Oaxaca Restaurant: Los Pacos Known for Moles (MOH-lays)

Mole is a Oaxacan treasure, a rich sauce flavored with chili that tops beef, chicken, pork, vegetables, tamales, and tortilla dishes.  The most popular (and well known) are mole negro and mole coloradito, but it comes in seven varieties.  We stumbled upon Los Pacos on our last night in Oaxaca after circling and searching Independencia west of town looking for Mi Casa (near Aparicio–recommended by a friend), which we never located.  It was 9:30 p.m. and we needed to be at the bus station by 12:00 midnight and our stomachs were rumbling.  Eric said he heard of Los Pacos but had never been there.  We walked several blocks east of Macedonia Alcala to discover it was right around the corner from the Camino Real Hotel at Abosolo #121, Centro Historico, Tel. 516-17-04.

Have you been here before? we were asked by the proprietress Lucy Rodriguez Galguera.  No, we answered in unison.  We are known for our moles, she said.  Let me bring you a sampler.  She came back to our white clothed table with small dishes and a plate of fresh corn tortillas for dipping.  The mole estofado was the hands-down favorite for all of of us, with the mole negro coming in for a close second.  The mole negro was rich, spicy, deep, dark chocolatey and smooth.  You could just imagine the secret recipe being prepared by someone in the kitchen who knew exactly how to blend the chilis, nuts, cinnamon and chocolate. In addition, the sampler included amarillo (spicy yellow), coloradito (chocolate and tomatoes), verde (green chilis mixed with small white beans), chichilo, and estofado moles.  The estofado was sweet, smokey and had a hint of raisins or berries.  It was spectacular.  Because I couldn’t decide, I customized my order by asking for three chicken enchiladas, each topped with a different mole:  negro, verde and estofado.  Our waiter happily complied even though my request was not on the menu!

Dinner for the four of us was under $60 USD and included beer, wine, and an appetizer.  As we ate, we looked out through the tall, arched, windows, onto the avenue bathed in lamplight at the ancient stone walls of the ex-convent across the street.  Behind us on the far end of the dining room were blown glass lamps illuminating the carved wooden bar.  Everyone in the room glowed with warmth and happiness.  The harmony of food, friendship and the city we love, made this a perfect spot with which to end this part of our journey.

This restaurant was written up in the NY Times and Conde Nast Traveler at least 4-5 years ago.  I would venture to say it is every bit as good today as it was then.

19 Hours in Juchitan: Trajes y Telas

Surprise!  We’re in Juchitan.

In my humble opinion, I think Juchitan has one of the greatest markets in all of Oaxaca, especially if you love fabric and the traditional dress of Tehuanas — heavy hand embroidered floral designs on either velvet or floral patterned cloth with complimentary skirts often fringed in lace or eyelet cotton.  The traje of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region is among the most colorful and interesting in Oaxaca.

We are circling the Zocalo looking for a hotel after deciding not to spend the night in San Mateo del Mar.  Families, couples and Muxes stroll the square filled with balloon and food vendors.  After finding rooms and checking into the Hotel Santo Domingo del Sur on the Pan American Highway across from the Pemex station at the intersection at the crossroad that leads to the center of Juchitan, we returned to  the Zocalo to eat garnaches (a local open-faced small chalupa or mini-tostada) and drink Corona.  The cost was 10 pesos for two pieces.

It is a sauna in Juchitan this time of year (summer).   Even in December, the coast is tropical.  Coconut and banana palms sway in the constant wind which helps keep the skin cool.  We are back at the Zocalo in the morning at 9 a.m. for desayuno (breakfast) at a beautiful restored Colonial-style two story casa that has been recreated as Restaurant Casa Grande.  The frescoes swirl around stone arches two stories high.  Fans swirl to keep the air moving.  Two green parrots call from the second story wrought iron veranda.  Service is excellent and the food is outstanding.  Carrot, orange and guayaba juice is fresh squeezed.  The coffee was strong, sweet, spectacular. We had tamales con elote with creme sauce and salsa verde, Oaxaquena scrambled eggs with quesillo in a picante red sauce, queso fresco with nopales in a salsa verde cream sauce, and omelets.  Every dish was different and distinguished.  The cost was 35-75 pesos per person, depending upon the choice.  Take a look at the small shop in the courtyard that sells Juchitan traje.  Well made and reasonably priced.

We decided to split up to do our market meanderings and meet back at the restaurant at 12:30 p.m.  I ran into Eric on the second story of the main market across the street from the Zocalo, where I was window shopping for huipils.  He said he had found a great shop that sold fabric and also had wonderful handmade blouses around the backside of the market.  I followed him there and it was a treasure trove, packed with bolts of fabric that they will make up to order, plus a great selection of ready-made embroidered pieces ranging in price from 350-950 pesos for a complete top and skirt outfit.  It was definitely hard to choose.  Here’s the shop info:  “Telas y Trajes Regionales — STI Lorena, Calle 2 de Abril, S/N Local 1, Juchitan, Oaxaca.”  By midday, I had purchased an orange polka dot skirt for 180 pesos, a complimentary floral hand embroidered top for 450 pesos, a beautiful green outfit for 350 pesos, and a long black tunic with white stitched trim for 220 pesos.  This will all add up to under $100!

We sat in the Zocalo people watching, holding our bolsas full of beautiful trajes, and sipped coconut milk from the fresh coconut we held on our laps through straws and people watched.  By 1:30 p.m. we were back on the road for the return trip to Oaxaca, a 250 km ride through curving, mountainous two-lane road.  The logical halfway stop is at El Cameron, where a family run comedor offers good food and clean toilet facilities.  The owner had lived and worked in Tennessee for 11 years, and had studied air quality and pollution control at the community college.  Eduardo, a multi-dimensional artist, is incorporating the stories of transborder migration into her next exhibition which will open at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca in November, and interviewed the owner about his experiences to incorporate into her work.

As we continued toward Oaxaca, the landscape changed from palms to saguaro cactus.  Cash crops of agave that is the basis for tequila and mezcal were planted on hillsides and their tall spikes topped with flowers were like mini-trees.  Donkeys, bulls and goats grazed along the highway and sometimes strayed onto the road.  A lone bicyclist pedaling uphill on the concrete shoulder emphasized the struggle to get from one place to the next both literally and figuratively.  Under the green and yellow concrete shelters marking bus stops along the mountain route, campesinos waited for buses, and life here seems like it is a series of working and waiting, working and waiting.

Recommendations:  Hotel Santo Domingo del Sur, Juchitan, 750 pesos double, 550 pesos single, air conditioning, free wi-fi, very clean and comfortable, email: hsto@prodigy.net.mx, (971) 711-10-50

Feliz Compleanos y Prospero Ano Nuevo: New Year’s Eve Part Two

Celebrations for the new year begin at sundown on New Year’s Eve with the sound of firecrackers and bands playing throughout the village.  Small groups of young men gather at street corners waiting for something to happen.  Water is sprinkled on courtyards and stairways by women with brooms in hand to sweep up any dust and debris.  A 3 p.m. comida for extended family is common followed by a grand midnight supper.  This is an all night affair.

My birthday celebration begins at 5 p.m. in the courtyard of Las Granadas.  The sun will go down in an hour or so and we all bring along extra sweaters, jackets and shawls.  Federico has packed the special bottle of Chichicapam mezcal and a bottle of white wine.  We arrive to a festive table set with a big bouquet of white lilies and red geraniums, four bottles of wine (two red, two white), mezcal shot glasses, and a pitcher of fresh made jugo de jamaica.  I am surrounded by my Teotitlan family and friends:  Federico Chavez Sosa and his wife, Dolores Santiago Arrellanas, their children Eric Chavez Santiago, Janet Chavez Santiago and Omar Chavez Santiago, Eric’s novia Elsa Sanchez Diaz, Annie Burns, Roberta Christie, Sam and Tom Robbins from Columbus, Ohio, and Las Granadas proprietors Josefina Bazan Ruiz and her mother-in-law Magdalena.  In the kitchen is daughter La Princessa Eloisa Francesca, age 17, who is in her final semester of culinary school in Oaxaca, the young sons Willibaldo and Eligio, and two sobrinas (nieces) who are helping with the preparation and serving.  Eloisa’s betrothed, Taurino, also pitches in.  (Josefina tells me he is very helpful around the house and is weaving to earn Eloisa’s hand.)

We open wine, raise toasts to the new year, and I tell them how important each of them has been to me in my journey of Teotitlan discovery.  We raise a toast to my husband Stephen who is home in North Carolina and I let them know I will Skype with him later to send their best wishes.  Annie first invited us to Teotitlan to visit, where we were the first guests in the trial to establish a bed and breakfast at what was to become Las Granadas.  We slept in Magda’s bedroom where we used a clothesline as a closet and did our best to ignore the shotgun on the wall.  We celebrated Eloisa’s Quinciniera and the boys’ birthdays.  We shared lots of mezcal toasts over the years.  In our wanderings on that first visit, we met Eric and Janet selling rugs in the corner market.  As a textile artist, I could see that what the Chavez Santiago family created was exceptional and fairly priced.  I heard the story from Eric about their use of natural dyes, the reluctance about paying tour guides 40 percent commission to bring customers to their house, the hard work of the family.  I met Dolores, Federico, and Omar and our family-like relationship began.   Elsa Sanchez Diaz, Eric’s novia (girlfriend) of five years, is also part of the family, and has stayed in my NC home when she joins on U.S. exhibitions, lectures, and demonstrations. Roberta came to Teotitlan the following year, also through Annie, and set about helping Josefina construct  first rate B&B, while building an apartment on the second story of the courtyard complex.  She has become a good friend, too.  Sam and Tom Robbins are black and white art photographers from Columbus, Ohio, who I met two years ago at Casa de los Sabores and we have had several reunions in Oaxaca as well as North Carolina.  Eva Hershaw, a documentary photographer, who I have been communicating with via this blog and email to record the process of growing and making food with traditional maize, also joined in.  It was a special group assembled to help me celebrate.

For me, the assembly was more about the people than the food, but the food was spectacular.  Magda, Josefina and Eloisa prepared chicken tamales in mole amarillo, a veggie mix of fresh cut and steamed green beans and potatoes, and a plate of chopped succulent chicken to pass around.  One does not need anything else besides wine and tamales.  It is heaven sent.  I think I ate four or five, but wanted to save room for the cakes, the chocolate layer cake extravaganza with chocolate cream icing, and the chocolate cake topped with flan.  We lit huge sparklers that the two boys, Willi and Eligio twirled.  I blew out the one candle (thank you, I’m only 39), and wished each other a joyous new year, filling up again on mezcal and raising our glasses in salud.

Night had come over us and it was getting chilly.  It was now 8:30 p.m.  Federico and Dolores needed to return home to light the sweet copal incense to purify the house, and make preparation for the midnight party they would attend at the home of Fede’s brother Jose.  For me, the sparkling winter sky gave light to the future, and it was getting time to say goodnight.  Descanse.  Suenos dulces.  The assemblage wished each other happy new year with hugs and good wishes.  On New Year’s Day the party will continue.

Restaurants Along the Way

We have taken meals at these eateries and can recommend them.

• San Martin Tilcajete: “Azucena” on the road to Ocotlan
• Mazunte: “El Pelicano” and “Un Secreto”
• Crucecita: “El Sabor de Oaxaca”
• San Augustin Etla: “Comedor Alheli” (260 pesos for 5 people, plus standard 10% tip, which included roasted chicken, fresh tortillas, rice, sopa de elote, beer or agua fresca)
• Oaxaca: “Temple,” “La Biznaga,” “Maria Buena,” “Casa Oaxaca,” “Marco Polo”
• Teotitlan del Valle: “The Sacred Bean” coffee shop, “El Descanso Restaurant”, “Samburguesa,” and “Las Granadas” Bed & Breakfast will also prepare comida with an advanced reservation

I also want to recommend that you check out this Blog for a great commentary on eating in Oaxaca by a very savvy 30-year old New Yorker who lived there for four months: oneforkonespoon.blogspot.com

Lodging Along the Way

• Teotitlan del Valle:  Casa Josefina “Las Granadas”, contact robertachristie@yahoo.com or 5244232, $25 USD per night includes breakfast
• Hotel Calli, Tehuantepec, 800 pesos per night
• Hotel Grifer, Crucecita (Huatulco), 500 pesos per night
• Casa de los Sabores (Oaxaca), Pilar Cabrera, $75 USD per night
• Las Bugambilias (Oaxaca), Aurora Cabrera, $85 USD per night, bugambilia@lasbugambilias.com
• El Pelicano, Mazunte, 500 pesos per night

These are the places we have actually stayed and can recommend.