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Posts Tagged ‘food’

Yesterday was day five of Oaxaca Sabe and restaurant number five for your intrepid foodies.  Yes, we are still on a-restaurant-a-day pace.   Our choice?  Tres Bistro, or as the sign says, Tr3s 3istro.

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We had watched as this second floor space above Del Jardín was renovated two years ago and a visiting gal pal and I had eaten there in July 2014.  While the food was delicious, the cacophony coming from the occupied zócalo (pirated CDs blasting, amplified speeches blaring, etc.) through the balcony’s giant open sliding glass doors made it a less than pleasurable experience.

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However, currently all is quiet on the zócalo front, save for the occasional marimba players, and the menu beckoned.  Thus we decided to give it a try.  We climbed the beautifully designed curving wooden staircase under the portales and were seated at the second from the left table above.  Chips, salsas, and herb butter for our choice of flavorful breads soon followed.

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Choices made from the Oaxaca Sabe menu, the fun began!  My first course…

Laminado de pulpo con mojo verde, aceite de cacahuate, rábanos y cilantro (Rolled octopus with green sauce, peanut oil, radishes and cilantro)

Laminado de pulpo con mojo verde, aceite de cacahuate, rábanos y cilantro (Rolled octopus with green sauce, peanut oil, radishes and cilantro)

My entrée…

Risotto de gorgonzola con camarones (Gorgonzola risotto with shrimp)

Risotto de gorgonzola con camarones (Gorgonzola risotto with shrimp)

And, my dessert…

Panacota de frutos rojos y coulis de fresa (Panna cotta of red fruit with strawberry coulis)

Panacota de frutos rojos y coulis de fresa (Panna cotta of red fruit with strawberry coulis)

For Chris’s menu choices, see his blog post, Oaxaca Sabe – Oaxaca knows….. food!… Day 5 – Tres Bistro.  I’ve got to say, the portion sizes were more generous than we’ve become used to and we pushed away from the table feeling quite sated.

Many thanks to chef Fermín López Damián, who was born in the Sierra Norte region of Oaxaca, for a delicious, relaxing, and thoroughly enjoyable dining experience.

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Another day another Oaxaca Sabe lunch.  Yesterday, along with a couple of friends, we celebrated the ## birthday of blogger Chris at Luvina.

The birthday boy!

The “gifted” birthday boy!

As you can see below, the menu chef Carlos García created was beautifully presented, imaginative and, I can assure you, muy sabrosa.  Our first course was out-of-this world, in my humble opinion.

Arroz cremoso con legumbres, calamares y mollejas asadas (Creamy rice with vegetables, grilled calamari and sweetbreads)

Arroz cremoso con legumbres, calamares y mollejas asadas (Creamy rice with vegetables, grilled calamari and sweetbreads)

Ahhh… Which main course to choose?  I chose the rabbit and, naturally, sampled a table mate’s sea bass.  Both were delicious.

Conejo chimeco con verduras rostizadas con manteca de pato (Rabbit with roasted vegetables and duck fat)

Conejo chimeco con verduras rostizadas con manteca de pato (Rabbit with roasted vegetables and duck fat)

Robálo al pastor con chichilo negro (Sea bass with chichilo mole)

Robálo al pastor con chichilo negro (Sea bass with chichilo mole)

The dessert got mixed reviews, but I liked the lightness of the brioche.  And, yes, the birthday boy’s came with a candle!

Espuma de requesón con bizcocho de pan brioche (Foam of ricotta with a cake of brioche)

Espuma de requesón con bizcocho de pan brioche (Foam of ricotta with a cake of brioche)

It’s somewhat out-of-the way location (off Republica on the block-long Mártires de Tacubaya and across the street from the Kiss the girl goodbye mural) shouldn’t hinder a visit to this light and airy restaurant. By the way, the service was excellent.

 

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It’s Wednesday and day three of the Oaxaca Sabe restaurant festival.  Yesterday, we dined at Pitiona, one of Oaxaca’s most sophisticated and innovative restaurants.  Chris, my partner in blogging and food-fest dining crime, beat me to the punch in posting photos of our meal, so I will let his entry speak for both of us.

Today, our Oaxaca Sabe choice was La Olla, one of Oaxaca’s best known restaurants with one of her best loved chefs, Pilar Cabrera at the helm.  Here, we were offered an either/or choice for each of the three courses, so I ordered “either” and Chris ordered “or.”  Thus, I began with a salad that tasted as delicate and flavorful as it looked.

Ensalada de durazno y queso istmeño (Salad of peaches and cheese from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec)

Ensalada de durazno y queso istmeño (Salad of peaches and cheese from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec)

I’m a sucker 😉  for octopus and this was cooked to melt-in-your-mouth perfection and saucing it with the “usually reserved for special occasions” chichilo mole, provided the taste buds an unexpected flavor explosion.

Chichilo servido con pulpo y arroz (Chichilo mole served with octopus and rice)

Chichilo servido con pulpo y arroz (Chichilo mole served with octopus and rice)

And then there was dessert.  I opted for the tiramisu, which is an old favorite of mine.  It did not disappoint and its layers looked lovely served in a glass, garnished with coffee beans and a single viola blossom.

Tiramisú oaxaqueño (Self explanatory, methinks)

Tiramisú oaxaqueño (Self explanatory, methinks)

Our compliments to chef Pilar Cabrera and muchisimas gracias for a delicious dining experience.  We are sorry to have missed you!

As our meal came to a close, we poured over the Oaxaca Sabe list of restaurants and their menus.  More to come.  What can I say?  This is yummy and fun!

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Yesterday, Oaxaca Sabe kicked off a week of delicious dining; three-course meals, including beer, mezcal, or wine, for only 250 pesos per person at some of the top restaurants in the city.  As readers of Oaxaca-The Year After already know, blogger buddy Chris and yours truly couldn’t resist and we were first to the table at Las Quince Letras.  No sooner had we been seated in the lovely shaded patio, than chef Celia Florian came out to welcome us.

Celia Florian, chefWith every course, she continued to check in with us, explaining the ingredients and asking our opinion.  She also turned the tables on us and took out her smart phone to take our picture!

Sopa de tortilla de tomate de milpa (Tortilla soup with tomatillos and little balls of quesillo)

Sopa de tortilla de tomate de milpa (Tortilla soup with tomatillos and little balls of quesillo)

Camarones flameados en mezcal con mole negro de chicatana (Shrimp flambéed in mezcal on a bed of chicatana black mole sauce)

Camarones flameados en mezcal con mole negro de chicatana (Shrimp flambéed in mezcal on a bed of black mole made with the rainy season insect, chicatanas)

Helado de maracuya con buñelos con miel de piloncillo (Maracuya sorbet with buñuelos drizzled with melted piloncillo, which is similar to brown sugar)

Helado de maracuya con buñelos con miel de piloncillo (Maracuya sorbet with buñuelos drizzled with a honey of piloncillo, which is similar to brown sugar)

Every dish conveyed Chef Florian’s pride in her heritage — from the fresh locally sourced ingredients to her original interpretations of traditional Oaxacan cuisine — and then there was the love and joy she radiated.

By the way, this is what it looks like to sit across the table from a blogger…

Chile en nogada

Chris photographing his Chile en Nogada

If it’s Tuesday, it must mean another Oaxaca Sabe restaurant to try…  ¡Buen provecho!

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Oaxacan cuisine, with its pre-Columbian roots, is a major attraction and the state’s tourism board and restaurant association continue to do their utmost to promote this cultural heritage during the Guelaguetza festivities.  Last Friday, set amidst the beauty and tranquility of the Jardín Etnobotánico, it was the opening degustación (sampling) for the Festival de los Moles.       P1110341This was my fourth time attending this buffet luncheon celebrating the 7 moles of Oaxaca.  And, like the previous years, my plate was swimming in moles and I came away sated and smiling!

P1110337 The Expo Feria del Queso y Quesillo in Reyes Etla beckoned on Saturday.  When we arrived, students from the Universidad Tecnológica de los Valles Centrales de Oaxaca were giving a demonstration on the cheese making process.

P1110422Despite how tempting the various cheeses looked, I only managed tiny tastes of a couple; Alas, I was just too full from the previous day’s feast to fully appreciate them.

P1110426However, by Sunday, my mouth was watering for wild mushroom empanadas, but we were foiled in our attempt to head up into the mountains for the Feria Regional de los Hongos Silvestres in San Antonio Cuajimoloyas.  A bike race had closed the highway and several of the major streets getting into and out of my part of town and, as you can imagine, alternate routes were gridlocked.  Grrrr…  I think the Guelaguetza events committee needs to rethink the schedule and transportation logistics!

Lucky for me, the Plaza de la Danza is only a block and a half from Casita Colibrí and so, late this morning, there were no impediments to walking over to the 10th Annual Feria del Tejate y el Tamal.  The women from the municipality of San Andrés Huayapam (about 7 kilometers northeast of the city), were ready and waiting to welcome visitors with their ancient drink and variety of tamales.

P1120599 The leis the women (above) are wearing are made from Rosita de Cacao flowers, one of the ingredients in tejate.  For the uninitiated, tejate is a foamy, quite refreshing, and nutritious non-alcoholic pre-Columbian beverage made from nixtamal corn, mixed with tree ash, toasted cacao beans, mamey seeds, and Rosita de Cacao flowers and is called, “la bebida de los Dioses” (the drink of the Gods).

P1120562The tejateras of the Unión de Mujeres Productoras del Tejate prepared and served their tejate to inquiring novices and aficionados, alike.  The sale of tejate is the main economic activity in San Andrés Huayapam.

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And then there were the tamales… Pots and baskets, covered with hand embroidered and crocheted tea towels, were filled with steaming tamales nestled in corn husks — verde, chapulin, amarillo, frijol, dulce, rajas, chepil, and chichilo.  If you’ve never tasted tamales in Oaxaca, you are missing something!

P1120551Huayapam’s chichilo tamales are well-known and loved.  Chichilo is one of the seven moles of Oaxaca and it is only served on special occasions, such as weddings and christenings or when the crops have been harvested.  It is made from chilhuacle negro, mulatto, and pasilla chiles; blackened tortillas and seeds of the chiles; and avocado leaves, the latter imparting a subtle anise flavor.  Of course, no tamal festival would be complete without mole tamales wrapped in banana leaves…

P1120557Today and tomorrow (July 22 & 23), if you are in Oaxaca, the Plaza de la Danza is THE happening place for tasting some delicious local specialties between 10:00 AM and 8:00 PM.  ¡Buen provecho!

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If it’s Sunday, it must be market day in Tlacolula de Matamoros.

Women doing their marketing.

Women doing their marketing, and the men who follow.

Carne for the carnivores

Carne, right off the hoof, for the carnivores.

Delicious dining for the rest of us!

And, delicious dining for all!

Another delightful domingo in Oaxaca.

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As if Thursday’s Thanksgiving of 2 turkeys, 2 styles of stuffing, 2 kinds of cranberry sauce, 2 types of potatoes (sweet and garlic mashed), and 2 desserts (pumpkin pie and chocolate cake) weren’t enough….  Believe it or not, Friday night, eating was again on the minds of neighbors (and co-Thanksgiving Day cooks) David and Marilyn and I, as we walked over to the Plaza de la Danza for the kickoff cena (dinner) of Oaxaca’s annual El Saber del Sabor gastronomy festival.

The transformation of the Plaza de la Danza began on Wednesday.

By Friday night’s dinner, it had morphed into an elegant banquet hall, with an open air rotisserie pit.

Fifty traditional cooks from the eight regions of Oaxaca offered guests a sample of the culinary wealth of the state.

The results were dazzling and delicious.  All for only 300 pesos (a little over $20 US)!

On a clear cold night, with the Basílica de la Soledad looming above, there was also mezcal and music to warm body and spirit!

Following Thursday night’s inaugural banquet, the festival moves to Oaxaca’s upscale restaurants and other venues where, along with workshops and lectures, seventeen renowned chefs from around Mexico will be offering specially created gourmet menus.  El Saber del Sabor closes tomorrow afternoon with a tribute to chef Pedro Ortega of Grupo Estoril, accompanied by a comida prepared by Ortega and three other distinguished chefs.  Yummm…  Alas, at 1500 pesos, it’s a little too pricey for me.

In previous years, El Saber del Sabor was held in late August and early September.  I don’t know why this year it was moved to the end of November, but I do know Friday night was a little chilly for an outside venue and, for gringos, it was way too close to Thanksgiving — the gluttony was almost (but not quite) too much!

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What is it about October?  If I was still living in Mill Valley (California), this weekend I’d probably be joining friends in Golden Gate Park at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco.  Of course, I’d have to weigh the days and times of “can’t miss” performers with “must see” films at the Mill Valley Film Festival, which opened October 2 — not to mention trying to catch the San Francisco Giants post-season games.  Here in Oaxaca, the song is the same!  The Oaxaca FilmFest opened Friday night (Oct. 4) and runs through October 11.  Yesterday, the Día del Amaranto (Day of Amaranth) festival was held in the Plaza de la Danza.  In addition, during the week, various communities, both in the city and out, are celebrating the Virgen del Rosario (more to come on this).

AND, on Friday and Saturday Oaxaca city’s Mercado Organico (also known as, Pochote-Xochimilco or Pochimilco) located in the plaza of Templo de Santo Tomas Xochimilco, celebrated its 11th anniversary.  There was music, folkloric dancers, stalls filled with food and drink, and people (including me) enjoying it all.

A grandmother and little girl sharing plate of food

The produce at this stand was SO fresh and tempting, even though I didn’t need anything!

Carrots, lettuce, squash blossoms, fennel, and more.

Lucky for me, I found the gal who sells my favorite jamaica (hibiscus) concentrate, as I’d run out last week.

Woman selling jamaica products

Then there was this guy selling jars of homemade chutney.  He even remembered me, even though I hadn’t been there for several months!  I wanted them all, but managed to restrain myself and come home with just the peach chutney.

Smiling young man selling jars of chutney

The chutney samples were offered on tostadas with a small slice of queso de cabra (goat cheese).  ¡My sabroso!  “Where?”  I asked.  “Right over there,” he answered.  I made a beeline for the aisle where he pointed and bought some of this yummy cheese.

Packages of goat cheese.

As always, whenever I venture up the hill to the organic market, I came home with way more than I can possibly eat in a week.  Guess I need a little help from my friends.  ¡Feliz cumpleaños, Pochimilco! — another of Oaxaca’s treasures.

For more on the market, check out the Pochimilco page on the Oaxaca Wiki.

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One of my favorite things…

Woman at grill behind smoke

The women and their grills in el pasillo de humo (the hall of smoke).

Woman grilling grilling onions & meat

Another Sunday market day in Tlacolula de Matamoros.

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I’m eating my way through the Guelaguetza festivities.  It all began on Friday with the kickoff banquet for the Festival de los Moles.  Remember the chicatanas from last month?  They were there.  Check out the mole on the middle left.  Giving the mole a little “crunch,” it was muy sabroso!

Then yesterday, we ventured out to Reyes Etla for the Expo Feria del Queso y Quesillo (cheese fair), followed by comida at Comedor Colon in Villa de Etla.

Today, we were supposed to go into the mountains of the Sierra Norte to San Antonio Cuajimoloyas for the Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres.  Alas, bloqueos blocked our way and so L and I were “forced” to browse (and shop) our way through the countless artesan stalls at the top of the Alcalá and in Llano Park.  Of course, this required major nourishment.  At a time like this, nothing beats street food!

Tacos with roasted onions and chopped pork

Tacos with roasted onions and chopped pork

All I can say is, yummmm!  And, next weekend, we will again attempt to venture up into the mountains for the wild mushrooms festival.

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The rainy season has definitely arrived in the city, bringing several hours of lluvia every night for the past five nights.  The first rains of the season also bring (drum roll, please) chicatanas!  Early this morning, I went out onto the terrace with my coffee to be greeted with these not-so-little insects.  Flying (into my hair, eeek!) and crawling all over the place!

Female chicatana on blue oilcloth

Female chicatana on a very wet table.

What, you may ask are chicatanas?  They are giant flying ants that emerge with the first rains of the season — and by giant, I mean about 4 cm from the head to the tip of the wings for the females.  (As in much of the insect world, males are smaller and wingless.)

Male chicatana on wood deck

Male chicatana on the deck.

This occurs early one morning each year and lasts only a few hours.  My first experience with them was a couple of years ago, when I arrived at Oaxaca’s airport for my 8:30 AM flight one May morning, to find, yikes(!) an infestation of insects.  I had no idea what they were, but nobody seemed to mind, and kids were running around collecting them.  The answer came after I boarded the plane and began talking with a Oaxaqueña across the aisle.  She explained that the arrival of the chicatanas was a much-anticipated event because they are a delicacy.  As the video below documents, they are soaked, cleaned, toasted on a comal, ground, seasoned, and made into a salsa.

According to this post in a Chicago based culinary chat site, it has been almost “500 years since Bernardino de Sahagun reported to Europe on the tzicatana [chicatana in Nahuatl] in his Nueva Historia, from its divine associations to its swarm ethology (mirroring the movements of the Aztecan armies) to its apparent deliciousness to the Nahuan-speaking people in the region.”  And, long before that, tzicatanas were mentioned in the Florentine Codex.

Female chicatana on her back

Female chicatana doing the back stroke on the table.

By 9:30 this morning, they were gone.  However, should you find yourself in Oaxaca during a brief visit by the chicatanas, here is a recipe for Chicatana Salsa.

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Tuesday, not only brought the previously mentioned Carnaval, San Martín Tilcajete style, it also provided comida, muy sabrosa.  No, not one of the 4 restaurants in Oaxaca recently listed in the 101 Best Restaurants in Latin America and the Caribbean.  I’m talking about al fresco dining in a roadside restaurant.  Sitting under the branches of a large shade tree on plastic chairs, around a plastic table, with cars and trucks speeding by, it was surprisingly tranquil.

Woman cooking on comal

We had ringside seats as our lunch was prepared on a well seasoned comal.  I couldn’t help thinking as we sat at this unpretentious restaurant, in the middle of the fields that yielded the ingredients for our lunch, prepared according to culinary traditions passed down through generations of Zapotecos, this is quintessential “slow food.”

Woman lifting tlayuda off comal

That’s my tlayuda (sometimes spelled, clayuda) being lifted off the comal — and it was one of the best I’ve eaten!  Fyi, tlayudas are one of the 10 Essential Things To Eat And Drink In Oaxaca.

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For more on our yummy lunch, see Chris’s blog post, Fat Tuesday done right.  Alas, neither one of us took note of the name of the restaurant — all I know is it’s on the east side of Hwy 175, between San Martín Tilcajete and San Tomás Jalieza.

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Sí, huevos divorciados!  A little food porn to begin the day…

Plate of huevos divorciados

Early morning walk up to Hotel las Golondrinas yesterday morning for breakfast.  Surrounded by the distinctive pottery of Dolores Porras, it was the perfect setting to meet Michael Peed, filmmaker of the documentary, Dolores Porras: Artista Artesana de Barro.

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Today is the feast day of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, the mother, queen, and patron saint of Oaxaqueños.

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If you enter the word “soledad” into a Spanish to English translation program, “solitude” and “loneliness” result.  However, for the past ten days, Our Lady of Solitude hasn’t had much of an opportunity to be lonely.  On December 15, she was taken down from her glass encased niche in the Basílica, that bears her name, and carried out into the fresh air of the church plaza.  On the 16th, she took a road trip through the streets of Oaxaca, stopping to visit several other churches along the route.

The faithful have been coming to honor her.

And, over the past 24 hours, she has been entertained by fireworks, bands, and the ringing of bells.

Food stalls surround her from Morelos to Independencia…

along with vendors of the sacred…

and the profane.

There is even a carnival for the kids.

With crowds, like these…

Nuestra Señora de la Soledad might just be looking forward to returning to the solitude of her glass enclosed niche.  I know I’m looking forward to a quiet night’s sleep!

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When you are caught in stop and go (mostly stopped) traffic and getting hungrier by the minute, the only thing to do is turn off onto a side street and find an Irish pub.

Hamburger and French fries = comfort food to soothe the traffic-challenged soul.  But, in Oaxaca???  Yes, McCarthy’s Irish Pub in Reforma!  Probably wasn’t the best dining decision we have ever made.  French fries were pretty good, but hamburgers left a lot to be desired.  However, by the time we left, the traffic had thinned and it was smooth sailing home!

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