BonVivant

Where I ate, inside a market that has mostly food "stalls". Everyone yells at you and shoves menus in your face. Competition is fierce. Do research before going to Oaxaca so you know what the dishes are when you see their names on menus. People eat at any time of day so don't think the empty benches mean this or that stall serves bad food. At busy meal times it's very crowded and in times like these it's better to come before or after. One of Oaxacan classics. A giant (as in much bigger than a dinner plate) crispy corn tortilla that's brushed with lard, then a thin layer of bean paste, then cheese (my order is called "Tlayuda simpel", the most standard version). Extra toppings such as crispy grasshoppers, several types of grilled meat, greens, avocado etc are optional. Quesadilla filled with Quesillo (Oaxacan string cheese) and courgette flowers are also super popular. An English-speaking muscular Mexican who sat next to me ate one and drank 2 beers. I thought he was a vegetarian and that was his meal. Then his tlayuda arrived. Whoa, the works. Had all the optional toppings on it, including all the different types of meat and grasshoppers.. You see a pile or 2 or this on most counters in this market. Giant crispy corn tortillas for Tlayudas. Another meal on a different day. Local restaurant on a street just outside the market. Lots of gringos stop to look but don't dare come in. Owner and employees treat us as locals. Mexico is one of the few countries where people are kind and don't treat us as walking wallets. Announcement on chalk board outlines new prices and asks for patrons' understanding. Condiments. Only Duvel's table cover is more psychedelic. I ordered all 3 kinds

Lunch on a full day excursion visiting a Zapotec archaeological site Monte Albán, black pottery village and 2 other villages. Looks weird but it's chicken in mole negro, because hey, when you are in Oaxaca, the place to try real moles. Two different meats on this plate. Plus potatoes and sweet chayote (squash). Cactus "salad". Beetroots have pineapple chunks mixed in. Hadn't thought of that. I eat lots of beetroots, gonna steal this idea. "Dry beef" (known as "tasajo" in Oaxaca, but something else in other Spanish speaking countries) and mini corn tortillas with cheese. Heavily overcast day at Monte Albán. This is just one area of the site. Traditional Zapotec weaving Tortilla cooking rig, it's everywhere in Oaxaca.

Mamey is aromatic. The flesh and big seed remind me of avocado. I scooped out the flesh with a spoon just like when eating avocado. Here's the one I bought and made it part of breakfast. Grated jicama in the middle. Took me some time to finish this giant bowl and the avocado milk(shake). I gave up buying papaya at home. Papaya in Mexico is perfectly ripe every time, and flavourful. Mangoes as well. Fruit paradise Mexico. Grated jicama in the middle. Took me some time to finish this giant bowl and the avocado milk(shake). I gave up buying papaya at home. Papaya in Mexico is perfectly ripe every time, and flavourful. Hot chocolate again. They brought us sugar for the chocolate, just in case. We always order ours 100% cacao without sugar. Wood-carved hummingbird I bought on an excursion. It wants pure sugar water, though. Mexicans love their chilli sauces and they are not only for savoury food. Yesterday I watched grown men and women eat tamarind paste on a stick. They dipped the tamarind in little individual plastic containers of chilli sauce. They ate all the sauce, too.

Hot chocolate and atole blanco (corn massa drink). Fruit monster in Oaxacan fruit paradise At home you eat 'some fruit". In Oaxaca it comes in a massive bowl with all kinds of fruits. I bought one. Very dense flesh, and sweet.

I had reservations about tamales but wanted to try anyway. Much better and almost nothing like the stuff I ate in Chile (slimy and pasty). Same problem with S.E. Asian boiled (sticky) rice parcels wrapped in banana leaves. It's not the food. Comes down to my texture aversion. Sweet tamal. Rajas, but does not contain cheese/cream. Chicken and chillies, probably poblanos. I often see them sold on streets or at the produce stalls. Spicy. The chilli sauce is spicy enough to make me sniff. https://i.imgur.com/m9HAkOM.jpg https://i.imgur.com/tzBjYZs.jpg https://i.imgur.com/nsl1vP2.jpg Probably their most sold tamales, chicken in chocolate mole. Comes with extra mole negro. At busy times I noticed most Mexicans ordered this one and another one wrapped in corn husks. Glad I tried all 3. No slime issue, corn massa is coarser. At this pleasant chocolate shop-restaurant you can see everything being made in the open kitchen, if you stand at the counter or if your table has views of the kitchen doorway. The pasilla Oaxacaqueños come in 3 sizez (I got all 3) but the biggest ones are most smokey, darkest and a a little moist. First batch of pure chocolate and pasilla Oaxacaqueños. Wanted to know how much could fit into my rucksack. Found out I had room for twice as much and went back to the market for more. My bag smells amazing now, a mix of chocolate and chillies. The small round-shaped chillies in previous photo. They also have vanilla. Chilli sellers know that if you know about Oaxacan pasilla chillies then you probably also want to buy vanilla. I gave her all the cash I had in my pocket for only a few of these, as they are quite expensive. Home-made salsa macha with different chillies. Seen on a random door in a non touristy part of town.

Checked out another "organic market" where I had some lunch. Food does not look like in the advertised photo but it's prawns. Oaxaca is corn territory. Flour tortillas don't exist here, and don't even dare ask. Fish ceviche 'tostada', on same big and crispy tortilla. Crispy critters, but no earworms and isopods. Mostly garlicky, savoury grasshoppers. Master potter demonstrates how Zapotecan black pottery is made. Takes about 4 weeks or from this to the final product, all manually. No glaze is applied. @chefmdand @Kim ShookI have asked. Apparently the lead issue does not extend to black pottery as the lead is in the glaze. I would have bought these 2 cups but I no longer buy stuff. Only edible souvenirs.

Enchiladas "Swiss-style" (filled with cheese, drenched in a red sauce, topped with crumbly Oaxacan cheese and cream). I thought the black stuff was beans but apparently it's not. Grainy like a thick mole paste or chocolate. Part of a Oaxacan meal (or snack, or whenever one fancies, really): hot chocolate. Speaking of chocolate, I went to another producer and checked out theirs after this breakfast. The menus: It's grainy and the last bits are always thick as mud. I rinse out the bowls twice with my own water. Tools for crushing the beans Modern processing machines. At all the chocolate shops in town you see how it's done, around the clock.

There are 2 organic "markets" in town, I visited the first one for lunch. Tasajo (dried beef or "jerky") with melted Quesillo (Oaxacan melting cheese, a bit like mozz), and some chapulines (crispy critters) on top. Prawn aguachile. Hot enough but not blow-my-head-off "hot". Some cooks make it even hotter. Be still mi corazon... Hard to make good photos inside the dark and busy markets. The paths are small and there's a constant stream of people. @KennethTI still have some from previous trip but of course I'm buying Oaxacan Pasilla to take home. So many types of chillies and they are gorgeous.

Some Oaxacan dishes have no chance of winning a beauty contest. "Coloradito" is just a liiiitle spicy. Enfrijoladas contains black beans in the sauce/mole Chocolate, chillies and cheese every day. I love my temporary Oaxacan life! 100% without sugar for myself, con leche for travelling companion. *Pan de casa* this time. Has the same lightness as *pan de yema* but more eggy taste and sweeter.

Just wander round outside the touristy centre and one will find there are many local places to eat (real/not heavily-gringoed typical food). Went to a craft beer address but it didn't exist and found this place in an unassuming location. The condition of the road is quite normal around here. The shop has no name. Tlayuda is a typical Oaxacan corn tortilla, a giant one, bigger than a dinner plate. I even tried the green onion (!), something I deeply loath. Removed the charred layer first. The onion is kind of sweet, no retch-inducing smell and little slime. Filled with bean paste and cheese. Always cheese. Tasajo is a dry piece of meat. Translation I got "jerky". Condiments: pickled onions, smokey chilli sauce, serrano chilli sauce. Both sauces are nice and spicy. Even my travelling companion who can't eat as spicy as I likes them. Also a condiment but not sure what is is. Mild, little flavour, and thin. No beer, no plain water. Only fizzy drinks or this, water with lime bits in it. Menu on the wall Making tortillas. Some locals come just to buy the freshly made tortillas for home use. They bring their own dish cloths to carry the warm tortillas home. Half an old (oil) drum. The tortillas are brushed with lard, then a thin layer of bean paste, then next is Oaxacan cheese ("Quesillo"). These 3 things will always go on a Tlayuda. Other toppings are optional. The tortillas are first cooked on the drum, then roast till crispy over coals, also to melt the Quesillo. We were the second last to arrive. The shop opens till 5pm. Real local food, no gringos in sight and easy on the wallet. Ceramics are big in Oaxaca, as in much of Mexico. This is a pavement "shop" across the street from a market near my lodging.

After breakfast I went straight to a certain well-known producer to try my first traditional Oaxacan chocolate drinks. 100% pure chocolate in one cup, the other one has milk and vanilla. One of the typical Oaxacan breads to eat alongside chocolate drinks. This one is called "yolk bread". Super fluffy and only mildly sweet. Chocolate is dissolved in the kitchen and the server uses a wooden tool to "beat" it until frothy. Then he pours it into your cup. One of Mexico's (culinary) gifts to the world! Can't wait to go back here after breakfast. @chefmd, whilst walking past boarding gates at MEX seeing listed destinations I was thinking to myself there's nowhere else I would rather be right now. Because, ballenas/whales!!! Feels so good to be back in Me.Hi.Co! 6:30 departure. (Thanks, air traffic controllers*, for keeping me safe! *who have the most stressful job in the world)

I'm not in Tibet. (That was in March 2006) Tomato sauce, passata consistency. There's a tortilla underneath, which is completely soggy but it's probably supposed to be like that. First meal after 22 hours straight without sleep and 2 flights. With melted cheese on top. Sauce has clear taste of tamarind. Quite refreshing. Filled with shredded chicken Inner courtyard at my hotel, also doubles as breakfast room. Views from my room upstairs

(Copy and pasty here. Previously posted to lunch and dinner threads) The marinade: chipotle, Madeira, my own mix of "fajita seasoning". Cooked SV then finished in the oven till crispy. The second version is a bit different. The wings were steamed in the marinade. The marinade: fermented black beans (not rinsed, roughly chopped), Taiwanese "BBQ sauce", salted mustard and Madeira wine. Ate this meal with noodles (not pictured). Miso-Madeira marinated flat wings. Lemongrass-fish sauce-Madeira marinade. Remove the cartilage, crape flesh down with a small but not flimsy knife and twist off the smaller bone. Make sure to sharpen the knife before starting. Marinate the wings overnight, best to smear the marinade all over the inside and out. I make this every summer and cook on the Weber in the garden. Udon noodles

Had to forgo dinner after this Tofu Earlier this week I saw a couple photos of Santorini and thought they were fake. I looked it up. Greece got some freak weather last week. Even Cycladic islands were deep in snow. I found 2 of my own photos taken back in September to compare. The difference is stark.This was Santorini on Monday the 24th: photo one, photo two. A very different Santorini in September: I was eating by the calm water Where I sat. A perfect day is any day in Greece, preferably with food or beer in front of me.

Braised beef shin with lemongrass and carrots (Bo Kho style). Seared salmon 2 ways: Looks a bit like curry but it's not. I can't eat curry of any kind. Oyster mushrooms in cream with fresh turmeric. Lentils on right. Fresh shiitake in a spicy sauce. Mung bean noodles underneath.

Cave-aged Kaltbach I blitzed the last of a boozy cherry compote in the blender with some more wine and lemon juice added. Lamb's liver has been cooked SV first. There's a Greek meze liver dish that is marinated in red wine (and lemon juice). Greek anchovies Just a few things I have lying around and it's lunch. Another lunch. Cretan-style (sourdough rye) toast. Scrambled eggs with tomatoes, feta and kalamata. Memories of Santorini... How you know it's a local place... the salad has more tomatoes, more cheese and is drenched in olive oil. FYI, the world's 2 top olive oil producers Italy and Spain, consume on average 10.5 litres a year. Cretans consume more than 35 litres a year (!), more than anyone/population in the whole world! Olive oil is king in Cretan gastronomy. Aubergine dip. On Santorini they eat Santorini aubergines (Solanum avigerum). This variety is only available on the pretty island (mostly in people's own gardens), white, seedless, not bitter at all, and hardly absorbs oil. Good Bifteki, not dry at all. Reminds me of German "Frikandellen" but I like Bifteki more when I'm in Greece, of course. Lamb chops in Greece usually look well-done but it's tender and flavourful. If you eat meat never miss a chance to try the lamb. I still sleep badly when I think of the earthquakes I experience in Crete! Then I look at these photos and want to go there again!

Cooking along with the "cook-off". Miso-Madeira marinated flat wings. Lemongrass-fish sauce-Madeira marinade. Remove the cartilage, crape flesh down with a small but not flimsy knife and twist off the smaller bone. Make sure to sharpen the knife before starting. Marinate the wings overnight, best to smear the marinade all over the inside and out. I make this every summer and cook on the Weber in the garden. Udon noodles

@Dejah, I didn't follow this recipe (or any recipe for anything). I added chipotle. Taiwanese tofu Hot smoked salmon and fried roe

A pair of fresh roe sacs The marinade: chipotle, Madeira, my own mix of "fajita seasoning". Cooked SV then finished in the oven till crispy. The second version is a bit different. The wings were steamed in the marinade. The marinade: fermented black beans (not rinsed, roughly chopped), Taiwanese "BBQ sauce", salted mustard and Madeira wine. Ate this meal with noodles (not pictured). Crab claws and a worthless beer. @Kenneth, maybe the wife likes these chicken wing lollies. She doesn't want to deal with the bones? I crush them with my teeth and suck out all the marrow! Stayed at this family-run pineapple-mango farmers' ryokan on Iriomote island for a few days and enjoyed every single home-cooked meal there.

Decided to make a photo before I ate everything. My hand baggage only had food and fruits. Always bring back Portuguese garlic. (Unless you prefer Chinese garlic) Bolo de caco* with spicy octopus. (*Madeiran circular bread made from sweet potatoes and flour, traditionally cooked on a slab of basalt.) Some time last week on the island... Limpets every day When you forgot to say "sim cebola, por favor."... What would the people who say "no dairy in seafood" think of this? Black scabbard with passion fruit custard and flambeed banana. I think they would rather have dairy in seafood. The most popular dish to serve to tourists. Had to do it, just once. Madeirans don't use bananas in this meal. Portuguese name for Madeira is "flower of the ocean". In some languages it's "island of flowers/flower island". This is one of Madeira's famous gardens: the botanical garden. At the airport now... (The way things are going, it's not when, it's if.)

Steamed soft tofu with salted mustard and some mince. Having been to Madeira now I know Madeira sweet wines are not for me. Got a bottle a week before the holidays. Only good enough for cooking and baking. Smoned herring (is for me) and mackerel. Barley in the pot

12 floating petri dishes in the harbour yesterday for the NY fireworks (a spectacle in the Madeiran capital). Sea snails Liimpets. The most popular starter here. The most popular fish after black scabbard is tuna. They love the deep waters around here. One more order of limpets

A typical Madeiran salad, half an onion is hidden on the other side of the lettuce. I have to say "sim cebola, por favor" every day. Raw onions are in everything. The most common fish in the archipelago. They like the deep waters round these parts. I got the belly section, very rich and fatty like salmon belly. Sea bass, also simply pan-fried. The menu is on the wall. Left is fish/seafood, right is meat. Carne de porco vinho d'alhos is the Christmas dish on Madeira. A simple local eatery, not western kind of "snack bar", frequented by locals and some (brave) tourists. We watched some lost tourists who stopped to look but it's not their style so they kept on walking. What it's like holidaying in a warm place at this time of year. There's no such thing as seasonal decoration overkill (Madeirans can't get enough of festive decos) and lots of greenery which seems out of place (me arriving from cold, miserable food/hell). A small park round the corner from my lodging

Ken, I have tried a "dry" tasting set so far. Will check out 2 more sets before I leave the island. One, I'm not (_yet_) into Madeira wines (but like port and sherry). And two, I'm on a walking holiday. Every morning I get picked up and taken to the mountains on walking excursions, coming back at 5pm. Have to return another time just to eat and drink. To experience Madeira one must go to the mountains. Blandy's wine lodge and tasting room is around the corner from where I'm staying. Wines have always been important to Portuguese. Henry the Navigator gave orders for vineyards to be planted. The vines were sent from the Cretan capital. Madeira wines as we know today were discovered quite by accident and the rest is as they say, history. What the (ancient) Greeks and Portuguese did for us... Repurposed barrels. They let me see a printed menu. I'm not a phone user. Fruit monster in fruit paradise. Every morning I eat a big plate of Madeiran fruits. From this morning: there's passion fruit and there's Madeiran passion fruit. There are 2 types on the island (one is not shown). Madeiran passion fruit, both types, are sweeter and milder. Not to mention HUGE, like most plants, flowers, leaves and trees here. Huge. Early settlers imported bananas from Macau. They are small and sweet. Madeira exports its bananas mostly to mainland Portugal. If there's a suitable surface, no matter how small, they will plant banana trees. Every.where. pretty much. Oval shaped fruit on left are "tomate inglês" in Portuguese. Also from this morning: Madeiran sugar cane molasses cake. Not "Madeira cake", which Madeirans called "English cake".

Salt cod fritters (and potatoes) Big cubes are "milho frito" (Madeiran fried cornmeal). A side for almost every meat or fish dish round these parts. Nice tender pork Octopus Madeira is a geologist's/seismologist's dream. A photo from my beautiful walk today.