BAR NUN AT THE BODEGA - A food special.

Do you think Mexican grocery products are super tasty & exciting? Really? Me, too! It’s no secret that the Bar Nun is Mexican at heart, so enjoy my attempt to explain why the mundane task of grocery shopping is better south of the border.

Many savory snacks in the US are simply sold “salted”, however in Mexico, they’re often enhanced to Lime & Salt flavor, or “Limon”. Holy guacamole, why do we not at least flavor things this way in US coastal cities, if not the fly-over (looking at you, Florida, with your Latin heritage & Key limes)? Tart and salty flavors like this are the perfect accompaniment to afternoon drinking. With a great variety of textures & combinations, I find them more interesting than their domestic counterparts. Potato chips are often sold in stores with bottles of hot sauce attached. You, the delighted consumer, are expected to squirt it straight into the bag & shake. Prepare by having plenty of napkins available! Reach in, get hot sauce all over your arm & enjoy! In Mexico, you’ll also see sweet little grandmothers strolling the beach or streets of town carrying enormous baskets filled with of bags of homemade potato chips & corn puffs in various shapes. Once purchased for about 10 pesos, the ladies offer you a squeeze of lime & a generous squirt of hot sauce. I love to have these on the beach (with micheladas from the convenience store). After being coated in hot sauce, lime juice & salt, a dunk in the ocean is imperative. You will also find savory snacks like Chile con Limon flavored microwave popcorn (please offer this in the US, Con Agra!) & microwave chicharrones (pork rinds, yes I said microwave spicy pork rinds).

The condiment aisles are a bizarro world wonderland of lime, chipotle, jalapeno, and vegetable flavored mayonnaise & habanero ketchup. An incredible selection of seasonings & sauces abound. Dairy coolers offer a delicious abundance of fresh white salty cheeses, as yellow, orange or aged cheeses are rare in Mexico. A mind boggling amount of beverage choices exist. In addition to absolutely any kind of juice, you will also find unusual fruit sodas & powdered drink mixes in flavors such as horchata (tastes like Christmas), tamarindo, & hibiscus. A personal favorite is pre-mixed michelada flavoring, just add beer!

Let’s chat about the candy selection, shall we? Many traditional candies hand made with natural ingredients will be on display in the supermercado. Coconut rolls, dried sugared fruits (kiwi is especially attractive) & wacky marshmallow & cookie creations. Many of the commercially produced chocolate items for sale in Mexico are the Italian brand Kinder in the familiar orange & white package. Often times, it has delightful hazelnut crème or sweet milk filling.

From here we stroll to the bakery department. You’ll also find stand alone bakeries, or panaderia, in most Mexican neighborhoods. Selections can range from simply stocking different varieties of pan dulce (sweet glazed rolls) to enormous donuts, muffins & cupcakes. The most tempting item I’ve seen was a Hostess-style chocolate cupcake as large as a grapefruit. You’ll encounter sweet fruit filled empanadas & tamales as well, which make amazing breakfast fare.

An on-line retailer of fine Mexican groceries and cooking tools that I typically buy when I’m there is MexGrocer.com. Visit their blog for recipes & ideas. In Seattle, I often shop for these items on Beacon Hill at the multiple tiendas or the Red Apple Market, located at 2701 Beacon Ave. South. When you’re in Mexico, or even if you have a Tienda or Mercado in your own home town, don’t hesitate to try the array of unfamiliar grocery items. It’s fairly easy to assess the contents, even if you can’t understand the package. It’s a grocery adventure! FP