Oaxaca, Mexico: Grasshopping for some mole on a plate

Chapulines, or grasshoppers. (Photo: Sandip Roy)

The salsa was freshly made at the table, the ingredients ground in a stone mortar and pestle.

“Fire-roasted tomatoes?” Asked the waiter.

I nodded.

“Chiles?”

Of course.

“Chapuline grasshoppers?”

I took a deep breath and said yes. When in Oaxaca, Mexico…

The grasshoppers are sold in mounds on the street like peanuts, roasted, sometimes flavoured with lime and chilli. They add a nutty crunch to the salsa, more a texture than a taste.

Oaxaca in Mexico is famous for its UNESCO world heritage historic centre, brightly coloured houses and churches laid out like a checkerboard around a bustling town square. Not too far from the city is another UNESCO heritage site — the pyramids, tombs and canals of Monte Alban carved out from the mountain by the Zapotec people around 500 BC.

Arch, alley and bright, colourful houses in the old town of Oaxaca, Mexico. (Photo: Getty Images)

But Oaxaca’s real attraction might be the food. It is hard to have a bad meal in Oaxaca, whether street food or gourmet.

On a street corner near the museum, two ladies run Tacos del Carman, a busy street cart. A coal-fired stove does double duty. Fat chorizo sausages are cooked directly on the coals, their skins blistering. On top of the stove, on a griddle called comal, are trumpet-shaped yellow zucchini flowers which the ladies fold into a tortilla along with freshly melted stringy Oaxaca cheese. Seating is plastic chairs on the pavement, the plates are paper but the food is divine.

Tacos Del Carmen. (Photo: Sandip Roy)

Casa Oaxaca has a rather different ambience. Reservations are recommended. I had none but the woman at the reception took pity on me and said, “Come back in an hour.” I did and was ushered onto the rooftop where golden lamps glowed at each table. I sipped a cocktail made with mezcal, the smoky local liquor distilled from the agave cactus. The brainchild of Alejandro Ruiz who grew up near here, Casa Oaxaca, has been ranked among the 50 top restaurants in Mexico three years in a row. Right next door is Terra del Sol, another rooftop restaurant from another famous chef, Olga Cabrera, where the ribeye steak comes with her own special 12-ingredient mole sauce.

Mole Negro, the labour-intensive sauce. (Photo: Sandip Roy)

Mole means sauce in the Nahuatl language. There are, at least, seven mole sauces to be found here —  with names like mole rojo, mole coloradito, mole amarillo. Some are red, some yellow, some green. The black mole negro has the rich warmth of local chocolate. All have chilli peppers that are roasted and ground. Most take hours to prepare, some can take three days. One restaurant, Coronita, offers a tasting menu of all seven moles, but, alas, it’s not for the solo traveller. You need a mole companion. Also a bib. The mole manchamentel literally means “tablecloth staining” thanks to the red chorizo sausage grease in it. While moles are time-consuming, there are quickie snacks, too.

The tlayuda is a flat tortilla, slathered with lard, crisped on a griddle, with some cheese and meat piled on top, a crunchy Oaxacan pizza. The memelitas are little discs of masa flour, topped with beans, meat, avocado and cheese. But they are no less beloved than the labour-intensive mole.

Memelitas. (Photo: Sandip Roy)

I went to Oaxaca knowing very little about the place and not knowing anyone there. But I soon discovered that every friend who had ever been to Oaxaca had a restaurant recommendation. I soon had more recommendations than I had meal slots.

Mexico is known for burritos and tacos, grilled meats, spicy salsas and refried beans. Oaxaca’s microclimates thanks to the sea, the mountains and valleys make for many kinds of produce. While corn, beans and peppers are staples here, too, local herbs add a distinctive flavour to its food hoja santa or pepperleaf and epazote.

A mezcal cocktail with epazote leaf is pretty cool as well. It’s also one of the most ethnically diverse provinces of Mexico with 17 indigenous groups, each with its own cooking traditions using tomatoes, chillies, corn and beans. We were the people of corn, bean and amaranth long before the Spaniards came, remarked a tour guide.

Some of those pre-Hispanic traditions still survive in the food. Near the cathedral a woman sells tejate, once called the nectar of the Zapotec gods, a drink that looks like chocolate milk but is made with toasted corn and fermented cacao beans. The restaurant Ancestral Cocina Tradicional only serves pre-Hispanic food like stone soup where a hot river stone dropped into broth cooks the fish in it.

All of this contributes to the richness of Oaxaca’s cuisine but is also a reminder of its complicated history. Spanish conquerors came and decimated the indigenous cultures. The stones from Mixtec and Zapotec tombs were used to build churches. Our guide in the Mixtec ruins of Mitla cannot bring himself to enter the church right beside the ancient ruins. “You can go if you want to,” he told us. With its many indigenous tribes this is the second poorest state of Mexico. It’s no surprise that grasshoppers and fire ants and agave palm worms have long been a source of protein here, though now those insects are part of gourmet menus for those looking for culinary adventure.

Insect Tostada. (Photo: Sandip Roy)

All that history is stewed into the cuisine. No wonder it is so complex and rich just like the famous mole sauce.  And with a bittersweet touch like the best Oaxacan chocolate.