(almost) free day

Today we had an almost free day, so I went to the dentist for a teeth cleaning. This was the same dentist who'd sent me to the ENT last week - while she was evaluating my canker sores she also remarked that my teeth could use a cleaning, which I sheepishly accepted (hey, no insurance = no dental care). On the plus side, teeth cleaning here is 600 pesos, roughly $40. I figured it was a good deal.

After almost an hour of metal instruments buzzing and straining my jaw open, she pronounced my teeth clean (using the same mouth probe to show me the view). She then announced that I had slight gingivitis (as evidenced by my gums bleeding slightly during the procedure) and several cavities. I was not happy about that. Each cavity would be 500 pesos to fill, which is still steep for me despite the peso pricing.

She also showed a slideshow replete with gruesome pictures (such as the following), illustrating the advanced effects of several teeth diseases...



I decided to go back later this week to fill my biggest cavity, and then to just adopt the new teethbrushing way she taught me - brush from gum to edge of teeth (as opposed to across the teeth), both on the outer surface and inner surface, then brush in a circular motion on the tops of the molars, then brush across the upper mouth cavity and tongue. And hopefully after every meal time...

After teeth cleaning came a celebratory lunch at none other than El Quinque. I decided to attempt solid food, having swallowed some mashed potatoes and rice last night.

Cris and I went in soon after the restaurant opened, and though there was a bit of a wait, everything was freshly made, like the strawberry vinaigrette that came with the salad.



For the main course I had spaghetti bolognese, one of my favorite meals ever. The noodles were cooked (and oiled) perfectly.



In the afternoon we all had Spanish class. I missed the last two because I couldn't talk so there was not much of a point. Felt bad about it, so I went today despite not being able to say much. We went over more recipe words, using an iPad app called Buena Mesa (which I would recommend to anyone who likes to cook Latin and can read Spanish). We also read an article on chiles. I learned that the "salt, chile, lime" combination that's ubiquitous to Mexican food uses the chiltepín chile, which in its usual powder form is known as piquín. So that was cool.

After class got my laundry back from the launderers - they charge by the kilo, 15 pesos per kilo to wash/dry/fold!

monte albán

We were warned that Monte Alban would be unrelenting in its lack of shade. The guys in the group made sure to get straw hats to combat this. Turns out the sun was a late riser, and since we went in the morning we were able to escape the brunt of direct sunlight.



The view was very nice from the mountain - roughly 6000 ft above sea level (compared to Oaxaca's 4500). The Monte Alban site is actually on a leveled mountain top - and when I say leveled I mean that some 2000 years ago, the Zapotec people used their hands and rudimentary tools to physically make the mountain top flat.



Most of the structures were located in this arena area, where pretty much each steppe structure had its own sacrificial square, which tells us that these structures served a religious purpose. Besides the upper and lower classes, there was the class of priests responsible for serving as an intermediary with the gods (mainly on matters relating to the weather). In gatherings, the arena would be filled with the 45,000 people that occupied this Mesoamerican city. And the priests could be heard from their platform because of the arena's impressive echo. Our tour guide demonstrated this by clapping/whistling while we were down on the arena grounds - there was definitely a surround sound type effect.



After the tour we had some time to wander around. It took us awhile to get down the stairs.



At the entrance to the site there's a museum, where artifacts dug up in/around the site are displayed. I brought my shark along and he looked at things, such as this ancient skeleton.



After the visit, our tour guide drove us to an artisanal village store, where many of us were able to buy jarros or comals or what have you. I had a good time looking around, but being as I only brought a backpack along, I won't be taking anything big like these things back!

mole negro

Cris and I discovered the best little restaurant - El Quinque, just a block away from our hotel. Stumbled in for lunch, delighted to discover that they had both Mexican and Italian items on the menu. Cris ordered lasagna.



I couldn't eat any but asked for a side of mashed avocado, which I swallowed with some difficulty. That, and some of the housemade lemonade, made up my lunch. When it came time to pay, they only charged us for lasagna! No charge for the lemonades or the avocado. And they gave us a sample of the just-cooked black beans for free too. Needless to say, I'll be going back.

On the sickness front, I still can barely eat or talk since the canker sores are all over my mouth and throat. In fact, whenever I even try to drink something, it's painful and my face gets scrunched up like this.



Today we finished making the mole negro - the prepped ingredients were pureed and cooked/stirred over the stove for over an hour. Pieces of poached chicken were added at the end. Besides chicken mole we also made black beans (a lot of mole-type spices were added to that) as well as rice with peas and carrots. At the end of class we got to eat.



Originally I was going to attempt some bean juice and rice, but upon spying the blender I decided to make myself a pureed dinner, with pieces of chicken and everything. It may look gross, but I was stoked just to be able to get some protein inside me.



Sadly this was our last class with Señora Soledad. She hardly even teaches anymore, only journeying into the city for these classes with us.



She actually lives near Monte Alban, which is where we'll be visiting tomorrow!

otorrinolaringólogo

Did you know that's one of Chef Mark's favorite words? Well I didn't know either, until today, when I had to see one for myself. It means otorhinolaryngologist, or ear nose throat (ENT) doctor.

My worsening sore throat had me worried, especially since it coincided with another flare-up of the canker sores I've been carrying around for a month. So Chef took me to the dentist around the corner from the Instituto, who probed around in my mouth and took pictures with this baton she inserted into my mouth cavity.

She suggested topical treatments (iodine rinse and anesthetic), which we purchased at the pharmacy. Chef took the opportunity to get a free consultation with the doctor stationed at the pharmacy for the ENT things he'd been experiencing. (Honestly, they should have free doctor consults at pharmacies everywhere.)



While I was gone, my culinary cohorts were instructed by Señora Soledad on how to make potato leek soup (seen here being colored/thickened by hard-boiled egg yolks mashed to a paste with some broth). I was eventually able to try some of this but the potatoes were still too hard for me to swallow.



They also made caper sauce, with poached chicken pieces added in as seen here.



I got back in time to help with some of the prep for mole negro tomorrow. We seeded three different types of chile, in order from left to right: chilhuacle (the most expensive and often omitted), pasilla mexicano, and mulato.



Of course, the whole experience of seeding chiles reminded me of my time making mole in Chef Hammerich's section, except there were no bugs this time.



The other prep we did for mole included toasting the peppers, frying bread, and sauteeing onion/garlic/almonds/sesame.



To take advantage of the tamarind tree on the Instituto grounds, we went pod-picking. Nick, being the tallest, was tasked with getting the pods while I simply held the bucket.



Then all of us went to town separating the flesh from the pods. Tomorrow we'll be making a tamarind drink out of this.



In the afternoon I went to an otorrinolaringólogo, as the dentist suggested. He prescribed many things, including an oral gel mouth rinse, an immune system-boosting liquid, and an antiviral. Despite the supposedly mouth-numbing properties of the mouth rinse, it still hurt badly to eat, so much so that I cried while trying to coax down porridge.



Thankfully there are more liquid foods in the supermarket, and I was able to stock up in the evening with some variety: yogurt drinks, jello, soup packets, and... baby food! Baby food is delicious. I'm sure one day I'll be feeding it to my baby and sneaking spoonfuls for myself.

la casa de los sabores: day 2

We assembled at the cooking school once again, prepared to be divided in half so one group could go to the market while the other prepped. But Chef Pilar took us all, instead, to the Benito Juarez Market. It was huge and filled with stalls crammed with items of every sort. Brought back memories of other markets in other countries.



We bought dried chiles of many kinds.



And also a lot of vegetables - this is Chef Pilar's favorite stand.



There we discovered the Mexican specialty of huitlacoche - basically moldy corn but with a flavor comparable to blue cheese/mushroom/truffle.



After grocery shopping a couple of us lingered too long (ok fine, maybe we were buying things) at a piñata stand and got separated from the rest of the group. We managed to make our way back to the cooking school despite Chef Mark not picking up our phone calls.

The menu for today focused on chiles - two types of chiles rellenos (stuffed chiles) and some super spicy salsas.

One of the chiles rellenos was stuffed with picadillo - chicken (or any other meat) sauteed with tomatoes, onion, garlic, parsley, almonds, raisins and lots of spices (allspice, clove, cinnamon, oregano, thyme - which I got to ground up with pestle and mortar).



The chiles for this were dried pasilla chiles, which were rehydrated before being stuffed.



Then they were floured and battered in meringue (which included a bit of flour and some yolks for color) before being fried.



The other type of chiles rellenos were made with fresh chiles de agua, and stuffed with black beans and cheese.



As with every meal, we had to make lots and lots of tortillas. Chef said he wouldn't let us leave the country unless we learned how to make a proper tortilla. And it seems simple, with the tortilla press and all, but they can rip easily, and the hardest part is laying them down on the comal flat. I got really into it and laid down a bunch of flat ones (after the first one failed).



By the end of everything we had a sizable feast assembled.



I tried to place a shot of mezcal on my plate but it fell over. But the alcohol soaking the food wasn't even a problem compared to how spicy the meal was! All of us were grunting and panting in agony (but kept on going because everything was tasty). I think the habanero salsa (disguised as green chile sauce) got a lot of us.



Afterward I went back to the Benito Juarez Market and got myself a new pair of sandals because my other ones got broken. The first two stands I encountered had merchants that were not very nice, but then I encountered a nice old lady and rooted myself at her stand, determined to buy from her just because she was being so patient and kind while I tried on pair after pair. I left a happy customer.



It was very hot so I went back to the hotel to get into the pool, where the water was colder than our showers. By the time I got out I longed for a hot shower, thinking it wouldn't be possible. But I got in the shower and hot water miraculously poured out - my first hot shower in Oaxaca! Hopefully it won't be the last.

Had dinner at a sushi place - more expensive than the local food of course, but there's only so much tortilla I can eat, even if I do love making them...