Hoja YEG-GA y Las Páginas Mexicanas Ilustradas (cont.)
Página Núm. 2: La Comida de La Memoria Mexicana, 2016
S.O. finally received her visa to work in Canada so, after several months, she was finally able to return to visit her family in late Winter through early Spring, 2016. As the following vignettes reveal, popular past-times and routine journeys in Mexico are shaped family gatherings, food, and, invariably, markets. S.O. was clearly happy to be home, although the occasional comparison found within select narratives indicate that her time in Mexico was also now shaped by her experiences in Canada, including the weekly pilgrimmages she makes to the Strathcona Farmer's Market in Edmonton.
Mi Casa
Mexico City, February 16, 2016. 23°C
One of the things that I miss the most about Mexico is those long family dinners that seem to spiral outwards throughout the afternoon. Today we had made paella, always such a huge production for our family. The script of the culinary production begins with getting up early to get to the market for some fresh seafood, and is followed by setting up the huge paella dish in the backyard where different people stand around providing play-by-play commentary and suggestions to the person who is actually cooking the dish. While I was trying to get a picture of Hoja YEG-GA to mark the occasion and to show the food preparation, I kept getting shooed away or “photobombed”. In the end and in the chaotic spirit of my family, I decided to record a personal moment that I will remember as the funniest of them all even though it is obscured by the memorable movement of digitized light in one of the portraits. Hoja YEG-GA also helped capture and illuminate the whirlwind essence of those family dinners that I miss so much.
Capital City Infill, Lonja Mercantil Edition
Mexico City, February 21, 2016. 25°C
The Lonja Mercantil project is relatively new in Mexico City. It is a venue in which independent artists as well as textile and food makers populate newly renovated spaces in order to offer their products and to help promote the preservation of old buildings in the capital city. For a long time many of the older buildings in Mexico were left to decay and had fallen into complete disrepair, as more people moved into newer areas of the city or to the surrounding suburbs. Nowadays, there is a movement to revitalize the city centre and more people are encouraged to move back to the capital’s core area, an effort that will sound strangely familiar to inhabitants of Edmonton, Canada. This market has been a way to showcase the transformation from decaying vecindades to functional living spaces. The items sold at the market range from shoes to specialty chocolate truffles filled with mezcal. One of the most interesting products which I believe shows the way Mexicans embrace and articulate their “popular” Catholicism was this tortillero with the Virgin of Guadalupe cut into one of its paddles. The Virgin of Guadalupe is the patron of Mexico, and her fiesta is characterized by a massive pilgrimage on December 12. I’ve seen her image emblazoned on tattoos, bags and shirts but never in a tortilla press. I guess some people just want to consume imprinted holy tortillas!
Links:
Mercado de San Juan
Mexico City, August 23, 2016. 25°C
Despite the appearance of a growing number of multinational supermarket chains in Mexico City, especially international enterprises such as Walmart, traditional markets continue to play a very important part in the heart of Mexican shoppers and cuisine, as many ingredients remain exclusive to these mercados. Mexico City is notorious for its many markets that include the little Tianguis on main avenues or the famous San Juan Market found in the middle of busy downtown. This San Juan Market has continued to grow as one of the most famous places to get native ingredients, exotic meats and international products. My family usually goes to buy seafood and international ingredients that are hard to find in other places, such as tofu or curry leaves. Walking into the market can be overwhelming since you are engulfed immediately by the sights, smells, and vendors insistently calling upon you to visit their stalls. Usually, we try to get there as early as possible in order to have Spanish tapas at La Jersey, a growing family business which serves imported cheeses, meats and complimentary glasses of wine when you purchase a tapa to eat at the market. Even though Mexico City is landlocked, one of its the perks as the capital city is the wide availability of specialty products, such as fresh seafood and fish. We usually go to Eladio’s and after looking at the fish and seafood on display choose whatever is freshest and will be needed for the week. Unlike Canadian farmer’s markets where meat and fish is packaged for sale and kept in fridges and freezers behind glass, in Mexican markets meat is out on display. The “cutting” of each piece of meat or fish is done right in front of you and to your specifications. I guess first-time shoppers are supposed to be enticed to purchase after seeing huge fish on ice or a whole pig hanging from a hook. Visiting a big market and walking through its aisles is definitely a must when visiting anyplace in Mexico City. If you are a little bit squeamish about the meat products you can always stay wander along the cooked food and vegetable and fruit “paseos”, as the markets always tend to be clearly divided.
Locations:
Pescaderia Eladio’s: Tel: 5510-3577-5521-0883 Ernesto Pugibet No.21, Puestos 83-84, Interior Mercado de San Juan, Col. Centro Delg. Cuahtemoc Mex D.F. 06070
Delicatessen La Jerssey: Alexandra M. Castro, Tel: 5513-331799, Ernesto Pugibet No.21, Puesto 99, Interior Mercado de San Juan, Col. Centro Delg. Cuahtemoc Mex D.F. 06070 [Facebook: Delicatessen La Jersey Gourmet]
Tlapalpa, Jalisco
March 6, 2016. 19°C
When we go to see my family in Guadalajara we usually visit Tequila or Tlaquepaque, two well-known tourist destinations. This time we decided to drive a few hours away to a small town called Tlapalpa, located in the forested mountain area of Jalisco. Tlapalpa is different from other regions of Jalisco as its colder weather and proximity to mountains has made it a popular place to set up weekend cabins. The town looked to me like the smaller mountainous cousin of the city of Chinchón in Spain where the main plaza is surrounded by buildings with balconies. All throughout main street people sold grilled corn, esquites and a variety of Mexican milk and nut candies. However, one of the most incredible parts of city is the brick cathedral. In contrast to the run-down 16th century wood colonial churches sometimes encountered in the countryside, this impressive brick building was built in the late 17th century after the original building was damaged in an earthquake. Before heading back to Guadalajara we also decided to go on a small hike to “Las Piedrotas”, an impressive set of colossal geological formations in the middle of a valley. We were lucky since most of the other tourists had left so we were to take pictures of the sunset and the rocks in peace. Note to self for next time: Hiking with a dress and sandals is probably not the greatest idea.
Bazar del Sabado
Mexico City, April 9, 2016. 25°C
Bazar del Sabado is an Art and Artisans market set up every Saturday in the San Angel neighbourhood, Mexico City. We tend to go to this market every other Saturday due to the fact that they have great live music and quesadillas for purchase on the street. Our first stop, como costumbre, was the Quesadilla stand where you get to watch the whole preparation process unfold, further characterized by the handmade tortillas and the huge comal pan where they are heated. Afterwards, while waiting for the live music to start in the nearby terraces, we walked around the market and I took some photos of some very interesting “artesanias”, including a Frida Kahlo serving tray, embroidered tablecloths, and some miniature figurines. I also decided to take some pictures of the stand of the iconic paper flower man. He has been making flowers for a long as I can remember and his distinctive stand can always be found at the entrance of the market. While I was taking some pictures, the man at the booth that sells minerals and rocks was so intrigued that he asked if he could take a look at the carving. After I told him about the School of One Carver and the carving he told me that the rock was a very interesting fossil. He gave me a new rock to take back to the Carver. We ended the afternoon at one of the terraces drinking tequila and listening to a Cuban salsa band, and, as always, I realized how much I will miss my city and those weekend outings with my family when I return to Canada.
San Angel
Mexico City, April 13, 2016. 29°C
In and around Mexico City’s parks and markets it is common to see colourful castle-like cages with small birds advertised as fortune-tellers. Agoreros, the name given to the handlers, is a tradition that is passes from generation to generation, and these men tend to train around five to ten birds to perform tricks and divine luck. This time the bird answered a little toy telephone and put a hat on the little charro doll before giving me a fortune regarding my romance destiny. The history of this tradition has been debated. Some people claim that Agoreros can be traced to the pre-Columbian nahua tonali (fortune tellers) while other traced the origins to the Spanish colonists who brought flea circuses to Mexico. Either way it is a fun popular Mexican tradition, one that I have never been able to resist when I see one of these cages. Furthermore, for ten pesos or less you get to see something that has been performed in Mexico for centuries and which remains very much alive today.
Tepoztlán, Morelos
April 15, 2016. 32°C
During the last weekend of my stay in Mexico my cousin invited me to go with him to a small business day trip he had to take to the town of Tepoztlán, Morelos. We planned that I would wander around town while he met with a client and we would meet for lunch. However, once we arrived, his client invited us over to see the house and the spectacular view from the backyard, where you could see the Tepozteco mountain up close. She also had the most amazing bougainvillea trees that spread throughout most of her property. While we had also planned to see the Aztec site at the top of the mountain, there had been a huge fire during the week so the path to the site was temporarily closed. So, instead, we got a tour of an amazing house that was trying to go as green as possible, with a small vegetable patch. It was also built with local materials from the region and the client had called my cousin in order to install solar panels.
The town was quiet (it usually livens up during the weekend), and it was nice to get a different view of the streets without the noisy bustle associated with tianguis. We got to enjoy a quiet evening around Tepoztlan and visited the Ex-Convento de la Natividad de María, which was a built by the Dominican Friars in the 16th century. Tepoztlán has an interesting population. The human geography is a mix of “expats”, wealthy Mexicans who own houses situated in the outskirts of the Centro Histórico, and the local Indigenous population. Recently, the urban landscape has been enriched by young people interested in converting the town into a holistic and organic centre for food. This is why we visited the new Organic Market, and it had a very interesting mix of vendors and products, such as imitation pork rinds made out of seaweed. We also made sure to stop at the regular town market to buy some dehydrated chipotles (very hard to get in Mexico City!) Our culinary purchases now complete, we journeyed home to share some of our food purchases with the rest of our extended family.
