WEBVTT

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Today is Saturday,
market day,

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and Demetrio is taking us to the nearby town of Tlacolula

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near Oaxaca for breakfast
and shopping.

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Tlacolula boasts one of the
largest markets in the area.

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It stretches onward block after
block, indoors and outdoors,

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with vendors selling everything
from farm tools

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to fresh produce.

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People come from as far away as

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the mountain villages
to participate.

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In this place,

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one will find many different
indigenous people wearing

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their traditional costumes
and speaking in dialects

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far removed from the universal
Spanish language.

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Huge sections of this cavernous
place are devoted

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to just one food item,

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as is the case here
in the bread market.

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Every conceivable type of
crusty, flaky,

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sweet and savory concoction is
available to complement a meal,

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from sweet breakfast breads
to crispy rolls stuffed

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with chorizo sausage.

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I was ready to dive in
right away to consume

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some of these tasty bits,

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but Demetrio had
other ideas.

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Let's try the empanadas,
which is really great.

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What's inside?

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The empanadas.

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The empanadas what they have,
it's yellow mole and tortilla,

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and also has kind of like a mint
leaf, what we call yerba santa.

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It's actually delicious.

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I think we should get
some like right now, okay?

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I'm starting.

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It sounds salivating.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So let's go walk this
aisle and we're going to...

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Demetrio has his favorite
places to eat in the market,

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and his friend's empanada stall
proved to be exceptional.

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The owner quickly assembled this
traditional street fare for

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myself and the crew,

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undistracted from her duties even by Demetrio's humor.

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Cups filled with fresh squeezed
orange juice were ordered up

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from a nearby stall to
accompany our breakfast.

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In Oaxaca, large tortillas
are known as blandas,

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and the traditional queso,
or string cheese,

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melts like mozzarella.

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Demetrio, who is a regular here,

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demanded a quick adjustment
on his empanada,

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with the addition of
some yellow mole,

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and made sure that everyone
else received the same.

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As we gobbled up our breakfast,

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we discussed some of the other foods available in the market.

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I have a lot of friends here.

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I noticed.

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The people...

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Everybody says hello to you.

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We chatted away as we wandered
past a group of Indian women

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selling tortillas filled
with grilled meat and ramps,

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a type of green onion.

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They love the fat.

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Do they?

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You know what's the fat for?

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They just kind of like put
it like a butter

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into the tortillas.

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Oh yeah?

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And then they put the meat
plus the chilies and avocado,

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and it's a really good taco.

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I bet it is good.

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Is the fat beef fat or pork?

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Yeah, it's beef.

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It's beef.

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I was excited to try more food,

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so Demetrio led us to
his other favorite spot,

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the barbacoa stall.

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So we're very close to the
section of the barbacoa.

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So here you can tell
that they have it

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into those big pots and...

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Oh right here, this
is a really good one.

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Oh great.

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So this comes straight
in from the...

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Straight from the pit to here.

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So they say if you would
like to try, try it.

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See?

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They have this with this covered
with salsa and the one

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that it's just white.

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So see?

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It's vlanca?

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Vlanca?

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Uh huh.

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The carnedo?

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It's an .

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Oh this is lamb,
and the other one is goat.

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Muy bien.

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[speaking foreign language]

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Chocolate?

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Chocolate [speaking
in foreign language]

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This is good.

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So good.

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That is delicious.

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We came from so far away.

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We have to try some.

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Legend has it that this cooking
method was developed by the

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Chichimeca people
from northern Mexico.

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It's a method of slow
cooking done underground.

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So tender it falls off the bone,
barbacoa is scented with smoke,

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seasonings, and other flavors.

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Look.

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This is how this one works.

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You take the salsa and
you cover it like this.

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See look.

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It's hard to catch it.

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Look.

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Yeah.

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Oh man.

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I don't think I'm going to go
back to the States for a while.

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As we pass the
equipment vendors,

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I decided to try my hand at
grinding corn on a metate.

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These basalt stone tables were
designed by the ancient people

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to grind the dry
ingredients for their food.

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The owner was happy
to allow a gringo

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to make a fool of himself,

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so I selected a table
and got started.

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I struggled with my technique,
amusing everyone around me.

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Her husband, watching
the scene from behind,

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was moved to remind me that this
is considered women's work in

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this country and demonstrated
the fact by

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forcing me to dress the part.

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Sheesh.

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I just can't get a break.

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Anybody else want to try that?

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Finally, Demetrio introduced
us to a pulque vendor.

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Pulque is an ancient brew made
from the sap of

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the maguey plant,

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which is also used to
produce mezcal.

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This is, it's called aguamiel,
or it's known as a pulque,

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but also they make
a tepache with it,

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but they blend it
with brown sugar,

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which they known as

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[speaking in foreign language]

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Tepache.

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Tepache, but they
put panela in it.

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It's a sugar.

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It's a brown sugar.

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So try this.

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So this is directly
from the agave.

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That's the juice of the agave.

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[speaking in
foreign language]

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It's good.

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It's a little tart, but
it has a sweetness too.

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Yeah.

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And this, this is now fermented
with the brown sugar.

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Oh, okay.

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See?

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The color is different.

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[speaking in foreign
language]

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And this is the pulque now.

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So tepache is nonalcoholic.

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No.

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And the pulque has alcohol.

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No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

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Oh.

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Either of them, either
of them, either...

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They're not alcoholic.

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I mean, they have so much
sugar, natural sugar,

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that if you drink a lot of
it, then it will make you...

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Crazy.

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...crazy, because of the sugar.

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But it's not alcohol.

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Cheers

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Salute