Lake Chapala, continued

In the small courtyard mercado just off Chapala’s jardin, there were stacks of fresh fruit, bread, slabs of meat hanging on hooks, clothing, shoes, hair ornaments and jewelry, and countless other goods for sale. We took a quick walk around; we’d already spent enough time in the huge mercados in San Miguel and Guadalajara. As we were leaving through the arcade, we spotted the brightly colored juices of a juice bar - glass blender jars of green, ruby, orange, light yellow. I asked for a little sample of the green, expecting something grassy in taste, but it was surprisingly sweet and delicious. We decided to sit at the counter and enjoy a glass.

Jugo Verde

Ingredientes

1 – pedaso de piña  (piece of pineapple)
1 – rama de peredil  (sprig of parsley)

1 – rama de apio  (celery)

1 – nopal  (cactus pad)

Since the jugo verde was love at first taste for me, that’s what I ordered. Maddy had the ruby-colored drink that contained betabel (beet), zanahoria (carrot), and naranja (orange). I asked one of the friendly women behind the counter to write down the ingredients for me in my ever-present small notebook full of new Spanish words – cero (hill), loma (valley), banquetas (sidewalks), pantorillas (calves – as in ‘my calves are sore from all these ceros y banquetas!’). We also each ordered a galleta de almendra – almond cookies that were like tartlets with not-too-sweet sticky almond filling in the center. They were so good we bought a half a dozen more to take with us.

Next we got on one of the local buses that services the tiny towns around the lake. It zipped along the main carretera, then turned off and bumped along narrow cobblestone streets in the tiny town of Ajijic (photo on left). Once an artist colony, Ajijic is still known for its art galleries and studios. Maddy and I got off and walked around, and went into a couple of shops. In one of them, Maddy finally found a wedding gift she’d been looking for all over San Miguel - a Day of the Dead bride and groom diorama (like this, only a bit more elaborate). We were there during siesta time, so some shops were closed and it was pretty quiet. We walked down by the lake, and up a pretty street edged by walls draped with magenta and orange bougainvilleas, blooming jacarandas above shading us as we walked along cobblestones lavender with fallen petals.

After refreshing ourselves in a nearly deserted courtyard restaurant with Pacifico beer and tortilla chips and fresh salsa, we went back out to the main street and waited for a bus back to Guadalajara.

Comments

[Jean]

Mouthwatering - I'll be trying the jugos, minus cactus...

[leslee]

Ah, but the nopales are wonderful! I'm sure they're hard to come by in England - in fact, they're pretty hard to come by in New England! Possibly canned in some Hispanic markets, but then it wouldn't be fresh jugo. Sigh.

[Natalie]

You can get the nopal/cactus juice in some health food/ organic products shops here, at a high price. Like bottled Guarana, sold as a gourmet health-drink while in South America it's as common as...erm...Coca Cola? And fresh figs that fall off the trees, crushed under foot in Italy etc. - on sale in some supermarkets here at up to 40 pence each! Somebody somewhere is always conning somebody.
Never mind my gripes- your Mexican report is great Leslee. Wish I was back in Mejico.

[Jean]

Ah, thanks Natalie, I must look out for the cactus juice - I just meant minus that because I wouldn't find it, not that I wouldn't like to try it...