Monday, August 4, 2008

Street Food in Mexico--it's the best, no lie


I'm just finishing up a four-day trip to Mexico (attending pre-conference activities for the International AIDS conference here), and I have so much to tell. Although people warn about eating street food in Latin America, many who have been here will attest that street food--tacos, to be precise--are better than anything. And after summoning up the courage to approach a vendor with not the least bit of an idea about how to order, or what was in all of those piles of goodness, I'm glad I did it sooner than later. So while my colleagues were probably enjoying restaurant meals costing between $20 and $50 (with drinks), I was able to dine on less than $10 a night by buying a small bottle of wine at the supermarket (about $5), two tacos, an avocado, and a tomato at the market. The tortillas were fresh, and filled with pork, onions, peppers and hot sauce, or beef and cheese. They were amazing. As a single woman in a not-so-great area, I didn't want to eat at the stands myself, so I brought the tacos back to my hotel, cut up the avocado and tomato, put a little salt and lime on the salad, and voila! Almost a home-made dinner away from home. The last night here, I had a "vampiro" to drink as well--a mixture of beet, carrot, and lime juice. Delicious.



I strongly recommend, although I've heard that street food is for the strong of stomach. Be careful.

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