This Little Piggie Went to Market

An important part of Mexican life is the "tianguis".   The word "tianguis" comes from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, and refers to an open-air marketplace.  These markets have been around since long before the arrival of the Spanish.  Today, even though many Mexicans shop at modern supermarkets, the traditional "tianguis" is still found throughout the country.  In small towns, one day of the week is the designated market day when vendors set up their stalls selling fruits and vegetables, meats, household goods, clothing... everything under the sun.  In large cities each neighborhood will also have its own weekly market day.  

Here in the neighborhood of Condesa where I am staying, every Tuesday there is a "tianguis" just a short walk from my apartment.  Several blocks of one of the neighborhood streets are closed off to traffic, and a sizeable marketplace is set up.  Since Condesa  is an upper middle class neighborhood, the emphasis in this "tianguis" is on fresh produce, rather than household goods and clothing.  (I doubt that the fashionably dressed residents of Condesa go to the open-air market to buy their clothes!) 

The marketplace is always colorful with many fruits and vegetables that are not commonly seen back in the typical supermarket in the U.S.(or if we do have them, they won't be as ripe and flavorful as they are in Mexico).

 

Papayas

 

 

A wide variety of chile peppers

  Tomatillos, relatives of the tomato, are used to make green sauce.  Chayotes are a vegetable that taste somewhat like a squash.

Ripe mangos

And my favorite tropical fruit... mamey!  I bought one to have for breakfast tomorrow!