Food in Mexico City

As part of the Spanish A Level curriculum, we study a novel. The novel I have chosen to study with the students at my school is a Mexican masterpiece called Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) by Laura Esquivel. Its genre is magic realism, a hugely popular genre for Latin American writers, particularly in the 60s and 70s, who tended to use it to be able to comment on the sociopolitical issues at the time - and get away with it! The novel is set out like a cookbook, with each chapter a traditional Mexican recipe. In all honesty I've felt something of a fraud teaching my students about food I've never tried! Challenge accepted!

A lot of the recipes are unobtainable since they are either ones invented by the protagonist, or are turn-of-the-century indigenous dishes that are no longer cooked. One chapter is a traditional Mexican wedding cake (pastel de chabela) so although I have no plans to attend a wedding whilst here, I am hoping to see one in a shop window. In Mexico City the food is a lot more commercial so I've not found many of the recipes yet - I am hoping this will happen in Oaxaca.

In the meantime, I've had some amazing dishes. The best tacos I've ever tasted from Orinoco (which I'm told is a Mexican "McDonalds" just for tacos!), and some enchiladas suizas (Swiss enchiladas - so named as they are covered in a Swiss cheese sauce). At the Teōtīhuacān pyramids I tried a dish called sabana invierna which I wasn't sure what it was but turned out to be some kind of pork meat covered in cheese and a spicy dark sauce - maybe mole?

So far my stomach has handled the eclectic mix of food very well, particularly since I don't often eat spicy food at the best of times. We will see how long that lasts!!