Mexico - fun facts

- The entire city area of CDMX was wetlands only 300 years ago. Water was slowly drained and the area became inhabitable. But until today parts of the city sink 30-50cm per year, including the histioric center of the town. Buildings are unstable, tilt in all directions and there are places in the city in which you cannot get a building insurance on the construction. The impressive Palacio de Bellas Artes is sinking rapidly, also because it's veyr heavy, made of Italian and Mexican marble.
- Getting around with subway trolleybus and metrobus is easy. However when it comes to small buses you need to actually know what you're doing. Google maps is not really helpful, it happened multiple times that the bus stop the map indicated just didn't exist. When the bus comes it's not sure that its number is stated anywhere. So it needs some communication.
- Mexican politics is a mess. Democracy is very young only since 2014. The world record of the shortest ruling president goes to Pedro Lascuráin, who ruled 45 minutes in 1913.
- Even though democracy is quite new to the country, people are extremly diverse, tolerant and accepting. Two men holding hands or even making out in public is normal, no-one raises an eyebrow.
- Pigeons are much smaller than in Europe.
- Money takes you farther than in the EU or US. Apartments are nice and spacious, food is incredible and cheap, public transporation is cheap, and Uber/Didi is very affordable.
- Even the best apartments have some weird stuff going on. Hot water that stops in the middle of the shower, doors that don't close properly, water boiler missing from kitchens, unstable or wrongly sized toilet seats.
- Food is incredible. Quesadillas, tacos, enchilladas, all the good stuff. But also the fruits are amazing: mango, papaya, mamey, etc.
- I'm still here and I don't want to jynx it, but it feels safe here everywhere I went. People using their phones on the street, people even put down their bags while sitting on the streets in cafes, phones are often on the table. I don't risk putting my phone on the table, but people do it all the time.
- Mexico City came on the touristic map only in 2015. The trigger was funny: James Bond in Spectre fights his way through the parade of Día de Muertos (day of the dead). The first wave of toursists arrived in CDMX and were looking for the festival. This festival never existed before. After the high "demand" for the festival the city created it and now it's running on an annual basis (aka. Festival Hollywood).
- Avocados are always good in Mexico. While in Europe it's a hit-or-a-miss 50-50, In Mexico every single avocado is just perfect.
- While sitting in a restaurant on the street, there are different vendors approaching all the time. Some relevant ones are those who sell desserts. At any moment a large tray of dessers can appear right at your table and you can buy any of these from the diligent vendor. But there are also quite irrelevant stuff that are being sold to people sitting on the sreet side of a cafe or restaurant. Like carpets. Two people standing right in front of a restaurant and show their beautiful tapestry to the audience. And then sometimes it's a toothpaste. A dream can come true buying a delighful toothpaste while consuming a delicious chicken mole taco or enchiladas. Others offer shoe-cleaning services while you calmly slurp your wine.
- This is just a feeling, but I think Americans living here like to differentiate themselves from people who just visit. The way they do it is that they have a dog. There are a LOT of dogs here, and a lot of gringos walk their dogs.

Chapultepec Castle

Last day in Mexico City. Not a full day, but I decided to still explore. Several spots are still missing, so I decided to visit the city's iconic castle on the Chapultepec Hill. The hill was a sacred place for the Aztecs. The castle itself was used as military academy, summer house, presidential residence, imperial residence not necessarily in this order. Maybe the most prominent figure who lived here was Maximilian the 1st, the Habsburg, who was an Austrian archduke, and he became emperor of Mexico because the French intervention in Mexico created a chance for regime change: Napoleon III backed the project, and Mexican conservatives who opposed Benito Juárez’s liberal republic looked for a European royal to place on the throne. Sounds like a good job? It didn't work out well. 3 years down the line in 1867 he was captured and executed. This was the end of the Second Mexican Empire. But in these 3 years he refurbished the castle in excellent style that is preserved until these days.

The royal rooms:

Very nice view on the city:

And of course murals, because murals have to be there in Mexico:

UNAM - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

UNAM is a public university located in the south of Mexico City. It has 34 research institutes, 26 museums, and 18 historic sites. With more than 324,000 students, UNAM is one of the world's largest universities. Today I visited the campus in CDMX, which is famous for its architectural style following the Mexican Modernism. UNESCO calls it “plastic integration”, meaning: architecture, urban design, murals, sculpture, and landscape are conceived together rather than as separate layers. I spent some time readin in the central library and walked around with several human and doule as many dogs in the campus squares.

Dinner at Taqueria Califa:

I tried chelada or michelada, not sure which one was it. The concept is a glass with some lemon juice in it and flaky sea salt around its rim, then cold lager beer on top of the lemon juice. Works surpisingly well. Who would have thought?!

Cooking Workshop - Mexico City

Today I decided to go off the beaten path for toursists and participate in a local cooking workshop. Our host, who conducted the workshop runs her own restaurant and works with "mayoras" (ladies from the countriside without formal culinary education, but with lots of knowledge and experience in cooking). We made different types of salasas, guacamole, we learned about different types of chile, we learned how to deal with the masa (corn dough), how to press and roast tortillas, how to make quesadilla, sopes and tlocoyos. Very cool and informative workshop.

In Mexican cooking, quelites is a family of edible greens. The word comes from the Nahuatl quilitl, and in Mexican food culture it refers broadly to tender edible leaves, shoots, stems, young plants, and even some flowers. They have been part of Mexican cooking since pre-Hispanic times, and they are especially associated with seasonal, local cooking and the world of the milpa and traditional markets rather than with one specific ingredient.

Here are some examples:
- Verdolaga is the fleshy, juicy, slightly acidic one. Cooked into stews, especially verdolagas con carne de puerco, and more generally its young leaves and tender stems are used in soups, broths, and other cooked preparations.
- Berro is a darker green with a fresher, more peppery profile. In rural central Mexico it may accompany tacos, while in cities it often appears in simple salads.
- Quelite cenizo is a more rustic, earthy cooking green. Our chef said it's classic, so... so be it ;-)

We have so many edible vegtables in the wild that we (as humans) don't cultivate...

Another intersting thing is the huitlacoche. It's an edible fungus that infects young corn, growing between the kernels and swelling them into soft gray-black galls. In Mexico it has been harvested since ancestral times, especially during the rainy season, though today it can also be cultivated in a controlled way. When it is still young and tender, it is prized for its deep, earthy, mushroom-like flavor and is commonly cooked in quesadillas, tamales, soups, and stews, often sautéed first with onion, garlic, chile, and even goes on pasta, pizza and risotto! In other parts of the world it totally disqualifies the corn or sometimes entire batches or fields.

Chiles are very diverse and are used everywhere in MExican cooking. Every type of chile can be either fresh or dried. Here is a short mental map of them:

• poblano → ancho when dried
• chilaca → pasilla when dried
• jalapeño → chipotle when smoked and dried
• morita is a smaller smoked-dried jalapeño / chipotle type
• mirasol -> guajillo when dried
• chile de árbol is often sold fresh, but is used very often dried (same name goes for both)
• habanero is mostly used fresh rather than dried

Here are the characteristics and use of each:

• Poblano: large, fleshy, dark green, broad and conical, with relatively mild heat. It is the classic chile for chiles rellenos, rajas, and roasting/peeling. When dried, it becomes ancho.
• Ancho: the dried poblano. It is broad, triangular, reddish-brown, and especially valued for color, body, and depth rather than aggressive heat. It is one of the main dried chiles in red sauces, moles, adobos, and many guisos rojos.
• Chilaca: long, dark green to almost black, somewhat twisted, fleshy, and sometimes quite hot. In central Mexico it is often roasted and peeled, then used in rajas, chopped, ground, or stuffed. When dried, it becomes pasilla.
• Pasilla: the dried chilaca. Long, dark, wrinkled, and moderately hot, it is used for salsas such as salsa borracha, as well as moles, adobos, revoltijo, and meat stews.
• Mirasol: the fresh form of guajillo. Its name comes from the way the fruits point upward “toward the sun” on the plant. It is used fresh in some regional stews and salsas, though outside those contexts you are much more likely to encounter its dried form, guajillo.
• Guajillo: the dried mirasol. Smooth, shiny, reddish, and elongated, it is one of the standard dried chiles because it gives red color and consistency to sauces, moles, and stews.
• Jalapeño: fresh, fleshy, green, conical, and medium to fairly hot. It is used in salsas, rajas, fillings, and everyday cooked dishes. When smoked and dried, it becomes chipotle.
• Chipotle: smoked, dried jalapeño. Dark, wrinkled, and distinctly smoky, it is one of the hotter dried chiles and is especially associated with adobos, escabeches, canned chipotles in adobo, and brothy dishes.
• Serrano: small, green, pointed, and clearly hot. It is one of the most common fresh chiles in Mexico and is used raw, cooked, roasted, or fried, especially in fresh and cooked salsas.
• Morita: a small smoked-dried jalapeño type, related to chipotle. It is very hot but also slightly sweet, and is used much like chipotle in salsas and adobos.
• Chile de árbol: long, thin, and very hot. It can be found fresh, but it is most commonly used dried, especially for fiery table salsas and to sharpen sauces.
• Habanero: small, lantern-shaped, and extremely hot. The classic chile of Yucatecan cooking. It is usually used fresh rather than dried, often in salsas and condiments, and commonly appears green, yellow, or orange depending on ripeness.

I asked ChatGPT to label the above photo with all the chiles on it:

CDMX - Centro Historico

Today Renata went home to New York, I continue on my own. I checked out from the appartment on Jalaca and dropped off my suitcase at my new place 2 blocks away. I took then the public transportation to Zocalo, where I joined a free walking tour exploring the historic center of the city. The tour was conducted by an antropologist woman, who was very knowledgable not only about the city and its sites, but also about the history and the people living here in pre-hispanic periods. I learned that the entire city is sinking way more than Amsterdam or Venice. It sinks about 30 cm every year. That's the reason why buildings are tilting, surfaces are not quite horizontal. I also learned about the pre-hispanic religious site that was in today's Zocalo's place. We found some remainders of the site under the Spanish cultural center:

Pre-hispanic ruins right next to Zocalo:

We walked around Santo Domingo Square. The Spanish inquisition's building is on the right with the double cross on it. As we mentioned Aztec human sacrifices before, and people were devastated hearing those stories, I gently reminded people on the inquisition and how many people were killed in the name of the holy cross.

After finishing the tour I explored Casa Azulejos: It's an 18th century residential palace fully covered with blue-and-white Talavera tiles from Puebla. The inside is a restaurant. I was cheeky enough to sneak in, take photos and even go up the stairs without being noticed.

Finally I went over to the other side of the road and entered the Palacio de Bellas Artes. It was originally conceived as the new National Theater under Porfirio Díaz, and construction began in 1904. It was supposed to be finished quickly, but budget problems, technical difficulties, and then the Mexican Revolution delayed it so much that it only opened in 1934. Its style is a striking mix: the exterior is mainly Art Nouveau, designed by the Italian architect Adamo Boari, while the interior is mainly Art Deco, completed later under the Mexican architect Federico Mariscal.