Chile de agua at Oaxaca's Central de Abastos Market
A few friends in Oaxaca warned me about how crazy-insane the Central de Abastos was. It’s huge. Don’t expect to see it all, they told me. You’re going to get lost and you have to be okay with it.
I’m a fan of Mercado de la Merced in Mexico City, so my eyes light up at this kind of talk.
I got to the market around noon, and my friends were right. I couldn’t see anything from where I’d been dropped off; clothing vendors, shoe sellers and people selling remote controls and batteries stretched on and on. I asked a young woman where the food was and she looked confused — it was like she’d never been there before. (Was this place really that big?)
Eventually I found the main market building and it looked pretty similar to what I’ve seen in Mexico City, with some extra additions: long, stringy tripas dangled from rods at the meat stands; chile vendors sold costeño and amarillo and three types of chile pasilla oaxaqueña, separated by size. The sweet bread vendors sold pillowy pan de yema and these oval-shaped breads with bubbly tops, sprinkled with pink sugar.
The real action was outside at the tianguis. The Central has a tianguis every Tuesday, which means vendors, many of them women, set up outside with their wares displayed on plastic tarps.
There were so many vendors, I couldn’t see where the line ended. They sold mountains of chiles de agua and baskets of heirloom tomatoes, and stacks of fresh basil, rosemary, poleo, chepiche. They sold pitayas and teeny cactus fruits called jiotilla, the size of kumquats. One group of vendors sold panela, unrefined cane sugar, in massive brownie-sized blocks. Further down about 30 women in aprons sat on stacks of newspaper and tied bundles of garlic together. Past them, perhaps a dozen more sat and tied bundles of spring onions.
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In between it all, ambulant vendors hurried by, selling Oaxacan oregano and cal in rock form. “Quiere la cal, doña? Doñita, la cal!”
After about two hours, I’d loaded up two bags with purchases (there’s a clay artesanía section too, where I bought two comales de barro), and refueled with an empanada de coloradito. I scribbled down a few notes in my notebook and the last line was: “Just. Totally. WHOA.”
If you’re into food and you’re visiting Oaxaca City, you must stop by. My food friends in Oaxaca tell me Tuesday is the best day.
Heirloom tomatoes
Live maguey worms, perfect for eating in a taco or grinding in a salsa
Panela, the unrefined cane sugar that's known as piloncillo in DF.
Piloncillo coconut candy... this stuff is the bomb.
Mangoes in spicy piloncillo syrup.
How to get there…
Aw I miss Oaxaca! It’s just not a market until there is live poultry for sale.
Yes. The sounds of turkeys gobbling has become sort of comforting to me, strangely. I’m also a huge fan of the grilled-meat smell. It’s not a Oaxaca market if you don’t smell smoke and sizzling beef.
I wanna pack my bags and go right now. Looks amazing!
oh…los mangos en piloncillo!!!. Adoro Oaxaca, su cultura, cocina y productos regionales.
Heidi: Me too! I fell even more in love on this trip. There’s so much to explore.
omg Can’t wait to do this. This is your best statement yet:
“Just. Totally. WHOA.” Loved this post.
Wonderul…people that know me know that the first think I do when visiting a country or a State is going to the markets…I think I plan my vacations on the food and the markets….
Lesley, talking about the mangos enchiladas in syrup… next time go the the thursday tianguis in Zaachila, there is a icecream vendor that makes a nieve combined with these mango’s, called Amanecer in Monte Alban or something; ab-so-lu-tely fabulous!
Thanks Jonas. I’ll be back for a few days in July (including on a Thursday), so I will have to check that out! Absolutely LOVED these mangoes.