From Bratwurst to Bimibap –
Part 3 – by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
Mi
Tierra Market in Seaside, California sells clean, dried corn husks in bundles
among other items, making my dreams for a tamale making party come closer to
fruition – now I just need helpers to stuff the husks.
The
produce section gleams. Pasilla, lime-green
Anaheims, yellow guerito peppers, and dark green jalapeño peppers glisten
there.
Pudgy
plantains invite frying, and brown-skinned yuccas feel rough to the touch. Mi Tierra sells fresh cactus petals with
their pickers. These taste sour and go
well with scrambled eggs made with chopped tomatoes and onion.
As
usual, the drinks intrigue me. I love
horchata, which tastes like a rice pudding milk shake. The jamaica juice looks good, too, and is
described as a hibiscus flower drink.
Mi
Tierra also sells champagne cola and other Mexican soft drinks like the guava
and pineapple flavors of Jarritos and mandarin orange. There is also Aga apple soda and Sidral cola.
Mi
Tierra’s true beauty lies in its butcher counter, which extends the width of
the building. The butchers, who work
under dangling strands of chorizo sausage, really ham up the service.
The
immaculately clean counter presents a wide variety of:
-gizzards
-milk
white tripe
-liver
-beef
tongue
-neck
bones
-hogs’
feet
-slim
cuts of steak for carne asada
-ground
beef and steaks
-cactus
salad
-cream-like
cheese called Queso Oaxaqueño
-seafood
salad
-fresh
fish on ice
-tiger
prawns
All
in all, the mouthwatering display made me want to run home and open some
cookbooks. (Note: Diana Kennedy and Rick
Bayless explain technique well in their Mexican cookbooks.)
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
