Alas, we have to say that we both came back disappointed with the food in Mexico (but please see the apology below). We tried quite a few familiar Mexican dishes but we didn't think they were as good as the same dishes back home in England.

Mexico’s most important religious festival: The Day of the Dead lasts for 3 days from Halloween to the 2nd November during which food offerings like these are left for departed relatives. Skeletons and sugar skulls are on sale everywhere during the run up to the festival which is sadly starting to become influenced by the American Halloween.

Some of the things that we ate are worth mentioning though. When we were being shown around the city of Oaxaca we were taken into a covered food market. One of the things we were on the lookout for was a local delicacy called chapulines or fried grasshoppers. We saw a few women with baskets full of them selling them by the cup full. I wasn’t particularly keen to try them but I knew I would regret it if I didn’t. I asked our guide if there was anywhere that cooked them in front of you as I was a little concerned about the cleanliness of the market but he said that they were all cooked in the morning and then brought to market to sell. I eventually decided to run the risk of a stomach upset and try one which I was given by one of the market women (in the hope that I would like them so much that I would buy a whole cup full). It took a bit of courage but I eventually popped it into my mouth and chewed. It was crispy, like salty pencil sharpenings but I wasn’t tempted to buy any more. Luckily, I suffered no ill effects from this (or any other meal). The following day we found a restaurant that had chapulines as a starter which we decided to share. We were given a plateful of smaller grasshoppers, some soft tortillas and some guacamole. You were supposed to wrap some chapulines in the tortilla with a dollop of guacamole. This was a much nicer way of eating grasshoppers as you couldn’t see them! One thing that amused me was my initial disgust when I found a small beetle in with the grasshoppers - but then I remembered what it was I was eating!

Another Mexican speciality we tried was mole. This is actually a rich, thick dark sauce and not a small burrowing animal. It is made from various herbs and spices, chilli, cinnamon, almonds and chocolate cooked slowly for 3 days. I had it served on a chicken quarter. It wasn’t sweet or even that spicy but it didn’t really complement the chicken.

The 6 breakfasts during the trip from Mexico City to the beach resort were the only meals included in this tour. They were reasonably good buffets which had the usual stuff plus plenty of local dishes many of which were pretty spicy but there were some really tasty cheesy dishes. They had a wide selection of exotic fruit juices and at one hotel we tried cactus leaf juice - which tastes like blended lawn mower cuttings!

Most of you have probably tried some of the Mexican dishes that are popular in the West like chilli con carne, tacos, tortillas, enchiladas, burritos, fajitas, guacamole etc. but you might not appreciate just how much of the food you eat originally came from Mexico: chilli peppers, corn, tomatoes, chocolate, coffee, pineapple, papaya, avocado, chewing gum, vanilla and tobacco (to name but a few). What really surprised me was that, considering that tobacco originated from Mexico, the Mexicans didn't seem to smoke that much - which is very unusual for a poor country. Perhaps over their extensive history, they have realised the risks involved!

Apology: We have since been beaten up by several Mexicans emailing us in defence of their food (which you can read in our Reader's Comments page) and we think that we do owe them all a big apology. We admit that were being very unfair in our comparison of local Mexican food with the stuff that we enjoy back in England. It's true that we really enjoy what passes for Mexican food in England but it was totally unreasonable for us to expect it to be the same or even similar in Mexico. As people who have travelled the world extensively, we know that what is served up as a country's cuisine in restaurants in England often doesn't resemble the food that is actually served up in the country itself - China and India being good examples (to which we will add Mexico now). When we were eating in Mexico, we often tried to find dishes that we were familiar with expecting them to taste the same as or better than what we were used to. This was both unfair and doomed to failure. We really should have been searching out new gastronomic experiences without any preconceived notions of what it should taste like. Maybe next time...
Chris & Lina, June 2002