mexican food

oaxaca is known for its food, the people here take real pride in it, and rightly so because it is excellent. corn and beans are the main staples (in fact oaxaca is where corn was first domesticated by man roughly 20,000 years ago) and they are served in a variety of different ways. most typical and commonly sold by street venders are tlayudas, tortillas spread with a thin layer of refried beans and then fried, and memelitas, essentially the same thing but with the edition of salsa and an excellent oaxacan string cheese called quesillo. also common are tamales, soft corn cakes stuffed with beans and steamed wrapped in corn husks, and my favorite sincronizadas, tortillas filled with ham and cheese then grilled. oaxaca is also known for it´s mole, a rich sauce which is often made with over 30 ingredients the most prevalent of which is chocolate. it´s a little strange to eat chicken smothered in a sauce made with chili peppers and chocolate, but the results are excellent. another personal favorite is milenasa, a very thin cut of chicken or pork, lightly breaded and fried. oaxaca is also home to a variety of fruits, some familiar and some foreign. best of the foriegn is tuna (prickly pear or cactus fruit) which is good both raw and made into ice cream which some tourists hysterically confuse it with the fish and beleive that tuna fish ice cream is being served. pineapples and plantains are also prevelant here as is habiscus flower which is made into an excellent juice. the other truly wonderful fruit here are the limes. they are small and sweet and served with absolutely everthing. a personal favorite of mine is freshly roasted peanuts and chiles then covered in lime. the avacodoes here are also excellent, served either in a thin guacamole or in whole slices, even in soups.

the other wonderful part of mexican cuisine is the alcohol. imported alcohol here is amazingly expensive, but the types made in mexico are very cheap with even very nice mixed drinks only costing half of what they do in the states. the best local drink is mezcal, a tequila like beverage made from the sap of the maguey plant, a large spiny desert plant similar to the yucca in the american southwest. it is consumed straight and is very powerful but can be very smooth if you get a better variety. mezcal is also made into a variety of flavoured creams, think a tequila version of baileys, and comes in flavors like mint, coffee (excellent), passion fruit, and coconut. mezcal is also sometimes mixed with powder from chili peppers, something i find very enjoyable but others here find completely unbearble. i´ll bring a little back so you can see for yourself.
mexican beer is also excellent and comes in a large variety. corona and tecate are available in the states and considered pretty cheap and of low quality. of better quality are negro modelo, also available in the states and definately worth a try, and the mexico only indio and leon. possibly my favorite thing about beer is mexico are the ¨family size¨beers you can buy in local corner stores. they are liter or liter and a half bottles of beer, corona usually, that literally say ¨family size¨across the top of them. we´ll get one and all split it at dinner sometimes. i find them very funny and i´ll problably bring one back if i can, or at least a picture of me holding one.