Hungry in Cholula [2] (Puebla, PUE; Mexico): Blue Corn Quesadilla De Huitla Y Flor

Una Quesadilla Chula De Cholula: Huitlacoche, Squash Blossoms, Epazote


With my appetite already ultra whet by that nutty Tejate, I was ready for a day of seizing (strike through) eating the day. Unfortunately, my dads eyes were full and gleaming, he had spotted the towns landmark church, Santuario De La Virgen De Los Remedios at the peak of the mountain. This meant I had to eat somewhere fast; his religious fascination timer was lit.



La Capilla Del Pueblo: Zeroed In By Pops


But the tarps never fail me. They started to show up in the near distance. Bright colored tarps set up anywhere in Mexico is like a flair shot in the air signaling vendors of some kind, more than likely they are going to include some sort of food. You will be enchanted by the Mexican work ethic as soon as you walk in to their shouting distance, go with you’re your gut or number of people eating at the booths…no matter how many rhythmic, trance-like “Amigo, Se Venden _________” chants you hear, feel free to pass on by.



Food Yonder: Hay Por La Esquinita


We hit the uphill entrance of the church, right in front of a full-on corner of Blue Corn Quesadilla action. There were three layers of vendors, I walked all the way in but decided on the first one in line…their Huitlacoche looked the least muddiest.



The End Of The Line: It Was Quesadillas or Nothing


We were sat and they took my order. It was to be my usual “de flor, Huitla y poco quesillo”, that’s poblano short order cook lingo for a quesadilla stuffed with Squash Blossoms, Huitlacoche and really easy on the Quesillo. The tangy, string cheese of Oaxaca that melts just splendidly.

Faster than you can say Huitlacoche 10x, my order had arrived.



Thin, Blue And Strapping: Las De Cholula, Puebla That Is


Its complexion was even, with delightful extra toasted splodges and a deep, blue sea of evenly cooked Masa. Steam gently exited the dense, blue tortilla as I picked it up and contemplated this gorgeous mother grain. Blue corn doesn’t just look more stunning but also packs a nutritional punch, filling you up faster with its bigger, starchier kernels than that of yellow and white varieties. Nonetheless, this study on masa was light and pliable.

It was delicately stuffed with the supple sautéed ingredients. Since Huitlacoche was up in the mix, there was also to be fresh, slender Epazote leaves stanking up the party with its taming, tantalizing aroma too.

Tear dropped dots of the pulpy green magma Salsa Verde completed this artful turnover. The huitlacoche tasted just how it looked, earthy, pronounced and strong. It was still attached to the infected corn kernels from which it was bore from/ dark. The squash blossoms were vegetal and springy tasting of faint squash, the total opposite of Huitlacoche. This pairing deserves to go up there with vanilla and chocolate, champagne and caviar etc. Serio.



La Guadalupana


And look at that, we ate these things so fast that my dad managed to catch a live Perenigracion all the way up to the church. This is when a bunch of parade all the way up to a church with a huge altar or frame of the Virgin Mary. Not an uncommon site in the motherland at all.

Hungry in Cholula [1] (Puebla, PUE; Mexico): Bate, Bate El Tejate!

Bate, Bate El Tejate!


Our second day in Puebla was not going to be taken lightly in the least, our destination was Cholula. Again, the idea to come here was incepted by a particular art blogger of sorts. I was told I would like it and I took her word for it. Like our trip decision to Puebla, I went with an open mind, not having any idea what would be waiting for us when we arrived.

We stepped into a Combi, old Volkswagen bus’s whose vintage fate is revamped as a mini public bus with a daily fixed route. The drivers of these makeshift public vehicles drive with elegant gusto as they weave nonchalantly in and around the larger Camiones.

We were told to catch one that slated the opaque location placard bearing “Capu”, the name of the main bus terminal (Camionera) of the city. “Pero el que entra hasta dentro porque hay uno que te deja a una cuadra.” So there was one that dropped you off a block away apparently too?



A Roaming Camote On The Bus: Cooked In Honey



Once inside Capu, we were oriented to the local terminal of bus’s--to the left of the bustling station--aside from the national terminals. We embarrassedly asked around and found our bus, not before almost departing on a wrong one though. The ride over was shorter than I though, about half hour. It didn’t hurt that my socialite of a dad had made friends with a vendor who sold honey’d goods in the style of San Pablo, Puebla.

The trip was now short and sweet thanks to sweet potatoes, figs and apricots all braised in wildflower honey, an acquired snack way past the point of cloying. My dad ate one whole without water, milk or anything just like that. This was his version of being a kid in a candy store.



Cholula: Que Chula!


The ambiance in Cholula was a more serene one than that of downtown Puebla’s. And word on the bus was that the annual feria was in town, meaning booths and vendors increase at least tenfold. And it was evident as I walked down the street and saw a girl whipping up a chocolaty, foamy storm. Her sign read “TEJATE”. Ultra score.



Girl Meet Foam: Boy Has Foam Mustache


I asked her just to be sure. I’ve never seen such a voluminous head of foam.



Tejate: The Frappuccino Of Pre-Hispanic Mexico


Tejate is Horchata’s cooky, cacao based cousin of the South. Getting its fame in Oaxaca, this is the pre-hispanic Mexican version of a Frappuccino. A base of toasted corn, cacao, sugar and the black pit of the Mamey custard fruit are all ground and made into a chocolate-milk like substance. There are other regional renditions of course, like the one I was about to imbibe had some toasted fava beans. Whatever the chosen solids are, it is ultimately whipped until a thick layer of foam forms.

Tejate’s foam is a product of natural fat separations of the cacao and toasted corn, this fluffy stuff is hard-peaked enough to satisfy even the most nitpicky of Venti consumers.

With my Tejate mustache in full sheen, I spotted some dark blue disks being griddled in the distance.

It was time for a typical lunch in Puebla, Blue Corn Quesadillas….