Market Fresh

Today is our first big dinner party in over two years. We are serving eight plus two kids so it’s all go. We were up by 8am to beat the heat. A quick plate of huevos motuleños at Cafe Pop, and we hit the central market.

At this time of year, the market is at its peak. After six months of cooler weather, all the winter crops are in (think fantastic tropical goodies that evoke thoughts of summer for those above 23°N) and they are looking fantastic.

We bought yellow mangoes so ripe and fresh they were almost glowing. Paired with x’catik chilies and fried epazote leaves, we will have ourselves a delicious mango carpaccio. A stop at our fish guy landed us shrimp to grill and some grouper to ceviche. Back in the vegetable area, we scooped up avocados, cilantro and jicama for a coleslaw to pair with the shrimp and chives for the ceviche. Lastly, we found some wonderfully fresh scallions and crispy chicharrón that will cosy up with our tamarind-roasted pork belly.

Speaking of which, our hunka burning pork love is roasting away in the oven as we speak (the photo above shows how it looked after four hours). Only a few hours to go now, so it’s time for some serious chopping.

There’s Nothing Like a Big Hunk of Meat

Our butcher in the Santiago market is fantastic. Yesterday we told him we needed a four-pound whack of pork belly, and here it is, complete with nipples! What proud parents we are.

This is why we love Mexico. The marketplaces are full of purveyors connecting daily with the source of their wares. It’s not fancy and it doesn’t come with Styrofoam packaging, disinfecting wipes or lattes on the side. It’s simple no-nonsense butchery and it tastes great.

Each night, whole pigs (and other yummy beasts) are delivered direct to the butcher’s counter, where they wait until morning to be broken down for sale. We wander in around 10am, and are greeted by rows of meat hanging from hooks and beautiful livers, hearts and feet glistening in trays below.

In two days, we will dine on our pork belly with new friends. Until then, it will bathe in a marinade of tamarind, piloncillo, allspice, and garlic before being roasted to perfection. From farm to friends, with no plastic in between. Only one issue remains - who gets to eat the nipples?

Curing a Craving for Deli Meats

One thing we miss from our former lives in San Francisco is good deli meat. What we wouldn’t give at times for a few slices of top-quality speck or sopressata. This craving led us to buy this book and embark upon some meat-curing projects. Pictured above is our first attempt at pancetta.

It started out simply enough - just cover some pork belly (thank you Mercado Municipal) in a curing salt/spice mix and refrigerate for a week. After that we had to roll the belly and hang it in a 55°F room for two weeks - no small feat in the middle of a tropical summer. We ended up solving the problem with an ice chest, a block of ice, and a schedule of changes each morning and night. The result? Fantastic!