Apr 13, 2013

foodie friday

Got to work over an hour early driving in with Alejandro and his father. I walked around looking for a place to grab a bite to eat and read my kindle, since I have downloaded a very interesting collection of essays and articles about this recent urban history of Mexico City. I feel better researching this city while I’m here, like its essentially a built it yourself study abroad. Which is actually not too far from how I actually think about it.
Ended up at a small place that looked promising (i.e. cheap) but homey. The woman working there basically told me the specials in the morning and I said basically, sure, I’ll take the chuletquilles. Coffee? Sure! Orange juice? Sure! It was a nice way to start the day- breakfast and reading about the city. They put cinnamon in the coffee which was pretty good actually. It complimented the chuletquilles.

I was one of the first people in the office, and Edward, our Scotsman, brought in a delicious pastry called milhojas (1000 sheets) which is basically a pastry of layering thin sheets of phylo dough with cream and topped with icing. It was a good day for eating.

For lunch, Jose and some other coworkeres asked me if I wanted to join them for lunch at the market. Claro que si! What market? We walked for a few blocks to where a street market had been set up, mostly selling food and drink items under green tents.

We started lunch with Tlacoyos. Tlacoyos start as a kind of corn tortilla dough mixed with bean powder which gives the dough a dark greenish blue tint. These are fried and stuffed with beans, cheese, or masa, what tamales are made of. Then, they are topped with whatever you like, although I got mine with nopales and green salsa (cooked prickly pear) and cheese and crema. They are pretty tasty. Less than a dollar each.

We skipped a few tents over to get some barbacoa tacos. I actually love barbacoa- its one my favorite Mexican meats apart from tinga and al pastor. Fresh squeezed lime, salsa, chopped onions, and cilantro to complete the taco. Delicious. Absolutely delicious. We sat on plastic stools under the tents while a street band played music. The aroma from the frying plantains filled the air and almost enticed me to buy some until I found out they’re actually served in tacos rather than on their own.

To finish lunch, we got some ice cream to eat while walking back to the office. It was a gorgeous day. Sunny, with warm breezes. The more I read about Mexico City, the more I find out how much visitors used to rave about it- the climate, the baroque splendor of its palaces, even the first conquistadors who set eyes on the city of lakes and canals of the Aztecs were rapt and amazed, describing it as a city which rivaled those of Europe.

Got off work early today and caught my boss David at the cafe downstairs. It turns out he’s heading to Europe for a few weeks of teaching. He just wanted to see how the project was going and to check in on how I’m doing.

I took the metro to the centro and walked along Eje central towards the historic center. The entire Eje is lined on both sides with all kinds of cheap stores, including a staggering number of electronics vendors. The are several massive warrens of nothing but narrow stalls selling cell phones, tablets, computers, game systems, and associated paraphernalia.

My goal, however, was skyward. I paid the $6 to go up to the observatory on the top of the Torre Latinoamericano, skyscraper of 43 floors, like a miniature Empire state building. The tower stands at the edge of the giant historic center, with great views of the center- including a view down into the Zocolo. You can see the airport in the distance. Around to the south, the mountains fade into the haze, growing larger even as they become less clear in the smog. To the west, you can see the towers and the commercial centers along Paseo de la Reforma. It’s a big city, but it doesn’t look as big as Tokyo or Sao Paolo did from up on high.

Perhaps its because the smog conceals the stretch of the city. Perhaps its because the towers are so few and concentrated. Mexico City really is a low-rise, high density city, paradoxically as that sounds. Far in the distance, I could see the silhouettes of the towers in the business and financial new masterplanned suburb of Santa Fe, built on an old massive landfill.

I used their bathrooms and free internet, and for me, that alone was worth the price of admission.
After departing, I wandered down paseo Moreno, the pedestrian shopping street, and looped back along another street when I hit the Zocalo. I was looking for a light rain jacket, but I think actually, I’m pretty good with what I have. Decided to save my money to spend on other things.

I finally found Churreria el Moro. As the name implies, this is a cafe devoted solely to churros, coffee, and hot chocolate. Tons of tables. The curving churros are made right up front, and the rich, thick drinking chocolate is ladled out of massive cauldrons. I ordered four churros and a chocolate. I have a new addition to my list of favorite places in Mexico City.

In other, sadder news, Alejandro’s cat, Tita is not doing well. The vet thinks her kidneys and liver are failing. Apparently she is having trouble walking and tumbles around. They took her to the vet today and tomorow they’ll hear about their options. It makes me really sad because Tita has been their family cat for 14 years, the same age as Suki, and there’s a strong resemblance between the two cats. It makes me worry about Suki’s health and I really, really hope that my brother won’t have to deal with any issues of Suki’s health. He’s already made a lot of sacrifices to take care of her while I’m gone.

Tomorrow- back to the centro for museums!!

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