We knew when we planned this trip that food was going to be at the center of all of our activities. Oaxaca has not failed in that respect.
There are foods here that I’d never even HEARD of, even though I live in Mexico. Different region, different food. Not as much seafood (mariscos) here, but there are memelas, tetelas, LOTS of moles, empanadas and quesadillas that are very different from home, the list is never-ending!
The food here ranges from fine dining to street food and it is all amazing. The portions here are also VERY generous. Nearly every meal we have had has left us completely stuffed. So far, some of our favorite restaurants have been Casa Taviche (calle M. Hidalgo – mid-scale), Terraza Istmo (avenida Morelos – nice venue, mostly GF, mid-scale), Los Danzantes (calle M. Alcala – high-end fine dining). For street food, hands down the winner for us has been Empanadas del Carmen. I was skeptical, at first, because they were featured in Netflix’s “Street Food: Latin America” (S1, E3), but they are AMAZING. From that Netfilx episode, we also went to Memelas Dona Vale (memela pic above), which was also excellent, but REALLY hard to find. It is located in the largest market in Oaxaca – Central de Abastos – which covers 328 hectares or about 810 acres!
Then there is MEZCAL. Oaxaca is the home to mezcal, although it is also produced in other areas of Mexico. Mezcal and tequila are not the same. They are both produced using plants from the Agave family, but the process is very different. Tequila uses ONLY blue Agave, whereas mezcal uses many varieties of Agave. I could explain the differences further, but no-one would really care. Just know that the cheap, rot-gut mezcal of the 1980’s is NOT what we are getting here.
We have been to two, very different, mezcal palenques. The first one we visited on a tour. That probably tells you a lot. It was not bad mezcal, but the visit was completely geared to tourists.
Our second palenque was a private visit with a friend to a small farm/producer, Mezcal Ancestral. We met Rolando, the mezcalero, toured the farm, saw how the mezcal was made, tried churning the ferment, and had lunch and a tasting. It was an incredible experience, not something that you can get with a tour. Rolando is very knowledgeable and talented. His mezcals are outstanding!
