violent went on for more than six months.

The protestors in the zocalo are as ubiquitos in Oaxaca as the balloon vendors and campesinos who wander through the square selling handicrafts and baubles. In June, prior to Mexico's mid-term elections the protests heated up and at the time, the U.S. embassy in Mexico City issued a warning for foreigners to precautions and avoid the many large protests, again led by the teachers' unions. Things seemed to have calmed down but you do hear daily of streets being blocked by one protest or another. However, it does all feel quite safe and I have been told to simply be aware of what's going on. So as part of my lengthy walk and explorations after comida, I went to check it all out and get a feeling for what was going on.

Oh and here's a pic of the school. It's a tiny three-room operation with one of the rooms actually being the porch. Much like most things in Oaxaca and many European cities, you go in through a door in a wall with no idea what will be on the other side. The school is on the second floor and you ascend up a winding metal staircase, which is somewhat treacherous given all the rain we've been having. But you do get a good view of town from up there.

Learning Spanish is hard work

 First day at language school was exhausting. When your Spanish is as bad as mine and you have four straight hours of trying not to sound like a total idiot with no grasp of grammar, it can really wear a girl out. It's the constant battle I have of trying to learn new languages but never being as good at then as I am at English and then just getting super frustrated. I'm hoping this three weeks of intensive study will put a bit of a dent in that feeling.

Now that I've seen Oaxaca in the day, I'm much more comfortable and it's got some real gems in it. After class I decided to walk around a bit to get situated but was without the safety blanket of having a map — you know printed on paper like us old folks like. My usual internal compass got a little off kilter with all the rain and the people and the walking through a market but after a slight panic and resorting to Google Maps, I got myself to the zocalo (main square), gave that internal compass a bit of a shake and managed to self navigate back home thus restoring a fair bit of self confidence. But honestly Google is not really doing a particularly stellar job of directing me in Oaxaca so far. 

Finally today I got to delve into some Mexican food. Breakfast was prepared by Carmelita, one of our hosts. A diminutive woman who appears to be an absolute dynamo in the kitchen. A simple omelette with a spicy tomato ksauce was completely out of this world. I wasn't going to have any tortillas with breakfast as I felt I didn't need it and there is going to be no shortage but then one of my housemates didn't want a whole one so I shared it and . . . holy cow batman. I actually thought it was a flour tortilla but no it was corn but ground so fine and with such a different flavour from your run of the mill one. Just wow. 

Pollo en mole negro.

While here, I have the option of eating comida, the main meal of the day, at the house. I am going to do it for the first week while I figure out what's what around town. There's lots I want to eat so don't want to cut out those opportunities eating at 3 every day at home. But that being said, today's lunch was Oaxaca's signature dish: mole negro. The sauce can be made with 30 or more ingredients, including nuts and chocolate. I'm not sure what was in Carmelita's version but it was rich and velvety and served simply over chicken and with rice and tortillas. Another revelation. I'm going to have to get this woman to teach me a few things!

Of course that meant I was pretty full for most of the day but I did have my first Oaxacan hot chocolate and it was superb. I went with the cool kids for a study group at a local cafe and then we wandered about and I snacked on esquites: corn kernels in a cup topped with mayo, queso, chile powder and lime. Muy rico as they say here. A fun night all around. 

Dia Uno

The  The first day of this trip was a travel day. The morning was incredibly smooth, or felt that way, with it taking only 10 minutes to check my bags, get new boarding passes and go through security. It took longer to find the Aeromexico counter hidden in the far back end of Terminal 3 than the whole rest of the process. While going through security, there was one tiny hiccup when they checked my boarding pass, with the security person asking if I'd already gone through. I said 'no,' she then shrugged her shoulders and sent me through.

Limes and grapefruits growing outside my window. Smells heavenly.

I didn't think much of it but noticed when I went to board the plane that I had been moved well up to the front of the plane from my seat back in row 20 but I settled in. Then a man came and told me I was sitting in his seat, 6C, but that was on my boarding pass as well. So a fair bit of confusion ensued. I got a call from the airline on my cell asking if I had boarded, then someone came looking for me. It was all a bit hearstopping. I'm not entirely sure what went wrong but for a minute there I was Manuel and I was sitting in 6C. Obviously it turns out I was not Manuel, but no one actually knew who he was or why I ended up with his boarding pass, and the other dude in 6C got relocated across the aisle in 6D and we got the flying party started.

Flying on Aeromexico was like the old days. The plane wasn't old or anything but there was only the drop down screens, they actually fed you a decentish hot meal, and you could get alcohol at no charge — even on my short hop from Mexico City to Oaxaca.  In case you're wondering, travellers, the Mexico City airport has crap WiFi and not such great cell coverage either. So I'm looking forward to spending eight hours there in a few weeks.

Arrived in Oaxaca, on a somewhat delayed flight, and had a super-tiny panic about not being met by my host family at the airport, but all was fine and the lovely Marianna and her mother Eunice picked me up and put my Spanish to the test as soon as we were in the car!

I've travelled a fair bit and find that arriving places at night, for the most part, is really disconcerting. Unless it's somewhere like New York or some other city that makes sense to me (don't ask what that means exactly but my sister-in-law who arrived in the darkest night to Iquitos, Peru with me knows exactly what I mean) I get very discombobulated.  And although I am staying with a family, the communication on this first night were not that great and I was not feeling brave enough to hit the dark streets to find a bite to eat. So I just unpacked in my big room with teeny tine ensuite bathroom and kicked back and relaxed. I needed to rest up for my first day of Spanish class and I'm glad I did.

Let's get this show on the road

Got the important stuff,

I am about to embark on a great adventure — at least in my mind it will be a great adventure. And like all modern-day adventurers, I will be blogging to log my travels. For me, the most exciting aspect of it all will be moving out from behind my desk for a month. For the last 22 years, I've spent the majority of my time sitting at desk with the occasional week or two off here and there. Don't get me wrong, I (mostly) enjoy my job but sometimes, a girl just has to be set free.

So it's off to Oaxaca, Mexico for three weeks of Spanish language school and as much tutelage in the region's renowned cuisine as I can manage. Then a week in Colombia to practise that Spanish I'll be learning and get a little Romancing the Stone action going on!

Along the way, who knows what will happen but I'm excited (and, of course, anxious because that's how I roll) to try new things, meet new people, read some books, and focus my writing in some areas that aren't the law.

My bags are partially packed, I've got an envelope of pesos and a valid passport on the dresser, so let's get this show on the road. I invite you to follow along... there's something about chiles and chapulines that might prove interesting.