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December 31, 2008
Tabula Rasa
My apologies to those few of you still left checking my blog every now and again, for the blank space you have been experiencing.
Shawn and I are on vacation in Mexico City, and I have learned that it's easier to do as he says and save all the writing about the places we visit until we get home. That is difficult for me, as I like to feel as if I'm filing timely, insightful reports on the current conditions on the ground in all these wacky places we visit for an audience that is waiting on the edge of their seats to read all about them. Furthermore, as my father has noted, I'm no spring chicken, and my memory simply does not retain all the odd bits and pieces the make the experience interesting once I move beyond it. More often than not, the post-mortem article becomes an analysis of the events through a lens tinted by one single stand-out experience, either terribly negative or exhilaratingly positive. It is not good travelogue.
Even so, Shawn's argument has its merits, and it is easier to just not to need any arguments in the first place. I will pick up again when we get back from our holiday trip to Mexico, maybe not even commenting much at all on where we went or what we did. Does anyone really care about a middle-aged gringo's take on the modern comforts (or lack thereof) in a remote, rustic mining town? Maybe. Perhaps the truth is, I really do not have much need for it anymore.
I will leave you with this one tidbit to welcome in the new year. In Mexico, there is a tradition on New Year's that I find particularly charming, which is the eating of the twelve grapes at midnight. A wish is cast on each of the grapes, one for each month of the coming year. This is often part of a family celebration, but in the past, when we have gone out to clubs, the glass of champagne passed out for the 00:00 toast is accompanied by a little plastic cup with the grapes. One is to toast with the champagne, then consume the grapes, one by one.
Here is wishing you all a happy new year, full of 12 wonderful months!
Posted by crispy at 01:32 PM | Comments (0)
December 08, 2008
Jicama
jicama botana
This is a very popular snack in Mexico. It is the root vegetable, jicama. Those readers in the United States may also recognize it, as it is widely available there as well.
I love this stuff. I was turned on to it by my sister, Annie, who once brought it along to a racing event. It does not have a great deal of flavor, but it is crisp and somewhat sweet, tasting somewhat like a raw green bean. The appearance is sort of like a big brown turnip before it is cut.
In the photograph above, it has been peeled and cut into strips. In Mexico, the dish is served with some kind of crushed, dried chile mixture, like Tajín seasoning, or my favorite, Valentina brand.
Valentina brand salsa en polvo
These chile powders have citric acid added to emulate the tangyness of lime juice, but I usually serve a plate of this with real limes too, since real lime juice tastes far better.
In Mexico, one is most likely to encounter jicama as seen above at a bar or lounge when one is drinking beer or micheladas. Sometimes a plate comes with strips of peeled cucumbers and/or carrot sticks. In slightly different forms, it is available as a street food. Many times one can buy a big plastic cup of it from a street vendor selling other fruits, and in Zacatecas, I saw a actual storefront ("Jicamoy") that sold a whole jicama on a stick, with a wide variety of different seasonings available.
Posted by crispy at 03:40 PM | Comments (1)