In the Land of the Avocado and the Tomato.

Before we left San Diego for Mexico, we provisioned. Bought a lot of food, as if we wouldn’t touch land for another six months. We didn’t know what to expect and wanted to be prepared. We had been eating great fruit and vegetables imported from Mexico while living in Southern California, so it couldn’t be too bad. During all my other trips to this beautiful country, I had eaten extraordinarily well. Nevertheless we stuffed the boat with food. Must be a hoarder thing, I must be a food hoarder.
I was looking forward to the fresh fruit and vegetables. What I didn’t expect is how incredible everything tastes. The tomatoes are perfectly ripen and the avocados meaty and soft like velvet. The staples of Mexican cuisine are avocado, tomatoes, beans, rice and tortillas. Together, in variation, by themselves, and with a little lime juice to lift the flavor. Perfect. And the fruit. Wow. A simple fruit plate (for about $2.50!) at a restaurant usually sports a large variety of fruit like papaya, kiwi, cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries, as if just picked of the tree or bush they all taste sweet and delicious.

I remember vividly my first avocado. I was around 12 years old (1975, yup) and invited to a friend’s, Cora’s, house at the Sierichstrasse in Hamburg. We were sitting around her kitchen table, she, her mom and I, staring at a strange, black, oval thing the size of a large pear on a small plate with reptile like, bumpy skin. ‘Avocado from Mexico’, my friend’s mom exclaimed. We tried cutting it and found a large pit, we had severed in half with a bread knife, as all other knives had failed. Then we found green fruit flesh around the pit. Green eggs and ham. I would be introduced way later, in California, to the world of Dr. Seuss. Strange. We tasted it. Raw, naked, Sashimi style, without anything added. Not good. It was hard, green tasting, if that is a thing. Took another 10 years before I tried it again, in Mexico, this time ripe and fleshy, with lime and a little salt and, voila, I was introduced properly this time to this delicious and magic fruit.

Most fruits, including the avocado and tomato, which are fruit and were first reported in Mexico!, need a lot of sun. The heat of Mexico ripens them just right. If a fruit is picked early for it’s long journey to it’s consumer, it will not have developed any more flavor by the time it arrives, which in the US is on average after 1000 miles of travel. It is said that the fruit and vegetables of today have only 40 percent of the nutrients compared to 50 years ago. Fruit picked ripe and eaten right away has all the flavor and has had time to develop all nutrients during the ripening process. And all the sweetness. Birds love sugar and so do we. The imported, non local fruit we eat in the Northern hemisphere tastes watery and bland. No bird would eat those! Only in locally grown and purchased at farmers markets and co-ops could I find this taste. In Mexico it seems to be everywhere, even at Oxxo (like a 711 store, and yes like ‘kisses and hugs’… hihi), can you find those perfectly ripen avocados and tomatoes. But even here the truth about industrialized agriculture and hypermarkets stands. We ended up at Walmart yesterday, don’t ask…, and we bought a great looking watermelon. No taste. Absolutely none. We threw it away.

Today we went to a farmers market with our neighboring sailing couple, Sue and Marty of SV Happy Dance (Sail2Blue.com). It was a little bit of a challenge to find and we walked the streets of La Paz for a bit. Laid out in a grind, the old town gently spreads over small hills, from most houses one can see the sea. We discovered a small juice store, Green Go!, we had a green drink prepared by Frederico, who just moved to La Paz from Monterrey, wanting a change of scenery. The store is open for one month only, and business is picking up, he reported. He might want to expand to several juice stores or not. ‘Whatever happens is good’.
We found the farmers market, which ended up being an organic market where local artisans and farmers sold their cheese, jewelry, bread, vegetables, fruit and more, just along a side walk. Although not large, the market provided us with everything we needed and more for for our next trip.
We continued our stroll through the neighborhood, which turned out to be the bohemian quarter of town with many small stores and restaurants and a couple design hotels. Then we came upon a small pocket park. Park of Stones and Birds. Gently intuitive and inventively designed, it combined art with providing various shelters from the sun for leisurely enjoyment. A group of older women were knitting in a large lounge area. A young couple was chatting and smart-phoning under a pergola.
It was time for lunch and our friends spotted the small restaurant, Tio Bencho. In a courtyard shaded by a large tree, we found typical Mexican breakfast and lunch dishes and I tasted my first Pozole. Pozole is a thick soup with a slight sour taste, consistent of popped corn kernels and garnished with bits of avocado, onion, cilantro, radishes and lime. It had an great earthiness to it, again lifted with a bit of lime. Yum. The restaurant was charmingly and whimsically decorated and our server, who could have been from Venice Beach, Silver Lake or Brooklyn, was an art teacher who moonlights some days at the restaurant. ‘Teaching and art is not valued enough’ Fernando said. He moved to La Paz from Mexico City, also recently, to look for a slower life with more time for art.

What a refreshing day this was. Enough whimsy, art and food to satisfy all senses and to refresh our batteries. As challenging as it is to adjust to the boating life and the heat, today Mexico won me over instantaneously with it’s friendly people and great, fresh food.
I am totally content with being here, as I rub my satiated belly.
Green Go!  https://www.facebook.com/Green-Go-1726598230903286/
Parque Piedras Y Pájaros  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Parque-Piedras-Y-Pájaros/710442812319165
Tio Bencho  https://www.facebook.com/TIOBENCHORESTAURANT/