Alvin Starkman, M.A., J.D.

When we think of mushrooms and the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca, the first thing which traditionally comes to mind is María Sabina, Huautla de Jiménez and hallucinogenic “magic” mushrooms. But slowly that’s all changing as a result of the groundbreaking work of Josefina Jiménez and Johann Mathieu in mycology, through their company, Mico-lógica. 

Based in the village of Benito Juárez, located in Oaxaca’s Ixtlán district (more commonly known as the Sierra Norte, the state’s main ecotourism region), Mico-lógica’s mission is threefold: to train both Mexicans and visitors to the country in the low-cost cultivation of a variety of mushroom species; to educate about the medicinal, nutritional and environmental (sustainable) value of mushrooms; and to conduct ongoing research regarding optimum climatic regions and the diversity of substrata for mushroom culture.  

The French-born Mathieu moved to Mexico, and in fact to Huautla de Jiménez, in 2005. “Yes, coming all the way to Mexico from France to pursue my interest in mushrooms seems like a long way to travel,” Mathieu explained in a recent interview in Oaxaca. “But there really wasn’t much of an opportunity to conduct studies and grow a business in Western Europe,” he continues, “since reverence for mushrooms had been all but completely eradicated by The Church over the course of centuries; and I learned that Mexico still maintains a respect and appreciation for the medicinal and nutritional value of hongos. Mexico is far from mycophobic.”

Huautla de Jiménez is more than a five hour drive from the closest metropolitan center. Accordingly, Mathieu eventually realized that staying in Huautla, while holding an historic allure and being in a geographic region conducive to working with mushrooms, would hinder his efforts to grow a business and cultivate widespread interest in learning about fungi.  Mathieu became cognizant of the burgeoning reputation of Oaxaca’s ecotourism communities of the Sierra Norte, and indeed the Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres (regional wild mushroom festival), held annually in Cuahimoloyas. 

Mathieu met Josefina Jiménez at the summertime weekend mushroom event.  Jiménez had moved to Oaxaca from hometown Mexico City in 2002.  The two shared similar interests; Jiménez had studied agronomy, and for close to a decade had been working with sustainable agriculture projects in rural farming communities in the Huasteca Potosina region of San Luis Potosí, the mountains of Guerrero and the coast of Chiapas. Mathieu and Jiménez became business, and then life partners in Benito Juárez.

Mathieu and Jiménez are concentrating on three mushroom species in their hands-on seminars; oyster (seta), shitake and reishi. Their one-day workshops are for oyster mushrooms, and two-day clinics for the latter two species of fungus.  “With reishi, and to a lesser extent shitake, we’re also teaching a fair bit about the medicinal uses of mushrooms, so more time is required,” says Mathieu, “and with oyster mushrooms it’s predominantly [but not exclusively] a course on cultivation.”

While training seminars are now only given in Benito Juárez, Mathieu and Jiménez plan to expand operations to include both the central valleys and coastal regions of Oaxaca.  The object is to have a network of producers growing different mushrooms which are optimally suited for cultivation based on the particular microclimate. There are about 70 sub-species of oyster mushrooms, and thus as a species, the adaptability of the oyster mushroom to different climatic regions is remarkable.  “The oyster can be grown in a multitude of different substrata, and that’s what we’re experimenting with right now,” he elucidates. The oyster mushroom can thrive when grown on products which would otherwise be waste, such as discard from cultivating beans, sugar cane, agave (including the fibrous waste produced in mezcal distillation), peas, the common river reed known as carriso, sawdust, and the list goes on.  Agricultural waste which may otherwise be left to rot or be burned, each with adverse environmental implications, can form substrata for mushroom cultivation. It should be noted, though trite, that mushroom cultivation is a highly sustainable, green industry. Over the past several years Mexico has in fact been at the fore in many areas of sustainable industry.

Mathieu exemplifies how mushrooms can serve an arguably even greater environmental good:

“They can hold up to thirty thousand times their mass, having implications for inhibiting erosion. They’ve been used to clean up oil spills through absorption and thus are an important vehicle for habitat restoration.  Research has been done with mushrooms in the battle against carpenter ant destruction; it’s been suggested that the use of fungi has the potential to completely revamp the pesticide industry in an environmentally friendly way. There are literally hundreds of other eco-friendly applications for mushroom use, and in each case the mushroom remains an edible by-product. Take a look at the Paul Stamets YouTube lecture, 6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save The World.”

Mathieu and Jiménez can often be found selling their products on weekends in the organic markets in Oaxaca.  They’re both more than happy to discuss the nutritional value of their products which range from naturally their fresh mushrooms, but also as preserves, marinated with either chipotle and nopal or jalapeño and cauliflower. The mushroom’s vitamin B12 cannot be found in fruits or vegetables, and accordingly a diet which includes fungi is extremely important for vegetarians who cannot get B12, most often contained in meats.  Mushrooms can easily be a substitute for meats, with the advantage that they are not loaded with antibiotics and hormones often found in industrially processed meat products.

Mico-lógica also sell teas and extracts made from different mushroom species, each formulated as either a nutritional supplement, or for their medicinal properties.  While neither Mathieu nor Jiménez has the pharmacological background to prescribe mycological treatment for serious ailments, Mathieu’s own research points to the medicinal use of mushrooms dating from pre-history, to the present.  He notes properties of mushrooms which can help to restore the immune system, and thus the use of fungi as a complement in the treatment of cancer and AIDS, and their utility in controlling diabetes and treating high cholesterol.

“We should all be embracing the organic production of mushrooms,” Mathieu concludes.  “It’s so easy, it involves a minimal capital investment, and it provides significant rewards, both for those ingesting hongos for nutritional and medicinal reasons, and for the producers, even small scale. Mico-lógica also sells dried mushrooms. Yet most of the dried mushrooms sold in Mexico are imported from China, and are not organic.  It’s a real shame on numerous levels.”

Mexico and mushrooms have come a long way since the era of Oaxaca’s María Sabina. With the continued efforts of Mathieu, Jiménez and Mico-lógica, it should not be long before the world understands and embraces the magic of mushrooms within a much broader context.

Mico-lógica

http://micologica.mex.tl

[email protected]

Alvin Starkman traveled to Huatula de Jiménez to experience the magic of mushrooms in the 1960s.  A former Toronto litigation lawyer, Alvin now lives in Oaxaca where he takes couples and families to sights in and around Oaxaca’s central valleys, works with documentary film companies, and writes about life and cultural traditions in the region.  With over 230 articles about Oaxaca to his credit, Alvin is a paid contributing writer for Mexico Today, a program for Marca País – Imagen de México. Alvin and his wife Arlene operate Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast (http://www.casamachaya.com). 

 

Alvin Starkman, M.A., J.D.

Since 2006, when I began writing about international travel advisories cautioning against travel to Mexico, and to a lesser extent about Mexican drug cartels, violence appears to have escalated. My major concern was not, however, for the safety of those considering vacationing in Mexico, but rather about the misinformation being fed to the public. Sensationalistic, misleading and inaccurate reporting relating to violence and drug related deaths in isolated areas of Mexico was unfairly influencing prospective travelers to any part of Mexico; and blinding them to what was happening in their own back yards.

It’s the violence outside of Mexico which seems to be on the rise (not to discount the casualties in President Calderón’s war against drugs and the cartels, and the gravity of matters in and around certain Mexican cities), yet the Mexico fear-mongering continues at a fervent pitch.

A major daily newspaper’s online version included these eight, separate headlines (including dropdown articles) on November 6, 2011:

“Two dead in stabbing:  police seeking suspects”

“Man arrested after woman and 2 children plunge from balcony”

“Man found guilty in shooting death of 17-year-old”

“Man found shot in [suburban] backyard”

“Man dead after train, vehicle collide”

“Woman survives fall over bluffs”

“His wounds left little chance for survival”

“Accused in city hall stabbing appears in court”

These stories appeared not in a Mexico City newspaper, not in a Mexican city noted for violence where the Sinaloa cartel maintains a presence, and not in Oaxaca, which contrary to the belief of many has been virtually incident-free in terms of harm or violence towards tourists – of course there is the odd incident, as in any other city of comparable size.  The foregoing headlines appeared in The Toronto Star.

I wrote about The Toronto Star four years ago, noting five stories with headlines indicating violence – violence in that Canadian city, not in a Mexican metropolis (http://oaxacadream.com/articles/tourist21.html). I subsequently updated the article, looking at online versions of the newspaper for two dates in 2009, with headlines reflecting three violent crimes for each date.  And then finally in 2010 in one edition of the same newspaper I noted seven headlines centering upon violent incidents in the Greater Toronto Area.

And here we are, as 2011 closes out, if not with an escalation of violent crimes being perpetrated in Toronto, then little if any reduction in the incidents of violence (at least reported).  Yet in Cuidad Juárez, often identified as a hotbed of drug wars and violence given its location right on the U.S. border, homicide rates dropped 68.6% from October 2010, to May 2011 (Mexico’s ministry of public security).

Thankfully the travel advisories relating to drug wars and violence in Mexico are now, finally, more location specific than previously. But the naysayers keep coming out of the woodwork, trying to paint all of Mexico with one broad stroke of the brush.  The fact is that the majority (70%) of homicides during 2010 were committed in seven of Mexico’s 31 states. Oaxaca, for example, has not been overtaken by the Sinaloa cartel, or any Mexican or other drug cartel. Expats and Mexican nationals alike continue to move to Oaxaca.

If I didn’t feel as safe or safer living in Oaxaca now, as I did spending most of my live in Toronto, I would have high-tailed it to back to the land of hockey and Northern Lights in the wake of Oaxaca’s 2006 civil unrest.  Even those few months did not result in a wholesale exodus of Mexicans or expats out of fear.

I won’t repeat the names of the cities to which I would dare not venture (though one Mexican city has already been noted), or even the stretches of highway accessing those cities.  They do exist.  Surely even President Calderón would not recommend that tourists visit certain areas in Mexico at this point in time because of drugs and violence.

The following cities each bear witness to incidents of violence, drug-related deaths, and even the odd tourist casualty from time to time:   New York, Montreal, Paris, Rome, Toronto, Chicago, London, Sydney, LA, and the list goes on. 

The following Mexican cities, and tens of others like them, are essentially as safe if not safer than the foregoing international centers of cultural and commerce:  San Miguel de Allende, Cancun and the  Riviera Maya, Puerto Vallarta, Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mérida, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Puerto Escondido, Mexico City, Puebla, Ajijic, Lake Chapala, etc, etc, etc.

The main tourist destinations for U.S. and Canadian citizens are geographically far removed from the very specific areas that have of late been significantly affected by crime in Mexico, primarily along the U.S. - Mexico border. For example, the distance between the border and Puerto Vallarta is over 800 miles. It’s almost the same distance between Oaxaca and Nuevo Laredo (the Mexican city bordering Laredo, Texas).  And the more southern Mexican tourist destinations are even further away from the U.S. border and Mexican cities noted for violence and drug wars. The distance between Cancun and Ciudad Juárez is about the same as between New York and Miami.

Take a look at your own big – city newspaper, and then ask if Mexican and other international journalists should caution prospective tourists about drug gangs and violence in your hometown.  Should the Mexican government begin issuing travel advisories against vacationing in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Daytona Beach, because of murders in South Miami? What about shunning travel to Chicago and other major American and Canadian cities because of drug trafficking and violence in and near public housing developments?

Statistics of homicides per 100,000 per capita in the 20 most densely populated cities in the Americas, recently published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, indicate that you’re more likely to be a victim of homicide in Detroit, Washington and Chicago, than in Mexico City.  Mexico City ranks about the same as Houston, with Philadelphia, Miami and San Francisco ranking close behind.  It’s time to rethink unfounded fears and do your own research before outright discounting travel to a Mexico tourist destination.

Alvin Starkman is a paid contributing writer for Mexico Today, a program for Marca País – Imagen de México. Mr. Starkman is under a contractual obligation to write in a factual, truthful and verifiable manner within the context of stating reasoned opinion. All opinions are entirely of Mr. Starkman. Mr. Starkman has written over 230 articles about life and cultural traditions in Oaxaca, including essays about the 2006 Oaxaca civil unrest, and Mexican legal reform.

Alvin Starkman, M.A., J.D.

Rosario Maza’s beer store in the Oaxacan suburb of San Felipe del Agua has been operating for less than four months.  The astute businesswoman is already preparing to open up another, this time downtown. Maza, a descendent of the famed Mexican Margarita Maza, wife of Mexico’s first indigenous president Benito Juárez, says that the time had come for Oaxaca, known more for production of mezcal and gastronomic excellence than beer consumption, to have its first beer store. Hence she opened Bier Stube, restricted to craft brews, otherwise known as beer produced in microbreweries.

Maza had been an event planner arranging for the needs of Oaxacans preparing to throw all manner of fiesta; weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, 15 años, and whatever other rite of passage came her way.  But she was also the representative of the Mexican beer Cucapá. 

“My customers liked Cucapá, and while the brewery has always produced a variety of beers, they began to ask for other artisanal beers, brews that weren’t available in Oaxaca, or at least not on a consistent basis,” she explains. “Then it just clicked,” she continues, “I knew that the time was right, and that I could supply a broad range of artisanal beer week in and week out, both domestic and international brands [with a view to avoiding definitions and the controversy surrounding the issue, I employ the terms craft, artisanal (most commonly used in Mexico) small batch and independent, interchangeably, cognizant of the politics regarding terminology].”

Indeed the problem in Oaxaca until now has been consistency.  You can buy a modest diversity of craft beers in Sam’s Club, but once the shipment is sold out, you don’t know when that particular beer will next appear on the shelves.  And supermarket chain Soriana has always had difficulty with keeping even staples in stock.

Although craft beer in Mexico is nothing new, at least in this part of the country the beer drinking public needs a helping hand in learning about the different independent brews, and pairing. Maza consults with a beer sommelier on a regular basis, and attends beer festivals out of state, mainly in Mexico City and Guadalajara.  In addition she’s an avid reader of anything related to cerveza. 

Maza spends a lot of time with her customers, educating and advising them, imparting them with the knowledge she’s gained over the years.  Her buyers are still learning and honing their palates. Hence she tends to still be selling mainly single bottles, on average three or four bottles of small batch beer per customer, instead of cases. “But gradually they’re learning,” she beams, “and they’re coming back for cases of their favorite artisanal brews much more often now. I sell a lot of the German beer Paulaner Salvator by the case lot.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Maza cautions,” Oaxacans do know about different flavors and other nuances, body, and so on. Having mezcal connoisseurs amongst my customer base has actually helped.  It’s now simply a matter of training their palates in an alternate direction, extending their appreciation to beyond simply being able to discern between the different commercial beer products. Once I’ve accomplished that, more will start to return to buy their preferred artisanal brews by the case.”

Of the approximately 100 different beers in Bier Stube, German brews are the biggest seller, followed by Belgian beers and then Mexican. Maza actually carries between 13 and 15 Mexican brands of craft beer.  They’re made by independent breweries in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Mexicali, Tijuana, Querétaro, and yes even Oaxaca.  Other countries represented on the shelves include England, Czech Republic, Holland, Denmark, Poland, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, France, Scotland, Argentina and Cuba.  Some of her beers have won international awards, such as Delirium Tremens.

Small batch brews range from stout and porter, to pale ale, lagers, wheat beers, pilsener and others.  Bier Stube carries beers fermented with apple, banana, cherry, raspberry, coconut, coffee bean tequila barrel, and even a mandarin peel / star anise / cilantro fermentation. Pricing is anywhere from 28 pesos a bottle for the German Bitburger, to 90 pesos for a St. Peter’s Honey Porter. Maza is always prepared to order cases of beer not on her shelves. “I know far from everything about artisanal beer and all the products available on the marketplace, so getting in something special from an artisanal brewery for a customer helps me to learn as well.”

Restaurants in Oaxaca have also jumped on the beer bandwagon.  Popular bistro – style eatery La Biznaga carries some of Maza’s products, even though the restaurant continues to buy from Sam’s and other stores – Maza tries to shelve beers not otherwise available in the city.  La Biznaga carries about 45 different types of beer, roughly 35 of which are produced in microbreweries.  Competitor restaurant La Jícara, another Maza client, also stocks both commercial and craft beers. When the restaurant holds special events it makes available upwards of 100 different beers, depending on the request of the particular patron. Downtown Oaxaca restaurant La Olla has held beer tasting evenings, most recently with representatives of Mexican microbrewery Tempus supplying the beer, and the restaurant providing appetizers for pairing.

Maza laments that it won’t be long before someone else opens a beer store in Oaxaca. That was part of her motivation for jumping ahead with a second brew outlet.  “But I don’t worry about it too much,” she assures, “since I just have to keep my customers happy and stay ahead of the game when it comes to marketing and promotion. The more artisanal beers are accepted in Oaxaca, either purchased from me or someone else, the more it helps all of us,” she rationalizes. “After my second opening I’ll begin working on opening a bar which specializes in artisanal beer.”

Beer is a long way off from displacing mezcal as the alcoholic beverage of choice in Oaxaca.  Clearly craft beer will never become as popular with the locals as mezcal, or even commercial Mexican beer brands.  But a burgeoning Oaxaca craft beer market providing the diversity of small batch brews we’re now beginning to see, does give both visitors to and residents of Oaxaca more ways than before to both enhance even the most exceptional Oaxacan culinary experience, and sit back and imbibe with friends.

Bier Stube: Avenida de las Etnias 113, San Felipe del Agua, Oaxaca

T:   (951) 520-0548

W:  http://www.bierstube.com.mx

Alvin Starkman is a mezcal and pulque aficionado, living full time in Oaxaca. He takes visiting couples & families up into Oaxaca’s mountains to sample and learn about mezcal and pulque, as well as to more traditional tourist sights.  Alvin is finally beginning to gain an appreciation for Mexican craft beers. Alvin is a paid contributing writer for Mexico Today, a program for Marca País – Imagen de México.  He operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast (http://www.casamachaya.com) with his wife Arlene, and Oaxaca Culinary Tours (http://oaxacaculinarytours.com) with Chef Pilar Cabrera.

There’s no substitute for a good cooking school in Oaxaca.  But during your vacation consider a visit to any molino which serves customers needing a broad variety of foodstuffs milled.  If not an outright lesson in cooking techniques and food in Mexico, the experience teaches novice cooks, students of Oaxacan gastronomy, and even chefs, a different approach to the preparation of Mexican cuisine.

Part I:  Not All Mexican Molinos are Created Equal

From its exterior the molino at Calle Porfirio Díaz 710, downtown Oaxaca, is as non – descript as could be; an open doorway on one half of a narrow, neatly painted powder blue building, with a laundromat occupying the other side.  The mill has no name or other outside markings even hinting at its interior functioning; the churning out of some of the best milled food ingredients in all Mexico.

Using a diversity of different machines, some of which are dedicated to milling only one ingredient, this molino churns chiles for making chorizo and other typical Mexican meat mixtures, purées beans, liquefies aguas frescas (fresh fruit juices), mixes mole ingredients, and of course mills cacao for chocolate and corn for tortillas.

Opening before 7 a.m. and closing its doors at 5 p.m., one can come by for any type of milling at any hour of the day.  By contrast, many molinos, particularly in the pueblos, have times for grinding different ingredients.  For example a town mill with a brisk corn business might open its doors at 5 a.m. for the queued up tortilla, tamale and tejate crowd anxious to get breakfast under way; but the cacao molinos might not be operational until several hours later, once the morning rush has run its course.

Most Oaxaca city molinos which specialize in chocolate such as La Soledad and Mayordomo, often have an extensive lineup of mills dedicated to the two stages of the cacao, almond, cinnamon and sugar grinding process.  But they also have a couple of other macerating machines just to service a select clientele; the owners of nearby market restaurant stalls who need ingredients prepared for making moles, black bean mixes and other eatery fare.

Molino 710 services restaurants, caterers and householders, from around the corner, across the city and throughout the suburbs; as well as both shoppers and vendors from the adjacent Sánchez Pascua market.  The mill’s strategic location in front of the market, yet only a minute’s drive from both the heart of downtown and Oaxaca’s main east-west thoroughfare (Niños Héroes de Chapultepec), reveals only half the story of its success.

One would be hard-pressed to find another general purpose mill with higher standards of care for sanitary conditions and cleanliness.  The floor is continually scrubbed with a squeegee; mills are washed down after each use to ensure not a hint of one client’s negro finds its way into another’s verde.  As custom dictates, preparations which will ultimately end up cooking on the stove, comal or grill are mixed with tap water.  However at Molino 710 there is also a separate mill with a purified water system.  It’s used for grinding ingredients which will not be cooked, such as those used for making horchata, one of several aguas frescas. 

Part II:  Spend an Hour or Two of Your Vacation at a Reputable Mexican Molino; Experience Oaxacan Culture, Learn to Combine Ingredients & Cook Like a Mexican

We arrive at the molino at 1 p.m. with a large plastic bucket of fried, seeded chiles – mulato, pasilla mexicana and chilhuacle – and a smaller bowl with more than 20 other ingredients, some raw others roasted; everything for the recipe which must be ground. Chef Pilar Cabrera Arroyo is preparing a batch of mole negro paste to be packaged for sale in La Olla, her popular Oaxacan restaurant, or offered to students at her Casa de los Sabores Cooking School. Today I’ll learn from everyone but Chef Pilar.  I’ll watch, ask, smell, then ask again to be sure, and as a last resort confirm with Chef Pilar that I finally got it right. 

Several Oaxacans, mainly women, are in queue to have their beans, their chiles for making chorizo, mole and salsa ingredients, and of course their corn, all crushed to their exacting specifications.  They are generous with their knowledge, advice, and secrets passed down to them through the decades by their mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers.   They patiently await their turn, often the better part of an hour, longer if fiesta time is approaching.  Accordingly, these connoisseurs of the craft of the kitchen have all the time in the world to impart their generational gems of knowledge.

A woman sits waiting to have a rather small batch of mole verde ingredients milled.  “Why bring this here when you can easily grind it at home in a blender,” I ask. Her retort is more complete than I expect:

“Using a blender I lose some of the mix because it doesn’t grind it completely, the way I like it, and I then have to put it through a sieve and discard the little pieces.  The mill grinds it all, and I end up with the texture I want.  The stone wheels in each of these mills are made with volcanic rock, so I get the texture I used to get years ago with the molcajete [mortar and pestle]; and let me tell you, the flavor is different grinding with stone rather than a metal blade and plastic or glass blender jar.”

I next ask a youngish señora waiting to pay for having three buckets of boiled beans blended, why one of her mixtures is thicker than the rest, and about the ingredients used to make bean purée. This reply is just as clear and complete as the last:

“For the beans to make enfrijoladas I want the texture lighter, looser you can say, meaning more water is added to the beans as they’re being ground.  I know the lady working the machine.  She’ll just ask if I want them for the enfrijoladas or to use as an accompaniment for barbacoa or other main dishes, and she knows immediately how much water to add.”

“And what about the ingredients,” I ask. She continues:

“Well, I always use onion, chile de arbol to give it a bit of a bite, and either avocado or poleo leaves.  But look at how small the avocado leaves are; they’re criollo, not from commercial avocado trees.  It makes a huge different, gives the beans a nice hint of anis; that’s why we use avocado.  But if I want a mild minty flavor instead, I use hoja de poléo [leaf of pennyroyal], a medicinal herb often made into a tea to resolve stomach problems. But here we use it to flavor beans.”

Before beginning to mill a batch of corn, the worker alongside the machine asks if the customer wants the corn for tortillas or tamales.  After being told it’s for tamales she begins grinding, then hands her patron a sample to try, just to be sure the consistency and texture are right.   Different Oaxacans make tamales with different textures. The customer is new to the mill so the miller wants to be sure to get it correct.

I question three or four other women about their mixes, and receive equally comprehensive answers.  Finally it’s Chef Pilar’s turn with her own two batches of mole negro ingredients.  She’s taught me before, so I don’t have to ask why it’s not all milled together at the same time, how to bring out the flavors, or the importance of the perfect texture.  Anyway, the most I could ever hope to learn in one short lesson is but a fraction of what she’s been taught about food preparation in Mexico, by her own grandmother while growing up in a traditional Oaxacan household.

I’ll never learn it all, but the combination of taking Mexican cooking classes, and going to the mill in Oaxaca to watch, and to ask, sure helps.

Alvin Starkman operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast (http://www.casamachaya.com) with his wife Arlene, and Oaxaca Culinary Tours (http://www.oaxacaculinarytours) with Chef Pilar Cabrera.  Alvin takes couples and families into the central valleys of Oaxaca to visit the sights.  He is a mezcal and pulque aficionado.  A paid contributing writer for Mexico Today, a program for Marca País – Imagen de México, Alvin has written over 230 articles about life and cultural traditions in Oaxaca, including several restaurant and cooking school reviews.

Alvin Starkman, M.A., J.D.

Mezcal, whether produced in Oaxaca or in other Mexican states, struggles to get the recognition it deserves, and more importantly the foreign revenue it’s capable of generating for Mexico.  Hence ProMéxico has taken the bull by the horns and is attempting to elevate the image of mezcal to par with not only tequila, but also scotch, vodka, gin, brandy and all the other household spirit names.

“We’re trying to position mezcal on the international stage, by creating an accurateimage,” says Thalia Friligos Reyes, the sole representative of ProMéxico in the state of Oaxaca.  “That’s how we’ll succeed.  First we must create a positive perception.  Without it, the umpteen brands of mezcal produced in Oaxaca mean little.”

In her view, tequila doesn’t need the same level of assistance from the Mexican government. “Tequila is already up there with the other major spirit classes; mezcal isn’t,” she says.  “Too many people still have the erroneous idea that all mezcal is strong, cheap and has the worm. But in the two years I’ve been at the helm of the ProMéxico Oaxaca office, I’ve noticed a positive change, albeit somewhat minimal, in consumer attitude and knowledge.”

In a recent interview, Ms. Friligos nevertheless acknowledged that her task is daunting.  And to top it off, from her small office in suburban Oaxaca she’s in charge of promoting international investment in and export of all goods and services in Oaxaca, not just mezcal.

ProMéxico is one of the newest agencies of the government of Mexico, formed in 2007. Its stated mission is to “plan, coordinate and execute strategies to attract foreign direct investment, promote Mexican exports of goods and services and encourage the internationalization of Mexican companies in order to contribute to the economic and social development of Mexico.”

Ms. Friligos’ office contains shelves packed with product samples and promotional materials.  They serve as a reminder that she’s in charge of everything produced in Oaxaca.  But it’s the consumables which stand out; chocolate, coffee, sal de chapulín, instant tejate mix, and of course mezcal. 

She stresses that coffee, mangos and mezcal are three key products for her.  “But the first two don’t need the same help as mezcal,” she continues, “either in terms of recognition as quality Mexican foodstuffs, or in order to obtain a fair market share.  Look at the number of mezcal producers in the state compared to the relatively few export producers of mangos, and even less when it comes to coffee.  Coffee and mangos generate healthy revenue from few producers.  Then consider mezcal in Oaxaca; there are so many producers in such a large, untapped global marketplace.”

ProMéxico Event Promotes Oaxacan Mezcal Internationally

In July, 2011, for the third year running, Ms. Friligos, with the support of ProMéxico’s head office and assistance from her counterpart in Puebla, brought international spirits vendors and promoters to Oaxaca for a three day promotional mezcal event.

ProMéxico has 28 regional headquarters in 21 foreign countries.  The network of offices keeps an accurate pulse of developments in the world of spirits.  In this way each year ProMéxico is in a position to know who on balance would make good investments of time and money in terms of extending invitations to its events and hosting its guests.   The 2011 conference was attended by 10 invited guests from Canada, the US, Brazil and Colombia.  Some brought along spouses or business associates, bringing the total number of participants to about 20.

It was no coincidence that the mission took place during Oaxaca’s annual Feria Nacional del Mezcal, a multi-faceted event with a singular main draw for tourists and residents alike: an opportunity to sample a broad variety of mezcals from the dozens of small booths set up by participating mezcal producers.

 “ProMéxico operates its event independent of the mezcal fair,” Ms. Friligos clarifies.  “The Feria Nacional del Mezcal is essentially a state supported and organized event, held in cooperation with COMERCAM (Consejo Mexicano Regulador de la Calidad del Mezcal A.C. – the regulatory body which oversees commercial production of mezcal for predominantly international export). 

“But inviting a group to come down while the fair is on makes it that much more diverse an experience for our guests,” Ms. Friligos continues.  “The Feria del Mezcal helps to give them a more complete picture of what Oaxaca is all about; craft and food booths, overall ambiance,  of course getting a sense of  the widespread interest in mezcal, and that feeling of exhilaration that is a byproduct of attending any festive event in Oaxaca.  Mezcal is almost synonymous with Oaxaca, so it’s important for our clients to experience as much as possible of what Oaxaca has to offer.”

Guests arrived throughout the day on July 27th, and were taxied to Hotel Misión de Los Ángeles, one of the larger Oaxacan hotels, selected both because of its conference facilities and convenient location within walking distance of the grounds of the Feria  Nacional del Mezcal.  The first evening dinner, as one might have guessed, included mezcal tastings at a nearby restaurant.  It also played host to a Guelaguetza, the famed folkloric festival showcasing the dress, dance and music of Oaxaca’s 16 indigenous cultures. 

The next two days were spent in plenary sessions, meeting 20 different mezcal producers to learn about their spirit lines, production methods and of course export capabilities.   Later on during the afternoon of the 28th guests attended the mezcal fair, and the following day a lunch at acclaimed Oaxacan restaurant Los Danzantes.  Federal government representatives and state dignitaries were in attendance, including Oaxaca’s secretary of tourism and economic development.

As with many successful events, and this conference was no different, there’s often not enough time to fit in every agenda item.   The group was unable to visit one of the out-of-town mezcal factories (fábricas de mezcal).  However, a couple of guests did manage to snag a factory rep and have him drive them out to his fábrica in the Tlacolula mezcal producing region.

The evenings were allocated as free time, to give the prospective buyers and promoters an opportunity to return to the mezcal fair, explore downtown Oaxaca on their own or in small groups, and meet for more serious discussions with their choice of individual producers.

ProMéxico´s Oaxaca Mezcal Mission Achieves Its Goals

“We couldn’t have asked for a more successful event,” Ms. Friligos beams. “Everyone was thoroughly impressed with Oaxaca, but more importantly from the perspective of ProMéxico and its goals, our guests left with a new understanding about mezcal.  To the extent that anyone in the group had lingering misperceptions about mezcal, they were dispelled through our ability to fully educate.

“Through the seminars, discussions and samplings, our guests left appreciating that mezcal can be used as a mixer just as easily as for sipping, given the diversity of product,” she continues.  Then returning to the concern that mezcal may be slow to catch up to tequila, Ms. Friligos points to the significant advantage that mezcal has over its sister spirit.  “Although there are tremendous variations in tequilas based on producer, recipe, and aging, tequila production is restricted to using one variety of agave.  Mezcals, on the other hand, are made from 15 – 20 different types of agave, as well as blends, resulting in a much broader variation in flavor and other subtle nuances simply not achievable with tequila.”

Just two shorts weeks after the conclusion of the 2011 ProMéxico Oaxaca mezcal event, three of the 10 invited guests had already taken first steps towards importing Oaxacan mezcal with the assistance of ProMéxico and Ms. Friligos.  A Brazilian is importing four brands of mezcal; a Dallas beer importer is also bringing in four brands, initially to supplement his brewed product lines; and a New York businessman representing importing and retailing interests is proceeding with a long term plan to import eight to ten brands. 

If ProMéxico meets with equal or greater success from its next two or three Oaxacan mezcal missions, by 2015 mezcal should indeed be on par with scotch, vodka, gin and brandy, and yes tequila.

Alvin Starkman is a paid contributing writer for Mexico Today, a program for Marca País – Imagen de México.  An aficionado of agave-based beverages, Alvin takes couples and families into the hills to sample mezcal made by only traditional producers, and into the fields to participate in the harvesting of aguamiel, for fermenting pulque. Alvin has written over 200 articles about life and cultural traditions in Oaxaca, consults to documentary film companies, and with his wife operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast (http://www.casamachaya.com).

The cost of living in Mexico for American and Canadian retirees, and for that matter expats from other Western World countries, is a fraction of what it costs to retire reasonably in one’s former homeland. Although upon reaching the golden age of 60 the annual premium for participation in the Mexican national healthcare plan (IMSS – Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social) increases, medical coverage is still a bargain, both using private doctors and hospitals, and IMSS.  Furthermore, becoming a senior citizen in Mexico provides Americans and Canadians with significant discounts in other areas as well as the occasional freebie.

The amount of money it takes to comfortably get by in Mexico, meaning to maintain one’s pre – retirement lifestyle, can vary significantly from state to state, and in some cases from district to district.  For example the cost of living in San Miguel de Allende is much higher than in the southern Mexico city of Oaxaca.  It costs about half to live in Oaxaca and maintain the same middle class lifestyle as before.   In other cities it may cost a fair bit more, but not nearly as much as in the US or Canada.

Whoever heard of healthcare for a senior couple in the US costing $600 USD a year, or property taxes on a principal residence dropping by 50% upon turning 60?  As long as an expat resident in Mexico has reached the age of 60, and is either a permanent resident with an Inmigrado card or a temporary resident required to renew an FM visa on an annual basis, he or she is entitled to virtually all the perks and benefits of Mexican citizens of like age.

INAPAM:  Discount Card for Americans and Canadians Living in Mexico

Upon presentation of the appropriate documentation to Mexican government authorities, one is entitled to receive, free of charge, the TARJETA INAPAM (Instituto Nacional de Las Personas Adultas Mayores – national institute of older adult persons).  

First class bus tickets for INAPAM members are discounted by 50%, meaning that instead of paying 726 pesos for the ultra luxury Platino ADO bus service from Oaxaca to Mexico City, it costs only 363 pesos, or about $30 USD.  Some domestic airlines also offer discounts to senior citizens.  Aerotucan offers a 10% discount.  While the amount appears modest, it does mean that for example, the high cost of flights between Oaxaca and the Pacific beach towns of Huatulco and Puerto Escondido becomes a little more palatable and perhaps weighs the decision to either fly to the coast or travel by van or bus.

 Parking tickets in Oaxaca are discounted by 50% if paid within 15 days of the infraction, but with an INAPAM card the courtesy reduction is valid for 30 days. At the Cinépolis movie theatre chain seniors receive a considerable discount.  However, there are weekday matinee specials which sometimes result in greater savings by not using one’s INAPAM card.  Entrance into archaeological sites and federal government run museums is free. The Soriana supermarket chain offers a modest discount on prescription medications.

And yes, realty taxes are reduced by 50% on one’s principal residence.  The effective saving is actually 35%, since payment of taxes in January of the subsequent taxation year already results in a 15% discount. Regretfully one cannot attend at the tax office in January and receive the 15% early payment discount, plusthe 50% discount for having one toe in the grave.

There are other discounts, but the foregoing provides a sampling of the savings available to expats 60 years of age or older with the INAPAM card.

IMSS:  The Mexican National Healthcare Program

In 2011 the total cost for comprehensive medical insurance, with no deductibles every payable, for a couple at least one of whom is 60, is 6,944 pesos, or about $600 USD.  This entitles you to:

·         Visiting a clinic doctor (family physician) when ill

·         Visiting specialists when recommended by the clinic doctor

·         Having prescribed blood, urine, fecal and other test analyses, as well as x-rays

·         Prescription medications

·         Hospitalization and surgery, including the dreaded colonoscopy

·         An annual physical which includes a flu shot, and complimentary condoms without asking

Admittedly the quality care and cleanliness at IMSS in general may not be up to the standards to which you have become accustomed, simply by virtue of the fact that many of the medical personnel in this system have been trained at universities with lesser reputations than those in the US and Canada, and Westerners are often unjustifiably anal about cleanliness, but there are two important points:

1.       Many US and Canadian trained private doctors perform surgeries in IMSS hospitals, and in fact IMSS hospitals often have state-of-the-art equipment not available in private hospitals.

2.       You always have the option of using private doctors and surgeons, and still having IMSS coverage as a safeguard in the event you require long - term hospitalization and complicated surgery.  The private hospitals simply do not have the equipment that IMSS has, and as indicated above your chosen surgeon may perform your surgery at an IMSS hospital.

Private Doctors & Hospitals in Mexico

The cost of an appointment with an English speaking private doctor in Oaxaca is between about 200 and 500 pesos – the amount many Americans pay for their co-payment or deductible.  Many Mexican doctors, especially in the private system, have had their medical training abroad, and / or regularly attend specialty seminars and courses in the US, Canada or overseas.  Once you establish your network of doctors, you’re reasonably assured of quality medical care at an extremely reasonable cost.

Mexican cities have private hospitals owned by one or a group of doctors.  Staff physicians regularly perform simple surgeries such as for broken legs and suturing, and have ambulances and emergency trauma teams.    The cost per night of staying in one of these hospitals is a fraction of the cost to spend a night in a US hospital.  The larger Mexican cities also have specialty hospitals to treat children, as well as for catastrophic injuries such as cancer and stroke.

The Decision - Making Process for American and Canadian Seniors Considering Retirement in Mexico Based on Comparative Cost of Living

Healthcare costs and the diminishing value of retirement portfolios are perhaps the most important considerations for Americans approaching retirement age.  For Canadians of course, the former does not figure into the equation.  But for both Americans and Canadians Mexico should provide food for thought.

Explore prospective options for retirement locations in Mexico by visiting a few cities and speaking with others who have done it. Many do not participate in IMSS for a variety of reasons, some of which have been touched upon.  But for those in the middle classes who perhaps cannot risk catastrophic illness without coverage, the Mexican national healthcare plan should figure into the broader decision – making process.  And INAPAM might help to tip the scale just enough.

Alvin Starkman operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast (http://www.casamachaya.com), combining apartment amenities with hotel service.  Alvin has written more than 200 articles about life and cultural traditions in Mexico, specializing in Oaxaca.  He is a paid contributing writer for Mexico Today, a program for Marca País – Imagen de México.

In No Word for Welcome: The Mexican Village Faces the Global Economy (University of Nebraska Press, 2011), author Wendy Call, a self – described grassroots organizer and researcher, makes an impassioned plea; if not for halting the invasion of the global economy into Oaxaca’s Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico, then for proceeding only after critical evaluation of environmental and cultural impact studies. Ms. Call spent two consecutive years living and working on the Isthmus, from 2000 to 2002, in addition to shorter visits totaling a further year. 

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is a 120 mile strip of land between the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico.  It’s been inhabited by indigenous groups with different languages and customs for millennia.  Since colonial times it’s attracted both national and international attention because of its important geographical location and richness of resources.

The federal government proceeded with its Trans-Isthmus Megaproject by commencing the construction of a four-lane highway through the region, in some cases as a bypass around small Oaxacan towns and villages otherwise connected by potholed two lane roads.  It became part of former president Vicente Fox’s Plan Puebla Panama, an initiative to extend Mexico’s main, relatively new highway system from the US border through to Central America. 

The scope of the Megaproject initially included 150 proposed projects including oil refineries, plantations, industrial parks, commercial shrimp farms and a highway – rail network to carry products to national and international markets. The project would inevitably alter both the environmental and cultural landscape.  Townspeople opposed development of the region mainly out of fear of the unknown due to a lack of information and consultation. Government and commercial interests were intent upon forging forward.

Call’s steadfast contention is that development will result in wholesale irreversible adverse impact to the natural environment, and to inhabitants by altering their means of eking out an economic existence, while at the same time destroying other cultural indicia such as traditions and language. The book centers upon objection to construction of the highway system and the proposed replacement of small fishing operations with large industrial shrimp farms.

In addition to her own personal experiences, in No Word for Welcome Call chronicles family histories and livelihoods as well as opposing individual points of view.  This is accomplished by providing detailed examinations of the lives of individuals she came to know intimately in the course of living in the Isthmus for three years, and to a lesser extent through interviewing civil servants and other proponents of the project.  

Call’s novel-like use of colorful, detailed description draws you in. She holds your interest by weaving together the stories of her subjects (i.e. the activists, the fishermen, the uneducated schoolteacher); otherwise often dry archival evidence of the historical importance of the Isthmus (referencing for example the reign of dictator Porfirio Díaz, the US attempt to buy the Isthmus in the 19th century, and the early 20th century foreign consulates in port city Salina Cruz); the sometimes violent and destructive manifestations of opposing positions (fishermen burning government trucks and dredging machinery and running workers out of town; gesturing with a machete while threatening “if the government doesn’t  respect the people…”); and her own viewpoint.

You cannot help but become extremely opinionated, either by jumping on Call’s bandwagon or being critical of how her political point of view affects the presentation of her thesis.  She approaches her chapter centering upon Huatulco, the Pacific resort town created by FONATUR (Mexico’s national tourism development agency), with disdain, though she does note positive impressions of its Mexican residents.  She seems to mock the government when she writes that the FONATUR office “felt more like a travel agency than a government agency, with overstuffed furniture, brochures filled with beaches and bikinis, and the hollow air of a place with more infrastructure than activity.” How else does one attempt to sell tourism, sun, sand and surf?

But it’s Call’s style of writing, inevitable as a consequence of her very reason for being on the Isthmus, which contributes to keeping the reader at the edge of his seat, either cheering for the cause and hoping that “the people” prevail, or cringing at naivety – the arrival of the global economy in the Isthmus is inevitable and could have been foreshadowed since the 1500s, perhaps earlier.

The description of the lives and hardships of fishermen and their environs is rich and compelling.  Yes, perhaps industrial shrimp farms will destroy the mangroves and might have a short lifespan, leaving a swath of destruction.  But we’re given little in the way of alternatives for the area and its industry. 

Both industrialization and the residents themselves have played a part in marginalizing existence and requiring government intervention. But there appears to be a lack of understanding on the part of residents of the complexity of the issue and the part they have played in creating the current conundrum; Call’s job is not to educate in this regard. A fisherman surmises that his people have been harvesting shrimp, fish and crabs for over a thousand years, so asks why he should pay attention to some mestizo government regulation banning the use of large rectangular nets.  He seems to deny any direct role as a contributor to the problem and states that you cannot trust a government whose solution would create a bigger problem (industrial shrimp farms).

The area has become overfished. Fishermen were not forced to begin using motorboats.  They discarded their smaller nets, each of which took a year of spare time to make, in favor of buying the large $100 USD Japanese machine-made ones, and proceeded to trap their catch by extending these new nets across the river’s mouth.  The result was that small shrimp and other marine species could not get through the nets and into the mangroves to reproduce. The government had to ban the use of these nets in order to protect the industry.  The fisherman is adamant that he needs to harvest that much fish to survive.

Many in the fisherman’s position opt to head to the US. Call notes emigration in passing from time to time but it’s not fully addressed in her book, perhaps because it is not consistent with Call´s thesis.  One rarely finds an anthropological writing of this nature which does not deal with emigration head on.  But Call is not an anthropologist, and in fact is critical of social scientists, for some reason lumping them together with others working in the Isthmus:  “I tried not to act like so many of the journalists, anthropologists, folklorists, and sociologists I’d encountered while living on the Isthmus.  They tended to come for just a few hours, days, or weeks, blurting out questions before their bodies had warmed a chair.” Perhaps anthropological fieldwork has changed dramatically since my days in graduate school.

The superhighway and a network of smaller roads and rail does result in physically dividing populations, and yes can adversely impacts indigenous culture.  Relocating populations into neighborhoods with street names such as Poblado One, Two, etc. rather than retaining names of heroes of The Revolution or pre – Hispanic gods and royalty impacts a pride in one’s society and heritage.  But globalization is inevitable, for the benefit of not only a few rich Mexicans and foreigners seeking to capitalize on NAFTA, as is submitted in the book, but for the residents of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

Of course, as Call suggests, cultural and environmental impact studies are crucial for minimizing destruction of peoples and their lands.  And yes, they are sometimes not done or are ignored and politics and power often govern.  What I found missing were propositions regarding the least detrimental alternative, which in these circumstances I would suggest, is the best one could hope to achieve, rather than a wholesale halt to all. When subcomandante Marcos’ caravan was en route to Mexico City in 2001, and he assured that he would take President Fox the message that “the Isthmus is not for sale,” perhaps someone should have suggested a rental agreement with terms maximizing the benefit for the istmeños.

No Word for Welcome is a well – written book, holding the reader’s interest from start to finish. I recommend it for prospective visitors to southern Mexico because its descriptions of life in that part of Mexico are extremely accurate, from the workings of local politics, antics, strategies and sometimes destructive forces used to make a point, to the richness of detail, to the lesson in history.  The expat living in Mexico will find Call’s experiences familiar and reaffirming on many levels (a department store employee is indeed often taken aback when you ask how much a refrigerator costs for cash not credit). 

For those interested in globalization in general, or understanding how competing interests are addressed and resolved in Mexico in particular, it’s a must.  No Word For Welcome is written with a strong bias, and as such it stirs emotion.  The reader is anxious to learn how it all turned out, and to some extent is told.  Ms. Call’s final chapter includes her impressions from her 2008 visit. 

Alvin Starkman is a paid contributing writer for Mexico Today, a program for Marca País – Imagen de México.  Alvin enjoys taking visitors to Oaxaca to explore more off the beaten track sights, and encourages them to enjoy a diversity of experiences in addition to “the usual.”  Alvin has written over 200 articles about life and cultural traditions in Oaxaca, consults to documentary film companies, and with his wife operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast (http://www.casamachaya.com).

Alvin Starkman, M.A., J.D.

There’s never a guarantee of finding hallucinogenic mushrooms in the wilds of Oaxaca. Neither the psilocybin hongo silvestre (wild mushroom) used by folk healer María Sabina in Huautla de Jiménez; nor Alice’s wonderful white flecked orangey crimson Amanita muscaria.  But searching for magic and other wild mushrooms in Oaxaca’s Sierra Norte during the summer rainy season does increase the likelihood. 

More importantly, being part of a group of mushroom and ecotourism aficionados during the Cuahimoloyas annual Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres makes for a most exciting treasure hunt.

Cuahimoloyas, Mushroom Fair and Ecotourism in Oaxaca’s Sierra Norte, Ixtlán District

San Antonio Cuahimoloyas is perched almost 10,500 feet above sea level in the district of Ixtlán.  It’s one of several pueblos mancomunidados (community managed villages).  For hunting mushrooms it can be visited any time of the year, and in fact together with other Ixtlán villages it forms part of a burgeoning ecotourism region in central Oaxaca.  While an abundance of species begins to appear at pine trunks in April and May, the broadest diversity of hongos is found beginning June when the amanitas first emerge, and continues through September and well into October.

Hence the 11th annual Oaxacan Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres was held smack in the middle of prime mushroom hunting season, August 6th and 7th, 2011. During the festival and in fact throughout the entire year, a local guide trained to identify edible, poisonous and hallucinogenic mushrooms must accompany those wanting to trek through the woods, for hiking and other outdoor activities, or for searching out wild mushrooms. 

August 6th Hunt for Hongos Silvestres at the Feria Regional, Cuahimoloyas, Oaxaca

Isauro, a lifetime resident of Cuahimoloyas, is our guide / resident mycologist.  Our group of nine accompanies him on a four hour trek down into river valleys and up over hills, under cedar fence posts, across fields of light bush and diverse outcrops of brilliant sun-soaked wildflowers, along agave lined dirt roads, and through corn fields. 

We encounter mushrooms in each and every micro – environment. Tiny brilliant orange hongos peep their pinhead tops out of fallen pines:  “There are about ten types of those pequenitos [tiny ones], all different colors,” Isauro explains, “so let’s see how many we can find.”

“How many species are there in this area,” I ask. “Oh, I suppose we can find 200 or more if we’re lucky and we really want to win the contest,” he eggs us on.

 “Those negritos [little black ones] are edible. They’re great marinated in vinegar. But there are other black ones, bigger, hard to find, that we might encounter if we climb up that hill near those tall trees.” Isauro picks up a smallish darkened pine cone:  “They look like this, and if we find them it’ll help us win.” Anxiously looking for those rare black mushrooms, my hand reaches just inches away from a piece of cow dung.

Time and again one of us points to a mushroom thinking we’ve already placed the species in one of three large wicker baskets we’re toting.  But Isauro shows us a different gilled underside, a bandless stock, or another distinguishing feature. Then a minute later: “That’s the same type as this one, except the color is a bit different,” or “that hongo looks different because it’s already starting to decompose.” There a learning curve.

My eye catches a large yellow toadstool, half-hidden under pine needles.  I approach, then call out.  We already have it.  But beside my boot there’s a much smaller pale green hongo:  “Right there, at your foot, we don’t have that one,” Isauro excitedly exhorts.

“If you squeeze this hongo smoke will come out of a little hole in the top; watch.  In unison and in awe, eyes fixated, a long “wow” comes over us.  Then moments later, “that one’s not really poisonous; it’s hallucinogenic, but the one that Silvia is coming to show us is toxic, but not that much.”  María gingerly places the tiny most delicate hongo we’ve encountered into a small felt jewelry bag she has by chance brought along. 

“This one looks like a big onion.  It’s great with a little salt and epazote [an aromatic wild herb used in a great deal of Oaxacan cookery]. And this hongo, a trompeta [trumpet], is delicious fried in batter and eaten with rajas [sliced marinated chiles and other vegetable such as carrot and onion pieces].”

We gradually lose the pathway as we hike along a bed of pine needles crunching beneath our feet.  Vines and other growth close in. I could have used a machete to clear a way for us, but that’s illegal.  Nothing can be disturbed.  There’s a remarkable absence of plastic bottles, pop cans and other telltale signs of prior human traffic, yet others have been here before us, perhaps even earlier in the day.

The Return to the Cuahimoloyas Base Camp for the Hongos Silvestres Count, Contests

Almost four hours into our hike, along a potholed dirt road only minutes from the base, we’re still miraculously finding mushrooms; under moss, beneath ground hugging agave leaves and emerging from fallen branches. Back at the camp we reunite with the other groups.  Each displays its bounty so that the contest judges can determine highest number of mushroom species and best mushroom overall – out of more than 2,000 hongos silvestres collected. 

Excitement builds on our team. Isauro disagrees with the judge’s determinations from time to time, but consensus is always reached, sometimes in consultation with a colleague mycologist.   Another group’s hongo total was 207.  Must be the winner I figure.  Counting continues; 208, 209, 225, upward and onward. We weigh in at 254.  The chatter begins, from even local experts. Can Isauro’s team possibly be topped?  One last group’s total has yet to be tallied; 237, 238, and finally 239. Our team cheers aloud.

At the awards ceremony we take prize for most species.  In the best single mushroom category the prize goes not to a spectacular, perfect Amanita muscaria specimen, but to a much smaller yet rarer mushroom with excellent flavor, a Morchella esculenta – or was it the Fr. y M. elata; in either case it was a morel.

It’s approaching 7 p.m.  We’re off to the cabins to turn in, since tomorrow brings another full day of wild mushrooms; not another hunt, but rather different activities at the weekend Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres in Cuahimoloyas, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Two days in the midst of Oaxaca’s rainy season, yet without a drop.  It’s almost as if the fair organizers knew which weekend to choose – perhaps someone had a mushroom induced vision.

Alvin Starkman is a paid contributing writer for Mexico Today, a program for Marca País – Imagen de México.  Alvin enjoys taking visitors to Oaxaca to explore more off the beaten track sights, and encourages them to enjoy a diversity of experiences in addition to “the usual.”  Alvin has written over 200 articles about life and cultural traditions in Oaxaca, consults to documentary film companies, and with his wife operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast (http://www.casamachaya.com).