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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2018 16:14:44 GMT
This was such a special treat and I so enjoyed savoring all the many representations of Oaxacan culture .
The food dish that you chose looks divine although I see nothing remotely resembling a clam. Just mussels.
And it's such a huge portion!! I would have had to share.
Many of the crafts caught my eye and I have a few of the ones featured.
I especially love the casserole bowl with the handles that's full of hot steaming soup. (green trim). I wouldn't mind owning one of those.
And,I'm with Mossie on the glass flower. (I am not surprised at his taste as I recall seeing some objet d'art on his mantle piece in a pic he posted and coveting it. I also recall that it was a favorite of his).
The flatware is new to me and very unique, I like it.
You must have quite a beautifully decorated living space Bixa with your discerning eye and fabulous taste in all things. (there's no doubt that the statue is of the daughter of the pottery sculptress.)
I wish I could have purchased more while I was there.
And yes, the women of Oaxaca are quite beautiful. Their bone structure and the way they carry themselves doesn't hurt in accentuating this.
Thanks for taking the time to brave the crowds and share with us another Anyport treasure.
(P.S. did you buy the fish earrings?? Gotta know!!)
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 30, 2018 19:52:34 GMT
What is the material used to make the black bowls, plates etc? What gives it the black shine? ... Can you add to the info on the link re the jicaras? Questa, thank you so much for the lovely comments and for your close attention to this thread. The black pottery is made from a clay that is beige before being baked. Here is a report from eight years ago with information on the black pottery: anyportinastorm.proboards.com/thread/3897/san-bartolo-coyotepec-oaxaca. The shine is from buffing with soft leather. In that link's video you'll see the artisan showing the leather and demonstrating its use. The jícaras are pretty fascinating. Here is information on the tree and its fruit: zoom50.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/morrocalabash-treecrescentia-cujete/ I think you'll like this video of the young man who carves them with such artistry. I've seen people carving earrings made from jícara and can attest that the tools are indeed that unrefined. So amazing to see the delicate effects that are achieved with them. I see nothing remotely resembling a clam. Just mussels. And it's such a huge portion!! ... I especially love the casserole bowl with the handles that's full of hot steaming soup. (green trim). I wouldn't mind owning one of those. ... did you buy the fish earrings?? Gotta know!! Lovely, kind comments, Casimira ~ thank you! You are of course right about those being mussels. The cook told me they were almejas, the Spanish word for clam, and I went ahead & used that even though I can see they're mussels. That tamal looks big, but it was well over 50% shells, so not filling at all. You would probably be happy to have a bunch of the clay casseroles, as they are perfect for use on gas stoves. Did I get the earrings? Ha ha ~ those pictures of them were taken in my house.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2018 2:09:36 GMT
Ha!! I should have known. Especially when I saw two pics of them.
What about the flatware?
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Post by bixaorellana on May 1, 2018 14:32:32 GMT
Casimira, I can't really add anything about the flatware. Of course I admired it, with its finely wrought bone handles, but I only asked the price of the little cocktail forks. They were 150 pesos each -- $7.97usd/€6.64/£5.84.
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Post by mich64 on May 2, 2018 1:54:09 GMT
Finally had the time to go through this nice and slow to enjoy all of the bits I had the chance to glance at lately. Wow, what a delicious and entertaining couple of days this must have been!
So many lovely portraits of the vendors.
I am fascinated with their ability to cook over a wood fire. I would have a hard time with temperature consistency but I am sure they do not even give it a thought.
I loved the shades, shapes and sizes of the colored glasses.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 2, 2018 3:33:37 GMT
Thank you, Mich! I appreciate your giving real time to this. Food cooked over a wood fire really does taste better, but you're right -- it must be much harder to do. My grandmother had a funny story about that. She grew up in a town, so learned to cook on a gas stove. When she got married, she moved to the very rural area that my grandfather was from. She said she wanted to make a good impression on the new in-laws, so one Sunday prepared a lamb roast and put it in the oven. A while later, when it was time to check to see if the roast was almost ready, my grandmother was shocked to find the oven was barely hot. She had no idea you had to feed a wood-burning oven. I was very drawn to those glasses, too. They look so delicate, but I picked up a couple and they were quite hefty.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 15, 2019 6:20:00 GMT
It's well past time for me to update here, as thanks to Cristina Potters I was able to attend the presentation of the cookbook that grew out of the event presented in this thread and that of the previous year. There had been a presentation of the cookbook here in Oaxaca, but none were available at that time. Thus I went happily off to Mexico City in December and acquired one of the very handsome volumes. The proceeds from the cookbook sales go to the Association of Traditional Cooks of Oaxaca. The cookbook presents recipes and short biographies of eighty cooks from Oaxaca who specialize in the traditional food of this state. Here is an article in Spanish: www.jornada.com.mx/2018/12/16/cultura/a03n1culThe event was held in the Museum of Popular Culture, situated in a leafy neighborhood of the metropolis. Giant Tree of Life by the Soteno family ~ Cup of gold / Solandra grandiflora The cooks: Rogelio Chávez García, Josefina Cruz Sumano, Catalina Chávez Lucas, Alba Barrios Sánchez, Celia Florián (president of the Association), Petra Dolores Valencia Velázquez, Rosario Cruz Cobos ~ From the left: Ignacio Urquiza, the photographer; Myriam Corro Niño de Rivera, Director of Artistic & Cultural Training of the Secretariat of Cultures & Art of Oaxaca; Adriana Aguilar Escobar, Coordinator of Cultures, Tourism and Economy of the City of Oaxaca; Celia Florián,, President of the Association of Traditional Cooks of Oaxaca; and Claudio Poblete, journalist and editor ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 15, 2019 6:42:27 GMT
All of the cooks took it in turn to speak about their lives and how they came to be involved in this project. Some of them had been urged to participate by others, as they themselves "just cooked" and had not thought of their skills as anything special. Some of their stories were very affecting, involving hardship and in some cases geographical isolation. From Tlacolula de Matamoros, Catalina Chávez Lucas ~ From Miahuatlán de Porfirio Díaz, Petra Dolores Valencia Velázquez ~ From San Juan Chilateca, Josefina Cruz Sumano and from San José Chiltepec, Rosario Cruz Cobos ~ From San Mateo Yucutindoo, Alba Barrios Sánchez ~ From Putla Villa de Guerrero, Rogelio Chávez García ~ And finally, I will share with you this video as it was shared with me, much to my surprise. It proves I was there!
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 15, 2019 8:46:45 GMT
Oh I do love that Tree of Life sculpture thingy have you used the cookbook much? These ladies are so beautifully dressed...do they dress this way all the time? It would cheer me up every day if I dressed in such colourful clothing! (Altho...being British...i have a natural affinity for the drab and would be going against my instincts to just blend in)
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 15, 2019 11:14:38 GMT
Obviously they are very proud to wear those clothes, but I wonder what the reaction would be if one of them showed up in an outfit from Walmart (or one of the nice outfits worn by the cultural organisers). Would they lose all credibility for traditional cooking? Would they be sent home to change clothes? (Remember that from school? )
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Post by mossie on Feb 15, 2019 11:47:45 GMT
Cheery, you must live up to your name and dress brightly and cheerfully.
The video was remarkable for the lady with verbal diarrhea
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Post by mickthecactus on Feb 15, 2019 12:07:44 GMT
This is one of the best threads on Anyport with superb pictures.
And I am so hungry...
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Post by breeze on Feb 15, 2019 13:23:54 GMT
And there you are! Missed you on my first go-through.
This continues to be one of my favorite anyport threads. When will the next cooking event take place?
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 16, 2019 20:44:53 GMT
These ladies are so beautifully dressed...do they dress this way all the time? I wonder what the reaction would be if one of them showed up in an outfit from Walmart (or one of the nice outfits worn by the cultural organisers) Cheery, some of the ladies probably dress in traditional clothing all the time, the lady in blue almost undoubtedly. Since the clothing is specifically regional, it's a major reason the cooks wore it at the cooking event and for this presentation. My extensive research (looking up town name in Google Images) tells me that for San José Chiltepec, for instance, the very elaborate huipiles are mostly for dressy occasions, but that in San Juan Chilateca women probably often wear blouses and dresses sporting the embroidery for which the area is known. The video was remarkable for the lady with verbal diarrhea Ha ~ a pet peeve of mine, Mossie. Television news broadcasts have been common for 60 years, yet cannot seem to break out of the talking head format. The woman did make some important points, but why not show pages of the cookbook as she spoke, instead of just her mouth moving? have you used the cookbook much? Cheery, alas ~ the book is too beautiful and too heavy to be practical, every bit an over-priced coffee table book. It's the kind of thing you have to carefully turn the pages and admire as you sit with the very heavy (at least four pounds!) thing on your lap. It's quite large, with heavy glossy pages and colored photographs throughout. There are eighty recipes and I'll have to copy the ones I want by hand in order to use them in the kitchen. I do wish they'd consider a paperback version, perhaps in a somewhat smaller size and with black and white pictures. It would be more economical and more usable. Mick and Breeze, thank you so much for the kind words. breeze, based on the 1st and 2nd Encuentros, I'm assuming that the 3rd will somewhere around 20th -- 26th April, but can't find any information yet. As soon I know, I will certainly pass on that information to you. Maybe you'll come here for it?!
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Post by breeze on Feb 17, 2019 4:31:21 GMT
Good to know the possible timing, bixa. Nothing tempts me like good food.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 17, 2019 23:12:03 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 23, 2019 3:13:08 GMT
Hola, and it's time to see what happened in the third cooks' encounter, which finally took place from the 19th through the 22nd of this month. I attended on Friday, day before yesterday, and just loved the venue this year, Oaxaca's huge new architecturally gorgeous convention center ~ The doors open at one and I guess I arrived around 2:30. Not very crowded yet ~ The very first stand, which features javelina. Here I did not enjoy a stolid tamal with a stingy amount of fish and very dull masa. Traditional breads with some intriguing names ~ There's plenty of time to eat. Let's go check out what's for sale ~ There was a long table with all kinds of things on and around it from Aripo. The rich purple cloths are colored with the highly prized snail dye. Many of the items were to be raffled off. Customers in this pavilion were give a raffle ticket from each vendor from whom they bought. ~ I suppose the tortillas pressed out on that cheerful little press were made from masa ground on this equally cheery metate and mano set ~ Embellished typical pinafores, in case your blouse isn't fancy enough ~ Making sure the stock won't get depleted ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 23, 2019 4:09:41 GMT
There was a corn pavilion which failed to engage me. This important grain was honored with this display ~ The lady on the left is Rosario Cruz Cobos from San José Chiltepec in the Cuenca del Papaloapan region. I recognize the lovely lady on the right as well, but her name escapes me. I apologize & hope some kind person will supply it so that she may be acknowledged ~ Caldo de piedra is a prehispanic soup made by dropping a heated rock into the ingredients ~ A lady who had endured the line for roast pork kindly let me photograph her laden plate ~ That would be this roast pork ~ Mmmm! Who is the mood for flying ants? Even if you have no interest in food, the gorgeous textiles and beautiful people of Oaxaca provide a feast for the eyes ~ ~ ~ There will be more! ~~
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 23, 2019 5:13:15 GMT
The convention centre looks great. And of course all of the things going on inside. I am wondering if food and artisan stands are a full time profession for a lot of these people -- Mexico is certainly big enough for them to keep going from place to place all through the year.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 23, 2019 6:03:27 GMT
Thanks, Kerouac. You are right about some of those people having food and crafts as their professions. Often the crafts are a family business, sometimes going back several generations. I know some of the women featured in last year's gathering of cooks have small restaurants in their towns. And I frequently recognize vendors of both food and crafts in the stands set up during festivals here throughout the year. More and more Oaxaca artisans are recognized outside this state. A friend of mine goes to this art crafts fair almost every year. As you can see, quite a few people and groups from Oaxaca are represented. There was live music throughout the day, with different musicians and different musical styles ~ At this stand I had my favorite food of the day. Cocolmeca is a type of Smilax. In Spanish, the part used is called bejuco, meaning liana. The lady at the stall said that it's wild and they cut the pieces and crush them to make the soup. The light bulb went on over my head and I asked if it was also used to make a foamy drink. Yes, it is and the drink was featured here in last year's report. The soup was lightly thickened with corn masa and the cocolmeca pieces were mild but tasty, with a texture resembling perfectly cooked asparagus ~
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Post by lagatta on Sept 23, 2019 15:07:37 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 23, 2019 20:15:17 GMT
Yuck, right? Thanks for that link pointing up the extreme importance of corn in pre-European invasion civilization. Gosh, I have so many pictures, but it's such a picture worthy event. Here is more sweet stuff before we go back to the crafts pavilion ~ What is pozontle I asked, not at the time recognizing the lovely Rosalba who is shown at #2 of this thread. It is a refreshing drink of cacao, she answered ~ The white stuff in the bowl is very soft cooked corn. A small amount was added to the drink, which was then topped with more foam. It was in fact a refreshing drink, distantly reminiscent of Chocolate Soldier, but far less sweet and certainly more interesting ~ Another person let me photograph her plate, which appears to be empanadas bathed in sauce -- a new one on me ~ No sweet stuff at this stand, but some of the infinite variations on the plain tostada ~ I'd say at least one of that trio on the bench is tamping down natural scampishness in anticipation of some good food. The lady in the middle of the picture with the white scarf on her head is someone else I feel I should be able to identify ~ How do they come up with these names for pastries? Mamón is not a compliment. Casco is a helmet. Panqué is what comes out of your mouth if you don't speak English and want to say pound cake ~ I scream, you scream .........
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 23, 2019 22:18:50 GMT
Nipping back into the craft pavilion. Here's a look at the Aripo section again ~ Something for mickthecactus ~ Well, it's after 5 pm Monday at my house & the event ended yesterday. I guess that means I didn't win this glorious bowl in the raffle Artfully wrought from beeswax ~ Beauty and her Bunny Beast ~ I was surprised and thrilled to find that this lady & I share the same first name. It's not at all a common name around here ~ Some of you may recognize Jesús Gómez Torres from another thread I did, wherein I included a video. I'd tell you where that is, if I knew ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 23, 2019 22:31:27 GMT
Let's wind this up as I pass through the food court a last time on the way out. Here a specialty from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is being served up. It always reminds me deliciously of potato salad, except it's a hot dish ~ Aren't these beautiful? At first I thought they were ceramic art pieces, but they are cacao pods ~ These flowers are made from the bases of agave leaves. A man from the booth showed me spoons made from the innermost leaves & even gave me one ~ So sweet! A real star -- Abigail Mendoza Ruiz -- being interviewed ~ My favorite sight of the whole day and the three graces graciously posed as well ~ That's it for another year!
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 24, 2019 6:44:37 GMT
Where is the convention centre in relation to the rest of the city? Is it something to which you can walk from where you live?
The rabbit creature is horrible. It should not exist.
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Post by mickthecactus on Sept 24, 2019 7:48:55 GMT
Thank you for thinking of me. Love the Agave spoons too.
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Post by lugg on Sept 24, 2019 10:41:19 GMT
A veritable feast for the eyes- such colour , I probably always say that about your Mexican threads but it just hits me every time. I have been putting together a report about an English food festival and so it particularly strikes me; mine will be pale and drab in comparison, although I may give your hog roast a run for its money I can quite see how at first glance the cacao are pottery. Are the agave spoons hard ? They are very pretty. Yes I remember Jesus the wood carver and the video but cant remember what report it was in.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 24, 2019 18:33:40 GMT
@kerouac, it would be a bit of a walk --t it's far enough away that I took a cab, especially since it was a hot day. The cab ride back was illuminating, as the driver regaled me with stories of typical foods from his region. Here is a map with the convention center marked with a red pin. My house is the blue star on the left side of the map, with the cemetery above my house marked with a blue cross. I underlined in blue a couple of places you visited to give you more of an idea of walking distances. As far as the bunny ~ I guess I can cover up your address on the package and give it to someone else instead. Always thinking of you, mickthecactus, especially since I live in a world of cacti and succulents. Oh, I can't wait to see your report, lugg! I was always knocked out by the variety of food in England, including items that one would think would only be found much further afield. As always, thank you for the kind words. Your comment made me remember that I still had the agave spoon in my purse, along with the cane spoon I got with the frothy drink. I fetched them forth and photographed them, along with my little molinillo from Sr. Jesús. It has my name & the date on it (Oct. 31, 2017), but I still can't find the blankety-blank thread. At any rate, here are pictures. I can't believe that someone took the time to put ornamental notches in the cane spoon. The agave spoon is bendable, but would still be quite serviceable.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 5, 2022 5:10:27 GMT
Yo, breeze ~~~ Announcement I copied from facebook: A GASTRONOMIC EVENT COMING UP! Who: After 2 years of absence due to the pandemic, The H. City Council of Oaxaca de Juárez and the Association of Traditional Cooks of Oaxaca invite everyone to the 4th edition of Cocineras Tradicionales! What: · A 3-day gastronomic event where 150 dishes will be presented by 50 Cocineras Tradicionales from the 8 regions of the state of Oaxaca · Activities include: - 3 contests: a ceremonial dish, a rescue dish, and a stand decoration - A collective preparation of tamales where each cook will prepare a tamale representative of their community showcasing the great diversity of styles and ingredients for their preparation - An academic program with conferences, workshops and talks revolving around the knowledge of traditional cuisines. Researchers, producers, journalists, and cooks will share their experiences and knowledge - "Arte en la Mesa", an expo sale of utensils and crafts related to gastronomy and the Oaxaca Market - Performances by traditional musicians Why: This event represents the continuity of a work for the preservation, protection, promotion, and dissemination of the flavors and foods that are at risk of extinction in the traditional cuisines of Oaxaca Where: The Plaza de la Danza, in the heart of the historic center of the city of Oaxaca When: Will be held on April 23, 24 and 25 within the framework of the 490th anniversary of the city Time: 11AM-9PM Cost: Free entry! *Dishes start at $30MX and all sales go directly to the cooks! I'm so happy this is back & also super happy that it will be in the Plaza de la Danza again.
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Post by mickthecactus on Apr 5, 2022 6:48:24 GMT
It’s enough to make you danze!
Look forward to the report.
Btw, what's a rescue dish?
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