Probably just as good as Xochimilco itself is the market in the neighborhood. It was the first one we stopped into on our trip, so we just assumed it was normal. Turned out it is a slightly cooler than usual market, and man, was it bustin’ out with the food.

While Peter was buying snacks from ladies in sparkling aprons, I took a spin around the place. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such luscious-looking lard.

As I said in an earlier post, chicharron here is better than I’ve ever seen. I wish I’d taken photos of the normal display technique: propping it up vertically inside a glass case, with a light behind, so it glows orange (paging Matthew Barney).

Instead, here’s some more prosaic chicharron for sale, still certainly flaky and delicious:

I haven’t seen such a variety of moles before either–in the Yucatan, there’s a smaller number of recados (spice pastes) on offer. This market sold them both as dry powders and as pastes, with almonds, with shrimp, with walnuts, with pine nuts….

But this is my favorite photo from the market, and perhaps from our whole trip. How fresh is food in Mexico? It’s this fresh!

OK, chicken butts–this concludes our Mexico City photo tour. Thanks a million for looking.

Now the question is: When can I go back? And what should we do next time?

See previous posts:
Mexico City #1: End of the Line
Mexico City #2: Things Organized Neatly
Mexico City #3: Street Food Tour
Mexico City #4: Union Power
Mexico City #5: Color Me Impressed
Mexico City #6: Simply Signage
Mexico City #7: Xochimilco