Saturday, November 10, 2018

Mexico Lurks

Low-key day today. On the way home from the usual big Saturday grocery shopping trip (everything's closed on Sunday), we ran across this random Mariachi band playing on our main street:


I have no idea what the "event" was. This is not a Spanish tradition. It's a Mexican tradition. We probably should've take that as an omen.

***

Spicy food is not part of Spanish cuisine. The hot pepper, so common to Mexican cuisine, is actively avoided by Spaniards. Laura and I are huge fans of Mexican food. We always on the lookout for good Mexican food here in Sevilla. We've found some OK places, but none compare to the ordinary Mexican places we have in Walla Walla. Laura has also worked hard to make Mexican dishes at home. She even knows how to make pretty good refried beans (which you can't buy here) and homemade salsa. The missing ingredient is always the hot pepper.

Today Laura decided to browse the Triana Market for hot peppers of any variety. We saw some promising small green peppers at two stands, but both were just baby sweet peppers. After wandering through nearly all of the stalls in the market, we came around a corner and spotted a small stash of fresh jalapeno peppers! They were expensive, but we snagged a handful and a couple of serrano peppers too:


They were relatively expensive--5 euros, but the salsa Laura made this afternoon using these peppers was perfect. These were definitely the missing Mexican ingredient. We went all in and had some nachos with heavy toppings for dinner:


The Mexican itch is now scratched. Not only that, but we now have a nearby, reliable supply of hot peppers for future Mexican dishes.