CHIAPAS: FOR GLOBETROTTERS WITH A GOOD APPETITE

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Join us on a fascinating tour of various towns of this entity to enjoy its innumerable dishes, a mixture of ingredients and pre-Hispanic and mestizo traditions.

No wonder this journey ends where it started, because that is how it usually happens. I mean this culinary trail sprouted around a winter bonfire, when the entire team of Unknown Mexico We ate chipilín and cambray tamales, like every December. Why do we always ask for the same thing? Surely it was also one of the favorite dishes of many like us, not exactly from Chiapas. The 10 wonders of everything were in fashion, why not investigate what were the 10 favorite dishes of Mexicans? And now here we are… investigating how chipilín tamales are made and learning more about other gastronomic wonders of this prodigious land.

Júbilo tuxtleño

It is said that in Tuxtla There is not a single family that does not have a member who has been a musician and another who does not know how to make tamales. Is it true? We arrived at the airport of this capital at the beginning of Saturday afternoon and it seemed like an excellent idea to refine the details of our itinerary in the snack bar. The Guadalupana, an open place, very nice, with live music. We ordered a Parrilla Guadalupana that consisted of churrasco, flank steak, jerky, toreado chiles and beans. The cupping was at 2 × 1, so we ate a little and refreshed ourselves before going to the Marimba Garden Park.

It is unforgivable to go to Tuxtla and not spend at least two or three hours enjoying the spectacle represented by both the marimbístico musicians and the people who are assiduous to those delicious evenings. Tourists and locals alike enjoy and feel a real party atmosphere. We thought it was just because it was Saturday, but they told us there was music and dancing seven days a week!

We only crossed the street to meet the Marimba Museum. What I liked the most is that it is interactive and you can try some of the instruments, true sonic gems. The most interesting thing was to see an example of the yolotli or hole marimba, dated 1545 and found on the Santa Lucía farm, in the municipality of Jiquipilas. These are 62 cm long rosewood keys that are placed 10 cm above a hole in the ground, which serves as a resonator. In the museum we also learned that Marimba is a woman's name in Africa, and how this instrument has its roots in that continent, it is logical that it was named that way. In a few hours, we realized that the marimba continues to give identity and unity to the people of Chiapas and managed to infect us with their joy, as we returned to the party next to the kiosk until late at night.

Our hosts then took us to one of the most traditional restaurants in the city and perhaps the state, The Pichanchas. It really is very special because it sums up the joy, the color, the good humor and the excellent cuisine of the people of Chiapas. From the ceiling hang bells that you must ring to celebrate the exit of the pumbo, a drink made with pineapple, mineral water, vodka, natural syrup and a lot of ice that is served in a bule or tecomate, from there you start to get acclimated. Gabriel, our waiter, explained the menu to us and suggested one of those dishes where a little of everything comes to try: tuxtlecas, turulas, salpicón, fresh cheese, jerky, smoked ham from San Cristóbal, sausages, cochito and pictes. While all these delicacies were paraded, the folkloric ballet was displayed in the center of the restaurant, which is like a patio of those old and beautiful houses of the southeast. It was a lovely evening.

The secrets of Vicenta

“Pro” travelers do not leave with the first impression and we know how to reserve ourselves for special moments. You may be wondering what I mean ... because we could have "entered" the chipilín tamales from Tuxtla, but nooooo, fools ("quality" that is acquired in the constant practice of going here and there), We wanted to go to the house of an expert to also learn how to make them, although chipilin (Crotalaria longirostrata) is a bit difficult to find outside of Chiapas, since it is a herbaceous legume with medium-sized leaves of light green color and pleasant flavor that only grows in the region.

As we moved to Comitán de Domínguez and they made us notice that this herb is used for many stews such as chipilín soup with bolita or bean soup with chipilín (which also has beef or pork), I was remembering a quote from one of our collaborators, Jaime Bali, “Looking at Comitán de las Flores without knowing its history represents a risk that every self-respecting traveler should not take. It is obligatory to know that this beautiful city was founded in the 16th century by Pedro Portocarrero, and that it could well have been, to this day, the capital of the state. Although history and the course of time took that privilege away from Comitán, the truth is that it accumulated other awards thanks to a series of events related to what Alejo Carpentier called the marvelous real ”.

In that we arrived at the lady's door Vicenta Espinosa, who invited us smilingly to come in and we went straight to the kitchen, as he already had all the ingredients ready to teach us how to make chipilín tamales. She told us that this recipe has been passed down from generation to generation and that she has tried to give it her own touch, which has made her famous throughout Comitan, because the daily orders are not long in coming. One of the most important details that Vicenta handles, different from the recipe we gave you in number 371, is that she herself boils the corn with lime and takes it to grind, with that she prepares the dough at home. We then witnessed almost the entire process and made a couple of tamales with her. He already had some ready for us, just out of the pot and he invited us to this delicacy served with a very good spicy sauce that he made with cooked and blended tomato, cilantro and habanero pepper (1 chili for every 10 tomatoes, if you don't want it too spicy) . At his table we enjoyed his company and the taste of the tamales and believe me, they melted in your mouth! The flavor was delicate, the perfect balance of ingredients, smooth texture, simply spectacular.

San Cristóbal, its neighborhoods, its flavor

Happy to have achieved our main objective, we moved to San Cristóbal de las Casas. I have always believed that arriving at night to destinations has a special magic, it is a subtle, veiled and a bit mysterious welcome. It gives an interesting flavor to the trip.

After walking for a while and enjoying the incomparable atmosphere of this Magical Town, we entered a place that we loved, the bar Revolution. It can be considered as an indispensable. Really. Is on the Main Walker (very comfortable and close to all the action), the atmosphere is cozy, the food is very good and with excellent prices, and the best thing is that two groups are presented daily (from Monday to Sunday, jazz, salsa, reggae, blues , of everything). They spend at least three hours very fun and you can even dance. The comfortable hotel Old house it was our fleeting abode, we fell exhausted.

The next day, the sun revealed what before the Colony was the Valley of Jovel, with those mountains and that early mist that gives it a special dimension and that reminded the colonizers of northern Spain so much. Since then, this town has kept its well-defined neighborhoods: Guadalupe, Mexicanos, El Cerrillo, San Antonio, Cuxtitali, San Diego and San Ramón. Another colonial heritage is its small squares with its neighborhood churches. All beautiful and worthy of admiration. San Cristóbal is one of the few places that I recommend walking inch by inch and every once in a while stopping to eat a corn pancake, an apple pie, an ice cream or a piece of bread, so special in this area. Another good recommendation to eat is the restaurant Gardens of San Cristóbal, on the road that goes to San Juan Chamula, its location is one of its benefits, since it is a very beautiful property with excellent views and is on the way to the Tzotzil and Tzeltal villages. There we tried some Creole specialties such as bread soup, baked cochito, almond tongue and pepita with jerky.

Chiapa de Corzo: another strong dish

We spent a couple of days in “San Cris”, but the Grijalva was calling us powerfully, so we took our way to Chiapa de Corzo. There the obligatory walk is the tour of the Sumidero Canyon National Park. The boats leave from the pier all day.

In this picturesque city of high and humid temperature and Renaissance, Mudejar and Baroque airs, there are also very good places where you can enjoy regional food. An example is The bell tower, where they treated us excellently and we tried the noodle soup with boiled egg, plantain and raisins, the beef menudo in liver sauce and aromatic herbs, the jerky with chilmol, all accompanied by fresh Rayón cheese. Then, later and after touring the city center and going up to the ruins of the first church of San Sebastián, patron saint of the city, we met The light bulb, a bar one step away from the jetty. We found it to be paradise!

More hours to the ZooMat

On the way back to Tuxtla, we literally “went into” the hotel rooms to recover energy and now, the next day, we go into the reserve of more than 100 hectares, El Zapotal, home to hundreds of animals that live in conditions similar to their natural habitat. We suggest you take the tour calmly and enjoy this zoo, classified by Animal Kingdom magazine as “the best in Latin America”.

I am in love with everything that grows in Chiapas, with the green that fills your gaze at once, with its joyful waterfalls and lakes that surprise with unreal hues; of its rivers and each of the plants that enrich its banks; I love the roar of the saraguato and I want the sound of the jungle to watch over my bed to collect the best thoughts before closing my eyes. But now I was also conquered by its flavors and aromas of the kitchen, which is nothing more than one of the many virtues of the people of Chiapas, another that they give hands full.

5 Essentials in Chiapas

-Dance in the Marimba Park, in Tuxtla.
-Take a cold glass of tascalate.
-Visit the cemetery and the ruins of the old church of Saint Sebastian in San Juan Chamula, in addition to its current church, famous throughout the world.
-Consult a "push button" on the Museum of Traditional Mayan Medicine in San Cristóbal.
-Buy beautiful textiles in San Lorenzo Zinacantán.

The ABC of Chiapas food:

-Chirmol: tomato sauce cooked, ground and mixed with chili, onion and coriander.
-Cochito: pork in marinade.
-Sausages: they are concentrated in the upper cities, such as San Cristóbal and Comitán, especially chorizos, sausages, shoulder hams and longanizas.
-Pepita with jerky: main stew at special parties or at the Chiapa de Corzo January Fair. It is made from ground pumpkin seeds with spices with jerky (dried beef in strips and salted).
-Picte: sweet-flavored corn tamale.
-Posh: sugar cane distillate.
-Pux-xaxé: stew with pieces of cow viscera, garnished with a mole made of tomato, chili pepper and corn dough.
-Bread soup: layers of bread and vegetables, bathed in a broth seasoned with spices highlighting the saffron.
-Tascalate: ground roasted corn powder, achiote, cinnamon, sugar that is prepared with water or milk.
-Turula: dried shrimp with tomato.
-Tuxtleca: beef cooked with lemon.
-Tzispolá: beef broth with slices of meat, chickpeas, cabbage and various chilies.
-Zats: caterpillar of a nocturnal butterfly known in the Highlands of Chiapas. It is boiled with water and salt. Drain and fry with lard. They are eaten with tortilla, lemon and green chili.