eats and drinks

Songs for the Road No. 17: The Blues and Contentment in Berlin

by Ekua on March 16, 2012 · 8 comments in eats and drinks,Germany,solo travel,songs for the road

The cloud infused evening sunlight gives the city a golden glow and the gracefulness of dusk prophesizes the night’s mood. I walk across the Oberbaum Bridge from Friedrichshain to Kreuzberg where huge murals by Blu welcome me to the neighborhood.

This is my first time crossing into what used to be the former West Berlin. It has an appearance that is slightly more what I would have expected of a German city, except with more accents of grittiness. Architecture is important in this city. Even if you loose track of the Berlin Wall, the look of the buildings around you can often tell you where it once was.

I walk the streets of a lively part of the neighborhood in search of a place to have dinner. I see a small Vietnamese restaurant that looks promising. The waitress wants to know if I mind sitting indoors. All of the tables outside are taken as people are enjoying the lingering hours of summer sunshine after all that rain. Inside the restaurant, the windows are wide, candles are lit, and they are playing music by Nina Simone. I tell her I don’t mind sitting inside.

I enjoy the solitude and the promise of more compelling places to explore. I like the way the restaurant is illuminated by evening sun and candlelight. I have a delicious bowl of soup and a glass of wine. I have a good book to read. And I’m listening to Nina Simone sing the blues in her raw, masterful way that transforms bitter to sweet.

On this night, the little things have combined so perfectly and I’m indulging in it fully. Right now I exist only in this simple, perfect moment.

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Oaxaca Hot Chocolate and Decision Making at Lidia’s Eatery

by Ekua on December 14, 2011 · 4 comments in eats and drinks,Mexico,why i travel

One morning in Oaxaca, I wake up with an onward bus ticket on my mind. I am supposed to leave the following day.

I head out of the hostel earlier than normal and make my first stop at a bank. The ATM line is long and moving at a sloth’s pace. I share sighs and smiles with the other people waiting. As more bank customers approach, they spot their friends in the line and make conversation and gestures about their disbelief of the size of the line before dutifully taking their places at the end of it.

It’s these little insights that I love so much about being in Oaxaca and Mexico in general. The little moments where locals allow you feel like you’re part of their world as you take part in everyday tasks with them. You’re a random tourist in the mix, but more importantly, you’re just another person.

Once cash has been procured, I visit the markets and shops and stock up on unique to Oaxaca gifts and mezcal and chocolate. When I have everything I was looking for, I walk over to the Mercado 20 de Noviembre. I want to find the right place to have a cup of Oaxaca style hot chocolate with ground almonds and cinnamon in it.

I settle on a comedor where a family of four is finishing up their meal and an older couple chats with the chef as they eat. The chef is Lidia and her little eatery is named after her. Comedor “Lidia”. I like the way the food stall signs have the names of the people who run them in quotation marks.

I give Lidia my order. She breaks off a chunk of chocolate from a huge bar and puts it into hot milk in a pot. She rubs a molinillo between her palms and whisks until the chocolate is frothy. She pours the hot chocolate into a small bowl and insists that I have a pan dulce roll to eat with it. She is right, the airy bread is the right companion for the chocolate. When she has made sure I have everything I need, she leans on the counter and resumes her conversation with the the older couple.

I sip the chocolate and dip the bread and people watch in the market. Leaving the next day doesn’t feel quite right. I can’t wait to get back to get back to Mexico City, but I want to spend just one more day in delving into Oaxaca’s heart.

Later that afternoon, I walk over to the bus station to change my onward ticket to a day later. It does not escape me that almost exactly a year before, I took the same walk for exactly the same reason. It’s hard for me to leave Oaxaca.

Travel can be full of spectacular sights and spectacular emotions that are fleeting and keep you moving in your quest for more. But those places where you want nothing more than the everyday are golden; they urge you to lay your backpack down a little longer and bask in pure contentment.

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3 Places to Try Mezcal in Oaxaca

by Ekua on December 6, 2011 · 4 comments in eats and drinks,Mexico

Mezcal, the unofficial liquor of Oaxaca, can be an acquired taste. Most fellow travelers I’ve encountered in Oaxaca did not like mezcal at first sip, but almost all seem to leave the city chiming in with the Oaxaca saying, “For everything bad, mezcal. For everything good, mezcal.”

The thing is, mezcal tastes of Oaxaca. It gives you sense of place. It slowly captures you the way Oaxaca has a tendency to do. And when you have to leave the city, its flavor can bring Oaxaca to you.

In the process of making mezcal, hearts of the maguey, a type of agave, are roasted in the earth for three days before the juice is extracted. This, combined with the fact that it is typically only distilled once, differentiates its rustic and smoky flavor from that of the more smooth tequila.

Intrigued? Here are  three Oaxaca watering holes where you can go from a mezcal novice to a bonafide mezcal appreciator:

» Beginner: La Casa del Mezcal

This is the most obvious mezcal starting point; it’s well known and conveniently located near the bustle of the Zocalo. Its walls are adorned with murals of absurdly muscular warrior men fending off enemies, and that sets the tone for a kind of laughable bravado-heavy atmosphere. But here you can try all the types of mezcal at a price that will fit into your budget. Mezcal is traditionally sipped as is, and at Casa del Mezcal, orange slices and chili salt are provided to help make the mezcal go down easier if you need it.

Calle Flores Magón, between Calle Las Casas and Calle Aldama
Centro Histórico
Oaxaca City, Oaxaca

» Intermediate: La Farola

La Farola is a classy but down to earth establishment that I passed by many times before I remembered to check it out. This bar was founded in 1916 and it claims to be oldest cantina in Oaxaca city. Beyond the wooden doors that are reminiscent of an old Western film, it’s a lovely spot for a slightly more swanky night and there is sometimes live music. While the selection of mezcal does not seem to be as vast the Casa del Mezcal, they have good options to choose from. And as long as you’re drinking mezcal, they’ll provide the snacks.

Calle 20 de Noviembre, between Calle Las Casas and Calle Trujano
Colonia Centro Histórico
Oaxaca City, Oaxaca
Phone: 951-516-5352

» Advanced: Cuish

Shannon Young is a Oaxaca-based radio reporter who came across my site after I started blogging about last summer’s trip to Oaxaca. She has been a great supporter since. This year, we got a chance to meet in Oaxaca and I sensed that she would know of some great spots that were hidden to the average visitor.

After eating delicious memelas at a food stand, we headed over to Cuish, a wonderful discovery for me. Cuish is the name of the bar and the mezcal they create and sell. It’s a small space, and the atmosphere there more resembles a tasting room of small scale bohemian winery than it does a bar. When I entered, I could immediately sense that a lot of love and passion went into creating it. The mezcal there is something unique; you can really taste the agave in it. It’s not often that a liquor brings about an appreciation for the cosmos, but that’s exactly what this earthy mezcal did.

Calle Diaz Ordaz 712
Centro Histórico
Oaxaca City, Oaxaca
Phone: 951-516-8791
http://www.mezcalcuish.net

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