Mexico

[Michael]

The place to dicuss local topics and to meet others in your area.

[LisaT]

WOOO HOOOO! It's here! Yay! Thank you!

So...gimme the scoop! What are you favorite places in grand ole Mexico? We're planning a trip for the fall--probably Michoacan but it's open. Any recommendations for restaurants or cooking classes?

[karenM]

Diana Kennedy (http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/catalog/results.pperl?authorid=15418) lives in Michoacan, although I don't think she's teaching any classes these days, is she? Sorry, I don't know of any restaurants or classes in Mexico at all! Have you been there a lot? What was it like, and what did you do there? I've only been to Baja!

[Vegnik]

Meatless in Mexico City
http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj96jan/vjmexcty.htm

[LisaT]

Hey, Vegnik--thanks for the article link! I doubt we'll be in the DF much more than to pass through the airport on our way in and out, but one never knows. I've heard good things about it being veg-friendly city, and I would like to spend a day or two there as I've never been.

Karen, I completely forgot about Diana Kennedy--thanks for the reminder. I'll have to poke around some and see what she's doing.

Never been to Baja--wouldn't mind going, but would probably never make a major effort to get there. I'm into more of the "authentic" (whatever that means HA!) places and don't really care for going to the coast (I'm from Florida--had enough of that). We're planning to be in Michoacan or Tlaxcala for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and one of these days move to Mexico permanently.

If I can get down to Oaxaca, and could ever get the money together, I'd love to spend a week here: http://www.seasonsofmyheart.com/
She does a "Vegetarian Summer Harvest and Wild Mushroom Hunt long weekend course" in August.

I'm also very interested in this place; you can take cooking classes as well as rug weaving:
http://www.vrbo.com/global/siteFrame.asp?mainurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.teotitlan.c om&returnurl=/20097
Can't seem to find anyone with first-hand experience here though. Would love to talk with someone who's actually been and taken classes there.

[karenM]

Wow! Both links make me want to visit Mexico too! I only wish I could. I get down to Tijuana occasionally, but it's basically divided into a) the Tourist area -ugh! and b) a very typical modern city.

I hope you have a wonderful time when you go to Mexico!

[Ralph2]

When you are in Delicias near Chihuahua and you are in a hotel your choices are chips and salsa, fruit and that's about it. No place to cook and the shops have nothing that's just add water easy.

Oh I guess PB&J is one option.

This is my first trip where I could not fend for myself or find options.

[soilman]

---------------
"When you are in Delicias near Chihuahua and you are in a hotel your choices are chips and salsa, fruit and that's about it. No place to cook and the shops have nothing that's just add water easy.

Oh I guess PB&J is one option.

This is my first trip where I could not fend for myself or find options."
-------------------------

Why couldn't you find some tortillas, and some beans in a can. Mash the beans, put the bean paste on the tortillas, get some raw veggies and chop them up and add them.??

To cook -- an portable alcohol stove and a quart of alcohol.

How difficult is it to get warm, just made tortillas in any small village in Mexico?

[Ralph2]

Unfortunately The local Stores did not carry camp stoves and the fuel is something I can't take on a plane even if I did have a small portable unit.

As I recall the beans in the stores were of the dried type. A huge asile like a bread asile with different choices and packages. If I had seen canned beans I would have jumped on that but either there was a limited supply or none as I did not see them despite spending a lot of time wandering the local Wal Mart supercenter (no joke).

I got a big kick out of the looks and expressions of everyone at the place I was working when they tried to understand what vegetarianism meant. I got the universal reply it seems from all cultures- "but chicken is okay?". Someone back in time must have deduced that birds are veggies since there is the existence of -birdseed-. ;)

[soilman]

Ralph2, what about fresh beans (succulents) at farmer's markets rather than supermarkets? I heard that Mexico has many more farmer's markets per square mile, than the United States, and they have more variety. Succulents take only maybe 4 minutes to cook thru. Dried beans can an hour or 2.

i find it hard to believe you can't get canned beans at a supermarket in a Mexican city. Usually dried beans are in one aisle, along with dried rice, and canned beans are in the canned vegetable aisle.

You should be able to get alcohol fuel in any hardware store or camping supply store or boating supply store. Yes, you don't take it on the plane. You buy a quart when you get off the plane. You can't use a gasoline stove indoors, but gasoline you can get anywhere. Alcohol can be burned indoors, as can propane (in stove amounts).

Tortillas and mashed beans are said to be a staple of Mexican cuisine. Although the beans are likely to be mashed with lard rather than vegetable oils. Are you shopping at places that cater to tourists, or locals? Tortillas are generally nothing but corn and water and a tiny bit of slaked lime (heated limestone). The6y are generally cooked without oil on a bare cast-iron skilled (a comal). The skillet may have be "seasoned" with lard, but generally it is actually washed off with soap and water after being seasoned. So you will have a tiny bit of lard in your tortillas. But who know what commercial pans in bread bakeries are sprayed with -- things that never are used in amounts large enough to be considered worth mentioning on an "ingredients" list.

[happyiguana]

Estoy buscando mi gente latina, noy soy de mexico pero queria saber where's everybody??


:surprised

[savvyidler]

Yo soy una gringa, pero ...my husband and I drove across Mexico last year, from Chihuahua to the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. We were traveling in an RV with pets, so we didn't eat out at many restaurants, but I can tell you that the food options will change from region to region. For example, bean dishes were plentiful in the North and through Zacatecas, but harder to find in the south. Predictably, coastal towns are mostly seafood.
The comment from Soilman, about shopping at the mercados, is right on. Road side stands are good too; cheap, fresh and you provide valuable entertainment to the stall tender. They often have snacks like nuts, chilled coconut milk and peeled mangoes. Buy an extra bag of nuts for the lean times. Sometimes, you just have to make do. Every town has a tortillaria, and fresh tortillas with a slice of avocado are yummy. Take or buy some zip lock bags for fruit, to keep it safe from the ants. If you are coming soon, pitaya may still be in season. It is great stuff!
We got a great vegetarian platter at La Ceiba in Catemaco and, if you make it to the Yucatan, El Arbol in Merida is worth a visit. Have fun, Mexico is beautiful!

[nigel]

Diana Kennedy (http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/catalog/results.pperl?authorid=15418) lives in Michoacan, although I don't think she's teaching any classes these days, is she? Sorry, I don't know of any restaurants or classes in Mexico at all! Have you been there a lot? What was it like, and what did you do there? I've only been to Baja!


She's still around:

http://www.marilyntausend.com/trips1.php

[jaynesh]

Does anyone know any good places to eat Vegetarian in Cancun or Cozumel? Also what do people think of Cozumel as a vacation spot?

[nigel]

There's 100% Natural downtown - Not vegetarian but they have dishes. I'd also recommend Los Almendros to get a taste of authentic Maya cuisine. Very few vegetarian choices, but enough to make it worth the trip if you're into trying it. Try papadzules (egg and squash seed puree in corn tortillas), and ask for veggie salbutes and panuchos. BTW - I've only been to the one downtown. I hear the one in the Zona Hotelera is more expensive.

I lived there for a while. Feel free to PM if you have any specific questions.

[Ann22]

I'm in Nuevo Leon

[Afflitto.Anima]

:idea:I can see that there's not a lot of Mexican people around since the last post in this forum was so many time ago.

I'm from Guadalajara , Jalisco. Would be great to contact some vegetarian "tapatí@s" to share experiences and recipes... Somebody around?...

Saludos!!! :D

[Ann22]

Abri un blog vegan por si alguien le gustaria checarlo, aqui esta el link. El blog es en Español

Vegan Blog (http://mty-vegan.blogspot.com/)

[VeganPower!]

Hola Yo soy de Iguala Guerrero.
Como esta la sociedad vegana o vegetariana alla en mexico?
Particular en guerrero y tambien en iguala...

Un dia planeo mudar me alla otraves...pero por ahora vivire aqui en los estados

[AussieShane]

Hola Yo soy de Iguala Guerrero.
Como esta la sociedad vegana o vegetariana alla en mexico?
Particular en guerrero y tambien en iguala...

Un dia planeo mudar me alla otraves...pero por ahora vivire aqui en los estados

lol.. En realidad, me gustaria saber ese tambien.
Tengo preguntas muy similares.
Hay una sociedad vegetariana en mexico? Comida vegetariana es disponible a traves de mexico? Quiero recorrer sudamerica y mexico.. asi que me estoy tratando de encontrar mas informacion.

[Bee]

Hola Yo soy de Iguala Guerrero.
Como esta la sociedad vegana o vegetariana alla en mexico?
Particular en guerrero y tambien en iguala...

Un dia planeo mudar me alla otraves...pero por ahora vivire aqui en los estados

Hola!
Yo tambien soy de Guerrero, de Acapulco!
Pero igual vivo en U.S.A.

Jaja me da gusto conocer otra persona de guerrero aqui =D

[Ralph2]

Delicias update.

Back again for my annual business trip here. It has gotten easier to find veg/vegan options and the stores have decent options for a guy with a hot pot.

The hotel, Casa Grande has slipped a notch however. Last year they had a nice Vegan Fajita. Yes, fajita is the name of the strips of beef in the traditional dish. They swapped it for a pasta marinara. Which is really an alfredo-marine-a. Since I'm allergic to dairy I sent it back, trying to explain no dairy, no fish bits.

it came back sans dairy, red sauce and extra fish bits! Back it went and it returned with salsa de tomate. But alas, when I asked, yes, they washed the alfredo off the original pasta!

I don't think they fully understand my agitation.

I can't wait to get home this time!