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| La Iglesia de Teotitlán del Valle (Photo: Sarah Shaw) |
To round out our week of hands-on culinary learning
experience, we headed to the local village of Teotitl
án del Valle on Monday and
Tuesday in order to learn from the wonderful women of Vida Nueva.
Teotitl
án, which lies approximately 30
minutes outside the city and is easily accessible via taxi or bus, is a
bustling town that is still brimming with examples of its Zapotec
heritage.
Almost all of the residents
speak Zapotec as their first language, with Spanish being their second, and the
town’s gorgeous church boasts remnants of Zapotec ruins as part of its
construction materials.
Upon our
arrival in Teotitl
án on Monday morning, we headed to the ‘headquarters’ of Vida
Nueva, an all women’s weaving cooperative aimed at enhancing economic
opportunities of its members while preserving and promoting the traditional art
of rug, or tepete, weaving with all-natural dyes.
Jonathan, an old friend and patron of Vida
Nueva, introduced us all to Pastora, the co-op’s founder, Patrona, Isabel, and
Rufina, all of whom welcomed us warmly with a greeting in Zapotec.
We
then gathered round to discuss that day’s menu that consisted of sopa de
garbanzo, a red mole called ‘Zeguesa’ with pork, agua de mango, and a sweet
apple dessert that all had us reminiscing the tastes of VT with its hints of
canela (cinnamon).
After splitting up
into groups led by each of the women, we headed to the small market located in
the middle of town to purchase the necessary ingredients and some breakfast
treats for ourselves.
With baskets
filled, each group was led to the home of the woman that they were cooking with
to begin preparing the seemingly large comida that we would all share.
Admittedly, we each found it difficult to be
able to document the recipes and corresponding measurements that we were
utilizing because each of the women performed their culinary magic from memory
and years of experience.
However, we
managed to capture the instructions pretty clearly and all lent a hand in the process,
from cleaning and peeling fresh garbanzo to chopping several kinds of fresh
veggies and chiles.
We also had the
opportunity to view and even purchase some of the gorgeous rugs that these
women spend weeks at a time weaving by hand.
Sarah and Hannah even had the opportunity of working on some of the rugs
in progress on the looms at Rufina’s home!
Side note: if any of you someday find yourselves in Oaxaca you MUST go
to Teotitlan del Valle to see these incredible works of art, we promise that it
will be a purchase you will never regret!
Once each groups dish was ready, we all trekked back to Pastora’s house/
Vida Nueva to share the delicious ‘classwork’.
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| Isabel grinding garbanzo on the metate |
On Tuesday, we returned to Teotitlán to embark on another day of
cooking with our lovely hosts and instructors.
That day’s menu consisted of a sopa de chipil (an herb) with elote and
squash, a bread-based mole with chicken, pico de gallo, agua de tamarindo
(tamarind) and dulce de garbanzo, a sweet garbanzo dessert prepared with canela
and panela. Unfortunately after arriving
a bit later than expected, many of us didn’t have the opportunity to return to
the market because our instructors had already ventured there earlier that
morning to do the daily ‘grocery shopping’.
Again, we split into groups based on dish preparation and headed to the
homes of our assigned teachers. While
some made an herb-based broth for the soup others peeled and boiled garbanzo
for the dessert. We then all came
together at Pastora’s before the meal was ready to work together on making the
pico de gallo with fresh tomatoes and avocados and the agua de tamarindo. Again, we shared the tasty ‘fruits of our
labor’, complemented with tortillas of course, while chatting about the work
Vida Nueva does and the special weaving projects that Pastora has worked on to
promote the co-op.
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| Dulce de Garbanzo |
Perhaps one of the most astonishingly wonderful aspects of
our days spent in Teotitlán was the warmth and hospitality we received from all of the
women we worked with. We never entered
a home without a full tour and an offer of some chocolate or atole. To put
things more in perspective, the culinary spaces in Mexican culture are
dominated by women and are considered as atmospheres for self-expression,
power, and creativity. Thus by allowing
us to step into their kitchens, the women of Vida Nueva were yielding their
arenas of ‘power’ and expression to virtual strangers for the benefit of
creating productive relationships and mutual learning experiences. Its safe to say that we all pretty much fell
in love with our hosts at Vida Nueva, and were floored at the kindness and
patience they showed us- we simply cannot thank them enough.
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| Carter & his wee tomato plant at Harvest Pride |
On Wednesday, we shifted gears and began our new class on
Tropical Farming and Gardening with Vern, a UVM extension agent that works
primarily with VT fruit and vegetable farmers.
We met at good ole’ Solexico at 9:30 to get oriented with the topics we
would be covering during the following week and a half and discuss some of the
intricacies of food systems.
After a formal
class session, we headed to the Mercado de Abastos to complete a group
assignment in which we were required to talk to different food/produce vendors
about where their products are cultivated.
Many us found that most vendors do not grow or raise their own goods
locally, but rather purchase them from local bodegas that source them from the
state of Puebla or other regions in Oaxaca.
After completing our mini-investigation we ventured with Carey to a
restaurant near the Z
ócalo for a comida corrida before parting ways until the next
morning when we headed out on a multi-day excursion.
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| Processing and Distribution Center at Harvest Pride |
On Thursday, the food systems crew, Vern, Jonathan, Carey,
and our driver Jose Luis headed up to the state of Puebla, which is about 4
hours north of Oaxaca city. Nearly all of Oaxaca’s produce and poultry comes
from Puebla due to their booming agriculture industry so it was only fitting
that we were there to see a farm We had a scheduled visit at a huge,
industrialized tomato farm called Harvest Pride. In an effort to get the
maximum amount of information without a defensive attitude, we acted like we
were interested in conventional agricultural production as a great solution to
global problems like hunger which was great because the representatives from
Harvest Pride fed off of this and told us everything we wanted to know and
more. They let us into every greenhouse, the chemical fertilizer rooms, the
control rooms, and the packaging plant. It was pretty interesting to have to
put on a hairnet, wash our hands as if preparing for surgery, and step in some
chemical sanitizing powder just to look at tomatoes. It was really incredible
to see all of the inputs that go into growing these tomatoes to uniform
perfection. One of the coolest parts for me was on the packaging floor where
there is a big conveyor belt that takes photos of each tomato individually as
it comes down the line and then categorizes it by size, weight, and color and
then flicks each tomato at the exact moment where it will land in a box with
all of the other tomatoes that have the exact same characteristics, pretty cool
stuff. The company exports to all corners of the U.S. to major supermarkets, so
it was really interesting to see how the tomatoes that show up in anonymous
piles in Stop and Shop and Shaw’s are actually grown, for better or worse.
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| A prepared milpa in San Isidro |
On Friday, we left Puebla and returned to Oaxaca, but not to
the city. We went to the Mixteca which is a highly indigenous region of Oaxaca
known for strong community systems and traditional lifestyles. Compared to our
high tech tour the day before, it was quite a contrast. We first visited an
organization called CEDICAM which works with developing sustainable
agricultural practices in indigenous communities and also with reforestation.
We then went to a community where CEDICAM works and is also home to two of
Jonathan’s friends, Phil and Kathy. They are from the U.S. but moved to Mexico
about 15 years ago to pursue a more sustainable lifestyle. Friday afternoon was
spent touring the fields of the town and listening to the farmers talk about
their systems, which are completely and fundamentally different from the
systems used by Harvest Pride, as you can only imagine.
For dinner, we had coffee and bread (made
with wheat harvested in the town, of course..) and talked with a few community
members who grew up in the town, moved away for a while, but then came back to
reconnect with the campo lifestyle and their roots. Saturday morning, had a
delicious breakfast of blue corn tortillas, beans, and eggs and then headed to
the campo to work. The town just installed a new water pump line so we spent a
few hours filling in the ditch with dirt which was pretty intense because the
sun was so strong and the soil was so dry and compacted so it was more
difficult to dig up. After we had our fill (ha!), we headed to the wheat field
to process recently harvested wheat which involves a horse and a donkey walking
the wheat plants to separate the grain from the straw which we then finished by
hand and with sieves. Around 1, we went back to Phil and Kathy’s house and
Kathy showed off all of her solar ovens that she has built over the years which
are very impressive in their effectiveness. Around 2, we had comida of
tortillas, nopal cactus salad, beans, and rice that many women from the
community prepared for us. Not only was the food delicious, but the sense of
community and hospitality was just wonderful. After a wrap-up talk with Phil,
we boarded the bus again and headed back to the city to shower and nurse some
pretty brutal sunburns and sore shoulders.
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Threshing wheat via animal power
With love, Sarah Shaw & Margaret Liljedahl |
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