Tamales de mole amarillo

Mole amarillo is one of the most popular fillings for tamales, the best late-night treats available on the streets of Oaxaca, Mexico. This is my version created from the many different ones that I was shown and read about how to make. I use costeno amarillo chiles but unless you’ve got a stash that you picked up while in Oaxaca, you won’t have them. Substitute guajillos instead. The sauce will be a little more red/orange than yellowish in that case. There’s also some alternate vegetarian filling suggestions at the end.

These tamales are wrapped in banana leaves, which are available frozen in many Latin, Asian, and Indian grocery stores. I also use shortening rather than lard but if you are all about the lard, go ahead and use that for your masa. And if you don’t have comal, you can dry roast everything in a non-stick frying pan.

Makes 20-24 tamales

Ingredients:

Mole

4 chiles costeno amarillo
2 large plum tomatoes
½ small white onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves
2 med or 4 small tomatillos
2 cloves
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Pinch of cumin
1 ball of allspice
6 peppercorns
1 tsp oregano (preferably Mexican)
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup masa harina
2 cups chicken stock (use the water you poached your chicken in)
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste

Chicken for filling

8-10 chicken thighs
Handful of fresh parsley
1 clove of garlic
8 peppercorns
1 tsp salt

Masa for tamales

1 cup shortening
2 cups masa for tamales (store bought, dried)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1.5 cups warm chicken stock

1 pkg frozen banana leaves (defrosted)

Method:

1. Poach the chicken: Put chicken into a pot with parsley, garlic, salt, and peppercorns. Cover with water and poach chicken until done. Save stock to use in making mole. Set chicken aside to cool.
2. Remove stem and seeds from the chiles. Gently soften the chiles on the comal. Remove and place in a glass bowl and cover with boiling water. Let soak for at least 20 minutes.
3. Dry roast onion slices, garlic in the skin, tomatoes, tomatillos on the comal.
   
   Once ready put them all in the blender (remember to cool and remove the skin from the garlic). Add the cilantro, oregano, and chiles with some of their soaking liquid. Waz until smooth, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Grind the cloves, cumin, allspice, and pepper.
5. Heat oil in a small pot and quickly fry spices, including cinnamon, when hot. Add chile mixture and sear.  Bring to the boil and stir for about 5 minutes. Add masa harina as well as ½ a cup or so of chicken stock. Let boil for about 10 minutes. Add more stock if it’s too thick and let boil for a total of 15-20 minutes. Add salt to taste.
6. Shred the cooked chicken. Mix the shredded chicken and most of the mole together to make the tamale filling. It should be wet but not too runny. Add a little more of the mole and/or chicken broth until it is a good consistency.
7. The package of masa you have should have instructions on how to make the dough, so it’s best to follow those.  Basically mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl, then add the chicken stock and incorporate. It should create quite a damp (but not at all runny) dough. Beat the shortening in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer until it is quite fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Then add the masa to the shortening and beat until mixed together, about another 2-3 minutes. You can test to see if it’s fluffy enough by putting a small ball into a glass of water. If it floats, you’re good to go!
8. Put a layer of water about 5 cm/2” deep into a steamer pot or the largest pot you have in the house with a veg steamer tray in the bottom. The great thing about banana leaf tamales is you can just pile them one on top of another, unlike corn husk ones that need to be standing upright.
9. Wipe down the leaves and trim them with a scissors: cut off the stem and make squares approx. 20 cm/8” (they don’t need to be perfect). You should also cut them with the grain of the leaf rather than against it. Either cut some thin strings from the banana leaf or use cooking twine for wrapping up the parcels. 
10. Once your leaves are all prepared, pass them over a flame or grill, moving them constantly, until they soften and become pliable. The banana leaves have a white film on them. The heat should burn off the white film and make the leaves shinier. 
    
11. Place ¼ cup of masa onto each banana leaf and flatten (this works best with a rubber spatula). Put about 2 tbsp of filling on to the top half of the masa (not in the middle). Fold the leaf so the lower part masa covers the filling.
    
    You may have to roll or fold it again to close the packet up tightish. Then fold the sides of the banana leaf one at a time to form a package. Tie with string and place folded side down into the pot on the steamer tray. Pile them up neatly around the pot as you go.
    
    Once you have all them all wrapped and ready, cover the pot and turn on the burner to get the water boiling. Once boiling, turn down to low and let your tamales steam for about 45 minutes.
    
    
12. When done, remove from pot and let cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Top with a bit of salsa verde.

* Vegetarian fillings:

• Oaxacan cheese and rajas (slices of jalapeno or roasted poblano)
• Oaxacan cheese and refried beans

A spicy meatball (aka albondigas picantes)

The coming together of two loves is a beautiful thing. In this: the meatball and the flavours of Oaxaca. It’s Sunday and I want to whip up something delicious that uses some of the many Mexican chiles in the cupboard as well as the ground beef I took out the other night but didn’t end up using.  This happened:

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

Sauce:

4 medium tomatoes

2 Oaxacan pasilla chiles

1 ancho chile

2 avocado leaves

2-4 garlic cloves (depends on the quality of your garlic)

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

1 small onion, sliced into four or so thick rounds

¼ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground cumin

1 tsp Mexican oregano

1 cup chicken stock

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tbsp oil

Meatballs

1 lb extra-lean ground beef

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 egg

¼ cup breadcrumbs

Salt & pepper to taste

Stem and seed the dried chiles. On your comal or in a large non-stick frying pan, gently toast the chiles for a 10 or 15 seconds on each side until they are soft. Don’t burn or blacken them because your sauce will be bitter. Then place them in a bowl of enough boiling water so they are covered. You can add your avocado leaves to this too if they are very dry (ie: have been at your local grocer or in your cupboard for some lengthy period of time.)

Then dry roast the garlic (you can leave the husk on and peel it off afterwards), onion, and tomatoes on the comal.  Turn the tomatoes so you get blackening on all sides but don’t let them get too soft or all is lost. (You can also roast them under the broiler in your oven for 10 minutes or so until they’re blackened). Once everything is nicely toasted, add it all to your blender.

Add the chiles, avocado leaves, chopped cilantro, cumin, oregano, coriander, salt and a few tablespoons of the chile liquid to the blender and waz it up. Taste for salt and add more. If it’s a tiny bit bitter, you can add some sugar to counteract.

Heat the oil in a medium sized saucepan and once it’s good and hot, pour in the tomato-chile mixture so it sizzles. Add the cup of chicken stock and stir. If it’s still very thick, add a bit of the chile soaking water or just plain water to it. Turn it to low and let the mixture boil for 5 or 10 minutes. It’ll turn a deep shade of red.

In the meantime, add the egg to a glass bowl and beat it. Then add the ground beef, tomato paste, breadcrumbs, and salt and pepper. Mix it all together with your hands. Once everything is well mixed, form walnut sized balls and add them to the boiling tomato-chile sauce.

Bring it all back to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for half an hour.

You can eat them right away or let them sit and get cozier with the flavours for a while longer. They are fine overnight in the fridge too.

Serve with the rice of your choice and topped with some sliced avocado.

(Weight Watcher Smart Points = 6 per serving)

© Gail J. Cohen 2016

Oaxacan mole amarillo

Now that I'm not travelling, I'm going to share some of the recipes that I learned or were inspired by my travels as well as any others that find their way out of my head since I love to cook and love to share. I welcome any and all feedback!

Costeno amarillo

In Oaxaca, I ate a lot of mole amarillo and absolutely fell in love with it. Like many of the traditional Oaxacan moles, it is made with chiles that can only be found in Oaxaca. In this case it’s chiles consteno amarillo. I brought back a whole bag of them and couldn’t wait to try it out. (Most recipes you can find on the internet will be made with guajillo, which just ain’t quite right!) While I ate a lot of this mole while there, it wasn’t one of the ones that I was shown how to make so this is a cobbling together of what I got from watching and tasting along the way.

My dad, who is a lover of both spicy food and Spanishy flavours has never really developed much enthusiasm for Mexican food. He envisions greasy, cheesy Tex-Mex and he’s just not interested. Not being one to give up when faced with Mexican food naysayers, I decided this dish could be the gateway to get him on board. And a good choice it was. While he did not go in with the most positive intent, he was won over by the smooth and distinctive flavour, which is not too spicy and relatively fruity as the chiles are sun dried and not smoky at all.

It is also one of the moles that is traditionally served with vegetables, in  this case chayote, potatoes, and green beans. This mole amarillo is also one of the most popular fillings for tamales, the best late-night treats available on the streets of Oaxaca.

4 servings

Mole

4 chiles costeno amarillo

2 large plum tomatoes

½ small white onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves

2 med or 4 small tomatillos

2 cloves

Pinch of ground cinnamon

Pinch of cumin

1 ball of allspice

6 peppercorns

1 tsp oregano (preferably Mexican)

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1/3 cup masa harina

1 litre of chicken stock

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt to taste

To poach chicken

8-10 chicken thighs

Handful of fresh parsley

1 clove of garlic

8 peppercorns

1 tsp salt

Vegetables

1 chayote

200 g of green beans

3 medium potatoes

Put chicken into a pot with parsley, garlic, salt, and peppercorns. Cover with water and poach chicken until done. Save stock to use in making mole. Set chicken aside.

Remove stem and seeds from the chile.

Gently soften the chiles on the comal. Remove and place in a glass bowl and cover with hot stock. Let soak for at least 20 minutes.

Dry roast onion slices, garlic in the skin, tomatoes, tomatillos on the comal. Once ready put them all in the blender (remember to cool and remove the skin from the garlic). Add the cilantro, oregano, and the chiles and soaking liquid.  Waz until smooth, about 3-4 minutes.

Grind the cloves, cumin, allspice, and pepper.

Heat oil in a pot and quickly fry spices when hot. Add chile mixture and sear.  Bring to the boil and stir for about 5 minutes. Add masa harina as well as ½ a cup or so of chicken stock. Let boil for about 10 minutes. Add more stock if it’s too thick and let boil for a total of 15-20 minutes. Add salt to taste.

In the meantime, peel and cut up the chayote. Cut up the potatoes into slightly larger pieces. Boil them in a mix of stock and water with a pinch of salt.  Clean and boil the beans in stock as well.

Mole amarillo

To serve: Two chicken thighs covered with one soup ladle + a bit of mole with a selection of the vegetables. Of course, fresh corn tortillas on the side are always welcome.

© Gail J. Cohen 2015

Altars

Altars are an integral part of the celebrations of Dia de los Meurtos. Most families and businesses create one to honour the lives of those who have passed away. In the days leading up to Nov. 1, I saw them popping up all over Oaxaca. Some were very elaborate and expensive while others much smaller and more modest. But all have the same basic premise and building blocks.

Sugar skulls, bread, and flowers are integral to all Dia de los muertos altars.

Generally an altar will be two or three tiers and each layer will be covered with a cloth and ofretas or offerings. Many will have an arch made of marigolds and sugar cane over the top.

Almost all altars will contain the following elements:

• Marigolds, which symbolize death.
• Pictures of the dead (in many cases including beloved pets (or mascotas)).
• Candles.
• Incense, usually from the copal tree.
• Sugar skulls.
• Pan de muerto, the egg bread symbolizing the deceased.
• Food, drink, and fresh fruit that were the favourites of the deceased. These can include traditional as well as modern foods as well as alcholic beverages, particularly mezcal in Oaxaca.
• Papel picado, the hand cut paper decorations.
• Salt, which represents the continuance of life.
• Pictures of saints.
• There are often other favourite things included such as cigarettes, and other items belonging to the deceased.

At our school, we built a modest altar but all went together to the market to buy the items. Anyone could add in items for people they wanted to remember. Weaving the flowers and putting all the pieces together and remembering lost loved ones, even though mostly with a group of people who didn't really know each other well, was actually quite uplifting. 

Bottom left from our house and bottom right was the altar from our school.

These pictures show some of the altars I saw around Oaxaca, including the one from our school, the house I was staying in, as well as a few other family and business ones.

The corridor of smoke

Not enough has been said in this little blog about the food in Oaxaca — at least not in my opinion as this trip is largely about the food!

I don't know if it has an official name, but at the Mercado 20 de Noviembre is a corridor that serves grilled meats. I call it the corridor of smoke because as you enter, you're assaulted by the smoke of dozens of charcoal grills being fanned by ladies cooking up meats, many kinds of meats.

I had read about it a bit in advance but otherwise the place makes absolutely no sense. You walk in and both sides of the corridor are lined with meat sellers. As you go by they loudly try to convince you of the superiority of their products and prices. But to me, they all seem the same, selling thinly sliced beef and pork as well as fat little chorizos and tripe; there's occasionally some other option. You order by weight, so if you know how much you want, you can tell them, or you can just give them a measurement with the space between your hands, ie: I want "this much."

But, first you actually need to go to another vendor to get yourself fresh chiles de agua (hot and grown only in the state of Oaxaca) as well as the delicious small white onions. Once you get those in a little basket, head over to a meat vendor, order up your meat, and then give them to the lady at the grill.

She'll chuck your chiles and onions right into the coals under the grill. Then the meat dude gives her the meat to cook. In the meantime, go find yourself a seat back with the vendor from whom you got the chiles and onions. From them you can order drinks, including beer, which is a delight in the smoky furnace of the place. They will also bring you a wide selection of side dishes including salsas, guacamole, pickles, fresh vegetables, and other stuff. You pay 15 pesos for each of these side dishes. So it does actually pay to go with a bunch of people 

At some point, your meat along with a few fresh and very large tortillas will be delivered to you and then you pay directly for that (I believe the ladies who cook and sell the tortillas are also independent vendors but as noted, it's a bit confusing). 

Well finally after all that, it's just up to the eating. I went with just one other person and we had way to much for just the two of us. I will say the chorizo was absolutely the best. Totally out of this world. The beef, carne asada, was tasty but a bit chewy. I didn't try the pork but my companion suggested it was tastier than the beef. 

I've seen now this meat selling, grill as you stand there thing in a few markets but the one in 20 de noviembre is by far the biggest and most elaborate.

This is me enjoying it all! Thanks to my pal Alice for sending me this (and insisting I post it!)

Beyond the corridor of smoke, this market, which has just been renovated (like last week) has dozens of places to eat traditional Oaxacan food. On another day, a school friend and I went and basically picked the counter that had the most Mexicans having lunch there. Unlike many of the other places, there was not someone yelling out to you to and sticking a menu in your face. We sat down and this place and asked for a menu and the dude was like, 'we have five things, pick one.' So I picked the chicken in salsa verde, which was also ridiculously good. And he topped me up with rice and sauce. Who doesn't like a place that gives you seconds. That and a drink cost 40 pesos. That's about $3.50!

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.

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.

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.

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.