Before I wanted to be an artist, but after I wanted to be a writer, I wanted to be a cook. I became a vegetarian in high school, under the condition that I'd have to cook dinner for for the family. Luckily for me, both my parents were near vegetarian anyways, and already owned the two best cookbooks out there, "The Enchanted Broccoli Forest" and The Moosewood Cookbook." These were two of the first vegetarian cookbooks ever written, and my parents had the first edition of each of them. The author, Molly Katzen, published her address in the back of them. I idolized Molly Katzen and decided to send her a letter. Granted, this was about twenty years after she had initially published her cookbook so I had no idea if the address was correct or if it would reach her or not. Much to my surprise, it did, and she wrote back within a few weeks. She wrote on a card that she had designed herself (she did all the illustrations in her cookbooks as well), and said something along the lines of, "Follow your dreams!" I still have that letter. So, when I saw that cooking classes are one of the more popular things to do here in San Miguel, I jumped on the opportunity. I signed up for a market visit and cooking class at Sazon, a cooking school run by the chefs at Belmond Casa de Sierra Nevada. It also happens to be one of the more affordable classes in San Miguel- at a little over $50 USD. My class was taught by the head pastry chef, Ruben Yanez. We were all given a little bag to put produce in, and quickly headed out to the market. I love Mexican markets. I had been to at least three in Mexico City last fall, including "Mercado Sonora,"the famous witchcraft market, where you can buy ingredients for spells, or even ask sellers to curse someone for you. Markets are great, because even in a gringo run town like San Miguel, there are very few gringos. So for the first time since I've been in San Miguel, I felt like I was actually in "real" Mexico yesterday. We bought our produce, and Ruben described many of the items available at the market. We tasted four types of tamales, three types of atoles, candies, and the most amazing Nopale (cactus) taco, I've ever had. Once we got back to the kitchen we started cooking. It was a group effort, although I chose to stand back, sip my Mango/Tequila drink and take photos. Together we made traditional guacamole, salsa martajada, arroz horneado, and planto en crema de carmelo. I have to admit that when I saw the menu, I was a bit disappointed. I've been making guacamole and salsa my entire life. However, it was a different take on both. We used the molcajete to mash the ingredients, and it really made a difference in the taste and texture (I'm going to attempt to buy one before I leave). The rice dish was also fantastic, although I 'm doubtful that I'll be able to make it at home, since I have a severe rice cooking handicap. Ruben said there's a saying in Mexico, that if you can cook rice, you're ready to get married. I wondered if this might be what's holding me back from finding a husband.... Finally, we had bananas in caramel sauce, which was the best thing I've eaten in ages. The entire experience was lovely- from eating good food, to learning more about peppers, to making a few friends and getting some much needed socialization with other Americans. I spent the next few hours gleefully walking San Miguel, partially in a food coma. I think today, I'll head back to the market to buy some of that nopale cactus and try to make some tacos!
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I woke up nice and early this morning to go explore San Miguel de Allende. I'm staying outside of town so I have chosen to always take cabs into town, rather than dealing with driving through a busy city center. I walked about a half mile to town before hailing a cab. There was a ton of traffic. Then the driver just stopped, told me that the road was closed and asked if it was an ok place to get out. Yes? I got out and quickly discovered that there was a parade of sorts happening soon. I really didn't think much of it, and continued to explore. However, I soon realized that this parade was ggoing to take over the entire city center. I found some white people and asked them what the hell was going on. "Day of the Crazies!" the lady explained. This is my weakness as a traveler- most of the time I don't care about what is going on, I just want to photograph it. But this is what I gathered: A long time ago, San Miguel was mainly orchards. There was also a saint who helped these farmers. Incentive to convert to Catholicism had something to do with making a giant party called "Dia de los Locos" or "Day of the Crazies". Back then, people dressed up as scarecrows, or other weird things, and danced and drank and celebrated. I don't know what that had to do with Jesus, or the saint, but again, sometimes I just like taking photos.... It was a sea of people having fun, and a great way to spend my first "official" day in Mexico.... I have gotten lost on the first day of travelling in a new city in almost every place I've ever been. This first happened in St. Petersburg, Russia. I tried to make note of all the signs and buldings I passed so that I knew to turn left at McDonalds, right at the sign that said 24 yaca, and to go straight past the large palace. It turned out that 24 yaca meant "open 24 hours" and every block had a dozen of them. I thought McDonalds would be a memorable place in Russia. Nope. There's several of them in the city center. There are almost as many McDonalds as there are large palaces....
So I wandered St. Petersburg long after the sunset, until a girl asked me for money. I told her I didn't speak Russian, and then she politely asked again in English. I almost collapsed with relief. She directed me back to the metro, and I found myself home a short while later. I'd like to say that I gave her money, but I was 22, and probably didn't. So it should have be no surprise, that yesterday, as I crossed into Nuevo Laredo, I got lost as hell within the first few minutes. In order to drive your car in Mexico you have to get an temporary import permit for it. I attempted to do it online. I attempted to do it at the consulate. All so that I wouldn't have to do in in Mexico. Neither worked, and I was forced to cross the border a day early, just to do the paperwork. It was 103 degrees as I crossed the border in Nuevo Laredo. It seemed simple enough. You go through the customs lane, and look to your right for a large white building. As I got my green light at customs, I looked to my right. No building. I had no choice but to drive on. Slightly panicked, I pulled into the parking lot of a school. I figured that would be a safe place for a white girl to search google maps in a sketchy town in Mexico....I locked my doors and quickly googled something along the lines of "GOD, please help me, I'm in a border town in Mexico and don't know where I'm supposed to get my temporary import permit". It spit out an address. I put it into maps, and started driving. About 5 turns into it, I knew that there was no way that this was the right address, but unsure of what else to do, so I faithfully followed the directions spit out by my car stereo. It took me to a bus station about 5 miles from the border. And I had no idea how to get back to the border. I suddenly wished I was a smoker again. I finally pulled over at a sign that said something along the lines of , "We rent cars to gringos". I figured they would not only speak English, but also know all about this stupid car permit. The receptionist talked to me for about 5 minutes in very broken English, trying to explain how to get to the mysterious white building. I walked out with a little more direction than I had walked in with. All I knew was that once I got to a bridge I should look for a white building. Which is how I got into this predicament in the first place. But sure enough, there it was. A white building just before the bridge. I scraped my car on a tope, made an ass out of myself in front of at least fifty people, nearly died of heat exhaustion as I waited to get back into the US, but I left Nuevo Laredo with my car permit. Oddly enough, once this was done, I was pretty sure the worst was over. I crossed back into Mexico the next morning without the slightest problem. I drove nearly 500 miles, on great roads, with out any problems. I arrived in San Miguel last night. I got lost on the way to the grocery store. But that's just how it goes. |
AuthorI'm Lauri. Teacher for nine months of the year, vagabond for the other three. I've traveled to France, Russia, West Africa, SE Asia and all over the US. This summer I'll be driving to Mexico with my little dog, Nilo. ArchivesCategories |