Home Cooking at the "No Name" Restaurant in Tzurumutaro (near Patzcuaro)

A wood beamed pavilion in a spacious, tree-filled courtyard. Congenial town folk enjoying good food and the afternoon. Several senoras making their best home cooking. What's not to like? This is the setting of the restaurant without a name...literally restaurante sin nombre, open weekends in Tzurumutaro.

Dona Ampara Cervantes and her comadres began this enterprise in the courtyard of the Technology Institute on the western side of Tzurumutaro's plaza in 2000, and they've been cooking ever since.

On a recent Sunday, the senoras offered:

Corundas (Purhepecha masa triangles), 3 for $20 pesos
Chile Relleno (as seen above), $35 pesos
Churipo (a hearty beef soup with vegetables) $35 pesos
Puerco en Salsa Verde, $35 pesos
Pollo en Mole, $35 pesos
Soft drinks and cold beer

The kitchen starts serving around 1pm, and food goes out as fast as they can serve it until there is no more. And judging from the more than fifty seated diners with more entering every minute, come early.

Additionally, many diners arrive with plastic buckets, the kind sherbert comes in, so they can take polle con mole home for Sunday supper.

For "Las Tres Bs---bueno, bonito, barato", head to Tzurumutaro on the weekend. And bring a bucket.

Restaurante Sin Nombre
Inside the ITSP courtyard on the western side of the Plaza
Tzurumutaro, Michoacan
Open Saturday and Sunday
1pm to 5pm, or until the food runs out.

PostScript: Tzurumutaro (map) is located between Patzcuaro and Morelia at the intersection of Highway 14 (leading to Morelia) and Highway 120 (leading to Tzintzuntzan and Quiroga). Located on Patzcuaro's eastern edge, most consider Tzurumutaro to be a suburb.

And please, don't be surprised if prices don't match those quoted in this entry in the near future. The cost of food is sky-rocketing in Mexico.

Zocalo Folk Art is located in San Miguel de Allende and Patzcuaro, Mexico. To purchase folk art on-line, go to Zocalo Folk Art.

PHOTOS BY DEB HALL.

Garbanzillos in Patzcuaro

In early May in Patzcuaro, the prettiest bouquets of sweet peas---garbanzillos---are for sale. Get to the mercado early and look for the local ladies who pick them from their own gardens. Their fleeting appearance seems to coincide with Mother's Day, which is always celebrated in Mexico on May 10.

Zocalo Folk Art is located in San Miguel de Allende and Patzcuaro, Mexico. To purchase fine folk art on-line, go to Zocalo Folk Art.

PHOTO BY DEB HALL.

The Fiesta of Corpus Christi in Tzurumutaro, Michoacan---The Spring Sowing

Following a flurry of preparations and a procession around Tzurumutaro's plaza in observance of an early Fiesta of Corpus Christi, we excitedly walked with the town folk to the sembrilla, the planting. As we rounded the corner and climbed over the stone wall, we came upon a scene that causes one to question, "In what century are we?".

In the distance, four teams of oxen lurched towards us, tilling the fields, their primitive plows in tow. A lone vaquero pranced and preened on his impressive pony to the delight of fellow villagers.

The oxen and plows were festooned with brightly colored streamers for the fiesta.

Some teams were decorated with bread offerings, las paracuas. Many are familiar with the paracuas of Day of the Dead, pan de muertos, but indigenous bread offerings may be used for fiestas and observances throughout the year.

And every young man in town was here, proudly showing all (especially the young senoritas) how real men do real work. Earlier, I was concerned that there were few men in sight during the religious procession, and feared that most had migrated north for work. But in Tzurumutaro, there is no shortage of menly men today.


The giggling senoritas clearly enjoyed this fabulous display of macho power, swaying to the music and putting forth their baskets of bread at the end of the freshly tilled field.

In this timeless rite of spring, the gods had been honored, beseechments for rain and a bountiful harvest had been sent into the universe, seeds had been ceremoniously planted, the village men pranced before their peers in a show of mastery over earth and nature, and the village women responded with tempting glances and offerings of bread.

And as in all the previous countless seasons reaching back to ancient times, the cycle of life had begun again.

PostScript: The Fiesta of Corpus Christi will be celebrated on May 22 in other parts of Mexico. In Tzurumutaro, the fiesta date is moved forward to coincide with local ancient planting rites.

Tzurumutaro (map) is located between Patzcuaro and Morelia at the intersection of Highway 14 (leading to Morelia) and Highway 120 (leading to Tzintzuntzan and Quiroga). Located on Patzcuaro's eastern edge, most consider Tzurumutaro to be a suburb.

Zocalo Folk Art is located in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and Patzcuaro, Mexico. To learn more about the indigenous fiestas of Mexico, see Postcards from Mexico at Zocalo Folk Art.

PHOTOS BY DEB HALL.

The Fiesta of Corpus Christi in Tzurumutaro, Michoacan---The Procession

In my previous entry, I last left you in Tzurumutaro in front of the church during mass. Sunday, May 4, was unexpectedly "Tzuru's" own fiesta of Corpus Christi (the rest of Mexico will celebrate on May 22nd), and the procession was about to commence. The band took one final break before the organized chaos of villagers, decorated tree branches, and religious statues would piously file around the plaza.

At five o'clock sharp the first statue emerged from the church.

Followed by the next, and the next.

The procession made its way around the plaza, pausing at altars on each corner just long enough for the padre to utter prayers through a volley of exceptionally loud cohetes (gun powder-filled rockets). No one seemed to mind that there was almost no one left to observe the procession as nearly everyone was IN the procession in this tiny town.

Young and old, male, and female after female filed by. In fact, about five young females to every one young male. I wondered if most of Tzurumutaro's eligible men had fled north con coyotes, or perhaps the skewed ratio was simply because los machos did not choose to participate in this particular religious procession.

After once around the plaza, it was back inside the church and judging from the shift in the band's beat, we sensed that the real fun was about to begin.

Out came the senoras bearing the fruit and candy laden branches, and a wild crush of giggling and grabbing erupted until every sugary morsel was stolen from the trees.

Next, beautifully dressed women, las guares, energetically danced through the streets with a lone male carrying the torito. The male to female ratio was now at least 30 to one. Again, where were all the young men? How could they possibly resist this amazing flock of beauties?

Suddenly, the dancers con torito went one direction, and the villagers another. Figuring that everyone was headed to the house of the cargero (an elected official responsible for organizing the fiesta) for food and charanda, we turned towards the pick-up and home.

Sensing our impending departure, a sombrero-clad farmer emphatically declared that we could not miss the yubos. "Hay yubos...there are yokes, there are yokes!", he insisted.

"But what are under the yokes?", I queried. "Bueyes...muchos bueyes", he beamed.

And with that, we excitedly joined the villagers and headed together down the road towards an unknown adventure involving very large farm animals.

PostScript: Tzurumutaro (map) is located between Patzcuaro and Morelia at the intersection of Highway 14 (leading to Morelia) and Highway 120 (leading to Tzintzuntzan and Quiroga). Located on Patzcuaro's eastern edge, most consider Tzurumutaro to be a suburb.

Zocalo Folk Art is located in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and Patzcuaro, Mexico. To learn more about the fiestas traditions of Mexico, see Postcards from Mexico at Zocalo Folk Art.

PHOTOS BY DEB HALL.

An Early Corpus Christi in Tzurumutaro, Michoacan---The Preparations

The first indication that preparations for a fiesta were underway in Tzurumutaro was the sight of bougainvilla-filled fishing nets stretched above the entrance to the church. What have we here?

Next we spied altars being constructed on all four corners of the plaza. Stop the pick-up.

As our eyes adjusted to the dimness of the church, impressive displays of flowers, virgins and christos came into focus. Inside was a flurry of activity. It seemed that half the village was quietly working away adorning tree branches with mangos, bananas, individual grapes, hard candies, communion wafers and marshmallows.

"Senora, what is this fiesta?", we asked. And that is when the confusion began. She explained that it was Corpus, meaning the Fiesta of Corpus Christi. Today is Sunday, May 4. It couldn't possibly be Corpus.

"But Corpus is always on a Thursday", Rick countered. And this year it's on May 22. But the senora firmly restated that today was Corpus and continued making her tree of confectionary offerings. Unconvinced, we asked everyone in the church the same question and received the same answer. Clearly in Tzurumutaro, Jueves de Corpus Christi, Thursday of the Body of Christ, is celebrated on a Sunday...of Tzurumutaro's choosing.

In the next hour, the church filled to near capacity with more villagers, sweet-filled trees branches, and a row of religious statues aligned for the procession commencing at five. Now we had to stay to see the events, and to possibly convince "Tzuru" that today was not Jueves de Corpus Christi.

As five o'clock aproached, religious statues filled the center aisle now reaching all the way to the entrance of the church. The band tuned their instruments. Costumed villagers gathered. And the padre performed mass.

We stepped outside in anticipation of the procession to follow, and that's when I saw them. On each side of the entrance were harvested trees entwined with elaborate branches of carved cantera stone as old as this very old church. Who were we to argue that today was not Thursday? That today was not Corpus?

PostScript: Tzurumutaro (map) is located between Patzcuaro and Morelia at the intersection of Highway 14 (leading to Morelia) and Highway 120 (leading to Tzintzuntzan and Quiroga). Located on Patzcuaro's eastern edge, most consider Tzurumutaro to be a suburb.

Zocalo Folk Art is located in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and Patzcuaro, Mexico. To learn more about indigenous fiestas and traditions, see Postcards from Mexico at Zocalo Folk Art.

PHOTOS BY DEB HALL.

Dia de Santa Cruz, A Public Exhibition of Folk Art

What a week. Fiestas began with Dia del Nino (April 30), followed by the legal holiday, Dia de Trabajo (May 1), then Dia de Santa Cruz (May 3), followed by the beginnings of Corpus Christi (May 4) in some villages, and Monday was Cinco de Mayo (a holiday of consequence only in Puebla). Many paisanos created a five-day holiday out of this odd assortment of notable events, both official and unofficial, and headed to the nearest beach, lake or scenic destination for some sun and fun.

On Saturday, we awoke to the familiar sound of exploding cohetes (gun powder-filled rockets) announcing Dia de Santa Cruz, the Day of the Holy Cross. In Judy King's excellent article I learned the fascinating history of this hosted fiesta of carnitas and beer, to which every construction worker and abanil looks forward. But as I wandered the streets of Tzurumutaro admiring the crop of newly planted crosses, naturally, folk art was on my mind.

Each cross had a personality as individual as the house it topped.

The handiwork of each cross was spontaneous and wonderful.

I imagined families throughout Mexico snipping tissue paper, fashioning streamers and gluing flowerettes, adorning the special crosses in anticipation of Saturday's events.

As far as cross-decorating goes, it is important to put your best cross forward so to speak, because the crosses will remain atop the casas for an entire year until Dia de Santa Cruz rolls around again or the construction project is completed, whichever comes first.

As a result, millions of handmade crosses adorn every work site throughout Mexico, creating a public exhibition of folk art to be admired by anyone who cares to notice.

As you drive through the villages or wander the cobblestone streets, look skyward. A colorful, handmade cross will surely greet your gaze.

PostScript: Tzurumutaro (map) is located between Patzcuaro and Morelia at the intersection of Highway 14 (leading to Morelia) and Highway 120 (leading to Tzintzuntzan and Quiroga). Located on Patzcuaro's eastern edge, most consider Tzurumutaro to be a suburb.

Zocalo Folk Art is located in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and in Patzcuaro, Mexico. To learn more about the traditions of Mexico, see Postcards from Mexico at Zocalo Folk Art.

PHOTOS BY DEB HALL.

May 1, Day of the Worker in Mexico and Around the World

May 1 is the Mexican national holiday, Day of the Worker.

This photo is of a portion of the Diego Rivera murals dedicated to Mexico's working class that cover more than 16,000 square feet at the Secretaria Educacion Publica in Mexico City.

May 1st is also my father-in-law's birthday. Happy 80th Errol!

Zocalo Folk Art is located in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and Patzcuaro, Mexico. To purchase Mexican folk art on-line, go to Zocalo Folk Art.

PHOTOS BY DEB HALL.