I Went to Surfing Paradise, But All I Did Was Eat

It's 8:30 AM and it's already more than 77 degrees. For a chilanga (someone from Mexico City like me), that qualifies hot. I'm in a corner next to an OXXO standing under the shade of the sign waiting for Felipe, the chef of LOOT, a restaurant in Zihuatanejo where they are presenting a play for the first time tonight.

The anticipated event has created high expectations among locals. A wine-pairing dinner will serve as the perfect preamble for this historic event, because all good things in life must go with wine and delicious food. That's why I'm getting to the market at 9 AM on Saturday instead of waxing my surfboard to ride waves for a while. I'd rather wake up early with the promise of a market-like-breakfast than to make a fool out of myself up in the sea.

First stop of the route is El Campesino market, where small, local producers offer local culinary gems like guamúchil, arrayán, atuto, and herbs like pipiza, pumpkin sprouts. Felipe tells me that he's almost ready with the four-step dinner he's serving tonight but he wants to come for a final walk over here to search for any ingredients that weren't available before.

We walk into the market and the first thing I see is a shopping cart with a sign that reads "Chilate…yumm, delicious!" "You've got to try it; it's very typical from here. She knows how to make it like nobody else", says Felipe as soon as he sees me leaning over it. In that moment, the lady shows up and offers me a glass of this chocolate-like-colored drink. "Let me make some foam or else it just doesn't taste the same. You can take pictures of me while I do it. American tourists love it." As she is pouring my chilate, she explains to me that to make it, you have to toast rice, cacao, and cinnamon. Then you grind all of them together in the metate (a flat stone for grinding) to make a juice that is going to be dissolved in water. Finally, you sweeten it with piloncillo (powdered brown sugar). As a result, you have this delicious and refreshing drink that first tastes like rice milk, but the bitter taste of cacao reminds you that this is a much more complex drink.

The market is pretty small, but the quality of the products is superior to that of any other place. It calls to my attention that all the stands are handled by women. You don't see any single man deboning chickens or cleaning the catch of the day. Women are the ones who rule here.

It's 10 AM and I'm starting to get hungry. We are now going to the main market just to buy the marlin for dinner, but I'm curious and craving to discover other gastronomic gems of this fishing port. I end up distracting Felipe from the marlin objective, and we end up buying two varieties of tamale, and pork stuffing; which is nothing else but pork meat roasted with carrots, potatoes, and plantains. All of that has to be cooked for hours together with aromatic herbs and ancho chile, resulting in a hedonistic, perfect plate.

"In Zihuatanejo we eat tons of rolls, maybe even more than tortillas," says Felipe after buying about two pounds to go. "For people here, one of the favorite breakfasts is a roll stuffed with this stew." The pork fat moistens the bread, making each bite an almost religious experience. This plate has its origins in the fishermen communities, where their wives used to prepare sandwiches so fishermen had enough nutrients at the sea. Years later, it got popular in the markets and now is a typical plate of the Guerrero state.

It's eleven past something when we arrive to back to LOOT in La Ropa beach. The place appears in the middle of the port landscaping as a sample of all the artistic and cultural potential of Zihuatanejo. Besides existing as a restaurant, this place is also a boutique and a gallery, a showcase so that local, national, and international artists can show their work.

Icacos end up being a complete disappointment. After several minutes, I manage to take the thin, pink peel off of one of the fruits to find a sponge covering a huge pit in the center, and that once you bite it, it releases a very subtle floral taste that kind of reminds you of violets, but that's it…

It's not sweet, nor bitter, just floral. It's definitely too much work for such little reward.