Oaxaca rewards the hungry. Spend a day moving between its markets and you'll taste mole in seven shades, tlayudas the size of bicycle wheels and mezcal poured straight from the still.
Begin at Mercado 20 de Noviembre, where the smoke-filled 'pasillo de humo' lets you choose raw cuts of meat and have them grilled in front of you, eaten with charred spring onions and warm tortillas.
Mid-morning, hunt down a cup of frothy cacao with a sweet bread at a side stall. By afternoon you should be at a mezcaleria learning to tell an espadin from a tobala by smell alone.
Go gently. The food here is generous and the mezcal is honest — pace both, and leave room for an evening tamale from a doorway comal.
Good to know
- Start early at Mercado 20 de Noviembre before the pasillo de humo fills with smoke.
- Pace the mezcal; tastings are generous and the spirit is stronger than it seems.
- Carry small pesos for the stalls and leave room for an evening tamale.
