Edible Rind Avocados

Anything that I have never heard of before needs to be blogged about and this is one such example. Mini avocados with edible rinds as seen here. 

I was a little hesitant at first considering what you normally think of when imagining a large bite of a typical unpeeled avocado. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find these quite delectable. The rind is more like that of a nectarine, smooth and thin. The pit inside is small enough that you can get substantial bites off of the avocado without damaging your chompers. It doesn't completely taste like a normal avocado either. In the end we tagged it as having a basily flavor. Simple to prepare and refreshing to eat. A winner in my book. Now where to get these is a major obstacle. The ones in the picture were hand-picked off a tree for us by some locals. May be a while til the mini basily avocados take off elsewhere...

The tortilla aisle...

is much larger here in Mexico than it is in the United States. Accounting for at least a third of the contents of the entire aisle, it even gets a name drop in the aisle marker sign, much like frozen foods, cereal, and condiments in the U.S. The choices are endless on what type of tortilla you will buy. Wheat, flour, corn, large, small, soft, hard. Quite the collection of tortillas I’d say. In reality this makes perfect sense considering that tortillas practically constitute their own food group in Mexico. 

Mexican tacos

I wanted to share my newfound taco knowledge with those who think that a cheesy gordita crunch could be found anywhere south of the border... First of all, hard tacos don't really exist here unless specially requested. Most of them are actually made with soft corn tortillas... so a soft version of our hard taco. Haven't come by any flour soft tacos here either besides in the grocery store. The next thing you must know is that they are muy pequeno compared to your typical American taco. When out to eat tacos in Mexico, order at least 4. Here's why:

They are usually about the size of a saucer or so. Typical Mexican taco joints give you a pad of paper and pencil, much like a la cart sushi in the states. You choose your main ingredient: carne, pollo, res, etc., whether or not you want cheese, and they bring it out for you right off the grill...

And the final difference: toppings. Never have  I seen a Mexican put lettuce, tomato, OR sour cream on their delicious treat. Instead, most taquerias provide a plethora of hot sauces, onions, and pico de gallo. Also required on every real taco is a splash of lime. Well, that can be said for almost all Mexican foods, but tacos especially. At this point, mine feel naked without lime juice. Almost as bad as french fries with no salt. Yuck. 

So there you go. A lesson on Mexican tacos from yours truly. 

BUEN PROVECHO!

Church's Chicken?

I don't know why this amuses me so much but seeing this Church's Chicken in the Mexico City TAPO bus station made me chuckle.

Chili en todo!

Mexicans love their chili. It is prevalent in many forms: powder, sauce, slices, whole... however you like it, you can get it here. There are two ways that they especially enjoy it. On fruit and on pork rinds. It's very curious although if I had been brought up putting chili on every solid thing I ate, I probably wouldn't think so. Carlota, an avid lover of fruit, was quite disappointed at the last minute chili addition when she ordered her fruit cup from the vendor outside of the Coyoacan market. The first few bites were difficult for her to manage, but all in all, the lure of the fruit was stronger than the repel of the chili powder. 

As a side note, I would like to shed light on another Mexican invention that many Americans will have trouble fathoming. Vero Elotes: corn shaped lollipops covered in spicy chili powder. The girl I tutor insisted that I eat one with her one day after school... very clever, that one. It ended up wasting at least 15 minutes of study time as my eyes watered and throat suffered. 

ICK!

Menudo Sopa

Spent Saturday in Mexico City for a much needed night away from Pachuca. I went with a couple Mexican friends... we decided to go to a traditional Mexican restaurant to eat, drink a few beers, and watch the Mexico v Coast Rica futbol game. So the restaurant that they pick is known for their Menudo soup. And I'm thinking, oh goody, this is gonna rock, because even though I don't know what it is, they are raving about it. So we get there and they order a bunch of weird stuff that I've never heard of and we discuss the game, start on our cervezas, etc. When the food comes out I am a little weary of the soup because of the potent smell it is giving off but can't not try it after the hype, so I dig in. It's not bad at first, but eventually it is too overpowering to bear. It tasted very gamey- weird, I thought, for a soup. I examined more closely and decided that the key ingredient was some strange type of white noodle/rice. So amongst the Mexican's praise, I eat about 1/3 of my bowl of soup to be polite and not cause a cultural scene... I don't find out until yesterday, when I told an American friend of this experience, that Menudo soup's main ingredient is actually pig intestines. SICK!

Concha y Toro

Estas lista?? One of the perks of living in the Central/South America regions is easy access to this sentimental vino. The CabSav is more than mediocre compared to wines I drank in the States and OUTSTANDING compared to wines I have encountered while in Mexico. Lucky for me they sell 4 packs of this delightful treat at the neighborhood Sam's Club for a mere 230 pesos.

Mexico otra vez

Another thing I forgot to mention: all Mexicans refer to Mexico City as "Mexico" or "D.F." for Distrito Federal. Good to know for the future tourist. So my second trip to the capital city was a little more saucy. I went with two of my best friends here, Molly & Marlies, also teachers at ASP. We spent our first day walking around the neighborhood of Condesa where we also went out. Marlies's friend from high school has been dotting around Mexico doing environmental research so she met up with us for dinner. Her friend from college came along too. By the end of dinner, Molly and I were the only ones still standing... Marlies and the two friends were sick with food poisoning of some sort and headed home. Molly and I proceeded to go out - que buenas ondas.

The next day we went shopping, took a stroll through Chupultepec Park. Another big & beautiful park dedicated to relaxation and cultural enrichment. Next we took off to Coyoacan Market where we were enthralled by hippy jewlery, tapestries, and steaming cups of jalapeno corn. Mmmmmm, delicioso. Beware the fact that there are not many bathrooms in this general area...

My new favorite drink: Michiladas

¡Que Rico! Makes drinking beer literally 3 times better! Why haven't Americans thought of this?? I actually get sad drinking them because they are gone so quickly. Please try if you can find the ingredients. They are as follows- a few dabs of each: Worcestershire Sauce, Jugo Maggi (seasoning sauce with salt, spices and pepper), Valentina Salsa Picante (hot sauce), and Tajin Clasico (hot pepper flakes with lime and salt) & a splash of lime juice. Line the rim of your glass with salt, add the beer of your choice- Indio is the best I've tried so far- and ENJOY! My dangerous new habit is having one on the terrace when I get home from work... which usually leads to having two on the terrace when I get home from work... which usually leads to...