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Here are a few more pics that I thought might be complementary to Philadining's: Another shot of the jerusalem artichoke soup with grapefruit foam. The Gruner Veltliner... this grape is just soooo food friendly.... This dish was so decadent I thought it deserved another photo. A lovely wine on its own, it was unfortunately overmatched. This may be my favorite white wine. Its versatility was apparent with sips saved for the other dishes. This wine surprised me. It was bone dry. The fruit was a bit lacking and I think this wine, though still quite good is perhaps on the other side of its prime. I just like this image. Another great food grape, this wine is similar to the verdejos from Spain's Rueda.

I have been away this weekend, but will be home later to post additional content. I will do my best to add English translations when appropriate and when I can, although for much of the food I am only aware of the Mexican names. Believe it or not, I did not gain any weight. I was surprised. I didn't lose any either, though. The nopales were great. I was fortunate to have them several times with different preparations. I loved them grilled and they were superb in soups as well. Grilled they reminded me of grilled bell peppers, perhaps a bit meatier and with a little more acidity to them. In soups they reminded me a little of green beans texturally. As far as anything unpalatable - no. Clearly there were foods that provided me more pleasure than others, but we had nothing that was not at least good. I hope to provide a fairly complete inventory in the coming days. Thank you for your interest.

Just a few quick comments for now as I am not yet back home and just able to check in for a few moments. This meal was simply outstanding. All the wonderful comments about Shola and Studio Kitchen are true. It is just a unique and wonderful experience. I am so happy that my wife and I had a chance to experience it in its current iteration. You can be sure that whatever Shola does in the future whether it is a return to this format or something else I will be there (though not nearly as often as I would like unless he moves into northeastern NY . All the courses were sensational. The wine pairings were superb with only one that provided a less than optimal reflection of pairing synergy. The wine was excellent and the course superb, but together the mutual enhancement lagged that of the other courses. I will post more specifics and perhaps a few additional photos later after I return home if I can somehow find a way to supplement Jeff's amazing pics. The last comment I will make for now is that the comeradery present that evening amongst all the participants was also wonderful and special. it is fun putting faces to names and people one has come to know as part of a virtual community. The conversation was interesting and effortless. It was an absolute pleasure to meet everyone for the first time or to renew aa previous acquaintance.

Comida – Las Cazuelas, Tlaxcala After El merced we got on the bus and headed out of Mexico City to go tour destination for the next five nights, The Hotel San Francisco in the City of Tlaxcala. Of course we had to eat by the time we got to Tlaxcala so we had our comida at the lovely restaurant Las Cazuelas We were started with jugos de Jamaica or pineapple and some antojitos, all delicious and interesting to a novice like me: A platter of Queso Asado with Nopales, Pellizcadas and quesadillas with flor de calabaza Plated with salsas. Soup with squash blossoms, mushrooms, chile poblanos,fresh corn and epazote. Rice with peas and carrots. Simple but good. Ovejo (lamb) a la Pasilla – Sauce of pasilla Chiles – delicious. Tortas de huazontle with cheese in the middle – marvelous. A michiote of Chicken tocatlan. This was perhaps my favorite dish of the day. The greens were amaranth and had a nice touch of tomatillo. Very tasty beans. Dessert: Bunuelo with Vanilla Ice Cream and piloncillo sauce. Lunch was excellent. We were stuffed than went off to our hotel before even more food to come….

Thanks, Lucy. That is a huge compliment coming from one of the original Master Photographers of eGullet and still one of the very best. I will post a little more shortlybefore taking a little break for the weekend. One of the beneficial things about chronicling something like this is that it is a way to record impressions and organize photos that I probably wouldn't take the time to do if it was just for myself. It helps to put everything about the trip in perspective.

I wish I had a Mexican market near where I live!

Actually I ate a lot of raw fruit - all of it peeled. There are a few reasons why non-natives or more accurately temporary visitors need to be cautious with raw fruit, veggies and water. One comes from the way the soil is fertilized. I believe that it is not uncommon for human waste to be used. This contaminates the exterior surfaces of said raw items. while particularly pathological bugs can be transferred in this way, it isn't even necessary that they be so. Just the fact that the "flora" is significantly different compared to most Americans or Europeans and that the exposure can be profound, it is enough to upset most people's GI tracts. The water in most places also tends to follow suit. As people spend more time there their bodies become more acclimated to the flora and adjust. Another reason that people sometimes become well acquainted with their WC's is that the diet tends to have a lot more bulk in the form of fruit and largely hidden in sauces vegetable fiber. Low-lying fruit such as strawberries are apparently particularly risky. Not being an expert in GI Medicine, that relatively simple explanation makes sense to me.

I think I can guess, Eliot at least a couple of categories in which you may have some favorites if your posting is any guide.

Based on my experience I would choose L'Astrance. Gagnaire if his meal resonates would probably be a home run. My meal didn't resonate.

I'd say all those nominees have pretty good chances. good luck!

Merced continued More pastes and powders from the part of the market where they predominate. Another angle. We now began venturing into the land of offal and meat – squeamish be warned! Yes those are heads. In case the other picture was too small to see them clearly. Gives new meaning to the term “pig-headed” More pork This one had me fascinated. The man is scraping the inside of pig faces! I have no idea what they are used for in this way. More conventional pork products. The chicharron looked good. Chicken! Get them while you can. It is scary to think what danger this part of the market is in. Strawberry aisles forever…. The scent was alluring. I love those baskets. We were warned to stay away from the fresh strawberries, however. We were guided well. I am not aware of anyone in the group having developed “turista”. More chicharron products on our way back to the meeting point. I believe the carnudo is simply ground up. I think the stuff to the right is a head cheese, but would welcome a more definitive opinion. From heads….to tails… …and back to more heads. Yes, they do have seafood, although this was one of the less appetizing areas of the market. It smelled fishy. Similar markets in Europe were amazingly devoid of that smell. The avocados were amazing. A man and his bananas. The nopales area was extensive, very interesting and beautiful. Cutting off the needles from the nopales The stacks were impressive. Before the needles were cut off. This stall was for the beans…and I bought a few. Cascabels. Jitomates. This is the word for tomatoes. Tomates are large tomatillos. Confusing? Somewhat. Mameys Chipotle moras – nice, dark and rich. They have food prep stands as well. Chicken heads and feet. Just when you thought it was safe to peek! My wife and I outside the market. Hasta la vista, Merced! Just a point on the people photos. I always asked permission to photograph people. Most were more than willing. Those that refused (a few) I didn’t take photos of. It might be a little while before I can post some more photos, but there are plenty more. This is only the end of the first morning!

No problems with U.S. customs? u.e. ← We didn't bring back anything illegal or illegally. I checked carefully before we left. I declared everything on our sheet. The customs agent asked about the items and waved us through, which was fortunate as we were running late for a connection. We did have a little problem with the airline due to the paintings which were barely oversized secondary to the packing job done by the hotel concierge.

No hijack at all, Genny. I appreciate your interest. As for what we brought back: a collection of dried chiles, cinnamon, various beans, dried favas, piloncillo, cheese from Chiappas, tamarind, maguey agua miel, various forms of alegria, camotes, membrillo, a mirror, some pottery, a few paintings, some clothing and dew-dads for the kids. In addition we had some Uriarte Talavera pieces shipped. I think that pretty much covers it. Oh, of course, some tequila Good thing we brought an extra suitcase

I don't believe the issue is that he copied the dishes or that he is unoriginal. The real issue is one of a lack of attribution. The apparent dishonesty is in claiming the creation of the dish for oneself. It seems that Chef Robin is indeed a fine technician and can run a fine kitchen. I very much doubt that we would be reading about this right now if he gave proper credit.

The Merced When we finished almuerzo at El Bajio we were divided up into groups of four and each group was given an assignment and money to buy various items at the Merced market, the largest market in Mexico City if not all of Mexico. This exercise was designed to introduce us not only to the produce and the market, but to each other as well. The process worked beautifully. My group consisted of myself (duh0 and three others. My wife was in a different group. In fact all the couples had been split up for this. Our assignment was to seek out and purchase cinnamon, guavas, chile ancho, chile piquin, chile chipotle meco, platano morado, chile habanero, granada china, calabacita and hoja santa. The one thing we couldn’t find was a special variety of mango , the petacon. It turns out that w were simply asking the wrong people – mango dealers who didn’t have it and who wouldn’t help their competitors, or us! As all great markets, the merced was a feast for the senses. The explosion of colors, the wonderfully sweet permeating smell of guavas and the cacophony of the stalls all stimulated. We made short work of our list and still had a little time to explore and buy a few things for ourselves. The rest of this post will consist of photos with brief descriptions. The first thing I saw after I got off the bus was a man loading sacks of produce into the trunk of a taxi. This was an auspicious beginning. Crossing the street to get to the market was a challenge. These colored powders were one of the first things to grab my attention as we entered the indoor market. A number of varieties of delicious mangoes were available. These were manilas. The market was a very busy place. We had the indoor metro stop as our central meeting point. Not a vampire around… An early selection of mole and other pastes. Jamaica – hibiscus flowers used to make delicious teas and sweetened beverages amongst other uses. Banana leaves for tamales A variety of chiles. Our group buying some of said chiles. Dark, rich and delicious mulatto chiles. These are darker anchos. A variety of corn with which to make masa for tortillas or tamales. Our source for guava. A cacophony of fruit – mangos and platanos morados. Mangos, figs and Granada chinas, a passion-fruit-like fruit. Banana leaves, corn husks and hoja santa leaves. Ham, chorizo and dairy products Habaneros – a non-native (to México) pepper. The wonderful limes of Mexiico. Can you say margarita? I will continue tomorrow with additional photos of various parts of the market including meats, nopales and more.

The salsa negra is a very rich and deeply flavored sauce made, I believe, from red chipotles. A little goes a long way. It was remarkable how well it went with the sweet gordita. The atoles were both cold. They had excellent texture and flavor. The "dough" of the pelliscadas was crisped masa. They were very much like small tostadas except the ends were "pinched up" pie like. This was a very big learning experience for me as well. I have always enjoyed Mexican food, but really knew very little about it. While I am still far from an expert, I feel that maybe I have passed my novitiate now. - at least for Central Mexican and perhaps Yucatecan mexican food Next up (hopefully tonight) - The Merced Market.

My pleasure! If I remeber correctly the tamal may have had some chicken in it. My overriding memory of it, though is of the flavor the banana lef gave to the masa.

We had a delicious Tinga during the trip. I just love that word, too. I don't know if platanos are indigenous to Central Mexico, but I am sure that given the trade networks they were available there in pre-Columbian times. El Refugio was still quite good, it just suffered a bit compared to everywhere else we ate.

El Bajio We had an early brunch at a wonderful restaurant, El Bajio. One of the downsides of traveling with a group and not having responsibility for locating places is that I don’t have as great a sense as to where certain places are in relation to others. As such, I can’t really say where this restaurant is within Mexico City. For what it is worth it is not all that far from the Merced market. We entered from the side. Although we were the first customers of the day, the place was already bustling with the staff all getting ready for service. Traditionally, women have dominated the kitchen of this restaurant. While that is still the case, it appears that there is currently a fairly large contingent of Catalan men here learning the techniques of the restaurant’s owner, Carmen Titita Ramirez. These techniques highlight the cuisine of her native Veracruz on the eastern coast of Mexico. Entering the Restaurant The empty main dining room Wallboard menu After milling about the essentially empty restaurant and watching the preparations of the largely open front kitchen for a few minutes we were directed to a back room that was set up just for us with particularly beautiful setting. Earthenware bowls of salsa negra awaiting distribution Salsas negra, verde and roja with cut limes and decorative roses on the table Nearby folk art decoration Ferran Adria was here! Ana Elena and Rick mulling over some details Working the masa. Shortly after we sat down around the large table we were offered fresh juices. I chose the carrot juice, which was refreshing and delicious. I never realized that this could be so good. In addition we were given a choice of blueberry or chocolate atoles. Pictured is the blueberry, which I had. My wife had the chocolate Champurrado. Both were delicious. Atole is a traditional Mexican beverage thickened with corn masa and sweetened typically with piloncillo, the traditional Mexican sugar. Now that our thirst were being well attended to it was time to assuage our mounting hunger. We were started with a couple of varieties of pelliscadas, the literal meaning of which is “pinched at”, although they resembled tostadas or even little pizzas. One ws dominate by a salsa roja while the other had a verde. Both had crumbled queso fresco on top. Veracruz style Tamal Ranchero with banana leaf wrapper The tamal was my first of the trip. It was outstanding. It was also the first time I had one in a yucatacan style with the banana leaf. It imparted a wonderful flavor to the masa. This was followed by another excellent dish from the Yucatan, Huevos Tirados, scrambled eggs with black beans and an entomatada with more queso sprinkled on top. Delicious. Dessert was fairly simple, but wonderful. We had a gordita, puff-fried masa that contained piloncillo and anise. This was augmented beautifully by a small quantity of the salsa negra, which was made from red chipotles. Tp go along with this w were served Café Olla, coffee with piloncillo and cinnamon. Gordita Café Olla By this time the restaurant was getting into full swing for almuerzo soon to be followed by the comida service. The tortilla maker Fresh-grille tortillas How much is that Chichuron in the window? One thing that was pleasantly apparent through the course of the meal was the veritable absence of flying insects, most notably flies. The explanation given was the presence of hanging plastic bags of water in the kitchens! I don’t know if this was the real reason or not, but whatever it was , the result was welcome.

Fonda "El Refugio" islocated in the Zona Rosa of Mexico City on Liverpool. Natillas are a custard like dessert similar to creme brulee. How was the ramen?

I really want to go to Oaxaca. They are thinking of returning there with WOF in a couple of years or so. They think the that it is relatively too expensive right now. Apparently this goes in cycles. In any case, i can wait. The 2006 WOF Conference is all about Spanish food with Jose Andres being the principle. They are anticipating a pretty good line-up from Spain as well. i hope to attend.

Who is "chortling" about anything?

Fonda “El Refugio” Our first meal together was at the nearby Fonda “El Refugio”. While it provided a nice start to the week, ironically it turned out to be one of the weakest meals that we had. The place was nice enough. The entrance was bright with various food items in front of us as we entered. We were led to a private room upstairs. The group was actually fairly large with 20 participants from diverse backgrounds. The one thing we all had in common was a very strong interest in good food. There were a number of food professionals looking for specific insights into the cuisine of Mexico and an equal number of food enthusiasts looking for insights to fill our insides with. Over the course of the week the group meshed beautifully with an easy comradery born of sharing time and effort in the market and kitchen trenches. The restaurant has been around for awhile as it celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2004. As if we were back in the US we were initially served tortilla chips with salsa verde and guacamole . I was certainly hungry. Next was a plate with a fried cheese-filled quesadilla and a meat taco. These were good, but fairly ordinary. Soups followed with a choice of either mushroom Caldo Tlapeno or a fava soup (not pictured). I had the Caldo Tlapeno, while my wife had the mushroom soup. The Tlapeno was essentially a chicken/avocado soup. It was homey and tasty as was the mushroom soup. My main course was a fairly tasteless grilled flattened beef tenderloin, Carne Tabasquena. It was fairly tasteless unless and until combined with the frijoles or guacamole on the plate. The best thing on the plate though was the fried plantain. My wife had the tastiest course of the evening and left me cursing my choice. She had the Huachinango (red snapper) Vera Cruz style. This was delicious and by far the best thing I tasted all night. There was a third alternative for a main course, Pollo Placcro, but I didn’t taste it (We hardly knew each other!) Dessert was a combination of various traditional items on one plate. While not presented particularly artfully, they were tasty. This included stewed guava, arroz con leche, natillas, changos zamoranos and on most plates, but unfortunately not mine as they had run out, zapote negro. Rick pointing out what was what. With zapote negro Without Overall, the dinner was satisfying, especially as we got to know each other and appeared to be compatible, much, I am sure, to everyone’s relief. The next day started with an almuerzo at El bajio before a shopping excursion at El Merced.

Note to self: Must have those ravioli.

I enjoy Mexican food when I get the chance to eat it. Unfortunately because of where I live I don’t get that chance very often – at least not with truly excellent Mexican food. A couple of years ago I discovered that The Culinary Institute of America operates a travel program entitled, "The Worlds of Flavor Travel Program" and amongst their offerings was a program to Mexico with Rick Bayless of Topolobampo and Frontera Grill in Chicago and Marilyn Tausend, the Mexican food writer from Seattle. The trip at that time was destined for Oaxaca. Unfortunately the timing then did not work out for my wife and myself, but I vowed to keep an eye on it. Instead we took a trip to Spain with the World of Flavors Program. That trip was fantastic and only whet my appetite for more. This year we were going to go to Mexico with the CIA come hell or high water. I will say that Michael Coon and the Worlds of Flavor program do things right. They pick great places with fascinating and delicious culinary traditions and staff it with some of the best people in the business. This trip was no exception. In addition to Michael Coon, the Program director who is responsible for putting together these trips for the CIA with the financial assistance of Viking Range Corp., the staff consisted of Marilyn Tausend and Ana Elena Martinez who were instrumental in organizing many of the details, Rick Bayless and Richard James from Frontera and Ricardo Munoz Zurita from Mexico City’s Azul y Oro Café. Bayless was the principle Instructor and Tour Leader. Each of these people are very, very interesting and accomplished in their own right. Ricardo Munoz has a recent eGullet topic devoted to his legendary but difficult to find books on Mexican cuisine. Martinez , a member of the IACP is a caterer, candy expert and cooking instructor in Puebla who has recently opened her own candy and confectionary shop there. Tausend, a noted author on Mexican Cuisine, is the current co-chair of the upcoming IACP 2006 Convention in Seattle, WA. James is the managing Sous Chef at Frontera Grill and Topolobampo. Bayless proved to be particularly fascinating. He comes from four generations of restaurateurs in Oklahoma, where his family has run barbecue restaurants for years. Despite that, Rick originally leaned towards a career in academics and procured degrees in Spanish Language and advanced degrees in Anthropology and Linguistics. He applied those along with his food background and love of Mexico and all things Mexican into what is likely the finest Mexican Restaurant in the United States. He proved uniquely suited to lead this as well as other culinary trips to Mexico. I will recount my experiences with the program along with photos as I can post them. I will attempt to do so in chronologic order. I will be happy to attempt to answer any questions people may have and would welcome input from other members of the group should they be following this and wish to post about their experiences. The only people on the trip I will name will be the professionals involved, however, if anyone wishes to identify himself or herself they are more than welcome to.