Category: Tours

Casa Madero at Izote de Patricia Quintana: Wine Tasting and Menú de Degustación

Sr. Brandon Milmo, director of Casa Madero Winery (Parras, Coahuila, Mexico), chef Patricia Quintana, and don Pedro Poncelis, Mexico's premier sommelier, at Restaurante Izote de Patricia Quintana.

Rain! As Mexico Cooks! was leaving the house, as we finally grabbed a cab, while we were traveling (in rush hour traffic, of course) to Mexico City's upscale Colonia Polanco, the unseasonable rain bucketed down. But like magic, just as we pulled onto slightly nose-in-the-air Av. Presidente Masaryk (Mexico City's equivalent to New York's Fifth Avenue) the rain–and the cab–stopped. Respectably late, we strolled, blessedly dry and with umbrellas tightly furled, into Patricia Quintana's little piece of heaven: Restaurante Izote.

Casa Madero sponsored the Casa Grande Shiraz cata vertical (vertical wine tasting). In a vertical wine tasting, each of the wines served is the same, but from several different years. In this case, the Casa Grande Shiraz was from 2005, 2006, and 2007. Grown on the same vines but under slightly different climatic conditions, each year's crop had different fragrances, colors, and flavors.

Judith McKnight, left, enjoys the company of Mexico City wine expert Rondi Frankel (center) and Fabiola de la Fuente, editorial director of Food+Travel México magazine. We all found plenty to talk about before we were seated for the wine tasting and dinner pairings. A tidbit of information: Casa Madero, founded in 1597, is the oldest winery in the New World.

At first glance, these Casa Madero placemats appeared to have been already used, stained by circles of vino tinto (red wine). Several people (including Mexico Cooks!) not-so-surreptitiously touched the wine stains, only to discover that they were cleverly printed on the paper mat. Below each supposed stain was space for notes about each year's wine. Jorge Luis Trejo Villaseñor, Casa Madero's national sales manager, called my attention to the outstanding legend at the bottom of the placemat: A qué sabe un vino con 5 siglos de pasión? (What is the flavor of a wine with five centuries of passion?)

Casa Madero's director, Brandon Milmo, listens intently as elegant sommelier (highly trained wine steward) Claudia Juárez discusses the special characteristics of each of the three Shiraz wines. She wears the sommelier's formal uniform, including the tastevin on its chain.

The tastevin (saucer-like silver cup) was originally created by French winemakers to enable them to judge the clarity and color of wine that was stored in dim, candle-lit wine cellars. Regular wine glasses were too deep to allow for accurate judging of the wine's color in such faint light. Tastevin are designed with a shiny faceted inner surface. Often, the bottom of the cup is convex in shape. The facets, convex bottom, and the shiny inner surface catch as much available light as possible, reflecting it throughout the wine in the cup, making it possible to see through the wine.

With the advent of modern electric lights, the tastevin has very little practical use, although sommeliers often wear them on a ribbon or chain around the neck as a nod to tradition and a symbol of pride in their profession.

The three Casa Grande Shiraz pours; from left to right, 2005, 2006, and 2007.

While sommelier Claudia Juárez instructed us, we 50 guests of the house carefully tasted the three wines. Mexico Cooks! is a relative neophyte in the world of oenology, but the lessons of the evening were well learned. Really tasting wine isn't about pounding down a tumblerful of the rosé that you've poured from the cheap boxed wine in your refrigerator. Instead, there are qualities to look for in your glass: how does the wine look, from its color to its 'legs'? How does it smell–fruity, nutty, leathery, spicy? How does it taste–floral, peppery, acidic, light, heavy? Most important of all, of course, is whether or not you like what you're drinking.

A wine's 'legs' (also called 'tears') are the subtle traces left on the inner bowl of the glass after the wine is gently swirled around several times. Once thought to be an indicator of quality, experts now say that the legs are in fact a product of surface tension and an indicator of alcohol content. In the photograph, you have the best view of the legs at the bottom left corner of the flower arrangement.

After carefully tasting each individual Shiraz and then comparing the various merits of the three years, we began to enjoy the food maridaje (pairings with the wines). Chef Patricia Quintana, internationally known for Restaurante Izote, for her many cookbooks, her television shows, and her annual Aromas y Sabores tours, prepared a twelve-course tasting menu (yes, twelve courses!) consisting of eight savories and four sweets.

First course: timbal de frijol con morillas, queso pijijiapan y chile ancho con mezcal. In this case, the timbale is a cylindrical mold of beans filled with minced morel mushrooms and topped with cheese from Pijijiapan, Chiapas. You can see the sauce on the side.

Next, a taquito de cabrito con salsa verde–a freshly made corn tortilla wrapped around shredded goat meat, then fried and bathed with green sauce, Mexican table cream, and dusted with aged cheese. A chopstick, inserted into one end of the taquito, made for ease of handling.

Third course: enchiladas de queso asadero en salsa de jitomate con chile verde. Queso asadero is a melting cheese, used in this instance to fill the enchilada. The tomato and green chile sauce, along with the topping of thinly sliced onion, finely grated aged cheese, and shredded lettuce, were traditional accompaniments raised to a celestial level.

Fourth: pescado al vapor a la tinga con papa (steamed fish, in this case red snapper, in a spicy red sauce–all sitting on a slice of potato and wrapped for steaming in a banana leaf).

The banana leaf spread open, showing the pescado al vapor a la tinga con papa. This dish was my hands-down favorite. The mixture of flavors in the tinga combined with the sweet tenderness of the fish to explode in a sensational fiesta in my mouth.

Fifth course: ensalada de jitomatitos con vinagreta al Shiraz Casa Grande 2007. This salad is made of tiny grape tomatoes dressed with a vinaigrette made with the 2007 wine we were tasting. The presentation of this salad, as well as that of all the courses, was exquisite.

Sixth: camarones con azafrán y municiones (shrimp in saffron sauce with little pasta 'bullets'). Perfectly cooked shrimp-on-a-stick combined beautifully with the richly delicate flavor of saffron, but in my opinion the municiones were a mistake. The pasta gave the dish a texture that reminded me–and not in a good way–of tapioca pudding.

Seventh: enchiladas de mole negro (black mole enchiladas). Black mole is one of Mexico's most delicious sauces and this one was no exception. The combination of mole, sesame seeds, crisp tortilla, and shredded onions–wow!

All of us guests were of different opinions about which of the three years' Shiraz wines paired better with each of the courses we were eating, but many preferred the 2006 to the earlier or later year. The 2006 was Mexico Cooks!' favorite. Waiters circulated with bottles of each Shiraz, replenishing our wine glasses as we emptied them. At this point in the meal–after most of the courses had been served–many of us began requesting water rather than more wine!

Eighth: filete Doña Manuelita de Parras. This seared and crusty filet mignon was cooked exactly to medium rare. The accompaniments, including the stuffed chayote seen at the top, were excellent.

Chef Patricia Quintana gently tapped two copas (wine glasses) together to quiet the crowd before she spoke to us about the meal in progress. The flower in the photo's background images is the izote (the edible flower of the yucca cactus)for which she named her restaurant.

After the first eight courses, which were of course accompanied by liberal pourings of each of the three wines, most of the invited guests were simply unable to continue to the four-course dessert menu. Even though each of the savory courses was a small portion, their accumulated richness overpowered all but the most hardy souls. In addition, we finished the last of the savories at midnight! Reluctantly we congratulated the chef and kissed her goodbye, shook hands with the remaining guests, and made our way out into the starry late night, the chilly air cleansed by the earlier rain.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

Disclaimer: Marca País-Imágen de México is a joint public and private sector initiative designed to help promote Mexico as a global business partner and an unrivaled tourist destination. This program is designed to shine a light on the Mexico that its people experience every day. Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work in creating content for the Mexico Today program. All stories, opinions, and passions for all things Mexico that I write on Mexico Cooks! are completely my own.

19 de November de 2011
Organic Food and Locavores in Mexico City: Mercado el 100

Organically grown chilacayote (fig leaf gourd, Cucurbita ficifolia), available at Mercado de 100. In Mexico, the chilacayote is used above all as a vegetable, but it is also often cooked with piloncillo and other sweetening ingredients and eaten as a candy or as a filling for breads or pastries.

The locavore movement began in the United States late in the 1960s at a time when people began to awaken to the notion that it would be healthier for themselves and the planet if their food were produced close to home rather than hundreds or thousands of miles from their kitchens. Today, more people believe that local food systems, often marketing organically-grown products, offer choices that are superior to those proferred by global corporate models. Within the last few years, the locavore movement has come to Mexico City.

This full-size bronze replica of Michelangelo's David gazes from the fountain in the lovely Plaza Rio de Janeiro in Mexico City's Colonia Roma Norte. The Mercado de 100 sets up in this plaza, at the corner of Calle Durango and Calle Orizaba, every other Sunday morning.

In years gone by, all the world consisted of locavores. Produce and meats were not flown or trucked from faraway farms to our supermarkets. We ate what was seasonal, and most often we ate we we ourselves produced. In many parts of Mexico, this is still true today. However, with the country-wide incursion of giant globalized supermarket chains such as Comercial Mexicana, Soriana, Chedraui, Wal-Mart, and others, more and more food is commercially produced and brought to market from enormous distances.

Artisanal breads at Mercado de 100, including crossaints and whole grain loaves produced by Mexico City's Pan 100.

In 2009, a group of friends in Mexico City were the startup group for the non-profit society that directs Mercado de 100. Concerned about the quality of food available in most supermarkets in the city, they believed (and continue to believe) that the population of this enormous metropolis deserves a choice: the opportunity to eat fresh, pesticide free, locally grown food.

Locally grown organic lettuce.

Need an ecological, re-useable market bag? These come in several sizes and terrific colors.

When Mercado el 100 started in 2009, it was peripatetic–moving from one location to another every time it set up. Today, it has a permanent spot at the lovely Plaza Rio de Janeiro, one of the most beautiful small parks in Mexico City. A visit to the market on a sunny Sunday morning can easily entice you to continue your day with a leisurely stroll around this part of Colonia Roma.

Menu of cheeses from Finca VAI in Querétaro. Mexico Cooks! tasted the manchego and the reblochon; both are delicious. One of these days soon we hope to visit Finca VAI for a tour of its operation.

From left to right, organically grown pears, apples, and tomatoes.

Locally bottled salsas and vinegars.

A bird-ish basket full of quail eggs. Mexico Cooks! likes to use them blended raw into a licuado (a thick fruit drink similar to a smoothie) or soft-poached, to garnish individual bowls of Chinese watercress and pork soup.

Herbs and spices, all organically grown (the label attests to that) and pesticide-free. The booth also offers delicious jams and honey. Mexico Cooks! brought home a cup of fresh raspberry jam and a bag of gordolobo (Gnaphalium Sp.), a medicinal flower which is brewed into a tea and used as an expectorant.

A basketful of fresh organic epazote (wormweed), ready for a long simmer in a pot of beans.

Pre-Hispanic era treats in today's Mexico: clockwise from bottom left, dried corn with powdered chile, dried corn with honey and pinole, chapulines (grasshoppers), and pinole.

Artisan-made, locally-produced soaps from Xamania, which also offers earth-friendly body lotions and cosmetics.

Mercado el 100, open every two weeks in Plaza Rio Janeiro (at the corner of Calle Durango and Orizaba), Colonia Roma Norte, Mexico City. Tell them their friends at Mexico Cooks! sent you.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

Disclaimer: Marca País-Imágen de México is a joint public and private sector initiative designed to help promote Mexico as a global business partner and an unrivaled tourist destination. This program is designed to shine a light on the Mexico that its people experience every day. Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work in creating content for the Mexico Today program. All stories, opinions, and passions for all things Mexico that I write on Mexico Cooks! are completely my own.

12 de November de 2011
World Cultural Tourism Fair (Feria Mundial de Turismo Cultural) in Morelia, Michoacán

The World Cultural Tourism Fair logo, all lit up for the fair's opening night at Morelia's Teatro Ocampo.

For the second year in a row, Morelia, Michoacán was chosen as the site of the Feria Mundial de Turismo Cultural: the World Cultural Tourism Fair. Hot on the heels of Mexico City's FITA (International Tourism Fair of the Americas) at the end of September, Morelia captured a world-wide crowd of numerous exhibiting countries–including Indonesia, Slovakia, and Japan–plus twenty Mexican states, and several corporate exhibitors, all designed to attract tourism and travel both to Mexico and to their own venues.

Mexican federal tourism secretary Gloria Guevara Manzo with Mexico Cooks!, photographed at the Feria Mundical de Turismo Cultural opening night cocktail party. The party, held in the central patio of Morelia's beautiful mid-17th century Palacio Clavijero, included music, folkloric dancing, drinks, food, as well as great opportunities to make new acquaintances and hug old friends.

The delightful president of CONACULTA (Mexico's Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes–the national arts council), Dra. Consuelo Sáizar, spoke to inaugurate the FMTC, along with national tourism secretary Gloria Guevara Manzo, Michoacán's Governor Leonel Godoy, Michoacán and local Morelia tourism directors, and other state and national dignitaries.

The objective of the annual world cultural tourism fair is to offer a platform for global tourism industry operators, including travel agents, state and national tourism representatives from various international countries and Mexican states, and to ensure growth in this arm of the tourist industry. National Tourism Secretary Gloria Guevara Manzo assured the attendees that the event would enrich and strengthen the goals of the Mexican national tourism agreement, particularly in its sixth strategic pillar.

Michoacán state tourism secretary Lic. Thelma Aquique (right, in yellow) takes time out from the fair's intense schedule of events to talk with an attendee. Photo courtesy Estado de Michoacán.

During the three-day cultural tourism event, visitors, buyers, and exhibitors alike were treated to the best that Michoacán and Mexico have to offer. From the ceremonial cutting of the opening ribbon to exhibitions of Michoacán's folkloric dancing, regional foods, and the artisan work from several Mexican states, the booths filling Morelia's Casa de la Cultura (State Cultural Center) were packed with foreign and national buyers seeking ways to promote tourism.

Wood carvings from master sculptor Jesús Ursino Ramos Cota of Sinaloa. Tomatoes and corn are the two major agricultural products of Sr. Ramos's home state.

A gigantic hot air balloon made of paper. In Mexico, these are called globos de Cantoya. Their name comes from Sr. Joaquín de la Cantoya y Rico who lived in Guanajuato in the past century and allegedly began making these balloons. They are made of hundreds or even thousands of individual sheets of papel de china (tissue paper) and are expanded by a flame-generated hot air device carried in a small basket inside the balloon. This globo de Cantoya, two stories high, bears the logo of the 2011 Feria Mundial de Turismo Cultural. Click to enlarge the photo and see the connections of the tissue paper sheets.

To the delight of the crowd, the giant paper balloon sailed off successfully into Morelia's night sky.

This wooden indigenous Huichol sculpture of a deer, a bit more than two feet long from head to tail, is completely covered first with beeswax and then with thousands of individually hand-placed tiny beads. This particular sculpture originated in and was brought to the fair by representatives of the state government of Nayarit. Click to enlarge any photo for a better view.

Mexico's southernmost state, Chiapas, was represented at the Casa de la Cultura tourism booths by this lovely young woman in her ropa típica chiapaneca (typical dress of Chiapas). Entirely hand-sewn and hand-embroidered, the dress is worn in a folkloric ballet or for other folkloric events.

Banamex, one of Mexico's prominent banks, is a strong supporter of traditional arts and crafts and their makers throughout the country by way of its program Fomento Cultural Banamex, A.C.. The Banamex stand featured clay work from Santa Fe de la Laguna, Michoacán, as well as the extraordinary book Grandes Maestros del Arte Popular Mexicano (Great Masters of Mexican Popular Arts), which Banamex publishes.

This excellent brass band, dressed all in purple, played a public concert in the Plaza del Carmen, just behind the Casa de la Cultura, seat of the FMTC. While they played, their concert was also projected on the big screen behind them. The concert was part of the cultural program of the FMTC.

Morelia's cathedral. The city, named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1991. Its 16th century pink cantera (stone) buildings, its European air, its exquisite regional gastronomy, and its hundreds of tourist attractions make it the ideal setting for the Feria Mundial de Turismo Cultural.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

Disclaimer: Marca País-Imágen de México is a joint public and private sector initiative designed to help promote Mexico as a global business partner and an unrivaled tourist destination. This program is designed to shine a light on the Mexico that its people experience every day. Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work in creating content for the Mexico Today program. All stories, opinions, and passions for all things Mexico that I write on Mexico Cooks! are completely my own.

5 de November de 2011
Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in the Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán Cemetery

Graves decorated for Noche de los Muertos (Night of the Dead) in the Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán panteón (cemetery). These recent graves lie within easy sight of the yácatas (Purhépecha pyramids, mid-center in the photograph) just across the road. The yácatas, dating to as early as 900 A.D., were formerly both a priestly burial site and the site of ancient Purhépecha religious ceremonies.

Rituals for the traditional Noche y Día de los Muertos (Night and Day of the Dead) take place all over Mexico on the night of November 1 and the day of November 2. One of the best-known celebrations of this enormously important spiritual holiday takes place in the town of Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán. A visit to the town cemetery gives just a small idea of the beauty of the events. During this very Mexican, very special festival, the dead–at least in spirit–pay a visit to their loved ones here on earth. In an article in 2005, The New York Times quoted Mexico Cooks! as saying, "It's about mutual nostalgia: the living remember the dead, and the dead remember the taste of home."

The packed-earth paths among the graves at the cemetery in Tzintzuntzan wind through old trees and dappled sunshine.

This little car, decorated with cempasúchil (marigold) flowers, fruits, and pan de muertos (bread of the dead) in the shape of human figures, is the cemetery ofrenda (altar, or offering) for a baby born in October 2005 and dead the same November. Tiny white baby shoes are on the car's hood, along with a baby bottle. Click on any photo to enlarge it.

The faithful Purhépecha believe that the angelitos, the dead children, are the first of the departed who come to re-visit their loved ones each year during the day of November 1, arriving at noon. Their parents take an ofrenda (offering) of fruit, candies, and wooden toys to the children's graves and invite the little ones to come and eat. Late in the night, the godfather of a dead child goes to the cemetery with a boveda (arch) made of cempasúchil (marigolds). At home, the parents have already prepared beautiful altars to honor the memory and spirits of their children.

Cempasúchiles, gladiolas, and candles adorn this grave. The cross is made of red veladoras (candles in holders) in a framework of blue and white.

Each year, late in the night of November 1, the spirits of deceased adults make their way back to this earthly plane to visit their relatives. The living relatives, bearing food, bright golden flowers, strong drink, and other favorites of the dead, file into Purhépecha cemeteries to commune with those who have gone before. The assembled lay out blankets, unfold chairs, bring out plastic cups, cartons of beer, a bottle of tequila, and assorted food for their own consumption as they settle in for the long, cold night of vigil.

A band or two or three often wander the cemetery, hired for a song or two or three to entertain the living and the dead.

Copal incense burns, its mystic scent calling the souls of the dead home. Candles, hundreds and hundreds of candles, flicker on and around the graves, showing the way home to the wandering spirits. Food–especially corn tamales and churipo, a beef soup for festivals–and other personal gifts for the 'visitors' show the spirits that they are still valued members of their community. Special Purhépecha-style pan de muertos (bread of the dead) in the form of human bodies represents the relationship between the living and the dead. Seasonal fruits, including bananas, oranges, and limas, are hung on the ofrendas de cempasúchil to represent the relationship between nature and human beings.

This elaborate bóveda de cempasúchil (marigold arch) hung with an old family photograph and topped by a feather dove (the symbol of the Holy Spirit) decorates a family grave. Under the photograph, an angel stands vigil.

During the Día y Noche de Muertos fiesta, a loved one's grave becomes a place to pray, party, and reminisce. Candles, a glass of water to quench the deceased person's thirst, a bottle of his or her favorite liquor, and favorite foods such as mole or tamales, pan de muertos, calabaza en tacha, and seasonal fresh fruits are always placed on the grave. Baskets of favorite foods, prepared especially for the spirits of deceased family members, are covered with beautiful hand-embroidered cloths. The spirits partake of the food's essence; the living gather at the grave to partake of the material food.

Marigolds are used as symbols for their yellow color, which resembles the gold that was used as decoration for the ancient grand festivals. The flowers were used to adorn the visitor in the form of crowns or necklaces. Today, the belief is that the ofrendas de cempasúchil (marigold arches) aid the visiting spirits to identify their homes. Cempasúchil petals are also strewn over the bare earth mounds of the graves.

These modern coronas (wreaths) are made of ribbons and plastic, much more durable than fresh flowers. The brilliant colors eventually fade over the course of a year, but the wreaths will stay up till next October.

Cempasúchiles, pata de león (lion's paw, as cockscomb is known in this part of Michoacán), freshly cut gladiola, nube (baby's breath) and just-in-season flor de las ánimas (flowers of the souls–wild orchids) from the mountains are the flowers most commonly used on Tzintzuntzan's graves.

My favorite ofrenda of 2009: a terrific full-size bicycle made of cempasúchiles, decorated with various fruits–including a pineapple on the seat! The flowers at the base of the grave marker are flores de las ánimas (wild orchids). This elaborate style of figural ofrenda is very unusual.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

29 de October de 2011
Oaxaca Santo Domingo Church and Museum: Templo y Museo

In New Spain, 16th century Dominican missionaries laid the cornerstone for Templo Santo Domingo, the Oaxaca church and its former convent. The ex-convent is now a lovely Oaxaca-related museum. The church, which has undergone numerous changes of use–including use as a stable, a hospital, and a prison–is once again being used as a place of worship.

Spanish Dominican missionaries arrived in New Spain in the third quarter of the 16th century. Their purpose, equal to the purposes of the Franciscans, the Jesuits, and other Old World religious orders, was the conversion of indigenous peoples in the New World to Roman Catholic Christianity. The Dominicans designed and the indigenous people built eighteen churches in the southern part of what is now Mexico. Santo Domingo is considered by many people to be the most beautiful–and it is certainly the largest and most ornate.

Chronology of the building and different uses of the Santo Domingo complex. Click on any picture for a larger view.

The church complex, including both the construction and the gardens, covers approximately 4,000 square meters (44,000 square feet)–the measure of four square city blocks. The original building was a chapel dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary), which continues to be in daily use.

Behind the church, the grounds have been converted into a botanical garden filled with native plantings.

The escudo (shield) of the Dominican order of priests and brothers, carved into the ceiling of the church entryway and then painted.

In the museum, artifacts from various pre-Hispanic temples (including Monte Albán) and other Oaxacan archeological sites are on display. This is an actual human skull embedded with turquoise. The lower teeth are natural, but the upper teeth, eyes, and nose are made of shell.

The original construction at the Santo Domingo complex was the chapel of Nuestra Señora del Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary), connected by an interior door to the main Santo Domingo church. According to Dominican tradition, the Virgin appeared to St. Dominic in answer to his prayers and charged him with spreading the use of the rosary.

The very simple, nearly stern facade of the church of Santo Domingo hides the gilded and ornate Mexican baroque interior. Much of the church–pillars, arches, and the ceiling–is highlighted with 60,000 sheets of 23.5 karat gold leaf. The church closed in 1866 and the convent was used as a military barracks. The church did not open again until 1938.

Santo Domingo ceiling medallion depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the Baby Jesus, surrounded by various Dominican priests and a host of cherubim.

Detail of the near-life-size crucifix in Santo Domingo's Blessed Sacrament chapel.

After long years of secular use (including nearly 100 years as a jail), restoration of the church began in 1993. The restoration was finished in 1999 at a cost of twelve million pesos. The restored church was brought to a glory perhaps unimagined by the early Dominican friars.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

Disclaimer: Marca País-Imágen de México is a joint public and private sector initiative designed to helppromote Mexico as a global business partner and an unrivaled tourist destination. This program is designed to shine a light on the Mexico that its people experience every day. Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work in creating content for the Mexico Today program. All stories, opinions, and passions for all things Mexico that I write on Mexico Cooks! are completely my own.

22 de October de 2011
Oaxaca: Food, Sightseeing, and a Dream Realized

This wonderful sign is painted on plexiglass and fastened to the wall above a sink at Oaxaca's Mercado Benito Juárez. The sign indicates that the water from the faucets is safe to use for washing hands but not safe for drinking. The sign is just the sort of thing Mexico Cooks! would have bought and brought home, if it had been for sale.

In June 2011, Mexico Cooks! spent a long weekend in the southern Mexico city of Oaxaca as the guest of Mexico's government tourism initiative called Mexico Today. A long weekend, no matter how wonderful, wasn't quite enough time to accomplish the kind of touring that interested me. Invited again to Oaxaca by the extraordinary culinary festival El Saber del Sabor, I had the chance to see just a little more of this amazing state and was able to realize one long-time dream.

Table centerpiece, inaugural event at El Saber del Sabor. This lovely dinner for about 1000 people was prepared by many of Oaxaca's best regional cooks.

Memelas with refried black beans and crumbled queso fresco (fresh cheese), a traditional antojito that is emblematic of Oaxaca.

At Oaxaca's Mercado Benito Juárez, Quesería Las 7 Regiones (Cheeseshop 7 Regions) employee Julia Pérez winds freshly made quesillo into the individual balls visible at the lower right in the photo.

Bienvenidos a Oaxaca (Welcome to Oaxaca). This papel picado (cut tissue paper) streamer greeted us in Ocotlán de Morelos, a small city just half an hour south of the city of Oaxaca. It had long been my dream visit the town.

Young members of a Saturday afternoon wedding party await the bride's arrival at Ocotlán's Templo de Nuestra Señora del Rosario (church of Our Lady of the Rosary).

Dome over Ocotlán's Templo de Nuestra Señora del Rosario.

Detail of a jarrón (large clay jar) in Ocotlán's ex-Convento de Santo Domingo. The former convent has been largely restored using funds donated by Morales and is now a museum. The painting shows both the man in the moon and the Mexican legend of the rabbit in the moon.

Mexico Cooks!' primary reason for going to Ocotlán was to visit the home of maestro Rodolfo Morales, a native of Ocotlán and an internationally known surrealist painter and collage maker. His paintings haunt my dreams and, although I never met him, his work speaks volumes to me about who he was and about his love for Mexico and his home city.

Maestro Rodolfo Morales, native-born Ocotlán surrealist painter and collage maker. Maestro Rodolfo, who died on January 30, 2001, has long been a personal hero of mine and for years I have wanted to visit his town and his home.

This painting is filled with some of maestro Rodolfo's recurrent symbols: girls with streaming long hair, bicycles, dogs, flowers, and mystical figures. Click on any photo for a better view.

The Morales family kitchen. Alberto Morales, maestro Rodolfo's nephew, showed us through the house. As they are in the Morales kitchen, clay pots are traditionally hung in the kitchen of a Mexican home both for daily use and as decor. The Morales kitchen is still used every day.

The workshop where Morales created the intricate collages he sold to benefit his cultural foundation, headed today by his nephew. The collages were made of paper, fabric, stickers, ribbons, yarn, lace–really, any material that fit the subject matter of the piece. Some collages are very simple and others are extraordinarily complex.

Rodolfo Morales, collage Ángel Azul. Photo courtesy Art for Small Hands. Hands are usually prominent in maestro Rodolfo's work; they symbolize the work of the people of Oaxaca, work done with their hands.

Tubes of paint and pots of brushes remain in Morales's Ocotlán home studio, along with a large number of incomplete canvases.

The maestro's boots, propped on the base of his easel.

In the Templo de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, a candle symbolizes a prayer–perhaps a prayer that a dream might be realized. Mine was, and yours can be, too.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

Disclaimer: Marca País-Imágen de México is a joint public and private sector initiative designed to help promote Mexico as a global business partner and an unrivaled tourist destination. This program is designed to shine a light on the Mexico that its people experience every day. Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work in creating content for the Mexico Today program. All stories, opinions, and passions for all things Mexico that I write on Mexico Cooks! are completely my own.

15 de October de 2011
Live for Today, Honor Yesterday: Panteón de Belén in Guadalajara

The center pathway at the Panteón de Belén (Bethlehem Cemetery) leads to this rotunda, the original Rotunda of Illustrious Men of Guadalajara. Patterned after an Egyptian pyramid, it contains crypts and a chapel.

When I was a child, a Sunday drive with my family often included a visit to one of the finest old cemeteries of the southern United States. My younger sister and I would wander among the elaborate limestone mausoleums, exclaiming at the dates that seemed so long ago, "Look, Mommy, this man died in 1822. Do you remember back that far?" My mother, born 100 years after that date, simply rolled her eyes and suggested that we hurry over to the cemetery pond to feed the ducks and swans from our bags of stale bread.

I still like to visit cemeteries. There's peace to be found among the dead, an acceptance of life as it is and death as it comes. The Day of the Dead in Mexico celebrates that notion: life is to be lived today, death is inevitable. Enjoy the one, honor the other. In Guadalajara, there is a cemetery where the long-dead are honored year round. You'll find plenty of entertainment in its legends and lore.

A few weeks ago, my friend Lourdes called just as I was leaving for the Panteón de Belén (Bethlehem Cemetery), Guadalajara's most famous burial ground. I thought she'd be squeamish when I asked her to meet me there, but no. She's a Guadalajara native, but she'd never been to the cemetery and she was quite excited at the prospect. She was beaming when we met at the ancient stone entrance. I paid our entry fee ($5 pesos per person, plus an extra $10 pesos if you plan to take pictures) and we started out along the center pathway through moldering gravestones and decrepit 19th Century mausoleums.

The construction of Panteón de Belén began in 1843 under the direction of architect Manuel Gómez Ibarra, who also built the towers of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Guadalajara. The cemetery had been in the planning stages since 1786, shortly after Guadalajara had passed through what has come to be called 'the year of hunger'. A tremendous plague gripped the city, killing thousands of its residents and filling the existing cemeteries. There was a tremendous need for a new campo santo (burial ground).

The colonnade of crypts at the front entrance of the Panteón de Belén.

City authorities chose the orchards of the civil hospital to build the new cemetery. Flat and extensive, the grounds were well-suited to this use. The first occupant of the cemetery, buried there in 1844 before the buildings were completed, was Isidoro Gómez Tortolero, pastor of the town of Tala, Jalisco.

Today, much of the cemetery has been closed and the remaining land used for other purposes. What we see now is only a fraction of what once existed. The lands that were used as the common graves of the poor are now under a huge building.

The portion of the cemetery where we walked (and where we found our admirable guide) is crumbling with age. Huge branching trees arch over the graves, the mausoleums, and the pathways. Mottled shade alternates with brilliant sunshine, creating the sense that we walked between the past and the present. Dates on the crypts carried us back in time, forcing our thoughts down paths that long-dead feet trod before us.

Legend and history had us in their grip. One minute Lourdes said, "I'm not the sort that is afraid in a place like this," and the next minute she showed me her arm, with gooseflesh and peach fuzz standing up in a chilly shiver. We stood silent, wondering which graves were the stuff of ghostly tales and which held the barely-remembered.

The inscription on Little Nacho's tomb reads, "Ignacio Torres Altamirano, May 26, 1882".

Suddenly we heard a high-pitched young voice saying, "And over here is Little Nacho, the one who was afraid of the dark." Our ears perked up. We looked for the source of the voice and saw a young girl, no more than nine or ten years old, leading a group of enthralled visitors around the cemetery. We begged permission to join them.

"See the child's stone coffin, built on top of the grave?" Her girlish voice turned very serious. "That's Little Nacho, who died exactly on his first birthday. From the time he was born, he was terrified of the dark and couldn't bear to be in a closed room. He had to sleep in a room filled with candles, a room where all the windows were open. The doctors were amazed by his fear, and nothing his parents could do would cure it. They even took him to curanderos(faith healers) to see if he was bewitched, but to no avail.

"When Little Nacho died, his parents buried him here in this grave, with a heavy gravestone above him. Everyone went home from the funeral and night fell. When the cemetery watchman made his rounds just at dawn, he jumped back in horror when he saw that Little Nacho's tiny coffin was lying on top of the gravestone. His report to the cemetery authorities was that someone had dug up the baby's coffin during the night, a desecration of the worst sort."

Very stylish in her pink skirt, Jessica Torres (at the far right), age ten, skillfully guided our group through the cemetery. Dramatic and articulate, she kept us all in shivers.

Our little group was riveted by what our young guide was saying. She continued, "That same day they buried his coffin again, but every morning for the next ten days it reappeared on top of the gravestone. No one had ever seen anything like it, and no one knew what to do. the cemetery authorities were trembling, but they finally had to tell the parents about these strange events.

"Little Nacho's grieving parents immediately knew the solution. 'Leave his coffin on top of his grave. He feared the dark in life. Of course he fears it in death as well.' And there it stayed, and here it still stays. Little Nacho rests above the ground."

Lourdes raised her hand. "And all those little toys and candies around the base of the tomb? Why are they there?"

Our guide smiled briefly. "They say that if you leave Little Nacho a piece of candy, your life in the future will be sweet."

We moved along to the next monument. Jessica Torres, our guide, stopped abruptly in front of a large carved stone tomb. "Two people are buried here, José María Castaños and Andrea Retes. They were so much in love and planning to be married, but the boy's mother hated the girl because she was from a lower social class.

"The two lovers were so upset by José María's mother's anger and hatred that they killed themselves. When his mother found out what happened, she almost went crazy from grief and guilt. She owned a plot in this cemetery and begged permission from Andrea's parents to bury the two lovers together. She had a double cross carved and placed on their tomb as a way of asking for God's forgiveness.

"Still, José María's mother's guilt would not leave her in peace. She knew she was the one responsible for the two deaths. Cry though she might, she could not get rid of the pain in her heart. Months later, she decided to take a wreath of flowers to lay on the grave. She draped the wreath over the double cross, just the way a lasso (ceremonial rope symbolizing marital union) is draped over the bride and groom at their wedding.

"A sudden silence fell over the cemetery as José María's mother laid the wreath over the cross. Even the birds stopped singing. In that silent instant, the wreath of beautiful fresh flowers turned to stone, just the way we see them today. And with that sign, José María's mother finally believed that the two young lovers had forgiven her."

In 1996 the stone crosses on the Castaños tomb fell and suffered some damage, but they remain united by their wreath of flowers.

Whispering among ourselves about the stories we'd heard, our not-so-brave little band followed behind Jessica as she led us toward the next grave site. One of the women with us murmured, "I hear they have night tours here. I don't think I'd have the courage to come here in the dark. It's scary enough in the broad daylight."

Jessica turned around. "There are night tours, on Fridays and on some special days, too. There will be night tours celebrating the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) this year. In fact, it's a marathon. Four tours will start every hour or so, beginning at seven o'clock at night and lasting all night long. The whole cemetery will be full of people."

Lourdes and I looked at one another and nodded. "I wouldn't miss it, would you?" she whispered.

Our next graveside stop was at the tomb of the sailor. Jessica told us that unlike other legendary Navy men, this sailor did not have a girl in every port. Instead, he had an enemy in every port. Sailing Mexico's west coast, he stole jewelry, gold coins, and everything else of value he could expropriate from the rightful owners. The sailor was a pirate, and he had a huge stash of valuables.

The tombstone of el marinero (the sailor), who buried a huge bag of gold coins—somewhere. Will you be the one to learn the secret?

"Only he knew where the booty was. Even though he had a son, he never told even his son where all the treasure was hidden. When the sailor was very old, he moved to Guadalajara and spent his last few months of life here. When he died, the secret of his treasure died with him."

Jessica smoothed her pretty pink skirt. "They say that you have to light a candle and pray the rosary with all your heart, right here at his grave at midnight. But you have to do it without fear, and many people have tried. They're not afraid when they start out, but about half way through the rosary something happens. They start trembling with fear, and they have to give up and run away. No one has ever made it through a whole rosary, but if you want to try it some midnight, they say that the ghost of the sailor will come out from behind the grave stone and tell you where the treasure is hidden." She shook her finger. "You won't find me here at midnight!"

I was surprised to see two side-by-side crypts with epitaphs in English. When I looked closer, I could see that the husband and wife were natives of Paisley, Scotland. Lourdes asked me, "How can you tell that they were married?"

I pointed out the word wife engraved into the marble of Jean Young's crypt marker. "That means esposa," I whispered to Lourdes.

Joseph Johnston, a doctor from Scotland, and his wife, Jean Young, are buried side by side in two crypts. They both died in Guadalajara in 1896.

Jessica was telling the story. "The man buried here was a doctor, but not one of those doctors who was only in the profession for the money. In fact, most of the time he didn't even want to accept payment for curing people. He did it from his heart. Nobody knows how he arrived in Guadalajara, but he and his wife both died here in 1896. And today, if you come to their graves and ask for a favor while you're praying the rosary, the couple will take charge of seeing to it that you have a lot of good luck, good health, and all the money you need." She looked at us and smiled. "And love, too. They'll make sure that the one you love also loves you. But you have to be praying from the heart."

Just one of the hundreds of crypts in Guadalajara's Panteón de Belén.

Those buried in the Panteón de Belén range from the highest of Guadalajara's 19th Century high society to the poorest of the poor, who were buried in common graves in the furthest part of the cemetery grounds. Among the elite are Ramón Corona, a governor of Jalisco; Enrique Díaz de León, the first rector of the University of Guadalajara; José Silverio Núñez, the second governor of Colima; and Carlos Villaseñor, a painter whose ashes now rest in the Rotonda de Hombres Ilustres across the street from the Metropolitan Cathedal. A glance at the list of important people buried in the cemetery is like reading a list of the street names of Guadalajara.

There are also graves marked only with a first name: Rafael, Enrique, Joaquín. These are children born out of wedlock. Rather than shame the mother, the child was buried with no last name on the tombstone.

There are many, many more legends to tell from the Panteón de Belén. We heard about the woman who was buried alive, the hanging tree, the night watchman, the horse and carriage, the empty tomb that bears a name, the priest shot by a firing squad, the student gone crazy—there are all of these tales and more to make the blood run just a little cold.

A Mexican girl's quinceañera (15th birthday celebration) is the most important day of her life, the day she leaves her childhood behind and is presented to God and to society as a young woman.

Today, the cemetery is a popular spot for portraits. Quinceañeras (young women celebrating their fifteenth birthdays) dressed in fabulous gowns and carrying beautiful bouquets are photographed every day of the week. Lourdes and I saw two lovely young women, one in floor length, pale pink tulle and the other in cream satin with puffed sleeves, each being photographed next to carved pilasters. Newlyweds arrive after their weddings on Saturday afternoons, the brides radiant as they lean against a 19th Century mausoleum and smile into their new husbands' eyes.

The cemetery is romantic, it's beautiful, and it's an island of peace in the heart of Guadalajara. Here among the ghosts and legends of the past, today's young people celebrate their new lives.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

Disclaimer: Marca País-Imágen de México is a joint public and private sector initiative designed to help promote Mexico as a global business partner and an unrivaled tourist destination. This program is designed to shine a light on the Mexico that its people experience every day. Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work in creating content for the Mexico Today program. All stories, opinions, and passions for all things Mexico that I write on Mexico Cooks! are completely my own.

8 de October de 2011
Mexico City’s Mercado de la Merced: the Escuela de Gastronomía Mexicana Gives Mexico Cooks! a Tour

Standing at the doors of Mexico City's Catedral Metropolitana, Edmundo Escamilla offers fascinating historical background about the pre-Hispanic marketplace at Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Mexica/Aztec empire. That enormous marketplace operated where the Zócalo (Mexico City's main square and the current site of the cathedral) now exists.

A few weeks ago, Mexico Cooks! received the announcement of a recorrido (walking tour) through Mexico City's enormous Mercado de la Merced. The tour would be given by none other than our good friends Edmundo Escamilla and Yuri de Gortari, the guiding lights in charge of the Escuela de Gastronomía Mexicana. After I checked to make sure my favorite walking shoes were in good repair, I emailed back: Amigos, cuentan conmigo! (Friends, count on me!)

Diego Rivera's mural of the great market at pre-Hispanic Tenochtitlán, painted in 1945. Click on any photo for a better view.

Twenty of us hardy souls met at the front door to Mexico City's Catedral Metropolitana for a history lesson to begin our tour. Edmundo–an incredible repository of knowledge about all things Mexican–gave us a talk about the ancient market of Tenochtitlán, about food records just after the Spanish arrived in the New World, and about the evolution of farm-to-market transportation.

For example, the Mexica (the indigenous rulers who later became known to the world as the Aztecs) were the businessmen and tax collectors of that era. They kept records of all that was bought and sold in the market at Tenochtitlán, and demanded high tributario (tax payment) from the market vendors. When the Spanish conquerer Hernán Cortés realized how the Mexica were conducting their lucrative business, he decreed that taxes must no longer be paid to the Mexica. Instead, the taxes were suddenly payable to none other than Cortés.

Transportation of goods to market has also changed enormously. Today, we are accustomed to seeing huge amounts of produce, meats, fish, and every other sort of goods delivered to La Merced by trucks and other vehicles. Back in the days of the Mexica, on the other hand, the southern part of what is now Mexico City (notably what are now Chalco and Xochimilco) were connected to the marketplace of Tenochtitlán by waterways. Produce grown on the chinampas (island farms) of Xochimilco's canals was delivered to the central market by boat.

The huge market is large and important enough to have its own Metro station, on Line 1 (the pink line). Notice that the icon (to the left in the photo) for the Metro stop is a crate of fruit.

From the Cathedral, we boarded the Metro at the Zócalo, rode to Pino Suárez, and transfered to the pink line, traveling just one more stop to La Merced. When we entered the market, Yuri took the lead, we twenty participants trailed out behind like ducklings after their mother, and Edmundo brought up the rear. Each of us was armed with our cellular phone. In case one or more of us inadvertently became lost from the group, a simple call to the leaders' cell phone brought one of them to the rescue. The market is unbelievably enormous and packed with people. It has narrow aisles that were easy to miss when the front man turned left or right, the rear guard was straggling behind, and suddenly uh oh…where did they go? Fortunately the market is well-marked with aisle and booth numbers, making it easy to give a coordinate and just wait a couple of minutes to be retrieved.

Yuri de Gortari (the man in the white shirt at the top right of the photo) talks with the vendor and some of the tour participants about the almost unbelievable quantities of different kinds of garlic for sale at this single booth.

No matter what you are looking for–produce of all kinds, kitchen utensils ranging from the smallest toothpick holder to the largest restaurant-size stove, household accessories like baskets, bags, and rope, or candy and other regional sweets–you are bound to find it at La Merced. Even though Mexico Cooks! was familiar with the market from prior visits, this guided tour gave our group insights that would be impossible to understand on a solo trip.

Let's let the diversity of the market speak for itself.

Moles in pastes and powders at Don Pancho's puesto (stand) at La Merced. There were easily ten other nearby stands offering tastes of every sort of mole.

Here in Mexico, it's the season for fresh corn. This booth–and the next one, and the one after that, and the one around the corner, too–offer corn either as elotes (on the cob) or already desgranado (taken off the cob). The fresh corn kernels in the bowl weighed about 25 pounds.

Up-close-and-personal with super-spicy Red Savina chiles habaneros, which have a rating of 580,000+ on the Scoville Scale. Bite into one at your own risk! This variety is just an example of the many kinds of chiles available at La Merced.

Bundles of dried avocado leaves. Cook some in a pot of beans to add the leaves' subtle anise flavor.

Cucumbers? No–these are stacks of neatly displayed fresh chiles jalapeños.

The original eco-friendly bolsa de ixtle. These colorfully dyed shopping bags have been made of maguey cactus fiber since pre-Hispanic times.

Huitlacoche (corn fungus) is one of Mexico's true delicacies. This foot-high pile of the fungus has been removed from the fresh corn cob, but it's also available on the cob.

Small candies, sold in the quantity you need–anything from 100 grams to numerous kilos.

Freshly harvested nopales (cactus paddles) stacked in pillars taller than a man.

Fresh morel mushrooms. This sought-after mushroom grows wild in Mexico's forests and is harvested at this time of year.

Much used as a garnish for tacos in Mexico City and the surrounding area, the leaf of the papaloquelite is shaped like butterfly wings. Its name is derived from the Nahuatl word papalotl (butterfly). This native herb pre-dates the introduction of cilantro, imported by the Chinese to Mexico.

On the left, dried jamaica blossoms (a kind of hibiscus) grown in Mexico. On the right, jamaica imported from the Sudan. The prices are per quarter kilo (about one-half pound). The unfortunate reality is that the higher-quality Mexican blossoms are more expensive than the imported version. Most people prefer to buy Mexican-grown products, but price can be a deterrent. These flowers are used primarily to prepare agua de jamaica, a refreshing cold drink enjoyed copiously all over the República.

Our walking tour ended after several hours at the Mercado de la Merced. Filled with new information and great respect for our tour guides' knowledge, Mexico Cooks! arrived at home extremely satisfied and tired to the bone.

Today (September 24) is the feast day of Nuestra Señora de la Merced (Our Lady of Mercies), the patron of the Mercado de la Merced. She is feted there every year with mariachis, flowers, and every sort of celebration. If you are reading this on her feast day, know that Mexico Cooks! is at the market for the celebration.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

Disclaimer: Marca País-Imágen de México is a joint public and private sector initiative designed to help promote Mexico as a global business partner and an unrivaled tourist destination. This program is designed to shine a light on the Mexico that its people experience every day. Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work in creating content for the Mexico Today program. All stories, opinions, and passions for all things Mexico that I write on Mexico Cooks! are completely my own.

24 de September de 2011
Guadalajara’s Wholesale Flower Market

It was my great pleasure to wander Guadalajara’s wholesale flower market this month, talking with one of the long-time vendors and taking more pictures of glorious blooms than will fit on these pages.

I confess that on the day I went on my investigative trip to the wholesale flower stalls, I was in a funk and would have preferred to stay at home. I scowled my way through traffic to the Mercado Mezquitán in downtown Guadalajara and barely managed a brief smile when I found a handy parking place. And then I was on the street, the flower-filled street, and my bad mood vanished in a heartbeat. How could my funk hang on when the sight and fragrances of literally millions of blossoms were all around me?

It was hard to know where to look first. The narrow old market street, clogged with belching pickup trucks, crammed beat-up cars, overloaded handcarts and people carrying enormous bundles of flowers, runs parallel to super-busy, modern Calzada Federalismo. I smiled as the blatant contrasts of Mexico once again showed me that I was definitely not North of the Border.

A scruffy yellow dog sniffed the greenery in his path as he hunted for something more promising than flower trimmings for his almuerzo (late breakfast). What looked like a moving tower of bright red roses jostled me as I stood in the street. It was a workman, hurrying along with dozens and dozens of paper-wrapped packets of beautiful blooms on his shoulder.

Mounds of multi-colored statice wait on a hand truck.

For two city blocks, tiny Calle Mezquitán is a sea of blooms. The actual flower market, a small enclosed building of perhaps 30 stalls, is insignificant compared to what happens in the street. I’ve often driven along Federalismo and noticed the market building; it’s just across from a municipal cemetery.

I walked along asking permission to take pictures and marveling at the variety of flowers. My eye was caught first by girasoles (sunflowers), then leticia (statice), then pompones (pompom chrysanthemums).

The vendors greeted me as I strolled past. "Qué va a llevar, señora? Hay de todo." (What are you buying, lady? Everything’s here.) Over and over again I asked permission to take photographs. The quantity of flowers was completely overwhelming, their fragrances perfuming the air.

This basket of at least four dozen roses and asters costs 250 pesos, a little less than $25.00 USD.

I stopped to ask one of the vendors about the cultivation of flowers in Mexico. Flowers, he told me, are grown commercially primarily in one area of the small State of Mexico, both for export and for use here in the Republic. Flower business is big business in that fertile valley not far from Mexico City. Flower-growing land sprawls over more than five thousand hectares. That’s well over 12,000 acres. In addition, the cultivation of flowers provides either direct or indirect employment to 225,000 people in that state.

Gerbera daisies and stargazer lilies.

In the State of Mexico, flower growing generates a yearly economic bounty of $2,700,000,000 pesos: two billion seven hundred million, folks. It’s not a typo. The brief selling season just prior to the Day of the Dead in November generates $617,000,000 pesos—in only a few days. The profits from just those late-October flower sales represent nearly one-fourth of the economy produced in the State of Mexico’s fields.

Here’s just one small example of Mexico’s Day of the Dead flower power. In 2003, growers planted ninety hectares of roses which were to be harvested in the last week of October. Those roses produced 11.3 million stems, which were bundled 25 to a package. Each package of 25 roses sold at wholesale for 37 pesos. Total earnings for the brief October rose harvest were 17 million pesos.

In addition to roses, the flower growers of the State of Mexico also cultivate huge numbers of chrysanthemums, vast quantities of gladiolas, millions upon millions of carnations, and most of the rest of the flowers that are available in wholesale markets all over this country and the world. Many, many of the flowers that you who live North of the Border will purchase or be given on Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day come from the sunny lands South of the Border.

Claveles (carnations) are among the most popular flowers for sale at the market.

Everywhere I looked, I was tempted to buy. Huge bundles of pink, red, candy-striped or white carnations, each bundle containing 60 or more flowers, sell for 40 pesos–less than $4.00 US dollars. Gorgeous, enormous ready-to-sell flower arrangements, perfect for a banquet table centerpiece, sell for 250 pesos–less than $25.00 US dollars. Bundles of 25 roses sell for 70 pesos.

After walking along the market street for an hour and then investigating the market itself, I stopped to ask a young vendor how long the market had been operating on Calle Mezquitán. She admitted that she wasn’t sure and encouraged me to ask Dr. Roberto Avila, the owner of the business where she worked. He was busy taking a large wholesale order on the telephone. "Dr. Avila knows everything about the market, from the time it started," she assured me. I waited and watched the action on the street as hundreds of thousands of flowers glowed in the morning sun.

Dr. Avila graciously took the time to answer my questions. "This flower market has been here for more than 50 years," he began. "I’m 57 years old and I was born two blocks from here. My grandmother and my father brought me here to work with them when I was seven. I’ve had this business for 25 or 26 years now.

Long-stemmed roses sell in bundles of 40 for 70 pesos, less than $7.00 USD.

"Look across the street, right over there." He pointed to a small house on the corner. "That house is made of adobe. All the houses along here were made of adobe, that’s how old this section of Guadalajara is. Over the years, they’ve fallen down because of the rains, but people build them right back up again.

"Some years ago, Calzada Federalismo was widened to accommodate all the traffic that comes this way. Before the street was widened, the market building was more than twice the size it is now. The market building back then wasn’t just for flowers. There were meat markets, tortillerías, and plenty of stands where you could eat. The government took most of the market to build the street. Now there’s no tortillería there at all, the meat markets have mostly moved out, and there are only a couple of food stands left." He shook his head. "There used to be a kindergarten here. And there were frontón (a ball game played with a kind of basket-shaped racquet) courts." He smiled. "There are many other frontón courts in the city, but the ones right here are gone."

"There are more flower markets in Guadalajara, you know. One is right in front of Parque Agua Azul, on Calzada Independencia near González Gallo. Another is at the corner of Manuel Acuña and Contreras Medellín, just about ten blocks from here. But none of those markets sells the amount of wholesale flowers that we sell here."

I thanked Dr. Avila and walked up and down the street once more. The flower market had lightened my mood and I knew I’d come back on other days just for the lift. Although I was determined to buy a bundle of carnations, my eye suddenly lit on a huge bucket of tight yellow Siberian iris buds. "Cuánto cuestan?" I asked the vendor. Thirty-five pesos for ten long stems! I bought two bunches and strolled happily to my car.

Back home, after I arranged the flowers in a tall vase, I checked my favorite online florist for the price of Siberian iris in the United States. Suffice it to say that I would never have been able to afford them. When you come to Guadalajara, we’ll make a field trip to the wholesale flower market, where you can afford to buy all the flowers you could possibly want.

23 de June de 2007