Not sure if the contempt is still there - it likely is. Growing up in Mexico, I remember hearing a lot of contempt for Indigenous people being called an “indio” or “india” the biggest insult. You can tell by their features, their dress, the intonation of their voices. The people who feed us are mostly, if not 100 percent, Indigenous. We are not a mestizo culture for nothing. There is also wheat-based finger-licking stuff. Most of the meals we enjoy are corn-based. The aroma of fried lard brings me back to my childhood, to evenings with my parents and siblings, all together sharing the same meal, out on the street on chilly nights, another brick on the road of our lives.
#Mexican childhood nostalgia plus
Will we have chalupas, tortillas fried with lard plus salsa and shredded beef? Or pambazos, fried bread stuffed with beans, shredded beef, sour cream and salsa? Molotes - fried corn dough stuffed with cheese or mashed potatoes or tinga? We settle for chalupas. Still hungry after polishing off the chileatole, Mami and I decide to explore the remaining delicacies in El Carmen. My mouth waters as I see her stirring the chileatole and pouring it on my cup. A wooden block where she cuts the lemon she squeezes into every cup sits nearby. All her accouterments are low to the ground, her clientele towering over her, no counter, no kitchen, no tables, just her gigantic clay pot and her wooden spoon, its handle worn out on the spot that touches the pot, the spicy aroma wafting through the patio of the colonial building. The chileatole vendor (I’ve never asked her name I should) sits on a small bench, low to the ground, in an ancient apartment building. Related story: Hartnell professor promotes food without shame.The only thing that’s different now, after the pandemic, we are no longer offered clay bowls to drink from - only styrofoam cups.
The consistency is comforting and remarkable. Same food, same spot, same family for decades. My family and I have been purchasing chileatole from this particular vendor in El Carmen forever. Chileatole is a true prehispanic dish that’s to die for and that I’ve been eating for as long as I’ve been alive. We buy chileatole a green, spicy stew made of corn, epazote herb, and serrano chili. On my first day, my mom and I went to El Carmen, one of the original sections of the city founded by the Spaniards after defeating the Mexicas. in Cholula, home to the largest pyramid in the world) is hit the street vendors. So the first thing I do when in Puebla (established in between 800 and 200 B.C. There’s a special flavor, a sazón, that Mexican food on its bustling streets possesses, a flavor that can’t be replicated. Tacos on this side of the border are just not the same, nor the tortillas nor the beans, nor the rice. In fact, if you ask Mexicans what they miss most about their homeland, nine out of 10 will respond the same way. Mexico, in general, but Puebla, in particular, is world renowned for its cuisine. One of the things I miss the most about my hometown, home to the oldest continually inhabited settlement in the American continent, is the food. A couple of compatriots who now live in Salinas sat next to me on the flight to Mexico City. Not sure how many of these international “tourists” are Mexicans or people of Mexican descent living abroad, but I bet the share is significant. Last year, “only” 24.2 million of tourists arrived in Mexico from abroad, a 46 percent decline from 2019. According to the Mexican Department of Tourism, 31 million international tourists arrived in Mexico in 2021, 6.8 million more than in 2020. The pandemic forced me to miss the visit in 2020 this year the trip was a must. 12 (her nickname is Lupe) and the feast of the Three Kings (Reyes) on January 6. Like thousands of Mexicans living in the United States, I often make the trek to the motherland during Lupe Reyes - the period of time bracketed by the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe on Dec. Story and photos by Claudia Meléndez Salinas
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