Good Food Planet: June 2010

I recently had the pleasure of participating in La Ruta de Aromas y Sabores del Bicentenario 2010, a ten day tour of Mexico City, State of Mexico, Queretaro, Guanajuato and Michoacán sponsored by CANIRAC as well as many private concerns. Over a hundred chefs, journalists and sundry food professionals were invited, all expenses paid, by the indefatigable chef and cookbook author Patricia Quintana to tour the country and get to know its gastronomic riches. The goal? To spread the word that Mexico is a good place for ‘culinary tourism’. But we know that already. Most of the group was Mexican, a handful Spanish and South American, only one lone American who turned out to be the amazing Betty Harper Fussell, age 82 and author of innumerable cook and food books. I was not able to stay the entire exhaustive ten days, but hopped the bus at 6:30 AM in front of the formerly bohemian Hotel Géneve in the Zona Rosa where we were shlepped through Estado de México to Santiago Tianguistenco to visit its Tuesday tianguis, to downtown Toluca to see a lovely former market building now housing a rather unimpressive botanic garden, to an amazing charreada at a gorgeous out-of-the-movies rancho, to a comida of regional fare at a huge hacienda and to various ceremonies of ‘bienvenidos’ usually attended to by local mayors whose name tended to be ‘Nieto’. After 3 more hours in the bus we were deposited in a hotel somewhere in Querétaro, sometime after midnight. That was day one. The bus was leaving next morning at 7:30 sharp for more haciendas, tastings, vineyards and charros. And there were eight more days on the road. Best part of it for me as a food writer was making connections. Besides Mme. Fussell, I dined with a fun gaggle of Madrileños (they loved the tacos de nata but hated the café de olla as it was too sweet). I chatted with a couple of Peruvian chefs who were amazed at the variety in the market. I exchanged cards with an ex-Chilanga from L.A. who has published a book of colonial period recipes. A couple of sexy charros took my email in their iphone while their horses patiently stood by, to notify me of future charreadas. The food was good, the Queretano wine was so-so, its cheese great. I ate and ate and ate. And didn't sleep until I got home.

Pictures are better than words so see the photos and videos that follow: