El Mercado in San Miguel de Allende
If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I recently traveled to San Miguel de Allende, an exceptionally beautiful colonial city nestled in the central highlands of Mexico. I was so impressed with the magnificent architecture found there and with the wealth of Spanish colonial history. Whenever I travel to new destinations, I like to experience as much of the local flavor, as possible. I try and always make a point of visiting some of the local markets, where you find the true heart and soul of a country. For Mexicans, el mercado is essential to living and most of what they eat is purchased there. I hope you enjoy these photos of the mercado and a few other places I went to while in San Miguel de Allende.
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- Hotel Matilda is a beautiful new hotel in San Miguel de Allende was celebrating its grand opening. http://www.hotelmatilda.com/enter.html
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- Every wall in Hotel Matilda is covered with contemporary art – very, very cool!
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- This is a great Spencer Tunik photograph of hundreds of nude men and women. http://www.newyorkdirectorofphotography.com/
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- This is the lovely outdoor dining area of the hotel with beautiful plantings and great lighting.
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- The Mexican tiled pool at Casa Chollo
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- In the market, there are great fruits and vegetables sold fresh daily. These are nopales, or prickly pear cactus leaves, which have been a staple of the Mexican and Central American diet for thousands of years.
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- Fragrant and yummy guavas were everywhere in the market.
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- There were also bright flowers in abundance and were very inexpensive.
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- Of course, I wanted to tour the local market. Meredith and Tom Brokaw went with me and they loved it, too.
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- We came upon some pork frying – pork rind, I think.
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- This is a kind of cooked salsa of onions and peppers.
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- A closeup of the nopales leaves – The spines and eyes need to be cut out before preparation.
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- Mounds of white onions in all sizes
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- Pretty and very fragrant roses
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- These ladies make cheerful and very affordable flower arrangements.
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- All of the food stalls in the market were very neat and clean.
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- This is some sort of aloe or agave, which looked very much like an artichoke.
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- This woman spends her day trimming the needles off nopales.
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- This gentleman was knitting faster than most women I have seen.
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- Bright and cheerful hand painted pottery for the homes in San Miguel de Allende
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- And this woman was sipping a favorite drink of juiced nopales leaves.
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- Ladies slicing and dicing vegetables for fresh salsa
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- An automated tortilla factory
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- La Aurora was my favorite shopping area – so many antiques and art galleries.
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- Rachel Horn designs and fabricates lovely metal furniture. http://www.rachelhorn.com/
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- I loved this candle holder – just like in Catholic churches.
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- Sunburst mirrors and great lanterns
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- A detail of the metal day bed
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- Andrea Flores and Tom Horn are two other artisan designers.
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- I loved this stone metate, which was very worn down with use and age.
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- I really loved this green mercury ball, which I bought for Christmas. (not the stand)
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- I also loved these brass vases – probably from a church – I did not buy them.
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- Outside of La Aurora was a wonderful aloe/agave/cactus garden.
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- Roasted corn stacked for sale – a little squeeze of fresh lime would be yum!
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- Fresh garbanzo beans – a very nutritious snack
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- Jicama is quite popular in Mexican cuisine. It has a unique flavor that lends itself well to salads, salsas, and vegetable platters.
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- There were even birds for sale in the market.
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- There was so much freshly cut up fruit.
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- These are jicama ‘pops’ dusted with chili powder.
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- And attractive beaded bracelets
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- These fabrics are typical Mexican applique work.
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- The smell of corn roasting over wood coals was wafting in the air.
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- These are roasted poblano peppers filled with local white cheese and dusted with flour.
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- They are fried on one side until golden and then turned over.
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- The peppers are drained and are so very, very good.
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- Also fried are potato pancakes, which are served with fresh crab and salsas.
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- Beans, corn, onions, and peppers cooked in cream – also very, very good
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- The peppers are then dipped in frothy beaten eggs.
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- Modesta was preparing a fragrant and colorful rice.
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- I found Modesta, the cook, busy there.
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- Back at Casa Cholla, where I was a guest, I visited the kitchen.
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