A Tour of Tlacolula Market near Oaxaca, Mexico.

My friend Demetrio Bautista Lazo took me on a food tour of the Saturday Market in Tlacolula near Oaxaca.

Today is Saturday,
market day,

and Demetrio is taking us to the nearby town of Tlacolula

near Oaxaca for breakfast
and shopping.

Tlacolula boasts one of the
largest markets in the area.

It stretches onward block after
block, indoors and outdoors,

with vendors selling everything
from farm tools

to fresh produce.

People come from as far away as

the mountain villages
to participate.

In this place,

one will find many different
indigenous people wearing

their traditional costumes
and speaking in dialects

far removed from the universal
Spanish language.

Huge sections of this cavernous
place are devoted

to just one food item,

as is the case here
in the bread market.

Every conceivable type of
crusty, flaky,

sweet and savory concoction is
available to complement a meal,

from sweet breakfast breads
to crispy rolls stuffed

with chorizo sausage.

I was ready to dive in
right away to consume

some of these tasty bits,

but Demetrio had
other ideas.

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

What's inside?

The empanadas.

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

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

It's actually delicious.

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

I'm starting.

It sounds salivating.

Yeah.

Yeah.

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

Demetrio has his favorite
places to eat in the market,

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

The owner quickly assembled this
traditional street fare for

myself and the crew,

undistracted from her duties even by Demetrio's humor.

Cups filled with fresh squeezed
orange juice were ordered up

from a nearby stall to
accompany our breakfast.

In Oaxaca, large tortillas
are known as blandas,

and the traditional queso,
or string cheese,

melts like mozzarella.

Demetrio, who is a regular here,

demanded a quick adjustment
on his empanada,

with the addition of
some yellow mole,

and made sure that everyone
else received the same.

As we gobbled up our breakfast,

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

I have a lot of friends here.

I noticed.

The people...

Everybody says hello to you.

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

selling tortillas filled
with grilled meat and ramps,

a type of green onion.

They love the fat.

Do they?

You know what's the fat for?

They just kind of like put
it like a butter

into the tortillas.

Oh yeah?

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

and it's a really good taco.

I bet it is good.

Is the fat beef fat or pork?

Yeah, it's beef.

It's beef.

I was excited to try more food,

so Demetrio led us to
his other favorite spot,

the barbacoa stall.

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

So here you can tell
that they have it

into those big pots and...

Oh right here, this
is a really good one.

Oh great.

So this comes straight
in from the...

Straight from the pit to here.

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

See?

They have this with this covered
with salsa and the one

that it's just white.

So see?

It's vlanca?

Vlanca?

Uh huh.

The carnedo?

It's an .

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

Muy bien.

[speaking foreign language]

Chocolate?

Chocolate [speaking
in foreign language]

This is good.

So good.

That is delicious.

We came from so far away.

We have to try some.

Legend has it that this cooking
method was developed by the

Chichimeca people
from northern Mexico.

It's a method of slow
cooking done underground.

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

seasonings, and other flavors.

Look.

This is how this one works.

You take the salsa and
you cover it like this.

See look.

It's hard to catch it.

Look.

Yeah.

Oh man.

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

As we pass the
equipment vendors,

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

These basalt stone tables were
designed by the ancient people

to grind the dry
ingredients for their food.

The owner was happy
to allow a gringo

to make a fool of himself,

so I selected a table
and got started.

I struggled with my technique,
amusing everyone around me.

Her husband, watching
the scene from behind,

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

this country and demonstrated
the fact by

forcing me to dress the part.

Sheesh.

I just can't get a break.

Anybody else want to try that?

Finally, Demetrio introduced
us to a pulque vendor.

Pulque is an ancient brew made
from the sap of

the maguey plant,

which is also used to
produce mezcal.

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

but also they make
a tepache with it,

but they blend it
with brown sugar,

which they known as

[speaking in foreign language]

Tepache.

Tepache, but they
put panela in it.

It's a sugar.

It's a brown sugar.

So try this.

So this is directly
from the agave.

That's the juice of the agave.

[speaking in
foreign language]

It's good.

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

Yeah.

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

Oh, okay.

See?

The color is different.

[speaking in foreign
language]

And this is the pulque now.

So tepache is nonalcoholic.

No.

And the pulque has alcohol.

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

Oh.

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

They're not alcoholic.

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

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

Crazy.

...crazy, because of the sugar.

But it's not alcohol.

Cheers

Salute