¡Hola de México!
Guess what?! I’m back in Mexico City! It’s truly one of my favorite places that I have traveled to, so I couldn’t be more excited to be back.
I haven’t even been here for 24 hrs yet, but I feel like I have already lived a lifetime of experiences… so let’s jump right in!
Lunch tacos at La Pezciosa
After a busy travel morning, I arrived in CDMX at about 2pm. I checked into my hotel, dropped my bags off, and practically ran out the door. For one, I was soooo hungry. It was already 4pm Michigan time, and I hadn’t eaten lunch yet.
I had been looking through recommendations for taquerias online and found a place that specializes in fish tacos. I don’t eat red meat, so it’s actually kind of difficult to find tacos that I can have.
When I arrived at La Pezciosa and asked for a table for one, the host asked if I would like a menu in English. I replied, asking if I could please have a menu en español so that I could practice my Spanish. His face lit up! He gave me the Spanish menu and then proceeded to tell me where to order, get toppings, and sit. He annunciated clearly, which I really appreciated. It reminded me of how my professors used to speak to us during class!
Surprisingly, I was able to understand everything he was saying and respond. I was so proud of myself! It has been almost four years since I have taken Spanish classes, so I get nervous that I won’t remember anything. This experience gave me the confidence I needed to continue using my Spanish-speaking skills all day long.
Parque México
After lunch, I went for a stroll through Parque México, which is a beautiful city park in La Condesa neighborhood. The park is serene, with canopy trees, flowers, benches, playgrounds, and a huge water fountain filled with birds.
It made me happy to see people reading on the park benches, and it also made me wish that I had brought a book! There were also a lot of people out walking their dogs, and let me tell you… those were some of the CUTEST dogs I have ever seen!!! My favorite was a small, curly pup that sat staring intently at his little sister (a toddler) eating ice cream.
After walking through the park, I continued wandering around until my baking class at 6pm. I walked into a few stores, which sold high-end fashion from local designers. There were some really unique pieces! A lot of the material was either super thick with unique designs (faces, swirls, abstract shapes) or hand-woven crochet/see-through. My favorite was a black pair of crochet flare pants with lace-up sides!
Baking class
Okay. This is where my day gets really exciting. At 6pm, I went to an apartment building near Chapultepec Park for a baking class. This was something that I had originally seen on Instagram but booked on AirBnB (did you know they do ‘AirBnB experiences’?!).
I waited in the lobby for a few minutes, and eventually a woman named Grace came down to greet me. After we introduced ourselves, she said, “It’s your lucky day! You are getting a private baking session tonight!”. There were supposed to be two other people in my class, but they had ended up joining the previous session which ran from 3-5pm. So, it was just me, Grace, and another instructor named Laura making the conchas!
After putting on aprons and hair nets, we formally introduced ourselves and then got started with the baking. Grace is from the neighboring state, Morelos. There, she has her own food trucks and teaches gastronomy classes to university students. Interestingly, she studied astrology in university but has been doing gastronomy for over 20 years.
The first step was to activate the yeast by adding warm milk and a bit of sugar. We then mixed the flour, yeast, eggs, and some sugar to make the dough. We added half of the butter to the center of the dough, tucked it inside (like a dumpling), and then began kneading the dough until the butter melted. It became a lot more difficult to knead once the butter started melting because it was sooo sticky. Once the butter was fully incorporated, we repeated that step, adding the rest of the butter. Finally, we added more sugar to the dough and continued kneading it.
While kneading the dough, Grace and I talked a LOT. I learned that she worked for a Spanish chef who now has 22 Michelin star restaurants! the way she got into that career was interesting because it was totally unplanned, and she was unexpectedly thrown into the deep end! I used to work in a restaurant, so I know how common it is to get yelled at by the chefs… and I have to imagine that there is even more pressure when you’re working at a restaurant that has three Michelin stars!!! So, I was about to ask if she ever cried at work when she said, “I never even cried when the chef yelled at me!”. I was so shocked. Apparently, she told him, “if yelling at me makes you feel better, then do it! I won’t take it personally”. And after that day, he never yelled at her again 😂.
The next step in preparing the dough was to give it some air. Essentially, I had to slam the dough onto the table as hard as I could, fold it over to trap the air bubbles inside, and then knead it a bit. This part was extra fun!
Once the dough was puffy, we had to make the smooth, outer layer. This involved carefully holding the dough and dragging it along the table. This step is super important so that the gas stays trapped inside during the rising / baking process!
Since we didn’t have time to actually wait for our dough to rise, Laura pulled out the dough from the previous session. The next step was to cut it into 80 g pieces, which makes about 12 conchas.
To make sure that each individual concha had a smooth outer layer, we had to use a similar technique as before. This time with one hand, we firmly held the small ball of dough and made rapid circular motions. The conchas then had to sit in a plastic bag for a while to rise again.
Another interesting fact that I learned from Grace during our baking session was that Mexico City has had earthquakes on September 19th on two separate occasions: 1985 and 2017. For that reason, they have earthquake drills every September 19th! The key is to find a triangle (not near glass or doors), so that when things collapse, they don’t fall directly on you. For example, a fridge is usually good to sit by because it is sturdy and tends to be in a corner.
The final step was to make the frosting for the top of the sweet bread. I made the chocolate one, and Grace made vanilla. We weighed that out into 30 g pieces and then flattened them into tortilla-like shapes using our palms. Then, we used a concha press to make the shell shape. These frosting shells were draped across the dough balls before baking in the oven.
While the dough was baking, we drank coffee (a bad idea on my part… I slept a whopping 2.5 hrs last night 😀) and tea. We talked some more, and the time flew by. All of a sudden, it was almost 9pm! I tried my first-ever concha, and it was out of this world. Grace and Laura were so kind to package up half a dozen conchas for me to take with me!
I bet you can’t guess what I had for breakfast today…
On my way out, Grace gave me a huge hug and said that I can always message her with questions when I try making conchas at home! So sweet. This was definitely one of the best experiences I have had while traveling!
Late-night street tacos
After dropping my conchas off at the hotel, I headed out to find some bottled water and snacks. There was a 7-11 about 5 minutes away, so I figured I could stock up there. Little did I know, they didn’t have any plastic bags for me to carry my groceries in. So, my walk back was very entertaining. The thought that crossed my mind was, “I would rob me right now if I saw myself in the street!”. My phone was dangling between two fingers, my purse was loosely draped over my shoulder, and my arms were completely full with water and chips.
At this point, it was almost 10:30pm and I hadn’t eaten dinner yet. So, I decided to walk to a street taco stand called “El Gato Volero” (the flying cat). You essentially just walk up, order a taco, and then add whichever toppings you want. Since it’s a taco stand, there isn’t anywhere to sit, so everyone just stands around and eats together. Oh, and each taco only costs about 75¢. It was so awesome! I wanna go back there again.
I almost forgot to mention that I added some red sauce to my second taco, not knowing how spicy it would be. It took everything I had to keep a poker face as I ate the spiciest taco of my life. I was literally breathing fire for the next 15 minutes😂. No regrets, though. I would definitely eat it again.
Nuevos amigos
On my way back to the hotel, a wave of exhaustion hit me. I was zombie-walking back, thinking “I cannot wait to go to sleep!”. At that moment, a man standing outside of a bar said something along the lines of “Hey! Have a great night!”. Without even thinking about it, I perked up and said “Hey! You too!”. Then, the guy (Aaron) started talking to me in English. He asked where I’m from, and when I told him, he screamed “CHICAGOOOOOOOOOOOOO”.
“No way. My friend here lived in New York!”. He pointed to his friend, who was sitting at a table inside the otherwise empty bar.
This comment was so funny to me because I think of Chicago and NYC as two very different cities (not that I’ve been to New York), but he associated them with each other.
Aaron convinced me to step inside the bar and sit with his group of friends. There was a 20-something year old woman who I talked with a bit. We also salsa danced!
I mentioned to them all that I was excited for the World Cup game in CDMX on Sunday (Mexico plays England). The streets are going to be insane!!! I said, “I heard that people get thrown in the air”. They replied, “Oooooh yeah! If you want to fly, you will fly. If you don’t want to fly, you will still fly! Should we practice right now?!”
Luckily, I was spared from being tossed in the air… for now.
Until next time,
Clara