We met with Francesca, a local guide, this morning at 11am, and spent a fascinating 5 hours with her as she walked us through the history and the markets of Mexico City, the ones frequented by locals and way off the tourist route, in the suburb of La Merced.
The words are tumbling out of my mind faster than I can type them and I think I'm going to post three posts about the day because we visited three different markets, each as interesting as the one before.
The first was all about fruit and veggies:
the displays of produce were so beautiful I wanted to live here just so I could shop here every day!!
The variety was endless and we saw much we didn't know,
like a fungus that grows on corn and has become a delicacy, kinda like a mushroom (it's called huitlacoche)...
and a fruit called mamey that is so yummy we are taking a couple of seeds to home to plant on the farm;
it's related to the avocado family and is as rich but with a delicious sweetness...
and amaranth, a relative of quinoa, in it's freshly harvested state....
Then there was the familiar that we were thrilled to see,
like litchis and butter avocados and grenadillas and mangos, all in huge, neatly piled heaps,
inexpensive priced since this is the wholesale market!!
We loaded up with litchis which we have since devoured,
and some unusual almond chile mole to experiment with when we get home.
But it was the colors, in the end, that really intrigued me,
as well as the kindness of the vendors so willing to give us samples of their wares.
Fabulous!!!
Highly recommended...