Oaxaca is Green
By Sally Field aka Dodo
Oaxaca reminds me of many shades of green. And green is my favorite color and so not surprisingly Oaxaca is now one of my favorite cities. So many things I enjoyed and appreciate about Oaxaca are green. It starts with the traditional clay pottery, which is the same bottle green of my new kitchen. I have long collected vintage green Oaxacan pottery. I learned on this trip that they still make many of the traditional styles that I collect. For example, the traditional Oaxcan chocolate pitcher with the high handle. I have two of them that are at least 50 years old and I could have bought one at the Abastos Market we toured. I had never seen the small green pig dish we used like a molcajete for salsa at our traditional cooking class with Noemi (but call her Mimi). I purchased one of those at the Market. I also learned on this trip that my beloved green pottery is from Santa Maria Atzompa, a small town just outside of Oaxaca. I get to visit there tomorrow and I cannot wait.
Miles of green pottery at the Market Abastos
I really enjoy Mezcal and Oaxaca is all about Mezcal. Mezcal is made from many different varieties of green agave, unlike tequilla which is made from blue agave. We did a mezcal tasting at La Mezcaloteca with Remi and tasted over 10 mezcals. We learned the breadth of methods and agaves used and consequently the breadth of flavors. Traditional mezcals are artisanal and green in the sense that they do not use additives or manipulate the pina used to make mezcal.
The beginning of our Mezcal tasting at Mezcaloteca.
The salsas of Oaxaca are really special, even spectacular. And many of them are green. The diversity of the salsas is very different from what we see in Texas, even very different what what we have experienced in other parts of Mexico. That comes from herbs, chilis, avocados, tomatillos even vegetables. There wasn't a salsa we tried that wasn't better than any salsa we had experienced before visiting Oaxaca. A favorite of mine was on a Oaxacan cheese (Quesillo to the locals) with hoja santa, a distinctive green leaf served with (of course) a mole verde. I had that dish at a wonderful cocktail bar called Selva and the color was the deep green of the hoja santa with the lighter and brighter green of the mole verde. All the cooking in Oaxaca has a deep devotion to local, organic ingredients which is "green" in a sense that is more modern to Americans but has been long deeply rooted in Oaxacan cooking.
Finally, in Oaxaca the traditional toast in Mexico came to life for me. Our tour guide Javier for the Abastos Market explained what it really means for Oaxacans. The toast before drinks or shots is "Arriba, Abajo, Al Centro, Y pa dento" which I had always been told meant basically "up, down, center and drink". He explained that the up is thanking God for our good life, down is thanking the earth for its blessings, center is thanking your friends for their friendship then you drink. What a lovely way to enjoy an otherwise sort of silly toast. So I thank God, the earth, family and friends for my wonderful green experience in Oaxaca.
