The first thing I do when I enter the San Juan Market is breathe deeply and absorb all the wonderful aromas. Then I let my eyes join the sensory delight as I walk slowly through the fruit section, where each and every fruit is perfect, without blemish and beautifully displayed. Vendors often offer samples, especially when I ask the name of some exotic species, so before I've taken five steps, the taste buds join in. Today I bought apples and peaches with a heavenly aroma. Of course peaches remind me of my mother, so I'm always glad when they're in season, but these duraznos are smaller, more yellow, and more fragrant than our beloved Georgia peaches.
Next come the vegetables, arranged in pyramid-like tiers with an opening at the top through which sometimes a person, standing on a bench, pops up to help. More often someone is on the floor, trying to direct the customer's attention to his or her stand. Some of the vegetables, especially the baby ones, are already cleaned, shelled, cut or otherwise prepped for cooking. Today I noticed some new-to-me mushrooms (hongos) and stopped for a conversation about how to prepare them: rinse the hongos, saute some onions and garlic, add the hongos and saute a bit, then add chicken broth and last a sprig or two of epazote (an herb). Top with a dried chile de arbol.
So the next stop was to a chicken stand. I avoided the one that displays chickens with neck, head and feet still attached and asked a man plucking off the last of the little feathers from chicken at another stand for enough to make a broth. He placed on the scale what was left after cutting off the thighs, legs and breast - basically the spine with wings attached - and I asked him to add a breast, leg and thigh.
The dried chiles are at the other side of the market; en route I picked up a bag of veggies to add to the broth and then slowed my pace as I passed the fruit stands again. I confess to being utterly ignorant about identifying one chile from another -the variety is extensive - so I just asked the very ancient woman sitting by the stand for a chile de arbol. She seemed to think this was a strange request, so the woman at the next stand came over and suggested for her to give me five pesos worth, about two hand-scoops. From this, I surmise that I should probably add a chile de arbol to top each serving of the soup. These are narrow red chiles, about three inches long. Now I recognize them: they're always atop the Enchiladas Baja (stuffed with seafood and covered with a white sauce) that I like to order in Mazatlan. I made the mistake - once - of putting a whole one in my mouth.
Some careful readers of this blog (perhaps Melanie and Susan) will remember my frustrated search for bread similar to Calandra's. A few months ago the search ended at a stand in the San Juan Market that also has a very good assortment of cheeses and cold cuts from Italy, Spain and France. I always spend a long time at this place and usually end with a sampling of my favorite Mediterranean flavors: Parmigiano Reggiano and salami from Italy, manchego de tres leches (cheese from 3 milks - goat, sheep and cow) and jamon serrano from Spain, and some chevre from France. The vendors always give you a little sample of whatever you order; in fact, if you order several things you can make this a very pleasant snack or lunch, especially since they offer little glassses of wine to cleanse the palatte. Once Bill and I ordered so much here that they even made us a dessert: a piece of bread with a scoop of Marscapone drizzled with honey and topped with a pecan.
Here's a photo of our niece Libby and friend Tamie at the cheese stand.
Today I watched the young man slice my Parmigiano Reggiano and noticed that he gave me a rather large portion of rind. I had to ask him for the word for rind (corteza) before I could complain and ask for a different slice. The two women standing by me enjoying their own samples of cheese gave me an approving look that made me feel as if I had passed some sort of ama de casa (housewife) test. The young man very courteously sliced another portion and then gave all three of us glasses of wine. After a toast to our health "Salud!", I leisurely strolled through the fruit again, breathing deeply, and walked back home.
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