Last week I was in New York for the IACP conference, a huge annual gathering of culinary folks from all over the U.S. — chefs, food writers, bloggers, entrepreneurs.
As part of one of the official pre-conference activities I’d signed up to take an Indian food tour of Queens with Madhur Jaffrey. [...]
Continue Reading →Thanks to everyone for asking about us. We’re fine.
I’m sorry I didn’t check in sooner, but I left for California for a few days to hang out with my family. (I already had the trip planned.) The quake was a doozy, though — people here are still talking about it.
I [...]
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Because of the temperate climate here, Mexico City is blessed with beautiful produce almost year-round. You can always find squash, green beans, carrots, tomatillos, tomatoes and poblanos at the markets. (Notice I said markets and not supermarkets — the supermarkets are always running out of stuff.) You can almost always find squash flowers, [...]
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When I moved to Mexico City in 2009, people here didn’t talk much about where their food came from. A few stores sold organic groceries. A small handful of restaurants, including Pujol and Nicos, mentioned local items on their menus, but that was about it.
A lot has changed. Mexico City now has an [...]
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A few months ago, my friend Ruth forwarded me an email about a tamales and atole fair in Tetepango, Hidalgo. The email was scarce on details, but it did contain one important fact: there would be more than 100 varieties of tamales and atoles for sale. More than 100. The organizers were also offering a [...]
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The Mija Chronicles is a finalist in About.com’s Readers’ Choice Awards, for Best Mexico Travel blog. If you have a few minutes — and you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read here — perhaps you could mosey over and vote for me? All you’d need to do is submit your email address, or you can [...]
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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 [...]
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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 [...]
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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 [...]
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!
