Today I visited a place that I had never seen before, La Merced Market. There are traditional markets all over the city, but La Merced is the biggest retail market in Mexico City. It occupies several buildings on the site of a colonial monastery. It's located on the southeastern edge of the "centro histórico". The neighborhood is not the greatest. Because of all the truck drivers bringing produce to the market, prostitution is rampant in the area. However, the metro station has an exit leading right into one of the market buildings, so I did not even have to go out onto the street. The market is huge. Every kind of food imaginable (as well as some you may have never imagined) is for sale. There are also stalls selling housewares, shoes, clothing, etc..., etc..., etc. I'm sure that I only explored a fraction of the market. The vendors generally were very pleasant. They didn't mind that I took their pictures (although I asked first); some were even eager for me to photograph them. I became thoroughly lost in the labyrinth, and had to ask a vendor how to get back to the metro station. He pointed me in the right direction, and I eventually found the station.
Tamarind pods are used to make a popular beverage.
The fellow was stripping the stems from banana leaves.
The leaves are used for wrapping certain kinds of tamales.
This vendor was stripping the needles off of "nopales", the paddles of the prickly pear cactus. The "nopales" are sliced into strips and used in salads.
In every Mexican market there are food counters where you can have a bite to eat. If you know where to go they can be an inexpensive place to have good Mexican food... or they can be a good place to get Montezuma's revenge.
Pastes for making all kinds of "moles" (Mexican sauces)
"Huitlacoches" are a type of fungus that grow on corn. We refer to it as corn smut. In Mexico they are a delicacy, and they are actually quite good.
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