Comida: Part II A Sample Menú del Día (Vegetariano)

Like 6000 months ago, I premiered my -supposed- first in a -supposed- series of entries about food. Then, I got sidetracked by all things merry, fa-la-la, etc. But, you know what? I'm back on the comida-train now, ready to make you salivate to all that vegetarianism in Mexico has to offer.

Matt and I have one month remaining in this lovely country. That means we have one month left of scouring the apartment for random pesos in pockets, between cushions, and under furniture so that we can enjoy our favorite restaurants for the last times before we depart.

To recap, Comida: Part One was all about soups. Specificially, that entry highlighted soups served with the menu of the day (menu of the day is a four-course meal with a set price and set options, a la a chef's choice kind-of-thing).

Today, I'm going to present pictures of last Saturday's menu of the day at Restaurante Yug, our favorite of the favorites.

First of all, I must pay homage to the aguas frescas. As I've previously stated, the fresh juices here are incredible. Aguas are served at many restaurants, alongside the juices. Aguas are more watered down than the juices and are often sweetened. Matt drank agua de pepino y limón (cucumber-lime juice). It was thirst-quenchingly delicious.

I imbibed the horchata. Horchata is a rice and nut-based drink (like ricealmond milk), sweetened, and spiced with cinnamon and vanilla. Oh, its scrumptious. Luckily for us, horchata is quite popular and easy to find in Austin.

For the salad course, Matt and I opted for the same thing out of three possible choices, the nopales oaxaqueños. Nopal is a type of cactus; it's the kind with flat, broad, green fronds. It's very common in the American Southwest. Nopal is a very popular vegetable here (after being de-needled, of course); especially popular served in dishes, sandwiches, and tacos. Biting into it is fun, because it does that bursting thing, similar to biting into a snap pea. So, the nopales were sauteed in oil and dusted with chile flakes and served with Oaxaca-style cheese. Oaxaca cheese is fluffy and pillowy, mild in taste, and pleasant.

For the soup course, Matt enjoyed crema de espinaca, or cream of spinach. Yug's cream soups are always velvety soft, smooth, and decadent. I chose sopa de lima because I didn't know what it would entail, and that was exciting to me. It turned out to be a tortilla soup (no problema) with a variety of vegetables, and no lima beans, to my surprise.

For the main course, Matt went with the enchiladas suizas. Enchiladas are quite popular in this part of Mexico. You can get them with all sorts of "innards" (including cheese, spinach, and every kind of meat imaginable), and they are smothered in all sorts of sauces (mole, pepita, tomato, green tomatillo, cream, and even a meat-based sauce). Matt's were served in a tomato-based sauce with a "melty" cheese on top (perhaps Oaxaca-style?). Inside, there was a spongy, soft, non-"melty" inside (perhaps queso freso, a farmer's style cheese).

For the entree, I devoured albondigas norteñas. I chose this one because, once again I had no idea what an albondiga was (it's easier to be adventurous at a vegetarian restaurant: no cow brains or chicken feet or whatevs). Turns out albondigas are usually meatballs. Mine were filled with all sorts of hearty green veggies. The dish was served with wedges of boiled potatoes. The highlight, though, was the sauce. Matt and I both liked its dynamic flavor and slight hint of bitterness. It tasted familiar but I could not put my finger on it for a couple days. Then, it hit me. Matt and I made a chile bisque a year or two ago, and it called for dried chiles, specifically a type called guajillo. With this little chile pepper, a little of it goes a long way, and it was definitely the standout flavor in this tomato-based sauce. As you can see, the whole thing was topped with a little queso fresco. Perfect!

Our meal ended with a crepe stuffed with pineapple and smothered in a homemade strawberry, orange, and apricot syrup (at least those were the flavors I tasted).

See! See! Vegetarians can eat well, too! And all this cost around $6US per person and included a variety of breads before the entree! Mexican cuisine is so amazing that even the meat capital of the world has great vegetarian options. Oh boy, we'll miss this place.

Haiti

Hola amigos y amigas.

I haven't much felt in the blogging mood, as of late. Everything seems inconsequential after this past week's events, everything except:

love, peace, solidarity, sister/brotherhood, family, and friends.

Oh, and expressing my disdain for the vile Pat Robertson; that's also important.

I think I'll be back on my bloggin' game, yo, in the next day or two, though.

But in the meantime, if you haven't yet donated money, time, items, or a combination thereof to Haiti, well, now's as good as ever. I kept hearing tons about this one organization called Partners In Health, and they are pretty cool. Here's an article about them. They need our help to help Haiti!

Love,

Christine

Random Photo: Mesa y Flores

Just a photo of a public park table with a built-in chess board, plus blossoms. Whoever [a child?] or whatever [the wind?] set the flowers there, I don't know. It's a nice touch, though.

In sum, Ciudad de Mexico. Dingy, yet whimsical. Old, but new. Tattered, albeit with charm.

I love beautiful DF.

Taxco

"Have you been to Taxco?" We've been asked that question countless times, and now we can finally answer in the affirmative. We took a quick little day trip the other day (we don't have the money for an overnight, SORRY Taxco fans!). The bus ride was two and a half hours of sinuous beauty through countless mountain switchbacks. I was captivated! Everyone else on the bus was either sleeping or watching a very dramatic Angelina Jolie film dubbed in Spanish. "C'mon people, look out your windows! This is beautiful stuff!"

The final switchback on the journey to Taxco affords you gorgeous views of the city. Taxco is a city of white buildings built up a lush green foothill. At first glimpse, I turned to Matt and said, "It looks like a bunch of skulls!" He told me that he thought the same thing; aren't we cute??

There are very strict building codes in Taxco, to preserve its historic integrity. In other words, the buildings must be white and usually have terra cotta or bright pink painted trims. Interesting side note: there is a huge, monopolistic paint company in Mexico called Comex. The paint of Comex is the only kind that people use to paint their businesses and houses. Comex's paint colors are trademarked, thus making uniformity of color in a town like Taxco achieved much easier.

The roads are steep, narrow, and without sidewalks, so we were forced to be very vigilant pedestrians. It is a roaming pedestrian town, and since we love to wander, that was very fun for us. Not a good stop for people with bad knees or respiratory issues.

The earth of Taxco was formerly full of silver and subsequently full of silver mines. The mined silver is long gone, but Taxco is still known for being a town where visitors can buy tons of cheap silver jewelry (there are a lot of silversmiths). This and its unique look make Taxco a den of tourism.

I liked Taxco, but the congestion was terrible, and the diesel-fueled air quality seemed horrendous. It wasn't a quiet escape, but I'm glad we got to see it.

Another view of the city:

I love the picture below, but I owe its charm to serendipitous happenstance. The old lady on the balcony is cute as can be, but in the upper right-hand corner, check out the adult holding the baby. How awesome!

One of many churches in Taxco. I loved how this one conformed so well to the colors of the Taxco:

The picture below is from the big, Baroque cathedral in the Zocalo. Extreme restoration was happening in here, so we didn't have the opportunity to see the church in its full glory.

Transport+Us+Biggest City in the World:Part 1

THE METRO:

Definition, of sorts: In the U.S., we call it "the subway. " No other place I know calls it "the subway." When an American first starts living abroad, said American calls it "the subway" (unless they've done their nomenclature homework). After a while, the American realizes no one else calls it that, and no one else has any idea what the American's talking about. In turn, the American subsequently adopts the present country's term for the underground train. At least that's been my experience.

Similarly, a Minnesotan who's moved to almost any other state slowly makes the transition from calling that bubbly, sugary stuff "pop," to calling it "soda." And that is a sad, eye-opening transition for anyone with beloved Minnesotan roots, including myself.

Okay, pluses and minuses of the Metro in D.F:

PROS:

1. Dirt Cheap! 2 pesos per ride (that's approximately 15-cents)! I've read comments by some snooty expats and snooty rich citizens of D.F. claiming to be totally above the metro, and that it's for the "lower class." Puke. They're the suckers stuck in horrendous traffic and paying loads for gas, parking, and their vehicle.

2. Relatively clean (the cars range from about 15-40 years old, so they're not super attractive, but they are thoroughly and vigorously cleaned every 72 hours).

3. Fast and efficient (except when they break down which, compared to my time in London, is seldom).

4, Extensive as can be.

5. During peak hours, the front cars of the train are designated as Women/Children only. When I ride to the university for Spanish class, I thank my lucky stars for these cars (usually, that is. See con #1).

Women-only trains are a good thing, because:

a. No leering men and no danger of being groped (yes, it does happen here, apparently).

b. I am taller than most women here, thus when it's standing room only, I have the best access to the ceiling fans (see con #2). Bonus!

However, I have to say that I see women-only cars as sort of a band-aid for solving the problem of physical harassment. It would be better to work on adjusting male behavior and norms rather than simply moving the "issue" (the bodies of women, it seems, are viewed as the issue) to a different location. This kind of cultural transformation, teaching respect of women in an extremely patriarchal, and often sexist society, seems to takes years though. In the meantime, I think women-only cars are a suitable solution. Besides, this designation might make salient and conscious the issue of harassment to the harasser.

In addition, as far as gender roles go, it is disheartening to ONLY ever see women doing one thing in the solo damas cars: putting on make-up. No reading books, no discussing the day's news with the person next to them. No, it's all about primping on these trains. Countless times, I have witnessed the art of applying mascara on a bumpy, moving train. Also, the act of curling one's eyelashes with a spoon is common on the train, which is something I had never before witnessed. I guess one runs the risk of losing one's eyelashes whilst beautifying one's eyelashes with an eyelash curler on a bumpy train. Ouch!

CONS OF THE METRO:

1. More crowded than you can imagine, especially at peak hours. People push their way in and crush against your ribs, making it hard to breathe what little oxygen is available. "Packed like a can of sardines" is apropos.

2. Hotter than blazes, all the time. Lots of bodies, lots of body-heat. Sometimes I leave feeling greasy, sweaty, and am concerned that I'm smelly. Never pleasant.

3. Trains run only until midnight. That makes going out with friends at night tricky and often leads to us leaving the fun earlier than we would have wanted. Cabs are more expensive at night, so that doesn't help the cause of merry-making.

4. You will, no doubt, be inundated with people selling things. Metro ride time is not quiet, alone time. Want a candy bar? How about a small flashlight? What about a yo-yo? Someone's probably going to be yelling "Cinco pesos le vale!" in your ear selling these items. The pirated music CD sellers are the most noticeable (and extremely surprising on first ride). They carry a backpack with speakers and blast snippets of tunes of the CD they're selling. You'll encounter at least three of them per ride, depending on the length you're on the train. It's very annoying to have that blasting in your ear, those days you're in a bad mood. Ahem.

So, although I ended with the cons, I have to say that the Metro is fabulous. The rides are quick, so the annoyances are fleeting. Yay for the Metro! I promise the rest of my transportation posts will not be as verbose.

black & white, but in color

¡Feliz Año 2010!

No culture shocks experienced the past couple weeks, to my amazement. Matt and I were back in the nose-runningly, finger-numbingly, puffy-parka wearingly cold that is Minnesota Winter. I loved it. Four distinct seasons is something I miss and something a lot of people from temperate places ought to miss, if they knew any better. Living away from Home for several years now, a place I adore truly, has left me with the conclusion that I could do winters there again. "Oh, oh, oh, just try living through it for a good five months some winter, you won't be feeling the same way, there," the frustratingly cold Midwestern naysayers often retort. BUT I remember! Those naysayers fail to recall that I walked across a bridge over the Mississippi connecting the banks of the university campus. In January. Daily. For four years. I know what it feels like. I remember.

Anyway, our time back was a flurry of snow and of family. The food and excellent wine was an added bonus. Mmmm, natural peanut butter, [faux] chicken with dumplings, Indian and Vietnamese food, and moka cakes. We were given the gift of an 18 hour pit-stop in Phoenix to spend time with my grandparents, on top of everything else. Our holiday was nice. It went quickly. We snuggled with our pup, whom we miss oh so much.

But now, it does feel just fine to be back. New Year's Day is super quiet (almost eerily dead) here in D.F. I think everyone's hungover at home. Its calm is serving as a nice, gradual transition into its eventual blurry cacophony.




































Our much adored niece Evie having a showdown with Max,
my in-laws' dog (our second-favorite dog in the universe).
Matt took this one:
















Pika-bear (#1):