I found this skinny vegetable, which almost looks like oversized baby corn, at Mercado La Merced a few days ago. The vendor, an older woman with gray hair, told me the name. But she spoke softly and I was too embarrassed to ask her to repeat it. It sounded Nahuatl.
She said you [...]
The first time I saw flor de nabo was a few years ago on a sidewalk in the Roma. A woman was selling it out of a big plastic bag, and I, ever the quelite-scouter, stopped to ask her: “Qué tipo de quelite es?” She said flor de nabo. I loved how [...]
I snapped this a few months ago at Plaza Meave on Eje Central, in the Centro Histórico. They’ve got the biggest spit (trompo in Spanish) that I’ve seen in the city. It’s always crowded, and fun to just sit and watch — the taquero works like a madman, slicing meat with one [...]
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The more I learn about Mexican food, the more I realize I’ll never know enough.
So many things just simply aren’t written down: recipes, techniques, the names of regional chiles from tiny villages. Really learning this cuisine means traveling to cities and towns and tasting as many things as possible. Or at least studying with [...]
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If you’ve ever wandered near the eastern edge of the Zócalo, over by the Templo Mayor, you might have heard them: street vendors selling scarves, hats, sunglasses, purses, desk items and whatever else might be useful from tarps spread out on the sidewalk. As people pass, the vendors call out: “10 Continue Reading →
“A red trickle flowed from the young victim’s nostrils, and when he stopped blinking the crowd started to thin, people walking away in a silence as yet unbroken by the wailing of an ambulance. At that moment, Araceli fully and finally comprehended the cruelty of her native city, the precariousness of life in the presence [...]
Continue Reading →A few weeks ago I stumbled across a neat little pamphlet put out by SAGARPA, Mexico’s agriculture ministry. Transparency around food isn’t exactly common here, so I was surprised to see a neat, organized chart listing the seasonal availability of some of Mexico’s most popular ingredients.
I checked out the accompanying website when I [...]
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For awhile now, I’ve liked green salsa more than red. Green was always brighter, more acidic. A drizzle on my taco set off sparks on my tongue. And when the salsa had avocado, as green taquería salsas often do here, I wanted to curl up and take a nap in its creaminess.
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Continue Reading →A year and a half later, it’s come to an end. I’m now the owner of a diploma in Especialización de Gastronomía Mexicana from the Escuela de Gastronomía Mexicana in Mexico City.
I should’ve been excited at graduation last week. Instead I was nervous. What if I wouldn’t get my diploma after [...]
Continue Reading →Who is Mija?
Mija is Lesley Téllez, a food writer and culinary guide based in Mexico City. In 2010 I co-founded the tourism company Eat Mexico.On FB!
