5 minute read

Oaxaca is a culinary mecca

What comes to mind when you think of Mexico? The beaches of Cancun? The giants of Tulum? Street tacos? Maybe your mind drifts to the quintessential Corona lager, poolside, at your overpriced but comfortable hotel in Puerto Vallarta?

I’m here to tell you that although probably not on your radar, the state of Oaxaca should be at the top of your list of destinations.

Oaxaca de Juarez is highly regarded as the best city in Mexico for its culinary excellence. You want tacos? You’ll find them around every street corner. I recommend you don’t shy away from lengua (cow tongue), gusanos de maguey (caterpillars) and chapulines (grasshoppers) either. They are excellent.

But I also implore anyone visiting to try the tamales. Verdes, rajas and mole sauce are good to start. Opening a tamale gift-wrapped with a hot banana leaf to reveal its contents might just bring back memories of Christmas morning.

Along with a legendary mezcal, make sure to grab a couple tlayudas and memelitas for good measure. Yes, locals drink mezcal, and, if offered, you should, too.

The Netflix show “Watch Street Food” features Doña Vale, a small but busy food stand found at the famous Central de Abastos market in Oaxaca, Mexico. My new friend, Gerardo, led the way through this very marketplace. It’s enormous. The colors, people and scents stimulate the senses like a child’s first experience at a county fair. I’m now accustomed to these very common albeit spectacular mercados all over Latin America. My draw to the area wasn’t its appearance on Netflix (I had no clue until I was informed as we arrived) but rather the explanation Gerardo gave me: “There are not many foreigners yet, and the prices are cheap. The popular tourist markets nearby purchase from Central and then raise prices to gringos.”

Somehow, it’s still relatively undiscovered, even with a Netflix special.

The maze of stalls displayed brightly colored produce, a variety of artisanal crafts and freshly butchered meats that eventually led me to a string of tiny stands run by abuelas serving food. This is what you want. It’s impossible to walk past a giant, smoked hunk of meat whose aroma has been seducing you from a distance like sirens luring Odysseus. You won’t find a menu at these delightful, little restaurants that comprise of only a single table with a few chairs.

We sat at an establishment with the most enthusiastic and insistent owner. Lamb enchiladas were served with an accompanying shot of mezcal. For breakfast? Gerardo explained that it was used as a digestive aid. I have learned from decades of travel to distant lands, when a local offers you something, always politely accept. It is sustenance, after all.

The city of Oaxaca is not as developed as Mexico City or many of the country’s larger cities, and there is not a tall building in sight. In an area where you will experience many small earthquakes well before a single drop of rain, infrastructure is constructed in accordance to this truth.

But it’s the culture. The community. The preservation of adobe buildings. The ancient ruins that hold so many secrets. The belief that corn tortillas should be handmade in the same way they were over 10,000 years ago in this exact area. Similarly, the Maya and Aztecs drank pulque (fermented agave sap), a tradition that residents still partake in, with production maintaining a similar process. It’s the people and their customs that give Oaxaca its charm. Quality and tradition first.

Let’s not forget that the state of Oaxaca boasts over 300 miles of coast, where plenty of underrated beaches possess a romantic splendor, since they have yet to be overrun with tourists and remain a fraction of the cost compared to the most popular beaches in Mexico. Sure, you can find expensive if you seek it out. But eating fresh seafood caught from the very ocean you are gazing upon at a small establishment surrounded by locals has its own appeal.

Oaxaca is a place where, with a little digging, you can have a truly genuine experience combined with a history lesson for a completely unique kind of travel.

Trevor Davis, former cidermaker and working musician from Frederick, is a writer, content creator and cultural traveler. Follow his adventures at roguevagabond.com.

BY CRYSTAL SCHELLE Special to The News-Post

here has always been something about Asian culture, especially the Japanese, that has spoken to Philip Melton.

And when it came to pursuing his dream of being a professional potter, the 20-year-old Frederick resident made a trip halfway around the world in the hopes of expanding his education.

The journey started about a year ago when he mentioned his interest of Japan to Bill van Gilder, his mentor and owner of van Gilder Pottery in Rohrersville.

“I said something about how I really liked Japan and I’d love to visit, if not live there someday,” Melton recalled. “He said pottery can be a one-way ticket. That was pretty early in my apprenticeship with him.”

When Melton began researching Japan, he realized he was attracted to the Japanese pottery styles. He planned a three-week trip that would begin on Jan. 1, although that trip was later extended to four weeks in Japan.

While overseas, Melton visited universities, where he hopes to one day further his studies after he graduates Frederick Community College this spring, and he also got the opportunity to interact with Japanese potters.

Melton’s love for pottery began as a student at Tuscarora High School, where he took a ceramics class and was introduced to the pottery wheel and began creating hand-thrown pots.

But then COVID hit, which made working on the wheel at school impossible. Eventually, classes resumed on a hybrid schedule that allowed him two days a week to work on the wheel again. His art teacher, Daniel Wagner, was encouraging of his work on the wheel.

“My mind runs around a lot, and I like stuff that’s meditative, so for me the wheel is meditative,” he said. “I love that there’s been a couple of times when I’m on the wheels at Bill’s and hours go by. When I stop throwing and I look at my watch, I’m just shocked at how many hours have gone by. It’s like my mind and body connect, and my hands keep on throwing and throwing.”

Melton prefers to create objects that have function over form. At home, he’s filled a lot of cabinets with his ceramics and replaced a lot of his parents’ dishes.

“It’s satisfying, being able to create a piece that I really like and then being able to put it to use,” he said.

By the time his senior year rolled around, Melton had been up to van Gilder’s studio a couple of times, once with his dad, John Melton, and stepmom, Nicole Pecora, and later with a friend. It was on that second trip that Melton met van Gilder’s partner, Kris Hansen, who suggested he email van Gilder about any possible learning experiences or apprenticeships. He said his parents encouraged him to reach out to van Gilder.

“I didn’t know what I was getting into exactly. I knew I liked throwing on the wheel, but I had never considered it being more than just something I did in high school,” Melton admitted.

After that connection, van Gilder asked him to bring in some of his work. Melton showed up with a box of his work, and van Gilder said Melton told him, “As you can see I have a lot to learn.” But van Gilder was impressed.

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