Fine dining on two wheels (Street meats and sweets)

What do I want, what do I want .....

Walking through Centro in the evening can be a sensory experience.  

The smells of cooking hamburgers, hot dogs, tacos, and grilled fish waft through the warm tropical night.  

Followed by scents of hot sugar, cinnamon and warm chocolate.  It’s time to eat!

Mealtimes start early with the mobile fresh orange juice vendor setting up on the corner of Matamoras and Rueda Medina.  Freshly squeezed juice is available until the merchant runs out of oranges.  

Juice man 

The proprietor uses a hand-powered press, pulling down hard with his right hand and biceps to squeeze each individual half.  

He quickly flips the spent portion into a refuse pile, repeating the process until the container is filled with the sweet amber-coloured liquid.   

Judging by the bulging biceps, the juice vendor could easily win any arm-wrestling challenge.

Later in the morning, other mobile vendors arrive to sell cold drinks, flavoured crushed-ice concoctions, popsicles and frozen ice cream treats.  

Choices, choices ......

They set up their carts across from the popular beaches, enticing hot sun-worshipers to purchase a cooling confection.  

It’s a giggle to watch the intense decision-making as youngsters ponder their choices: pineapple, coconut, mango, and chocolate.  

So many flavours. The youngsters turn with inquisitive eyes towards their parents. It’s too hard to decide. Maybe I should have two treats?

The cemetery on Lopez Mateos

Then at sundown, the mobile food peddlers make an appearance, tucking their two-wheeled carts into familiar niches, on street corners at either end of Hidalgo Avenue. The intersection of Lopez Mateos and Hidalgo Avenues, near the entrance to the oldest island cemetery and the IxChel condos, has become a very congested area.  

The vendors vie for their little patch of the pavement, pushing further and further into the street, frequently restricting the vehicular traffic to one lane at a time.  

Churros!

A couple of years ago, the city administration decided to prohibit the street vendors from occupying Rueda Medina, limiting their approved location to include this busy corner, and in the square across from the Super X-Press.  

Good idea or bad idea, the jury is still out on that decision.

My favourite street treat is the delicious hot marquesitas filled with chocolate sauce and sliced bananas rolled up with a napkin secured on the end to catch the melting syrup.  

Marquesitas!

Marquesitas are a traditional Yucatan treat, invented in either the late 1930s or early 1940s by Don Vincent Mena Munoz, the heir to the Polito Ice Cream Company. He was looking for a cool weather treat to offset the downturn in ice cream sales during the winter months. 

Similar in texture to a waffle cone, the batter is heated over a hot fire using a cast-iron variation of a waffle pan. The resulting crepe-shaped form can be filled with a combination of ingredients such as Nutella, goat’s milk caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, shredded cheese or sliced bananas. The traditional shape was rolled into a cylinder, but here on Isla it is pretty common to see the cooked waffle mixture folded into quarters. I’m a fan of the rolled shape; it’s easier to cut in half and share.

Juice man headed home at sundown

At the end of a busy day, the vendors head home, back to their neighbourhoods in the centre of the island.  Some of the heavy mobile carts are powered by a moto, many others are pedal-powered by two strong legs.  It’s a pretty physical business, getting the cart to Centro, standing while preparing the food, and powering the cart back home again at the end of the workday.

And then the streets go quiet for a few hours before the process starts all over again with the dawn arrival of the juice vendor. 

Another juice man headed home late afternoon

Yum!  Good eats!

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, & Thomas

Isla Mujeres Mystery series

Or

Death in the Vineyards Mysteries

Odd jobs, Isla Mujeres, Mexico: part two

Breadman in Centro

Yes, I know, I recently wrote about “Unusual Jobs, Not Available in Canada,” but it is a subject that continues to intrigue us, the ingenious ways that hardworking islanders earn a living. 

The most visible are the street vendors who walk or cycle daily around the neighbourhoods, many with their individual sales pitch or chant, anything to get the attention of potential customers.

Every morning around dawn, when I am out walking our little dog Sparky, a middle-aged man pedals his heavy bicycle cart along our street. The cart is so heavy that he is forced to get off and push it up the two not-quite hills. 

 As he passes, he calls out to the construction workers who are just starting their day: “Hay tamales. Hay masa.” It roughly translates to: Here are tamales, here is masa. Masa is a very popular corn dough used for making tortillas or tamales.

One of the Tamale salesmen

Many construction workers typically live on site to provide security for building supplies until the house is completed. Grocery stores are not always nearby, and the labourers really appreciate having cooked food delivered to their workplace. 

Filled with bits of chicken or pork, spices, onions, and chillies, the substantial tamales provide much-needed nutrition at the start of a long, hot workday.

Construction workers appreciate cooked food delivery

The question that flickers through my brain when I see the tamale salesman is: How early does he get up if he is already pedalling past our house at six in the morning? Does his wife stay up all night to prepare the tamales, trying to sleep during the frequently noisy and hot daylight hours?

Youngster selling corn 

Even youngsters frequently pitch in to help out with family finances. A while ago, when we were visiting friends at the Guadalupana settlement, I noticed a young teen pedalling his bicycle cart through the neighbourhood. He was selling cooked corn on the cob. Presumably, mom or an older sister did the preparation, and he was responsible for selling the product. It's a good lesson in economics and business for the young man, but at the same time, I am sure he would rather be swimming in the ocean or hanging out with his buddies.

Mamey salesmen arriving on Isla via car ferry 

As the day progresses and the heat increases, several vendors are out and about, selling everything from seasonal vegetables to cheese, tortillas, bread, ice cream treats, clay pots, and woven mats and bags. They trudge the streets with display cases confidentially balanced on their heads, or they trundle along the sidewalks with hand carts piled high with seasonal treats such as lychee nuts, or mamey fruit. 

 Shaped like a small rough-skinned football, the orangey-red flesh of a mamey has an intriguing flavour, tasting like a combination of sweet potato, pumpkin and peach. Islanders enjoy mamey as a wintertime treat.

Mid-afternoon snack break

Later in the evening, the food carts congregate in convenient locations offering hamburgers, hot dogs, tacos or desserts. Businesses supplying take-out meals or home delivery proliferate around the island. Few homes have large refrigerators to stockpile fruits, vegetables and meat. Most meals are prepared on small gas stoves, similar to a Coleman or a two-burner hot plate. It boggles the mind to think of how many people make a living supplying food to other islanders.

In many ways, the food culture in Mexico resembles European habits. Eating out at any one of the many economical street-side restaurants is common. 

For those who cook at home, daily shopping turns a potentially onerous chore into a social event. Locals gossip with other shoppers as they gather up items for the day's meals. It's not about rushing around and piling items in a cart. 

Evening treats!

It's about stopping and kissing a friend on the cheek, then asking how their family is, how they are, and responding with your own updates, before moving on to find one more article on your shopping list. Perhaps this is what people mean when they say: slow food, made with love.

Local people are ingenious at finding ways to earn a living. They work long hours, frequently at physically demanding jobs. They also enjoy life.

Hasta luego, Lawrie, Lynda, Sparky, and Thomas the Cat

Murder. Mayhem. Revenge. Romance.

Isla Mujeres Mystery Series

Death in the Vineyards Mysteries

The Adventures of Thomas and Sparky