Category: Travel

Paper maché marionettes from Michoacán dance merrily during Semana Santa (Holy Week)in Pátzcuaro.

Mexico Cooks!, as you've probably guessed, rarely turns down an opportunity to visit an artisans' fair.  Although we had traveled to Uruapan for the mother of all artisans' fairs just a week before, out-of-town company meant a trip to nearby Pátzcuaro to shop at the fair set up in its Plaza Don Vasco de Quiroga.

The Pátzcuaro fair is smaller than the Domingo de Ramos Tianguis de Artesanía in Uruapan, but navigating through its booths is no less fun.  The Michoacán arts and crafts in Pátzcuaro are similar to those in Uruapan, but many are more commercial and less expensive.

Small laca (lacquerware) boxes in the Pátzcuaro style, made with substantial gold leaf.

Catrines (fancy-dress skeleton figures of men and women) parade through a booth at the fair in Pátzcuaro.  Several pirates maraud across the center of the photo, two chef figures in their tall white toques bring up the rear, and a woman models an 1890s-period dress at the far left.

The monarch butterfly is a brilliant natural symbol of Michoacán.  These are worked in copper and enamel.

These handmade wooden flowers move when you push a button under the flowerpot.

Wooden toys are everywhere, and all are made by hand in Michoacán.  The chickens peck their seed on the paddles in the foreground when you move their string-operated mechanism.

During Semana Santa, Pátzcuaro honored Nuestra Señora de los Dolores (La Dolorosa)–Our Lady of Sorrows–with numerous altars set up around town.  Monseñor Diego Monroy, rector of the Basílica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City and a native of the Pátzcuaro region, designed this immense altar on Pátzcuaro's Plaza Don Vasco de Quiroga.

Altar detail.  The Virgin Mary mourns for her son.

The heart aflame is set high on the altar. It represents the Sacred Heart of Jesus, borne aloft by doves and surrounded by spectacular cut paper.

Mexico is a land of contrasts and contradictions.  Semana Santa, which includes revelry and ritual, the Virgin and vacations, is simple evidence of Mexico's complexity.

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In Erongarícuaro, a golden calla lily and a pot of deep purple Martha Washington geraniums made us smile.

Sometimes the simplest things turn out to be the best: the most fun, the most beautiful, the most memorable.  When Mexico Cooks! slipped into Erongarícuaro to see the annual flower show during Semana Santa (Holy Week), we had no idea what to expect or what a lovely hour we would enjoy.  

At the flower show opening, Eleazar Aparicio Tercero (Erongarícuaro's mayor, who served as master of ceremonies) presented each of the organizing committee members with a certificate of appreciation.  

Erongarícuaro's Parroquia de la Asunción de la Señora (Parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin) hosted this year's flower show.  This small-town Feria de las Flores (Flower Fair) began in 1974 but was discontinued after a few years.  In 2002, various ladies of the town re-initiated the fair and it's been popular among local home gardeners ever since.

Lovingly cultivated pink malvas were a popular exhibit.

We were amazed by the size and variety of home-grown azucenas (amaryllis).

We thought we'd see professionally arranged displays of flower arrangements at the flower show. We were thrilled to realize that all of these flowers were thriving potted plants grown by home gardeners.  The seasonal blooms were sensational.

These tiny orange orchids are known locally as Espíritu Santo (Holy Spirit).  

The variety of flowers presented at the show included bougainvilleas (known in this region as camelinas), orchids, geraniums, roses, cactus, and others. 

An exhibit of miniature succulents and other greenery, planted in colorful 2" high yoghurt containers and egg shells, won a first prize and created quite a buzz of conversation among fairgoers.

More amaryllis, this variety sported huge cream and pink blossoms.

The proceeds from the 2009 Feria de las Flores will be added to funds set aside for building a commercial greenhouse for gladiolas in Erongarícuaro and an orquidarium in nearby Uricho.

Alstromeria (Peruvian lily).

The 2010 Feria de las Flores in Erongarícuaro will include flowers, products made from local fruit–including wines–and regional culinary exhibits.  Commercial flower growers in the area will once again benefit from the fair.

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Fábrica San Pedro, a textile factory
built in Uruapan in the late 19th century, still operates along the banks of the Río Cupatitzio, just a few blocks from the Uruapan's downtown Plaza Morelos. One of the largest water-powered mills in the region, this
factory produced as many as 40,000 blankets during its heyday.

American expatriates Walter and Bundy Illsley, residents of Mexico since 1954, bought the
mill in the late 1980s.  Their company, Telares Uruapan, still
produces hand-loomed natural fibers in traditional local colors and designs, as well as in the
custom designs that the Fábrica exports all over the world.  Walter Illsley died in late March 2009, but his wife and their son, Rewi, continue to carry on the traditions of the Fábrica.

Hand-woven tableclothes are made and sold at the Fábrica San Pedro in Uruapan.

The Illsleys'  restoration of the Fábrica San Pedro is a joy to behold.  From the entrance to the back reaches of the buildings, enormous care has been taken to maintain its beauty.  A portion of the mill is devoted to a well-designed
convention center, an upscale gallery and a shop overlooking
well-manicured gardens fronting the Río Cupatitzio.  Old mill wheels, converted to metal art, separate rooms and galleries from one another.  One hundred-year-old wooden floors creak, mile-high ceilings allow for light and air, and jewel-tone bolts of fabrics glow in the muted light of the Fábrica.

Hand-lacquered wooden bateas (shallow trays) are a specialty of the Pátzcuaro/Uruapan region.  The maque (lacquer) technique is intricate and time-consuming; the tray is carved from pine, cured, and then decorated using centuries-old craftsmanship and dyemaking knowledge.  This batea measures approximately 50cm in diameter (1.5 feet). 

The artisans' competition, an important part of the annual Uruapan Tianguis Artesanal de Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday Artisans' Festival), occupies the Fábrica de San Pedro during the fair's opening days.  Any of the  artisans who exhibit at the fair can enter the competition; they show the best of their best work. 

Clay spheres and their tray are made in Zinapécuaro, Michoacán.

These cocuchas (clay pots from Cocucho, Michoacán) can be as tall as an adult person.  Cocuchas are wall-built, not made on a wheel.  The black spots on the clay are kiln burns characteristic of the work.  Once the pots are fired, they are burnished with stones to create the shine. 

A guaje (hard-shell squash), hollowed out, cured, and decorated with hand-prepared maque (lacquer).  The artisan applies the base color lacquer and allows it to cure.  After preparing vegetable dye lacquers, the artist incises a design into the dry base lacquer and removes the individual color sections, leaf by leaf and stem by stem, petal by petal.  The artist inlays all of one lacquer color and allows it to cure.  He or she then removes the design elements of the next color and repeats the inlay process.  Finishing a guaje as detailed as this one requires many weeks of work.

Another batea, this one made of extremely heavy hand-hammered copper from Santa Clara del Cobre.  The copper is hammered from an ingot and then engraved and finished.  The value of a copper piece such as this depends on two variables: weight and artistry.

Guanengos (regional blouses) are hand-cross stitched in many Purhépecha towns in Michoacán.

Mexico Cooks! tried to purchase this clay tray filled with 14 calabacitas de barro (little clay squashes).  We were so disappointed to find that it had already been sold to the Michoacán State Museum.  It would have looked quite charming on our dining room sideboard.

Try to come to the Tianguis Artesanal de Domingo de Ramos with us next year.  There's nothing like it back home.

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Waving papel picado dance sticks and elegantly dressed in red velvet aprons trimmed with lace , these Purhépecha women danced their way through the opening day parade at the annual statewide Feria de Artesanías.

Mexico Cooks! has attended the Feria de Artesanía de Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday Artisans' Fair) in Uruapan, Michoacán, every year for nearly 15 years.  The two-week-long fair is always the same and yet never boring, a remarkable combination.  This largest artisans' fair in Mexico draws vendors and contestants for the best-of-the-best from all over the state of Michoacán.  It attracts international tourism: we've heard languages from all over the globe as we walk the vendors' aisles.

Purhépecha women's festive ropa típica (native dress) includes a knife-pleated skirt, a hand-embroidered guanengo (blouse), a cross-stitch apron, and the long, rectangular blue, black, and white striped rebozo (shawl) that is typical to the region.

This woman marched while carrying an enormous huarache (shoe made of woven leather strips) representing the goods that her region of the state produces.  She's also carrying a bag of souvenir key chains that she tossed to individuals in the crowd.  Look closely and you'll see the tiny huarache key chains that decorate her sombrero de paja (straw hat). 

Clarinets, trumpets, trombones, and a pink tuba–what a great band!

Artisans hawk thousands of traditional low-fired clay pots and pitchers.  These are from Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán.

Michoacán is famous world-wide for its traditional arts and crafts.  For hundreds of years, artisans in this state have produced highly decorated articles made from locally found materials: clay, wood,
lacquer, textiles, copper, reedwork, and paper maché, among others.

Ollas para frijoles (clay pots for cooking beans) from Capula, Michoacán.

Molinillos (little mills) are used for whipping chocolate caliente (hot chocolate) to a thick froth.
For more about hand-made Mexican chocolate, look here: chocolate Joaquinita.

These blue jarras y platones (pitchers and platters) with their finely painted, intricate white designs come from one family workshop in Capula.  Mexico Cooks! does not…DOES NOT…have room in the house for more pottery.  Well, maybe just one more piece!  These glorious jarras were all but impossible to resist.

Clay sculptures from Ocumicho, Michoacán, are full of whimsy and bright colors.  Did you notice Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the upper right corner?

Hand-embroidered traditional cotton guanengos (blouses) are so important and finely made that they have their own concurso (competition) at the Feria de Artesanía (Artisans' Fair).


Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the Artisans' Fair in Uruapan.  Come see it with us!

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

El Museo Regional de Arte Popular (Regional Folk Art Museum), located at the corner of Calle Enseñanza and Calle Alcantarilla in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.  This small museum, the original site of the oldest college in the state of Michoacán, now holds arts and crafts treasures of the regional indigenous Purhépecha people.  Exquisite examples of copper, silver, clay, wood, straw, and textile work from the 16th Century to the present allow visitors to compare old and new techniques.    

Mexico Cooks! has visited Pátzcuaro's Museo Regional de Arte Popular (Regional Folk Art Museum) so frequently over the course of the last 30 years that we all but have the exhibits memorized.  Some of the items are such favorites that at times, they populate our dreams.  This marvelously carved wooden dance mask, with its long beard and exceptionally large nose, makes us laugh every time we see it.  Notice the cut-out slits between the mask's eyes and the eyebrows.  They allowed the wearer to see where he was going while he danced.

This 17th Century Christ is made of pasta de caña de maíz. 

Sometimes erroneously called 'corn dough', the core of the entire Christ figure pictured above is made of a finely kneaded paste created from the ground-up inner parts of cornstalks and a liquid exuded from deltatzingeni (the bulbs of regional orchids).  Early artisans created an armature, a 'skeleton' of dried corn leaves and incidental small pieces of wood.  Tiny parts (such as fingers) of some figures were sometimes formed using turkey feathers as the armature.  Artists then sculpted a figure with pasta de caña.  The artisans incorporated insecticides into the corn/orchid paste, which has protected these sculptures over the course of several centuries.  The Museo Regional in Pátzcuaro has a number of pasta de caña figures dating to the 16th and 17th Centuries.

Mexico Cooks! is particularly fond of the museum's display of an early Michoacán kitchen.

In the photo above, you can see many components of a traditional Michoacán cocina (kitchen).  The wood-burning cookstove, at lower left, is made of clay-covered adobe.  Long rectangular holes for firewood are under recessed round openings for balancing round-bottomed clay cooking pots.  Ocote (sticks of fat pine kindling, stored in a metal holder built into the stove, near-middle left) quickly lights the fire.  Ollas de barro (clay pots) stack for storing kitchen staples–no lids required.  To the right of the stacked ollas, copper vessels line a wooden shelf.  Other ollas are ranged around the lower kitchen shelf.  At middle left, above the ollas, two carved wood cuchareros (spoon holders) are both decorative and utilitarian.  Above the cuchareros, another wooden shelf holds pottery cups and small dishes and pitchers.  Above that shelf, the intricate wall art, made of individual tiny clay cups, is typical of nearly every region of Mexico.  Whether a simple or complex design, in Mexico's traditional kitchens, it's always made of cups.

A carved wood cupboard, built into the museum wall, holds copper mugs, pitchers, bowls and platters made in Sta. Clara del Cobre, Michoacán.  The graduated-size copper utensils hung on either side of the cupboard are measures for dry and liquid ingredients.

A charola de maque (inlaid lacquer tray) from the 19th Century.

This large carved figure of Saint Ann holding the child Virgin Maria is made of one piece of wood–except for one detail.  When you visit the museum on your Mexico Cooks! tour of Pátzcuaro, look closely for the fine line near the ears of both heads.  The faces were carved separately to allow for the placement of the figures' glass eyes.

Mexico Cooks! covets this hand-embroidered tablecloth.  Every part of the cloth is sewn with a Mexican dicho de la cocina (kitchen sayings).  We've often told the museum docents
that if the tablecloth disappears, it will be at our house. For more dichos de la cocina, see Panza Llena, Corazón Contento.

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