Friday, January 28, 2011

An afternoon snack

Fridays in Mexico, I was taught were social Fridays.
That's where the boss-man would take off about noon, meet his buddies, start lunch with a few shots then take the rest of the afternoon with his buds, first on libations then lunch, then more drinking, then around 4 or so, if you had a casa chica, a little entertainment before you head home.

Those were the old days in Mexico City when I would meet friends business associates and get instructed in the corrupt, decadent ways of life......Some people would say I was a good student, other would say I was a dismal failure.

Anyway, there are no more social Fridays of old...now everyone still seems to work throughout lunch in the big DF.

Meanwhile, Fridays is the day that I drop off LaSeñora at her hair appointment. She always tells me that it will only take about an hour and a half.

It always takes at least 3 or 4....sometimes longer depending on if she is getting some "Color" put back in, she calls them highlights.....

The place she goes has the guy that does her hair, constantly floating about 8 to 10 inches above the floor. Maybe sashaying would be a more descriptive word..... I like floating.

These afternoons usually gives me time to wander around aimlessly finding new things about Patzcuaro.

One of my last sessions I found a great store that had lots of men's clothes. The store was jam packet to the ceiling with a pretty decent assortment of shirts, pants, jeans and mishmash of clothes. It had a nice dark blue Western style shirt, which I traded a few pesos for......

The store is considerably cheaper than the stores in Morelia, and you can give a nice tip to his son.
His customer satisfaction and packaging employee, who I assume who is autistic, does a grand job of packing and presenting you with your purchase.
He also wishes you a good day and thanks you for your purchase!
It's nice to see that they offer some employment to him, seems so much more dignified than just putting him on the payroll to guard the family couch at home.

These times also give me a chance to stop and taste some of the places that ordinarily we would not visit to go for lunch.
Not that LaSeñora is finicky, it's just that I have a little more adventurous streak. At least that's what I call it......

So today I have stopped at a place and have ordered a uchepos (pronounced wa-che-pos).
It's basically a sweet corn tamale that is serviced with some queso fresco and crema.
This place makes them very well. The masa is not overly grainy, the corn sweetness is not overpowering and heavy, the sweetness is offset with the sharpness of the cheese......nice.
We tried uchepos from other places, street vendors and have always found them to be rather heavy, likes rocks wrapped in a corn husk.... maybe authentic but not a savory experience.
I like savory experiences.
So I already had my refresco, my torta, right after I dropped her off. Then after wandering around for about 3 hours I had my uchepos, now it's almost time to pick her up.....We will see what else the remainder of this Friday brings.......

9 comments:

Leslie Harris said...

I've never had uchepos. They look delicious. :)

Tancho said...

Leslie, I never had them before coming to Patzcuaro. I am pretty sure that they are an local Michoacan item, not having seen them on any other menus except in DF.
Now I just need to befriend the cook at my favorite place that makes them.....maybe not.

Mike Nickell and Cynthia Johnson said...

Tancho - I can see it now...you and Mike wandering around DF looking for casas chicas...hehe. And that tamale cheese thing looks good!

Mike Nickell and Cynthia Johnson said...

Tancho - I can see it now...you and Mike wandering around DF looking for casas chicas...hehe. And that tamale cheese thing looks good!

JerryL said...

No casachica in Patz?

Tancho said...

Mike and Cynthia.....yep that is something we both might have done in the old days....now we are both happy married guys, trying to enjoy the little time that we both have...
I think I am speaking for Felipe too....
And besides only the real rich would have casachicas, putting up a 2nd home for entertainment reasons and fun is not cheap.....in the US, the divorce is rather expensive too...
Jerry..I am sure there are some fellows that still have them, but remembering many years ago, that doing the balancing act was way to stressful...unless you are real young.

Anonymous said...

tancho,

how nice that you get a ittle time to wander around by yourself. it's the kind of thing i enjoy doing too.

i've worked with many children who have autism, some very low on the spectrum and some quite high. many are quite capable of holding down jobs and i am happy to hear that this young man has something to look forward to, instead of as you said, just sitting on the couch.

hope you are enjoying the weekend. here in western wa. we are having typical weather, rain, rain, and more rain, but it is better than the snow we had a few weeks ago.

take care,

teresa in lake stevens

Michael Dickson said...

Leslie: Never had uchepos?! They must be a regional thing, which I did not know. They're good if you like corn mush covered with cream and cheese. I don't.

Regarding casas chicas, even guys with sparse resources do that. Some women can be very low maintenance.

Regarding the floating hair stylist, I'm pretty sure I know the place you're talking about. He cut my hair a time or three, but I always left looking like Elvis Presley. Now I go elsewhere.

Tancho said...

Felipe, All the guys that I knew who had casachicas are either all divorced, broke or dead....
And in my sphere of influence now, they are more interested in either booze or golf.... go figure.
Looking like Elvis...now that is a vision that would look interesting, especially in a white linen suit....