A little about Playa Zipolite, The Beach of the Dead . . .

Playa Zipolite, Oaxaca, Southern Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean. A little bit about my favorite little get-away on this small world of ours.

Zipolite, a sweaty 30-minute walk west from Puerto Angel, brings you to Playa Zipolite and another world. The feeling here is 1970's - Led Zep, Marley, and scruffy gringos.

A long, long time ago, Zipolite beach was usually visited by the Zapotecans...who made it a magical place. They came to visit Zipolite to meditate, or just to rest.

Recently, this beach has begun to receive day-trippers from Puerto Angel and Puerto Escondido, giving it a more TOURISTY feel than before.

Most people come here for the novelty of the nude beach, yoga, turtles, seafood, surf, meditation, vegetarians, discos, party, to get burnt by the sun, or to see how long they can stretch their skinny budget.

I post WWW Oaxaca, Mexico, Zipolite and areas nearby information. Also general budget, backpacker, surfer, off the beaten path, Mexico and beyond, information.

REMEMBER: Everyone is welcome at Zipolite.

ivan

Thursday, January 15, 2015

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Hotel Posada Don Juan, Zipolite

Hotel Posada Don Juan, Zipolite

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... Posada Don Juan, Zipolite, San Pedro Pochutla, Mexico. 71 likes. Ubicada en la costa del Estado de Oaxaca, Zipolite (Playa de los Muertos) les...

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Eating Oaxaca: A Visit to Mexico's Culinary Mecca January 14, 2015, by Ben Herrera,

http://www.culinarybackstreets.com/elsewhere/2015/eating-oaxaca/

Eating Oaxaca: A Visit to Mexico's Culinary Mecca

January 14, 2015, by Ben Herrera, Comments 0

A tortilla vendor in Oaxaca, photo by Ben Herrera

We’ve written previously about the immense diversity of Mexican cooking: every region has unique traditions that build upon ingredients common to much of the country. And yet there are a few regions that stand out for the variety and vividness of the flavors, colors and tastes found there. We recently had the opportunity to travel to one of the most exciting bastions of Mexican food and culture, the city of Oaxaca, capital of the southwestern state of the same name, located along the Pacific coast.

The city was founded in 1521 by conquistador Hernán Cortés in a valley where Zapotec and Mixtec people had lived for thousands of years. The name Oaxaca came from the Nahuatl word the Aztecs had given this region, Huaxyacac, which means “among huajes” (a tree from the Leucaena family). The city center is an enchanting collection of colonial buildings and cobblestone streets.

For culinary travelers, of particular interest in Oaxaca are the two downtown markets located just a couple of blocks away from the main square. Mercado Benito Juárez is a typical Mexican market where one can find meat, fruit, vegetables, household goods, mezcal, arts and crafts and a long list of goods for locals and tourists alike. There are a few food vendors at the entrances and inside the market. Our favorite vendor at this market was Aguas Casilda, a booth that sells only aguas frescas. The flavors go from the classic, such as jamaica (hibiscus), tamarind and lime, to more local and seasonal ingredients such as coconut, pineapple, zapote and chilacayota (types of squashes local to the region).

Aguas Casilda
Location: Inside Mercado Benito Juárez, Locales No. 30-31
Flores Magón and Aldama, Centro Histórico
Telephone: +52 951 514 3379

Though Benito Juárez market is a great place to get a snack and some souvenirs, for a bargain-priced feast we go to 20 de Noviembre, just across the street. This market is also known to locals as the Mercado de carnes asadas because one of the entrance halls is lined with prepared meats ready for grilling which are available by the kilo. There arecomedores (restaurants) which grill your selection right in front of you and give you some extras such as tortillas, salsas, grilled vegetables and drinks. The meat selection includestasajo (thin beef steaks), chorizo and cecina (thin, spiced pork steaks). Inside the market the combination of colors and aromas are breathtaking. One of the first things that we noticed were the booths that sell bread – bread of every size, from individual pieces to family-size loaves bigger than a small child, all beautifully arranged.

The main culinary attraction of this market, however, is the comedores that serve typical Oaxacan food. Although you can eat very well at any of the stands inside the market, Comedor Chabelita came highly recommended by locals. We started with a Platillo Oaxaqueño, a platter that included a mole negro enchilada, coloradito mole, tasajo,cecina, chorizo and quesillo (Oaxaca string cheese), which was the perfect introduction to the local cuisine. We then ordered a tamal de mole negro con pollo. Wrapped in banana leaves, this was one of the best tamales we’ve had anywhere in the country. Other delicious dishes that Chabelita serves are tlayudas, broths and the typical Oaxacan moles such as negro, coloradito, amarillo and rojo.

Comedor Chabelita
Location: Inside Mercado 20 de Noviembre
Locales 97, 98 and 99
20 de Noviembre and Aldama
Hours: 7am-9:30pm

Tlayudas, ready to be topped, photo by Ben Herrera

Even before we arrived in Oaxaca people had recommended making a late-night visit to Las Libres Street to eat the best tlayudas in the city. A tlayuda is a large white corn tortilla, about 20 inches in diameter, which has been slightly toasted so it gets crunchy but still remains pliable. Tlayudas are topped with refried beans, quesillo and lettuce and might also have chorizo, tasajo, cecina, or grasshoppers added to them. Tlayudas on Las Libres are grilled on the sidewalk over coal, which gives them a spectacular smokiness. These tlayudas are folded in half so that they resemble large quesadillas.

Cenaduria Tlayudas Libres
Address: Libres 212, Centro, Oaxaca
Telephone: +52 951 501 1532
Hours: 9pm-6am

Grasshoppers by the kilo, photo by Ben Herrera

Right outside the downtown mercados we found grasshoppers sold by the kilo. The booths were lined with the insects separated by size (small, medium, large) and by flavor (natural, spicy, lime, garlic). They can be eaten alone or added to all kinds of dishes, including guacamole, tlayudas and quesadillas. Also available outside the markets were empanadas, large tortillas fried in lard, folded and filled with epazote, a fragrant herb, and chicken cooked in amarillo mole; molotes, square corn pockets filled with chorizo and potatoes and topped with cheese, cream and salsa; tejate, a Oaxacan traditional drink made with corn, mamey pit, peanuts and cacao and served in colorful containers made out of the fruit peel of a local tree; and many other foods and snacks.

We’re only just scratching the surface here; stay tuned for future posts on mezcal as well as iconic restaurants in Oaxaca.

(photos by Ben Herrera)

Interested in diving deeper into Elsewhere’s Culinary Backstreets? Check out our small group food walks or try our Eatinerary custom food itinerary!