Tag: chapulines

Postcard from Oaxaca: Now about that food…

postcardsfromsanantonioLeave a comment

Only taking you out to one place to eat today because it was one of our favorites on our last trip and remains so. We keep returning, but not for the same dish.

Everything is well executed and beautifully presented, and there are so many things on the menu at Los Danzantes still beckoning us to try. Even something as small as complimentary jamaica (hibiscus) and crumbly cheese tostadas presented to us the other day are perfect. The deep red, richly flavored chilpachole, a soup stocked with crab, fish and vegetables should not be skipped, and chile ancho relleno filled with huitlacoche (large kernels of mushroom-like corn mold) atop a puree of roasted platanos and coconut with goat cheese, chapulines (more in a coming post) and caramelized piloncillo (unrefined sugar) is memorable.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Not surprisingly, we encountered some of the country’s best-known chefs slipping into Los Danzantes during the midst of and celebrating at the end of the recent Festival Gastronomico El Saber del Sabor.

Postcard from Oaxaca: Serious salads

postcardsfromsanantonio3 Comments

Gorgeous greens, so incredibly fresh they taste as though the kitchen just harvested them from a rooftop garden.

Not the stereotypical first food post from Oaxaca, but the salads in this capital of respectful fusion of ancient cooking traditions and contemporary presentations are that good. Long-gone are the days when traveling Americans need feel constrained in vegetable consumption, and Oaxaca is about more than mole.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Among the salads we have sampled recently are:

  • Mounds of fresh watercress – berros – with pears, Roquefort and honey, a wonderful spinach and grapefruit salad and yet another one with roasted nopales, asparagus and smoky quesillo at La Biznaga
  • Spinach salad with a round of goat cheese and crispy adornment at Los Danzantes
  • An organic salad with strawberries and crispy strips of sweet potatoes and one layering fresh nopales and roasted baby kale topped with luscious enormous shrimp covered with chapulines, toasted grasshoppers – a Oaxacaan delicacy – at La Olla
  • Spinach salad topped with pomegranate seeds and a stone-ground mustard vinaigrette at El Morocco Café
  • An abundance of arugula and pears at Mexita

More food posts ahead.