Tuesday, March 29, 2011

I Heart Mercados

One might assume that growing up in Laredo, Texas gave me the experience and pleasures of the open air farmers' market. In fact, the grocery shopping experience was sterile in Laredo; even H.E.B., that big Texas chain that seems to have every Mexican ingredient you can think of was just a small, sleepy, supermarket back in the day. The forbidden delights of ripe stacked mangos, wild avocados, chirimoyas, guayabas, canteloupe, and watermelon sweltering in the Nuevo Laredo market heat across the river from Laredo, was a temptation to bear stoically. What you could eat on the spot was all you were going to get; naturally, you couldn't take fruits and vegetables across the Rio Grande. But the luscious taste and smell of this fruit in the midst of the clamorous Nuevo Laredo market on a warm summer day with my parents was knowing that all was right in the world.

[caption id="attachment_1106" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="A typical mercado in Mexico"][/caption]

I'm fascinated by markets, in fact, I don't ever want to live too far away from one, as crazy as it may sound. I love the shouting, the bantering, the smells, the colors. I love not knowing what will surprise me and get my attention. I love knowing about the lives of those that grow my food. I'm lucky to live in the Washington, D.C. area, which has excellent access to locally grown food. And I'm especially fortunate that I travel extensively to two other places that have incredible markets: San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and Florence, Italy. When I arrive at either of these two places, I drop my bags and head for the market.

[caption id="attachment_1110" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="A mercado in San Miguel de Allende"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1109" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="A mercato in Florence"][/caption]

This week I am in Florence, ogling the spring vegetables that the old familiar farmers bring in from the hillsides of Tuscany here at the Mercato di Sant'Ambrogio. I have known many of these characters for years now and they know me...no matter how dumpy I might look as I head bleary-eyed to the market...I'm “signora bella” to them and I'm worth an extra sprig of basil or parsley thrown into my bag with a friendly smile and advice as to how to prepare my purchases. Today there's wild asparagus, harvested from the hillsides. Tiny round zucchini with flowers still attached. Wild strawberries (fragole di bosco) and baby artichokes. I could go on, but you get the picture. What really catches my eye today is that kind of green bean that is called Italian bean in the U.S. But it's the kind of green bean my mother used to make a dish she called ejotes con carne de puerco.

[caption id="attachment_1111" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Italian green beans"][/caption]

I wanted to buy only a small quantity of the beans but there was no way this was going to happen. In the interest of freshness, some of the farmers here don't like to take the produce back at the end of the day. They would rather practically give it away. So, one of my favorite farmers packed up a two-kilo bag for which he charged me only one euro; he knew it was late and the chances of selling it were dwindling. Not bad. But I'll be eating green beans for a while.




[caption id="attachment_1108" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Farmer at the Mercato di Sant'Ambrogio"][/caption]

So here I am, mixing it all up, keeping alive my memories of my mother and Laredo. Thinking of all the roads taken and not taken, as I quietly stir my ejotes here in Florence.



Ejotes en Carne de Puerco

Ingredients:
2 pork chops cut into small cubes
1 lb. Italian beans chopped ½ inch wide approximately (regular green beans will work too)
4 medium sized ripe tomatoes, chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled and whole
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. freshly ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
corn or canola oil to cover ¼ inch of pan
corn tortillas to accompany this dish

Preparation:
Heat the oil in a pan and add the cubed pork along with the garlic cloves. Cook at medium heat until the meat and the garlic cloves are a golden brown, add the onion and cook for another 10 minutes. Add  the tomatoes and green beans and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, add salt and pepper to taste and the freshly ground cumin. Lower heat and cover, cook until the green beans have softened and the tomato has dissolved.

Note:  For a vegetarian version of this dish, simply leave out the pork.  The cumin gives this meal a fragrance that allows it to stand on its own simply made with vegetables.

Unfortunately, my dinner guest devoured the meal before I had a chance to take a photo of the finished product.  Perhaps this will inspire you to shop at your local farmers' market this weekend and make this recipe!  Let us know!

6 comments:

  1. Me encantan los mercados tambien and when I've managed to find some pretty good ones in cities I've traveled to. In DC, I mostly shop at Trader Joe's -- although lately I've been hitting up the Latino supermarkets to get my papaya fix :) Too bad I can't find a decent and **ripe** chirimoya anywhere around here. At Whole Foods they feel like piedras. When I was in Spain in October I think I ate two every day since they are easy to find in the markets there.

    Enjoy Italy!

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  2. Gilda Valdez CarbonaroMarch 29, 2011 at 7:21 PM

    There's just no point in eating unripe grocery store fruit. And I know what you mean about ripe papayas. What about the licuados you can make with combinations of this incredible fruit! Gracias por escribir, Cynthia.

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  3. Hijole Gilda, aqui tambien extrañamos los mercados. Laredo is a vast wasteland when it come to produce from area farms. Pero, mas extrañamos la cultura, los restaurantes, la gente y musica de Nuevo Laredo. Saluditos y que esten bien!

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  4. Gilda Valdez CarbonaroMarch 30, 2011 at 4:32 AM

    Patsy,

    Tienes toda la razón. Es que la cultura está en todo eso...la música, los mercados, toda esa gente alrededor de esos mercados, etc. When that's gone, you've lost your soul.

    Gracias por escribir.

    Gilda

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  5. I heart mercados, too, and Sant'Ambrogio is my favorite in the world. We'll have to take a spin together when you're back this summer! So glad the pomodori fiorentini made their appearance during your recent trip...yum!

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  6. Gilda Valdez CarbonaroApril 1, 2011 at 1:53 PM

    The fiorentini are delicious...not to mention the ciliegini, the cuore di bue, the picadilly, etc. I don't know what makes them so amazing, is it the sun, the air...who knows.

    Let's have coffee at Cibreo's next time.

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