Oaxaca Abastos Market Tour

Hi, I’m Ruthie Thompson, reporting from Oaxaca City, Mexico. I’m 1 day from being 9 years old. My Pops, Jerry Carlton, is my assistant typing this report for me. 

We had an awesome day at the second largest market in Mexico. It’s called the Marketo de Abastos. It’s over 15 acres with thousands of stalls. We had a guide, Javier, who lives in Oaxaca. He told us a lot of interesting things about Oaxaca food, customs and superstitions.  My mom, my grandmother (Dodo) and grandfather (Pops) and I toured the market and ate so much. We took some pictures that I will share, too. 

It’s even bigger than this, my map of the market.

The market had so many things in thousands of stalls. We saw lots of custom prepared food. We also saw fruits, juices, coffee, Oaxaca hot chocolate, flowers, clothes, breads, pottery, uncooked meats and mezcal.

YUM. YUM. The meat stand!

We ate:

1. Grasshoppers - well, I didn’t eat grasshoppers. I don’t eat bugs and they are gross. But mom, Dodo and Pops tried some garlic flavored still warm grasshoppers. They said they were good. We took a picture of a grasshopper sales stall. 

YUCK.

1. Tlayudas/empanadas. This food has two names. In Oaxaca, they call them Tlayudas because they are gigantic 18 inch diameter tortillas with filling. We shared two Tlayudas - one filled with spinach and egg and the other filled with chicken and amarillo (yellow) mole. They were served hot and were tasty!

This is Javier explaining about the Tlayuda (empanada). (I’m yawning).

1. Tacos - we had barbacoa tacos - goat meat. Pops said they were much better than the Texas barbacoa tacos.

2. Memelas - blue corn tostadas (crispy flat tortillas) with toppings of cheeses, meats, spices and some with eggs, too. We got these memelas at Dona Vale’s stand. Dona Vale is famous and has been at the marketo for many, many years. She was featured on Somebody Feed Phil, a Netflix travel/food show. We got a picture with Dona Vale.

This is us with Dona Vale - she’s famous and has been on a few TV shows about food here.

1. Oaxacan chocolate - hot chocolate. The tradicional Oaxacan hot chocolate is made from rich chocolate bars stirred into water. It’s also an option to get milk instead of water. Dodo bought chocolate bars so she could try to make her own Oaxacan chocolate. 

2. Mango - Javier bought us some special fresh mangos. They are in season now and not available just anywhere - such as in the United States. He showed us how to squeeze all around the mango to make it really soft. Then we poked a little hole in the end and squeezed out the juice right into our mouths. It was really sweet tasting, a real treat. 

3. Rambutan - this is a spiky looking red skin fruit - sort of shaped like a strawberry. Javier got a few for us to sample - we would use fingernails to cut a slot in the side and open it up. Then we would eat the fruit meat from around the stone inside. It was a little sweet, but not like the mango.  We did not eat the skin. 

4. I also saw a wheelbarrow of candies rolled by - it had lots of gummy bears and sour candies. We did not buy any. But it was really appealing to me. 

5. Mezcal - Mom and Dodo tasted some local sweetened samples - honey and fruit. 

We also learned about some Oaxacan superstitions and customs. Javier told us about how wedding guests smash pottery and give the bride and groom money. One superstition is that businesses hang an aloe vera upside down to protect against bad things happening when guests come to your place. We learned that the large pans used to make tortillas have white rocks (limestone) and each time a tortilla is cooked a little bit goes into the tortilla to make it fluffier. We saw some of the rocks for sale as we were ending our tour. 

My favorite things about the market tour were the mango tasting and getting to buy the green Oaxacan pottery frog. I recommend that you take the Marketo Abasto tour if you visit Oaxaca!

Looks like a real tree frog!!

Adios and Hasta Luego from Ruthie Mae and Pops!