Time Out & Tamales

For those of you wondering where I've been the last 2 days, and even for those of you happy not to have to read yet another daily update of the minutiae of my trip, let me explain. I've been "borrowing" bandwidth from 2 sources near my apartment & since Sunday morning both have largely been down. On occasion one has been up briefly but not long enough or with enough bandwidth for me to do much (apparently I'm not the only leech around here). But all seems to be back to normal now so settle in or click away while you have the chance.

Sunday I was invited to a BBQ at my friend's house (which I'm told I should refer to as a "parrillada"). She lives with her parents in one of the posher parts of town & they have a beautiful house surrounded by walls for safety & privacy. In fact, there's even a guardhouse out front paid for by all the houses on the block as a deterrent to the segment of the population who makes a living off of kidnapping the families of successful people & holding them for ransom. As I've heard said so many times while I'm here, "This is not New York, this is México," which is the general explanation I get for the unsavory side of an otherwise fascinating & enjoyable city. Despite the beauty & wonder I've experienced here it is a gigantic & somewhat unruly city and not nearly as safe as my hometown has become, and it's good for me to be occasionally reminded of this as I tend to get overly bold otherwise.

With the criminal element nowhere to be found even a sudden cold snap couldn't deter from a sumptuous feast in a beautiful setting. Once inside the walls, the house extends out over a potion of the property creating a space usable both as a car park & as a sheltered outdoor event space. So the curtains were dropped to keep the cold breeze out & the meat was quickly marinated in preparation for the gas-fired grill. There were 2 different thin cuts of steak, quesadillas, volcans (toasted tortillas topped with cheese which seemed like unfolded quesadillas to me & that observation caused me to be lightly mocked), sausages, nopal cactus & small onions that reminded me of scallions with giant bulbs all grilled outdoors next to us. There were also beans stewed with diced vegetables & bacon, creamy rice cooked in a casserole with un-battered chiles rellenos, chicharrones and several spicy salsas for dressing the goods. Not to mention beer, wine, vodka & family-made mezcal for washing it all down. Everything was tasty & I particularly loved the rice dish which I had never even heard of before but contained both perfectly cooked rice & the first un-fried chile relleno I've had the pleasure to taste. I also got to meet a lovely couple set to get married in 3 weeks who were in a slight disagreement caused by the presence of 2 strippers at his bachelor party the night before. I tried to help his case by arguing that the host was worried that if he only hired one she would get lonely, then I wisely kept out of it after that meager contribution.

Earlier in the day, I stumbled across one of the many women around the city that set up temporary shops out of the back of cars on opportune street corners to sell traditional Oaxacan foods. As famous as Oaxaca is for molé, it is just as loved for it's cheese & chocolate, not to mention an array of other tempting treats. I purchased 2 types of cheese and a small box of chocolate to see if her goods lived up to the spectacular tastes I enjoyed while in Oaxaca in late June. Since I ran off to the parrillada soon after, I had to wait for Monday afternoon to sample my purchases.

The traditional cheese from Oaxaca is somewhat similar to fresh mozzarella, and I'm sure it's made in a similar process. It comes in balls formed by pulling the curds around themselves & can be torn off into ribbons, then further pulled into strings if one desires. The version I had was very fresh-tasting which is a great sign- I've tried this cheese both fresh-made the same day & a few days old, and like mozzarella it's vastly superior when fresher. The other cheese I bought was a double cream that was nice but not what I expected (although it made for a fine sandwich with a touch of mustard & sliced marinated chiles). The chocolate was from the one major brand I noticed down there so not as good as the hand-made stuff I brought home from the Oaxaca market, but it's decent & I'll get more for my friends in NYC who have requested a fix.

Last night I was invited to have some of the leftovers from the parrillada & on the way there my friend told me we were going to check to see if the tamal woman was out (Spanish note: tamal is singular, tamales is plural & there's no such thing as "a tamale"). One of the things she has raved to me about is the "torta de tamal" or tamal sandwich & I've been fascinated by the concept. It couldn't be just a tamal on a roll, could it? Doesn't there have to be more? No, but it's strangely compelling despite being the single starchiest mouthful I've ever eaten.

For those of you living on another planet, a tamal is corn meal mixed with a rich fat (usually lard) so it can be formed into a shape & stuffed with a variety of meats, vegetables & sauces and then steamed (usually in corn husks) until delicious. All too often in the US they're improperly made so they wind up dry & flavorless or so dense & heavy that they feel like eating lead weights. These, however, were the best I've had- both light & moist with the perfect ratio of stuffing to corn meal. The torta de tamal made sense with these as it's the perfect way to eat one on the run without getting one's hands dirty. I had my torta with a "tamal verde" (stuffed with spicy green sauce but no other vegetable or meat) so I had to buy 2 others to try out today. I came away with a "tamal Oaxaca"- stuffed with chicken stewed in red sauce & steamed in banana leaves instead of corn husks- & a "tamal de molé" filled here with pork cooked in molé Poblano. Since I slept through my alarm today & missed school, I got to have one for breakfast & one for lunch & I'm happy to report both were spectacular.

The amazing thing about this woman is that she is well known to all segments of the population here. There was a line including both doctors in white coats & name tags from the nearby hospital and manual laborers still dressed in clothes dirty from a long day's work. Not to mention housewives buying several tamales to take home plus a affluent-appearing couple happily munching as they stood next to the cart. Despite the disparity in wealth in this city, good food can equalize all castes & the perfectly prepared tamales from this stand appeal to all the classes in a way that would make the staunchest socialist weep with joy. I only wish she was within walking distance of my apartment so I could participate in the coming together of the citizenry more often. ¡Besos!