We are seeing intense pressure on food companies to adopt more sustainable supply-chain and production practices. But can an ultra-processed food ever be sustainably produced? Or, is a sustainabl…
Source: Can Oreo cookies be sustainable?
Merida Market Tours
Come with me on a personalized market tour of Merida. I love the buzzing energy of the market, witnessing the tapestry of relationships built over generations of merchant-vendor exchanges, and unearthing the best local & seasonal ingredients. My trips are comfortable, tailored to what you most want to experience. If you don’t care for the sights & smells of fresh meat or live animals, we can avoid those sections. If you want to eat the absolute best of the market food, we can chow down. If you are interested in seeing a bit of living history, that is guaranteed!
Here are a couple of ideas:
- stock up on colorful shopping bags
- visit indigenous fruit & flower vendors. Purchase homemade drinking chocolate, spice blends, melipona honey, hot sauces, specialty jams, recados, and natural candies
- get a basic overview of local handcrafts- embroidered clothing, woven hammocks & guayaberas
- explore the bustling fruit & vegetable market
- sample castacan- sliced, deep fried pork belly with the skin left attached
- taste small batch coconut sorbet
- eat indigenous foods that are relatively unchanged in hundreds of years
- assemble a picnic lunch or ingredients for a special meal
Making Mole from the Market
I love taking advantage of all the small production salsas moles offered in Mexican markets. You can usually find mole pastes- solids sold in ceramic cazuelas or plastic buckets- or mole en polvo (powdered). Ask for 1/2 kilo, and it will be given to you in a plastic bag- sometimes double bagged. 1/2 kilo is usually a good amount for 4-6 people. I LOVE leftover mole to serve over rice or as enchiladas!
Be careful where you store it. I have had oily Mole de Xico stain the contents of my suitcase through 3 layers of bags! Now I store my plastic bags of mole in a glass jar or plastic tub. A friend recently sent me a kilo of mole from Puebla VACUUM SEALED. That is just above & beyond & I love it!
Mole en Polvo generally needs to be fried in lard or oil (try coconut oil) and then reconstituted with chicken broth. Mole en Pasta doesn’t need to be fried, you can just start adding broth & stirring it until you have dissolved all the chunks. The sauce will thicken when it starts cooling.
mole poblano en polvo 
this mole has a special touch: candied sesame seeds! 
mole with chicken broth 
mole poblano con arroz y platano
Yucatecan Spices at the Progreso Market
A Cheap Lunch in Playa del Carmen
Playa del Carmen is one of the fastest-growing cities in Latin America. It’s absolutely bursting at the seams & it’s not pretty. Rampant over-tourism, unchecked development plus the latest round of violence & sargassum make it one of the last go-to places on any Mexico Lover’s list. However, you may end up there, waiting for the ferry to Cozumel, celebrating your cousin’s bachelorette or someone’s birthday. So I’ll share my cheap & decent lunch recommendation with you: Asadeo El Pollo
Onion, Tanned is an awkward translation for one of the most delicious condiments found on tables in Yucatan peninsula, Cebollas Curtidas. I make them all the time. chopping & slicing the onion as I like, then covering them with naranja agria, lime juice, or any fruit vinegar. Add salt & pepper, and some sliced habanero if you like it hot. These onions brighten up any dish, and help cut the fat in lechon, castacan or cochinita tacos & tortas.
Asadero el Pollo (gmaps)
20 Avenida Norte 652, Centro, 77710 Playa del Carmen, Q.R.
Open from 10am to 6pm 7 days a week
Old School Cantina Crawl in Merida
Join us for a cantina crawl of the old-school cantinas of Merida! Find some new favorites!
Merida has a treasure trove of classic cantinas featuring local drinking culture & flavors. Residents & visitors find that seeking the shelter of a cantina during the heat of the day makes the heat tolerable. A typical cantina offers plentiful cold beer, basic mixed drinks, and on-alcoholic limeades & soft drinks- each round is accompanied by botanas, snacks & small plates. Botanas are a great way to sample local dishes!
MANY cantinas in Merida still cater exclusively to men. Some of these establishments are known as bares de ficheras, referring to the fiches (tokens) collected by the women in exchange for a dance. Women present are employed by the cantina to encourage men to keep drinking.
What our cantina crawl looks like:
botanas! 
ice-cold draft beer 
*Teach’s cart* 
Papa Chivo: the patron of bartenders 
old-school cantina
enjoying a cold one with some botanas 
pasta tiles are everything! 
classic cantina doors 
*la cuenta* 
since 1956 
mural of famous yucatecos 
*beer helps you have sexual relations!*
Our customizable cantina tour can be combined with markets, street food, or shopping. We recommend visiting 3 or 4 cantinas in 3 or 4 hours to get a sense of the experience. Bring coins for the rockola!
MERIDA OLD-SCHOOL CANTINA CRAWL (4 hours)
We’ll pick you up at high noon & visit 3 cantinas in central Merida for 2 beers & accompanying botanas!