A Taste of Oaxaca

Fresh off the overnight bus from Mexico City, I dropped off my luggage at a hostel and went to explore.

I had only given myself two days in Oaxaca City and was considering a day trip the following day so I wanted to soak up as much as possible by just walking around.

First stop 'Love coffee'
Oaxaca City is often called the foodie capital of Mexico so I decided to go for a nice breakfast. This place was rated one of the best breakfast spots and I can see why; the owner was was friendly and the food was delicious!

Whilst basic food (and numbers) are the things I remember from Spanish GCSE, I was definitely appreciative when the owner asked the girl at another table to translate the menu for me. Although my main priority was just to have something without meat, 'sin carne'. Little did I know at that point that 'Chapulines' (dried and roasted grasshoppers) are a delicacy there. So here's my egg dish with Oaxaca cheese and hopefully no grasshoppers.

After breakfast I wondering the colourful streets adorned with street art. I love street art, every more so when its so colourful, it just brings so much joy. The best neighbourhoods for street art were jalatlaco and hacienda; mainly I just kept getting lost following whatever pictures caught my eye. I've been told a lot of the street art here has a political meaning.

Back in Centro (Zocala) I came across this watermelon art exhibition. This was to honour the beloved Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo, on the 30th Anniversary of his death. The story goes that as an orphaned child Rufino went to live with this Aunt who owned a fruit stand. Watermelons became a significant theme of his artwork (also said to symbolise the Mexican flag colours). The exhibition is by 30 of his past students.

There was a great collection of styles. This one is my favourite, unfortunately I didn't photograph the artists name:

After spending some time in the baking heat It was a perfect time to try some of the Oaxaca ice cream I had heard about; 'nieve de leche quemada con tuna'. Which is burnt milk with the sweet fruit of the prickly pear cactus. Really strange flavours but somehow they complement each other and it was delicious. Incase you're wondering, it is said that Leche quemada (burnt milk) came about by accident. Dona Maria Juarez brought milk to boil in a clay pot and accidentally burnt it, she tried it and thought it actually tasted good, so she sold it and people liked it and now its a traditional nieve sold in Oaxaca.

The next day I checked out the Botanical gardens and wondered around a little more. In truth I wasn't all that impressed with the botanical gardens, but maybe that's because I just had a Spanish tour and couldn't understand so much. They were really strict from covid and you weren't allowed to walk around alone. I did find this giant cacti cool though.

After wondering around a little I checked out the Markets to try some more Oaxaca treats. Oaxaca cheese (quesillo) is another delicacy of the area. Its like an unaged Monterey Jack, but with a texture similar to mozzarella. A traditional food containing this cheese is Tlayudas, which are large crunchy tortillas with a spread of refried beans, cabbage/lettuce, avocado, quesillo and usually meat. I opted to get a Tlayuda de flor de calabaza which is the veggie version with pumpkin flowers.

Before catching my next overnight bus I headed to a famous mezcaleria

As expected I hated this fancy mezcal and couldn't even drink it, that was definitely a lesson in not just doing something for the sake of it.