Monte Alban and Food Tour 7 January 2024

 

Last night we booked a tour to Monte Aban with Rose and Jasen.

They joined us for breakfast at our hotel. 

When we were here on our first day we looked at the buffet which looked delicious but appeared to have no hot food, so instead we ordered a la carte. On this morning the four of us took the buffet option and got stuck into the beautiful fruit, yoghurt and pastries. Jasen spotted someone walking by with pancakes and asked where they got them. There was a whole room alongside dedicated to hot food that we hadn’t seen! So, even though we were all pretty full we managed stuff some more down our throats.

Once our driver arrived we travelled for only 30 minutes to Monte Alban, a mountain top ancient Zapotec metropolis. It is approximately 2000 years old and is estimated to have had a population of around 30,000. Our guide was really great and had great English, as he spoke we could imagine the people of that time going about their business. Every house had an underground tomb the same size of the house. This is where the family were entombed. 

He talked about the crops that were grown and how lush it is in the rainy season and I asked what they ate for protein. You guessed it, grasshoppers! He said that he has grasshoppers every day and proceeded to tell us the nutritional value. I have to say though, he did look pretty good for 65.

There are three other ruins on surrounding mountain tops. One is almost ready to open for tourists and we could easily see it across the valley. The other two are ‘still covered by nature’.

Carvings depicting captured men of high standing who have been castrated.

If you look closely you can see Lance in a pink short sitting at the top. These stairs were bloody hard work!

Most fascinating was a sport that was played in this time. It was a sort of basketball played with a 3 kilo ball, but you couldn’t touch the ball and you passed it by banging it with your hip or any other part of your body apart from your hands. And to score you needed to pass the ball through a hoop that was not horizontal and more like a hoop in the game of quidditch. And if you think that is weird then wait for this. The winners were sacrificed to the gods! This meant their family’s status would improve!

Monte Alban is a ‘must see’ if you ever come to Oaxaca.

Back in Oaxaca Central we met our next tour guide Carlo from ‘With locals’ tours. He was taking us on a food tour around Oaxaca. Carlo was really nice and has lived his life in Oaxaca. His English was great and his passion and knowledge of food came through loud and clear.

Our first stop was the Mercado La Cosecha. If you were walking last this place you would have no idea that this lovely food market lay beyond the doorway. 

We were outside in a shady area surrounded by food stalls. Caro grabbed our first lot of food which we tlayudas which we have had a couple of times now. But each one has been very different. These had cheese avocado and fresh tomato and I loved them.

Next were little crispy tortillas with I think chicken,salsa and local cheese. I have the name written as Jarnachas but am not sure if that is correct.

And then we had molote de plata o macho which I am sure is the correct name because I got Carlo to write it for me. These were little dumpling like things that had plantain hence the rich banana taste and local cheese, and they too were delicious.

This was all accompanied by guanaban juice which is  sour sop fruit. Sour sop is something that we had never tasted before and it was really refreshing and had bits of flesh in it. I was astounded that Lance loved it, those sorts of things are generally not his cup of tea. Speaking of tea we are really missing our English breakfast tea in the morning. Anyway, I digress. 

We moved off after using the toilet which was donation operated. I felt bad not donating as they had toilet paper in the cubicle and paper towels to dry your hands, but I only had one coin of 10 pesos left and wanted to keep it for emergencies!

Our next stop was on a street corner not far from our hotel and it was a little cart on the corner. Carlo ordered our taco and from a series of plastic bags stored in a hot tub which I imagine must have had some heat source, but it was not visible. Plucking out two small tortillas the cart guy then dug out some slow cooked shredded beef and we added a guacamole sauce and a salsa. It was just a little but spicy and delicious. Having two tortillas meant that it pretty much stayed intact as you ate it.

At around that time my stomach sent me a message. “You will be needing a bathroom very soon”

The next stop was about a 20 minute walk. My mind was racing, what if it is another street cart that we are going to and there is no bathroom. 

Finally we reached the Fonda market. Carlo had brought us here because he had grown up in this food mercado.  His grandparents had eaten here, his parents had eaten here, and he had eaten here since he was a small boy.

The Fonda market was very quiet and before I sat at the table I asked where the bathroom was. Thank goodness I had saved my 10 peso coin, they asked for only 5 pesos but I didn’t care and little did I know that Rose was right behind me with no peso coins in her pocket. “I’m with her” she said as she whisked by the toilet paper lady. The toilet was very clean, well it was when we went in, can’t say the same when we left!

More toilet talk:

I haven’t seen any signs but it has become apparent that the toilet paper does not go down the toilet, but should be put in the basket alongside the loo. 

There are a couple of problems with this. Firstly I have spent the last 60 years flushing it away so before you know it I have dropped it in the potty. And secondly, number twos. I just can’t go there!

So if you see on the news that Mexico has suffered a terrible sewage blockage then you can blame me!

Back to the food. At the Fonda market Carlos ordered four dishes and when they arrived they were in clay plates and were blistering hot, bubbling profusely.

The first was a minced chorizo in a salsa sauce, the chorizo here is amazing! Smokey and full of flavour.

Second was a local cheese soaked in a salsa, this was equally as good, I loved the soft cheese, it was full of flavour.

Third was a chicken mole. The shredded chicken was  moist and soaked in the delicious mole sauce.

Finally, well almost finally was enchilada mole with a chocolate mole sauce. I think this may have been my favourite.

These were all washed down with fresh pineapple juice.

And finally Carlo pulled a small bottle with a crochet cover and offered some mezcal. Every but me said yes, and I was tempted, mainly because of the cute little cups made from some sort of coconut or gourd.

All in all this was a great food tour, Carlos was very genuine and took us to his favourite places. He could talk about the food and you could see his own love of food coming through.

Of course we didn’t need dinner! So we toddled off for a beer or two at Prago which has a couple of roof top bars. We sat and watched the sun set nursing beers, margaritas and for me a couple of mojitos.

Back to Oaxaca 6 January 2023

 Mitla and Oaxaca

As you can imagine after such a big party the previous night, it was a slow start the following morning.

When we surfaced there was a large wreath type of bread to have with our morning coffee.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, January 6, Three Kings Day is celebrated most in Europe, Spain, and Latin America, ‘El Dia de los Reyes’, as it’s called in Spanish, marks the glorification of baby Jesus by the Three Wise Men. This is the day that the children wake up with excitement and open their presents. Santa is not popular and we were lucky enough to be here on this day. 

The bread wreath is called ‘King’s Cake’ and holds a token or tokens deep inside it, just like we used to have sixpence in our Christmas pudding when we were kids. In Mitla the cake holds small skulls and we were warned that me could crunch down on one. Early on Sarid’s friend Teresa found a skull in her cake and kindly gave it to one of the children. I was desperate to find one, but didn’t want to appear greedy as there were many people joining us for brunch.

Brunch was ‘babacoa” a traditional food where the meat is cooked underground, a bit like how New Zealand Maori cook a hāngi and Pacifica people cook Umu etc. The babacoa arrived in a small truck and two young men unloaded it and explained the process. They had been to the market and bought a live sheep, slaughtered it and placed the offal aside to cook separately. This is like the entree.

 A fire had been prepared and the wood and stones were placed in a pit, followed by the meat with spices, and then covered by agave leaves. Now I am sure there are is a lot more to the process, but that’s all I’ve got. If you are gagging to find out more you will need to google it. He said it had been cooking for 6 hours.

The entree was a little confronting to me, but I did try some. It was all a tasty dark colour, but I could make out vessels and liver so only had a we bit. Lance got stuck in and polished it off!

The babacoa was delicious! Not hot spicy, just really tasty, almost like a peri peri flavour. It was served in lovely clay bowls and topped with shredded cabbage accompanied by tortillas. The meat just fell apart and it all sat in a hearty broth.

Babacoa

When I finished I thought I would grab another coffee and saw that there was still plenty of Kings cakes left so went to cut a bit off! It was quite difficult to contain myself when I saw the side of a black skull poking out of the side of my piece. I didn’t want to make too much fuss as then I might have felt that I should give it to a small child. And selfishly the small child in me won out, I really wanted for myself! 

The custom is that if you find one of these then said Sarid, is that that you have to make tamales for every one on the 2nd of February. I think I will just settle for our annual lamb on the spit that we have every 6th of February, it’s close enough.

After brunch we made our way back to Oaxaca to our previous hotel Quinta Real where we had been upgraded to a ‘superior’ room. The room is similar to the last but has a large wardrobe with drawers which is quite handy as we are here for 5 nights. And it is on the ground floor, which is also handy as the stairs to the first floor last time were quite hard going. I know! Only one floor up! But the height of stair rises was different for each stair and they got higher as we ascended, by the time we were at the last five it felt like they were up to our knees!

A little bit about the hotel:

It was built in 1559 as a house for ‘secular’ women who later became nuns. In 1577 it became a convent, by 1833 it was being used by the military and in 1862 the Liberals used the official decree to reduce the number of convents and they asked the President to change the convent into a prison and offices for the municipality. It was many things for many years until it felt into ruin. In the early 1970s some hoteliers acquired it and began renovations, experts restored the frescos and interior decorations including flooring and other ancient treasures. 

This looks like somewhere the nuns did the washing.

Today the hotel is very beautiful and oozes history. The service has been exemplary, including finding a very flat pillow for Lance. Google translate was required for this request.

Not long after we arrived back there was a tap at the door and we received our very own little Kings Cake. It was delicious and I got a baby Jesus which is the custom in motion other places rather than a skull. Double lucky!

Located a stones throw from the Santa Domingo Cathedral we are surrounded by food and markets. Some high end and many that are more affordable.

Some friends from home were on holiday in Mexico and we had a couple of days in Oaxaca at the same time, so true to form we met up in a roof top bar over looking the cathedral. 

We applied our google maps and started following the route, directions are not my long suit and I had not put the route into walking mode. There are many one way streets here so we ended up walking completely around the block rather than 2 minutes around the corner to the bar to meet Rose and Jasen!

On the way there we got caught up in a wedding parade!

And because it was Three Kings Day things were happening in the square below and the Cathedral was lit up.

After a couple of drinks we wandered out to find some food, but alas as we left I didn’t see a step and had a wee fall. I didn’t fall over, because that is what you do before you are 60. Once you are 60 you are close to being elderly so now we ‘have a fall’.

Anyway, down I went onto my knees but only my pride was damaged.

We dined at Mezzaluna and had the most delicious pizza. I know, we are in Mexico but there was a band playing Mexican music while we ate!. And the pizza was delicious.

We made plans to meet up the next day and be tourists.

Toilet report:

The toilets here are pretty clean. Sometimes you need to pay 5 or 10 pesos (50cents or $1) for a postage stamp of paper but generally not in the cafes or bars. Most have a seat. No incidents or accidents to report.

The Wedding 5 January 2024

The big day had finally arrived and we started with some breakfast then nipped off to the markets and to visit the local ruins. 

The streets in Mitla

Market

Templo San Pablo Villa de Mitla

Chorizo Empanadas

We managed to to find more bits and bobs but could not find the entry to the ruins so had some excellent lunch at the Origen maize again and went home to prepare for a big afternoon and evening.

Remember that we were asked to purchase our wedding attire from local markets rather than buy a wedding gift. And we had found our clothes on the first day. Aeneas’ sister had bought her dress and her family’s clothes yesterday at the Mitla market. She is quite a trim woman and everything was too baggy, so the lovely ladies at the market offered to take the dress in, it didn’t take long and she popped back to try it on and it would go on! They had taken it in too much and trimmed the inside seam! The lovely ladies then remeasured and got another dress and had it ready in a jiffy. And they only charged for the one dress!

The wedding was held at the Casa Regina Hotel, and the wedding planner and her team had transformed the area which previously had just been a blank space. Tables were laid out beautifully with succulents as centrepieces, and the chairs were set out with an aisle. 

We were given little sticks with lace and ribbon to wave as they walked back down the aisle.

I must mention here that the following day I had to rehydrate and drank loads of water, this was not, as you may have thought, due to a hangover. It was because of the amount of tears that I shed during the ceremony, as did most of the people gathered. 

We were alerted that the bride had arrived by music, and not just any music but a mariachi band that had snuck in behind the seated guests. There were tears! Then Sarid and her parents appeared and there were more tears, from me, Lance, the people around us, and the bride. The bride crying was not a surprise because she is a bit of a cryer, in fact ‘a bit’ is really an understatement.

Sarid, suppported by her mother and father on either side walked up the aisle in a beautiful dress that of course had been made locally. It was a simple style, sophisticated with a series of ruffles that fell elegantly to the ground. Sarid has the most amazing hair, and I mean amazing. Some days I find it hard not to touch it when I am talking to her. Her abundant curls were pulled back on one side and secured with a beautiful floral comb. 

When she reached Aenaes she turned and hugged her Mum and Dad and of course there were tears all round. In fact, I actually had little sobs that I had to control. 

The ceremony was conducted by a Kiwi friend who, although he does not speak Spanish, managed to conduct the whole service in English and Spanish. It was a very personal and sometimes funny service and really lovely. The mariachi band played as they walked out and we stood and waved our little lace and ribbon flags.

The mariachi band continued to play as trays of mezcal (similar to tequila) and little shot glasses circulated through the guests along with other beverages. The beer was in half size Coronavirus bottles. This was so your beer didn’t get warm because you would finish it sooner! What a great idea, and the bottles were so cute!

We were seated when the bride and groom arrive back and small hors d’oeuvres size bites were served. Oh my god! They were delicious!

A little tostada thingy with chicken and pink pickled onions

Mole negro enchilada

Sarid and Aenaes had put a lot of thought into the food as Oaxaca is the food capital of Mexico and is well known for its mole, not to be confused with the small eyed creature with poor eyesight in the Wind of the Willows, it is pronounced molay and is a type of sauce usually made with chocolate but has seven different types. 

Shortly after this, and remember the mezcal is still circulating around the guests, along with mini beers, special fresh juices, margaritas, paloma cocktails made with pomelo juice (a pink grapefruit), a platter arrived with more treats.

Teeny tiny tasty grasshoppers

A platter with a selection of delicious local treats

Again it was all delicious. The little battered pieces were jalapeños stuffed with I think chicken were so yummy. The tiny local cheese on sticks tasted like buffalo mozzarella and, as you can see in the picture, a variety of other treats including some teeny tiny grasshoppers which were really tasty. And maybe that is why Lance was leaping around the dance floor later on!

Our mains were a selection of mole dishes and were served randomly, but to ensure we all got to taste each of the three different mole sauces we received a bowl of each sauce as well.  I have fallen in love with mole.

The temperature during the day was around 28 degrees Celsius but in the evening it drops significantly. Aenaes said that he had looked into hiring gas heaters, but the price was exorbitant. So instead they bought Mexican poncho style hoodies and wraps for all of the guests which came out cheaper!

The evening progressed with a couple of speeches and dancing. The music was popular songs that we know but then the DJ slapped on some Mexican music and the Mexicans ruled the dance floor! They were so great to watch and some of the music appeared to have particular steps that were followed. It was actually quite a joyful thing to watch and the kiwi that I was with commented that us who are of English decent just don’t have anything as special as this. 

At some stage Sarid and Aenaes took the floor for the Bride and Groom dance, at the end of the dance fire works exploded around the dance floor! 

 

Later in the evening, and remember that mezcal being poured in copious amounts, a special tradition was followed la vibra de la mar (the sea snake dance) is where the bride and groom stand on a chair each and hold a long scarf between them. Some of the guests support the groom or bride by standing around the chair. The other guests form a long chain and career around the room and under the scarf trying to knock them off the chair. In this case it was only the groom that was to be knocked off, and I was part of the chain formed by al of the ladies. Sarid called to me to be careful as they will be running fast and I was grabbed and off we went. It is a wonder my arms are still in my sockets, the ladies went flying around and crashed into the maul of men surrounding Aeneas. On about the third circuit I noticed Lance packed into the ruck grinning away as the women smashed into them. I managed to unlink my self as they all pushed and shoved to get him off the chair, eventually, with less men supporting him he tumbled slowly into the men below. Apparently (from google) it symbolises the ups and downs of marriage.

 I can’t get the rest of the text to justify, sorry about the higgledy piggly spacing  

      I have never been to a wedding where the bride throws the bouquets, but Sarid  

      did it and there was a bevy of women waiting for the toss!

    Another surprise came with a blast when fire works exploded along the cacti 

   fence. This was a wedding that just kept on giving. And still the mezcal was 

   flowing.

       Then came the tossing of the groom!  Aenaes was hoisted up and carried 

      around  in a funeral march signifying the grooms end to a single life. Then he 

      was tossed into the air!

And of course the trays of mezcal were still being served.

I was amazed that people did not seem to be too messy considering the amount of mezcal that was being consumed. Myself? A little sip to see if had got any better, Lance? Can’t remember how many but was a very jolly fellow!

It was really lovely seeing Sarid in her home country with her family and friends. She was positively glowing the whole day and you should see her dance! We both felt very privileged to have been invited and to share in this special day.