At the corner street near the office there is a man that sells soft tacos. They are ready, and he keeps them warm in a large pot under some towels. Each taco costs about one shekel.
There are 5 fillings - 3 of them include meat (on of them is chicharon, a popular filling here in Mexico; deep fried pig skin) and the other two are potatoes and frijoles. Both are excellent, and I indulge on the frijoles, just to get some protein to keep me through the day. At the side there are also pickles (similar to those in Israel - cucumbers, carrot and cauliflower in brine, with a jalapeño here and there) and green salsa, both of which go nicely with the tacos.
The man already knows me and what I take. I eat 3 or 4 every day.
Yesterday he also had a large watermelon and a red papaya, from which he cut thin strips and placed them on plastic plates. A man came along, and he asked if he wants salt, lemon or ground chiles on it. The man said that just lemon and salt, and indeed the seller squeezed half a lemon on the fruit, and sprinkled large amounts of salt. It seems that Mexican love combinations of sweet with salt, sour or hot tastes.
At lunchtime I spotted a small open market near the office, with about 20 stands of Mexican food (and one cheap Chinese restaurant, which I ignored). It was appalling to find that most of them don't have even a single dish that is suitable for a vegan. At last I found a stand that sells flutas and they were superb. One with potato filling, one with frijoles (yes, there is a pattern), topped with lettuce, avocado and salsa, and tomato on the side. I had second servings. 2 shekels each.
There was also a juice stand. Mexican love water-based milkshakes. I had one made with fresh anona, with some oatmeal added to it. The seller whirled it all on the blender, and strained it into the cup. Did I say "superb" already?
Besides food, there were many stands selling watches, CDs, MP3 players, clothing and so on. I bought some presents for my kids, including a beatiful hand-made turtle that moves its head.
No suppers here (work, work, work) - I have some almonds, a banana and a carton of soy milk (from the minimarket near the hotel) before going to bed.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Wednesday, July 9
Early morning at the gym. The Intercontinental gym is excellent. Great and well-equipped, lots of things you can do there. The only thing I miss is a dip.
Another breakfast without soy milk. The waiter claims that they couldn´t find any in the grocery store.
Lunch again at the same Mexican restaurant near the office. I take grilled nopales with frijoles, without cheese of course. It´s the first time I have nopales, and it´s slightly dissapointing. The texture is gummy, the flavor somewhat sour. But the frijoles and salsa topping, and the side salad with tomatoes, onion and pineapple are great, and I also take a mushroom soup as first dish, so everything´s eventually OK.
A co-worker persuades me to go to Amderstam street at the evening; there are many cafes there that look nice. I go and find that they look nice indeed, but none of them offers any tasteful vegetarian dish. Everything is either based on meat or ladden with cheese. My last resort is a Cesar salad, which I ask without Parmesan cheese. The chef surely laughed while combining just two ingredients - lettuce and croutons - for such a weird customer. I wish he knew that I threw the mayonnaise-based sauce away too.
I forgot to mention horchata. A godly drink, sort of a liquid rice pudding, thick and sweet and cinnamonny and yummy.
Another breakfast without soy milk. The waiter claims that they couldn´t find any in the grocery store.
Lunch again at the same Mexican restaurant near the office. I take grilled nopales with frijoles, without cheese of course. It´s the first time I have nopales, and it´s slightly dissapointing. The texture is gummy, the flavor somewhat sour. But the frijoles and salsa topping, and the side salad with tomatoes, onion and pineapple are great, and I also take a mushroom soup as first dish, so everything´s eventually OK.
A co-worker persuades me to go to Amderstam street at the evening; there are many cafes there that look nice. I go and find that they look nice indeed, but none of them offers any tasteful vegetarian dish. Everything is either based on meat or ladden with cheese. My last resort is a Cesar salad, which I ask without Parmesan cheese. The chef surely laughed while combining just two ingredients - lettuce and croutons - for such a weird customer. I wish he knew that I threw the mayonnaise-based sauce away too.
I forgot to mention horchata. A godly drink, sort of a liquid rice pudding, thick and sweet and cinnamonny and yummy.
Tuesday, July 8
Brekfast again - no soy milk yet.
Lunch at a nice Mexican restaurant near the office. Tortillas with salsa and frijoles, then the main dish is an alambra, small tortillas topped with chopped mushroom and chopped nopales, without cheese, and lots of salsa. Coconut pie for dessert. Just before leaving I find that there are great nopales dishes that I just missed on the menu.
Instead of dinner, I head to the supermarket near the hotel and buy soy milk (several flavors), Nature´s Valley ("roasted almond", no dairy ingredients) and some almonds.
Short gym exercise.
Lunch at a nice Mexican restaurant near the office. Tortillas with salsa and frijoles, then the main dish is an alambra, small tortillas topped with chopped mushroom and chopped nopales, without cheese, and lots of salsa. Coconut pie for dessert. Just before leaving I find that there are great nopales dishes that I just missed on the menu.
Instead of dinner, I head to the supermarket near the hotel and buy soy milk (several flavors), Nature´s Valley ("roasted almond", no dairy ingredients) and some almonds.
Short gym exercise.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Monday, July 7
Breakfast at the Intercontinental hotel: lots of fresh fruit - pineapple, papaya, strawberries, melon, watermelon, apples and bananas. Fresh carrot juice. Green tea. Alas, no soy milk. I take a serving of Frosties just to get some B12, and at the hotel lobby I ask for soy milk for the next morning. They find the request unusual but will try to get some.
During the morning I went to buy some office supplies, and spotted some quick food stands. Luckily I speak Spanish. To my dismay, almost everything revolved around meat - meat enchiladas, meat tacos, you name it. The only difference in the dishes was the type of meat used. One stand also had a giant pot, in which large animal parts were cooking; really disgusting. One of the stands offered Mexican drinks, and I had horcheta for the first time. It was great and refreshing - like a mildly sweet and cinnamon-aromatic rice pudding. While sipping the horcheta I found that one of the stands offers, among the meat dishes, a quesadilla con hongos y queso. I asked for one without cheese, and it was excellent.
Lunch at a cafe near the local office, called El Ocho or something like that. Entree was a nice salad with tomatoes, cucumber, onion and lots of black sesame seeds, with a slightly sweet dressing, green colored, that I think was made of kiwifruit. Then I made a mistake and ordered hummus, which was a nice try, but nowhere close to the real thing. No tahini at all, I suspect no olive oil either, just ground garbanzos with some lemon juice. It came with toasted pitas sprinkled with zaatar, that were just fine.
The dessert surprised me. A sort of warm apple turnover, with puff pastry. No cheese, no cream, just a good dessert.
During the morning I went to buy some office supplies, and spotted some quick food stands. Luckily I speak Spanish. To my dismay, almost everything revolved around meat - meat enchiladas, meat tacos, you name it. The only difference in the dishes was the type of meat used. One stand also had a giant pot, in which large animal parts were cooking; really disgusting. One of the stands offered Mexican drinks, and I had horcheta for the first time. It was great and refreshing - like a mildly sweet and cinnamon-aromatic rice pudding. While sipping the horcheta I found that one of the stands offers, among the meat dishes, a quesadilla con hongos y queso. I asked for one without cheese, and it was excellent.
Lunch at a cafe near the local office, called El Ocho or something like that. Entree was a nice salad with tomatoes, cucumber, onion and lots of black sesame seeds, with a slightly sweet dressing, green colored, that I think was made of kiwifruit. Then I made a mistake and ordered hummus, which was a nice try, but nowhere close to the real thing. No tahini at all, I suspect no olive oil either, just ground garbanzos with some lemon juice. It came with toasted pitas sprinkled with zaatar, that were just fine.
The dessert surprised me. A sort of warm apple turnover, with puff pastry. No cheese, no cream, just a good dessert.
Flying to Mexico
The flight office messed up and forgot to ask for vegan meals for me. I got by eating some noodles, avoiding the creamy mushroom sauce. I had the tabbouleh that came with the chicken, and nibbled on apple pieces from the apple pie.
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