Lunch 2022

[chefmd]

@BonVivant we are visiting my MIL in FL and went to Frida Kahlo exhibit in Norton museum.  
https://www.norton.org/exhibitions/current-exhibitions

And what do they have in the museum shop…

[BonVivant]

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.

 

13 hours ago, chefmd said:

@BonVivant we are visiting my MIL in FL and went to Frida Kahlo exhibit in Norton museum.  
https://www.norton.org/exhibitions/current-exhibitions

And what do they have in the museum shop...

 

Ceramics are big in Oaxaca, as in much of Mexico. This is a pavement "shop" across the street from a market near my lodging.

 

[KennethT]

@BonVivantWe were thinking of going to Oaxaca - partially just to have some real salsa pasilla de Oaxaca - it's really smoky.  If I was there, I'd bring home a few pounds of the smoked/dried pasilla chillies from there - they're hard to source outside of Oaxaca - I can get them here in NYC but they're expensive.

[chefmd]

55 minutes ago, BonVivant said:

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.

You are so brave!  Last night my MIL convinced me to try sugar free ice cream.  It tasted good.  Turns out, she gave me the real stuff by mistake 😁.  I later tried a smidgen of sugar free version (with much trepidation) and it tasted like glycerin 🤑

[BonVivant]

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.

 

[Kim Shook]

@Paul Bacino – very clever way to save your shrimp burger.  Does your recipe call for a mixture of chopped and finely minced shrimp?  The recipe that I use calls for 1/3 of the shrimp to be minced in a food processor and I’ve never had any trouble with it adhering. 

 

@Steve Irby – I love fried livers with gravy!  No one else in my house does, so I usually only have them when I’m frying chicken.  The last chicken I bought had 2 necks and NO livers.  I was so disappointed!

 

@BonVivant – Love the Mexico pictures. Is lead still an issue with Mexican pottery?  I remember when we moved home from Southern California, my mother read an article about it and only used it for decoration thereafter. 

 

Brunch after church yesterday was a bittersweet experience.  We went to one of our very favorite places.  The food was delicious, as always, and we enjoyed every bite.  But it was sadly our last visit since they are closing in the next few days.  It sounds like the owner wants to get more into community activism.  Which I admire, but we will miss this wonderful breakfast/lunch place.  Jessica had the Ham & Jam Biscuit:

 

Their buttermilk biscuit,country ham, Brie, and house-made blackberry jam.  Mr. Kim had the Asheville Chicken Biscuit:

 

Biscuit, crispy chicken breast, spiced sweet potato purée, slaw, egg, and sriracha aioli.  I had the Smoky Tomato & Roast Beef:

 

House-roasted beef, Brie, smoked tomato jam, pickled red onion, and arugula on a baguette. 

[Kerala]

Macaroni con funghi e nduja.

[Paul Bacino]

@Kim Shook-  on the shrimp burger/  i think these were grilled and salvaged a day later/  so pulsed in food processer/  added egg and panko and veggies/herbs.

With fresh I would have probably had no problem

[Duvel]

Georgian lamb Kharcho, with tamarind filling in for the elusive sour plum puree … still delicious !

 

[gulfporter]

Taco Tuesday.  Seared sesame crusted tuna, pickled red onion, avocado, cilantro and schmear of wasabi-mayo. 

 

[BonVivant]

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.

 

 

Edited February 11, 2022 by BonVivant (log)

[Kim Shook]

13 hours ago, BonVivant said:

 

 

 

I would have bought these 2 cups but I no longer buy stuff. Only edible souvenirs.

 

 

 

Those are incredibly beautiful!  I've never seen anything like them.

 

Lunch the other day was pretty horrible.  I heated up what I thought was leftover Sloppy Joe meat.  When I stirred it, I realized that it was much pastier than that would have been.  It turned out that Mr. Kim had taken the Sloppy Joe to the office and what I had was leftover canned hot dog chili (no beans Hormel).  I put it on a bun with some slaw and hoped for the best.  It honestly reminded me of when we dropped in on Mr. Kim’s mom for the first time and she offered us an impromptu BBQ sandwich.  It turned out to be canned BBQ.  I’m not even sure if it was pork or beef.  Awful stuff.  As was this.  Served with good beans, though:

Edited February 11, 2022 by Kim Shook (log)

[BonVivant]

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.

[liuzhou]

1 minute ago, BonVivant said:

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.

 

I'm with you on that one. Unfortunately, the locals here are very much into sticky rice. I loathe the texture in things like 粽子 (zòng zi), a sort of Chinese ethnic minorities' tamale. The taste is fine but I just can't swallow the damned things. I keep being given them at festivals etc and immediately pass them on to other friends and neighbours.

 

 

[heidih]

Ach beautiful fresh looking vanilla beans. Score! And I have never had a Mexicn tamale I could call close to slimy. The robust masa is the star with just some flavorful add ins. In my imited exeperience.  I did laugh when an annoying traveling companion spit out and scremed when chewing down on a bony bit of meat - fool - I told him.....Also did not tell him best way to relieve jellyfish sting since hey "what do I know"

Edited February 12, 2022 by heidih (log)

[KennethT]

28 minutes ago, BonVivant said:

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.

Love it!!!

[weinoo]

This was taco Wednesday...

 

 

One of the better taco places in Manhattan, Los Tacos No. 1.  The tortillas are great.

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

This was taco Wednesday...

 

 

One of the better taco places in Manhattan, Los Tacos No. 1.  The tortillas are great.

Have you ever had Downtown Bakery?

[heidih]

3 hours ago, weinoo said:

This was taco Wednesday...

 

 

One of the better taco places in Manhattan, Los Tacos No. 1.  The tortillas are great.

Are those jicama batons on the green one?

[weinoo]

Pineapple on the pork.

[Kim Shook]

Lunch yesterday was egg salad sandwiches.  The egg salad was excellent - from a little local market that I forget to go to.  When I do, I'm always kicking myself for not going more often.  They even had cream cheese and none of the other stores (5 different large stores) did.

[Kim Shook]

Mr. Kim and Jessica were in VA Beach Saturday morning redeeming his Xmas gift of whale watching (they saw a number of breaches plus lots of dolphins).  His lunch when he returned was a BLT:

 

 

Mr. Kim was working from home on Valentine's Day and we had some errands to run.  So, we had lunch at a place where we are regulars.  Mr. Kim got the always outstanding chili dogs and fries:

 

 

And I got the first item that I’ve had in 27 years that wasn’t good:

 

It was a meatball sandwich, and it was just all kinds of wrong.  Not enough cheese or sauce to start with.  But what isn’t visible is how subpar the meatballs were.  They were tasteless and mealy and utterly dry.  It was as if they were made with some meat alternative.  I was SO disappointed.  But every single thing we’ve had in almost 30 years has been really, really good, so I’m guessing this is a blind spot. 

 

Today:

 

Off the Bone ham and Swiss cheese on a Lidl croissant.

[Kerala]

Tagliatelle, ham, nduja, parmesan. No one else at home really wants nduja so I'm working through a pound of the stuff myself.

[weinoo]

On 2/12/2022 at 8:46 AM, KennethT said:

Have you ever had Downtown Bakery?

 

No, I haven't. Should I?

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

 

No, I haven't. Should I?

I've only gotten takeout from them once.  the chicken mole taco was really good.  The chicken enchilada was also decent, but I'd have to give them another try to be sure.  It's a tiny storefront place but the menu is pretty big. We also got a guac and chips - guac was ok, but the chips were really nice and corny.