Abastos Mercado~New Sights & overwhelmed by Outlandish Pinatas!
Cold Weather, Unusual Sights & Sounds!!!
Outstanding Produce & other things??
We took a trip to the Abastos Mercado this morning bundled up against the cold Torreon weather. It was a total overload for the sensory system! There were vegetables I had no idea existed & produce by the tons! There were rows of fruits, nuts, cheeses, dried beans in hundreds of varieties, spices & purveyors selling everything from peanuts to whole sides of beef! My friend Carolyn purchased a huge bag of Cilantro for a few pennies worth of pesos. I chose some chilis cascabel for a salsa, after a conversation in my halting Spanish about the difference between the multiple dried chilis. We even found a Tortilleria making selling hot tortillas & gorditas. The Mercado Abastos in Torreon is where the people who shop for restaurants get their supplies, as well as the housewives & hired help. It is a very hopping place in the mornings! It takes up 4 square blocks in the west end of Torreon. We saw row after row of trucks pulling up to unload & deliver as well as the dare devil taxicabs flying between the trucks trying to drop off people to shop. If it exists I think it can be found at the Abastos! I found some beautiful produce and several of us split large amounts of certain herbs we purchased. I also found a Cazuela which will be used to eventually cook Carnitas when it is seasoned & ready to cook in. One of the shops sold these ancient traditional Mexican terracotta pots in several sizes & shapes. They were mere pesos a piece. The locals seemed pleased to help us & described ways to use many of the peppers & herbs we saw. We did meet several people who recognizing us as Americans (we were the only non Mexicans there)& tried out their English phrases on us. The funniest part of the morning was when we spotted some wild looking Pinatas with more adult themes! I laughed at the thought of someone breaking a stick over one of them!! They were life size & quite funny! The lady who owned the Pinata shop laughed along with us when she saw us reacting & taking photos! Have to rethink that next Fiesta!
The Cazuela Grande of the Abastos Mercado! Necisito por Carnitas!
posted by Dee @ 11:33 AM
5 Comments:
Those pinatas are so funny. They would be great at a bachelor/bachlorette party!
Yes, nothing like a pole dancing Pinata!! It made me laugh!
pole dancing is mild, that's like barbie the stripper pinata!
I thought it interesting that the pinata had blond hair! Are there many blond Mexicans? I loved the market in Mexico! I liked the variety of packaged sugary treats - I was a tourist and wasn't buying groceries, so I concentrated on packaged things we could take home. Some colored candies I remember, turquoise, pink, and green. There were always some delicious-smelling foods frying to be bought to eat while walking around. Do you try them, or are they considered a bad idea (outside of being deep fried).
they had food being sold there by a couple of strolling vendors who were selling breakfast items that could be carried. We are very cautious about some of the street foods here though. Water & sanitization are an issue. Better safe than sorry later.
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