Now We're Cookin'

I changed the header image to show the kids at a recent visit to "the chocolate street," drinking frozen chocolate milk from one of the major purveyors of Oaxacan chocolate, usually ground with cinnamon, vanilla and nuts for amazingly rich flavor.

We were cautious about food for the first month after our arrival, waiting for our tummies to get used to the new bacteria and general flora and fauna. Fortunately it paid off and unlike our prior visits, we've been nearly free of Montezuma's Revenge and other parasites. Now we're beginning to take a few risks and indulge in the incredible array of Oaxacan street food. The kids and I had piping hot beef tacos from a pushcart yesterday, loaded with onions, cilantro, and muy picante guacamole. Another local favorite that I've begun to sample regularly is a drink called Tejate, made from ground roasted cocoa and corn, flavored with seeds from the maguey plant and "flor de cacao," a tree NOT literally in the cocoa family. Before the Spanish--and modern tourists--tejate had only those four ingredients, but these days the sellers add brown sugar syrup to taste, generously scooping rich white cocoa butter foam on top of every serving. YUM. Photo forthcoming.