If you've been reading Mexico Cooks! for long, you know that I photograph a lot of ripe and colorful fruits, vegetables, and other edibles in Mexico's markets. This gorgeous turkey, for example, was tethered with some others at the Thursday weekly market in Zaachila, Oaxaca. She didn't know it, of course, but she would soon be purchased and…well, you can imagine. Mexico Cooks! is a food website, after all. Think mole negro oaxaqueño (Oaxacan black mole).
In the interest of early and full disclosure, the rest of the photos in this article might just gross you out. It turns out that for reasons unknown even to myself, I have, in addition to taking lots of market photos of benign and lovely fruits and vegetables, taken lots of head shots. Disembodied heads of animals, and primarily pig heads. Be warned.
This Mexico City butcher saw me approaching with the camera and obligingly sat the pig head up straight for a portrait. He's shaving the head, which was to be sold either whole or in parts for making Jalisco-style pozole. Better he should shave it than you should have to do it!
That's a goat head at the left in the photo, at the Mercado de San Juan, Mexico City. To the right is a container of chinicuiles (red maguey worms). The goat head is for preparing birria, the chinicuiles are for roasting and eating as a snack.
I think this is the first pig head picture I took, years ago at Guadalajara's Mercado Libertad. All the pigs' heads I've ever seen have had that same charming little smile.
See what I mean? This fellow looks downright happy to have given his all for your bowl of Guerrero-style pozole.
Anyone for bouillabaisse? It's been a long time since I prepared this delicious French fish stew, but Mexican fish markets and individual fish vendors always have the ingredients. Like pozole, bouillabaisse starts its broth with heads–in this case, fish heads.
Doña Martha, may she rest in peace, has taken the cooked pig head out of the broth to remove its bones and teeth. At this point, the pozole is almost-but-not-quite ready to serve.
Admit it, you would have taken this picture, too. This beautiful cabeza de cerdo (pig head) at one of my favorite markets has a mouthful of fresh alfalfa! How could I resist?
These delightful people toured with me in Mexico City about five years ago, when Rocco was barely two years old. I was nervous that he would be frightened by the pig heads, but no! He fell in love with this one and wanted to–and did–kiss its snout. Suzanne, his mother, was tickled by his unexpectedly happy reaction.
You might want to click on this photo to enlarge it, for a better view. It's barbacoa de res (beef barbecue, Mexican style), wrapped in penca de maguey (cactus leaves) and cooked for hours in a pit. You can still see the teeth in the jaw.
A raw beef head, hung upside down in the butcher shop.
Chicken heads. I don't have a recipe nor do I know of a recipe for chicken heads. If you do, please let me know!
Stop the presses! Just this week, I was at a market in Morelia, Michoacán, shopping for milanesa de pollo (flattened raw chicken breast). A woman walked up beside me and asked the vendor for two chicken heads! While the vendor weighed them and slipped them into a plastic bag for her, you know I had to ask! "Señora, excuse me, but I have to ask: what are you going to prepare with those chicken heads?" She laughed for a minute and said, "Ay señora, I cook them for my two cats, one for each!" Then we both laughed. She said no one she knows cooks chicken heads to serve at table, but that her cats like them a lot. I told her about this article about heads, and we laughed again.
You'll be glad to know that this is the last pig head for this article. This one, at the Mercado de San Juan in Morelia, Michoacán, is thoroughly cleaned, shaven, and ready for you to take home to your pot and is merely waiting for a customer. The ears, snout, and tongue are delicacies in Mexico, as are the sesos (brains).
Has this photo essay driven any of you into the vegan camp? Here's a vegan head: half a head of cabbage, of course.
Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.
Leave a Reply