Oaxaca: feeding the firebrands

Forget everything I’ve told you about Mexico for a second. Instead, pull up your romanticized image of it. Squat adobe row-houses in earthy pastels. A short woman in crisp black braids balancing a woven basket on her head. Cacti and food carts. Piñatas and mezcal. Welcome to Oaxaca.

I’d love this town (pronounced “Wuh-hah-kuh”) for its quaint vibes alone. But the real reason it won my heart, the main reason we schlepped 7 hours on a bus to visit it was, of course, food. Oaxaca has a reputation within Mexico for its unique and varied cuisine. Its 3 most famous draws are mezcal, cheese, and chocolate (I didn’t think it could get any more adorable and then I discovered it has chocolate shops at every corner).

Oaxacan chocolate is different from the European-style chocolate most of us are more familiar with because it doesn’t go through an extra processing step that smooths the chocolate and softens its flavor. This gives it a grainy texture and more intense taste. If you let it sit on your tongue and pay attention, you can almost make out the separate tastes of the sugar, the bitter cacao, and whatever flavor it’s been ground with (often cinnamon, vanilla, or spicy chilies). 

However, any local will tell you that true Oaxacans do not eat chocolate, they drink it. Atole is a thick hot beverage made of chocolate and corn flour, which sounds weird but tastes like a hug. We drank it at a street cart out of a clay bowl (Jack was distressed at being presented a bowl without a spoon) and it was much deeper and richer than hot chocolate at home.

Another major use of cacao here is in mole, a traditional Mexican sauce that has many varieties and dozens of ingredients. Moles aren’t for everyone, I definitely liked some better than others, but something they all share is an earthy flavor. Earthiness is a running thread in this area’s cuisine and it adds a deeply satisfying quality to the food. It gives you the cozy feeling of a home-cooked meal.

Oaxaca does offer more than just food (although you really should know about tasajo, a jerky-like but soft beef just served in this region… and you might as well try a churro or 10 while you’re there). The Mexican culture we are most exposed to in the U.S. is that of mestizos, people who are of mixed European and indigenous ancestry and make up a large portion of the Mexico City population. But out here, because of its harsh and isolating terrain, indigenous cultures have survived much better. Many people carry on pre-colonial traditions that trace as far back as 1500 BC or earlier. Most locals we met spoke an indigenous language in addition to Spanish and often identified more as “Zapotec” or “Mixtec” than Mexican. The population also carries a spirit of recalcitrance, full of artists and intellectuals and a history of indigenous rebellion. We encountered protests during our visit and in general I loved the feeling of being surrounded by people who seem philosophically reflective and politically active.

Check out the Photos tab for more pictures from our trip to Oaxaca.