Alvin Starkman M.A., LL.B.
If traditional business seeks out consultants with a working knowledge of Mexico in attempting to carry out an enterprise in the country, why shouldn’t documentary filmmakers do the same? Doing so could reduce their costs and potential liability, enhance the likelihood of producing an award-winning enterprise, and provide a necessary sense of respect for the people who ultimately will be lining their pockets. This doesn’t mean retaining the high-priced so-called experts, but rather using common sense and following some simple guidelines. And the further south from the U.S. border filming is based, the more important it is for the production crew to be sensitive to the cultural differences between its members and their subjects.
Driver, Guide or Interpreter
Some have suggested using a driver and a guide, and others have done just fine with a guide who speaks both English and Spanish. Most film crews coming to Oaxaca with a team of 4 or 5 include someone who is bilingual. But using this individual as an interpreter removes him from the primary job he was hired to do. It is therefore desirable to hire an English speaking guide who has a good, working knowledge of Spanish, making a driver unnecessary and a waste of funds. The same holds true with a Mexican guide who is bilingual and has lived in the United States or Canada and thus understands the cultural differences between members of the crew and native Oaxacans (more about this later).
Aside from linguistic skill and the issue of cultural norms, an important aspect of hiring a bilingual guide is his ability to assist you with your groundwork prior to your arrival, which includes suggesting locations for daily shoots, providing advice as to how to fill your calendar so your crew is not too rushed yet is not left sitting around for valuable half days, and making sound recommendations regarding accommodations in terms of location, facilities and reliability. It’s the same if you are planning to have a producer scope out Oaxaca before the filming, and more so if you intend to arrive in the city blind --- of course aside from having done your research. Without a doubt this means having a great deal of trust in your expert on the ground. Have you been communicating with him frequently through email as your tentative schedule of working days becomes firmer? Have you spoken to him on the phone a couple of times? Do his suggestions regarding shooting locations, accommodations, etc., seem to be in sync with the reasonable expectations of your team? What is his educational, employment and broader experiential background? Based on the foregoing, do you trust that he will live up to or perhaps even exceed your initial expectations for him?
You might not feel comfortable placing such responsibility on the shoulders of a virtual stranger, and feel somewhat uneasy with having merely a local guide assume some of your tasks, but he has the ability to make your job much easier and stress-free and enhance your finished product … if chosen carefully. You’ll always retain ultimate decision-making power, so just think of him as a valuable resource, a consultant at your disposal, an advisor.
Accommodations
Your Man in Oaxaca may have been raised with the same standards of service, comfort and cleanliness, as you and your crew. If a Oaxacan, he has hopefully had some type of middle class American experience in his background. He should be able to provide valuable input into your quandary about which hotel to select. Have him confirm that WIFI is indeed up and running in each room (forget what the hotel website says), the pool has water in it, and the restaurant opens at 7 am if that’s what’s been represented. He knows the neighborhoods, distance to downtown and nearby restaurants of acceptable quality, accessibility to specific sites for your filming in and around the city, and much more.
While a suburban hotel perhaps provides more tranquility at the end of a hard working day, downtown establishments have advantages such as the crew being able to step outside and have a broad selection of eateries from which to choose, the ability to get a flavor of the city in terms of its residents, museums, churches, galleries, and so on. While the purpose of the visit is strictly work, your crew will appreciate any chance to unwind in its spare time, before calling it a night. Downtown Oaxaca provides an abundance of such opportunities.
The Releases
I’ve worked with entertainment companies out of both Florida and California, each with distinctly different approaches and attitudes towards the two fundamental releases traditionally required to be signed by both the subjects and the owners of locations being filmed.
The recommended practice, I would suggest, is for releases to be in Spanish, and signed by the individuals being filmed and owners of the locations being featured, before shooting begins. If prior to boarding the plane for Mexico, your consultant confirms that he has a package of signed releases, in Spanish, for each location, and of each individual tentatively scheduled to be filmed, you’re golden, and the work of the producer or his associate is reduced. Once the team is in Oaxaca there is accordingly one less item of business about which to be concerned on a daily basis, if not more frequently.
The polar opposite is the associate producer scrambling to get releases in English signed after the filming of a particular segment has been completed. An English release signed by a monolingual Oaxaca affords virtually no legal protection, and perhaps is even a detriment. Consider a hypothetical case brought before an American court: The judge hears that a crew member put an English release in front of a rural Oaxacan of indigenous background, whose linguistic skills were restricted to a guttural knowledge of Spanish and his native tongue.
If you’re not concerned about liability, then why bother with releases? Of course you have a concern, and if not you, then certainly “the suits.” So why not protect yourself, at least to the extent reasonably necessary and prudent under the particular circumstances?
It’s 7 pm, you’ve just finished spending the second half of the day filming the workshop of a Zapotec rug weaver in the nearby town of Teotitlán del Valle, your crew is packing up to leave, and your associate producer is still trying to convince the subjects to sign releases they don’t understand. And filming hasn’t gone all that smoothly because your commentator and producer have alienated the individuals as a result of not being sensitive to their accepted cultural standards for communication. The releases never get signed. You’ve wasted a half hour of valuable time that could otherwise have been spent by your crew in the hotel or having a leisurely dinner, and now it’s up to the head honchos in Hollywood to decide whether or not to use the segment without the comfort of executed releases.
Contrast the foregoing scenario with your local advisor having approached the rug maker in advance of the shoot, Spanish releases in hand, and walked away with everything explained and signed. Second best is to get the releases signed just before filming begins, using your advisor to facilitate the process. If he’s been used properly up until this point in the filming, he will already have a relationship with some if not all of your subjects and there will be no need to establish a level of trust from scratch.
If your practice is to use a large placard when filming in a marketplace or other open space where it is not practicable to have every subject appearing on camera execute a document, then have the release / notice board prepared before the day’s shoot, in Spanish, in large, clear print.
The Cultural Milieu
Oaxacans are different than New Yorkers, New Zealanders, Trobriand Islanders and Germans. There is a cultural norm, a way of dealing with established friends, and with strangers. A different style of doing business prevails. Do your advance research, or rely on your advisor to give you a quick lesson immediately upon your arrival. Better yet, arrange for him to be the liaison between you and your style of interaction, and your subjects and theirs … at least for the first couple of days until you and your team have become somewhat acculturated. Have your consultant explain to the subjects how the shoot will proceed, and perhaps even have him apologize in advance for what they may deem, from their perspective, a gruff and inappropriate style of interacting. This refers not only to the interaction between director and subject, but the communication style between crew members. As you know, each crew has a different group dynamic, or personality if you will. Some do indeed interact just fine with their subjects and amongst themselves. Regarding the latter, either they’ve worked together before, have otherwise discussed their proposed interaction, and / or have been sensitized to working within a foreign culture, the southern Mexico milieu.
Touching and grabbing a subject by the arm and placing her where you want her to be relative to the camera and props is often unacceptable even in Western society (perhaps aside from within the entertainment industry). Raising your voice in English is not the most effective way for you to get your point across, and doing so with your rudimentary Spanish may be even worse. Pointing, hand motions and the unconscious use of body language do not necessarily have the same meaning and significance to a Oaxacan as they do to Americans.
Roles and Relationships
In Oaxaca business get done much more effectively within the context of pre-established relationships. Often the production team does not have the time or the inclination to develop even an initial relationship of cordiality with its subjects (which is often all that is required). If you are not in a position to take the time in the course of your busy shooting day to first sit down with and get to know your subjects, perhaps over a hot chocolate and sweet roll, then when selecting filming subjects use the contacts of your consultant whenever possible, because they are most likely based on pre-established relationships of friendship, kinship, compadrazgo (relationships based upon ties developed between families through the appointment of godparents) or business. However, it is crucial that you firstly, respect that your consultant must continue to live with his contacts, and secondly, understand and accept that he will be protective of them.
A case in point is a recent filming experience. The executive producer (perhaps in conjunction with an assistant and researcher) back home came up with a list of storylines, and a couple of names of individuals he thought would best advance those segments he wanted to film. During his pre-production visit to the city he met briefly with two prospective subjects from his list. A tentative agreement was reached to use them as central figures in the documentary. At the last moment one simply refused to participate; the other was only partially helpful in advancing the producer’s goals. In both cases, at the eleventh hour I was required to call upon friends / business associates to help us out of the bind, and thankfully they came through. I had pre-established relationships based upon mutual trust and respect with each.
The producer also asked me for suggestions regarding subjects for other film segments. With regard to my proposed list of contacts for filming other storylines in the documentary, each individual and family fully cooperated with the production. I religiously called upon people with whom I had previously dealt.
The producer’s incentives of free business promotion, a bit of money, and the thought of 15 minutes of fame were insufficient motivations for his chosen subjects to make their best efforts cooperate to their full extent, or at all. The reason was the lack of a pre-existing relationship. Of course matters do not always unfold as such, but in the case of this particular week of shooting, the contrast was striking.
Using individuals selected by your advisor has its implications. Your subjects have to be directed, or managed might be the preferred term within the context of an American team working in Oaxaca. Is the director / producer prepared to have the advisor actually work with him? Probably not, because it would mean seemingly giving up direction and control. But if a shoot seems to be falling off the rails, or the struggle to get what you want appears to be unending and nerves are beginning to wear thin, injecting this new “assistant” into the process might be the most prudent approach, if only for special circumstances. Take your advisor aside, tell him what you’re trying to achieve, and let him interact with a subject which seems to be resisting. Hopefully, using your consultant in this fashion will not be necessary. But sometimes it is. It all depends on the training of the members of your team, their sensitivity to the differences in cultural traditions, and patience.
We were just outside of Tlacolula de Matamoros, filming the processes employed in making mezcal, Oaxaca’s state alcoholic beverage made from the maguey or agave plant. The stage had already been set for a disastrous segment, with the producer having alienated Fernando, one of the two brother mezcaleros (brewmasters, to use more familiar parlance). The crew arrived, the briefest of introductions were exchanged, and then the producer began directing which of Fernando’s workers should be doing what, and when. I was an observer only, having already played my part in selecting the facility to be filmed, introducing the producer to one of the brothers a couple of weeks earlier, and bringing the new team with an unknown on-site producer to rural Oaxaca for a full day of filming all about agave.
The most gratifying moment when touring clients to mezcal operations is when by chance one comes across a facility which happens to be engaged in all facets of the process at virtually the same time. I had been assured earlier that the facility would be producing mezcal on this day, but I had no idea that virtually all phases of production would be occurring simultaneously. They rarely are. Nothing would have to be staged or contrived if the shooting were handled with sensitivity, aside from slowing down and repeating the steps employed.
Because of how the team’s interaction with Fernando and his work crew had been unfolding, Fernando refused to instruct his workers to slow down to enable the cameraman, commentator and producer to shoot each stage. None was going to be repeated if not caught on camera at that particular time. There would be no staging, the producer came to learn. No angles, no two shots, no nothing … as long as the relationship between team and subjects remained in conflict.
I listened to the voices of the commentator and producer increase in pitch, and watched the cameraman turning every which way while crossing cable with the sound technician, all the while Fernando sitting back and watching his workers make mezcal at their usual pace, and ensuring that they continued to do so. My limited responsibility had previously been defined, rather clearly, by the producer. Nevertheless, I decided to step out of my role as guide, driver and occasional interpreter.
I quietly walked over to Fernando. I explained to him that I knew how he felt, apologized for putting him in contact with the film crew in the first place, and asked if he would do me a huge favor (favorsote) and slow down the process and enable the crew to get the filming they wanted. I assured him that whatever he needed in terms of compensation for the trouble, aggravation and increased costs to him, would be looked after.
Had the crew been sensitized to accepted custom, all would have proceeded smoothly. Had the film producer and his team started off with an informal chat that had nothing to do with filming, a relationship, notwithstanding its seeming superficiality, would have set the stage for a productive and smooth afternoon of filming. Conflict does take its toll on a film crew, no matter its members’ level of professionalism.
Of course each in the production team has a role, and in many cases one must not disturb the order of this universe. It is suggested, however, that some consideration be given to providing your advisor with an expanded role with some flexibility, subject of course to his capabilities and the personalities of your team members. While this may be stepping out of the box for documentary film makers, if the details and rationale are explained to the team, it makes for a much easier shoot and more harmonious relationships between crew members and their subjects. Egos may have to be shed, hopefully only to a limited extent.
It important that you explain in the clearest of terms to your advisor what his tasks will entail and role will be, discuss any suggested deviation from the norm, and ensure that he knows the functions of each of your crew members, the chain of command, etc. This may be his first time being used in a capacity other than that of purely tour guide. But if that’s all you want of him, then no such discussion ought to be necessary.
After you’ve left Oaxaca
Your consultant’s role and responsibilities should not be perceived as terminated simply because you’ve completed your filming and are back in the studio. He and his fellow Oaxacans are just as interested as you are in ensuring that their city and surrounding villages and sights are accurately depicted for the viewing public, and more generally that the production is a success. They have a strong sense of pride and an uncanny desire to be helpful.
In the course of shooting you will have been asked when the production will be aired. Many of your subjects have relatives in the U.S. who will want to view the program, and they may have access to the show via their own cable or satellite. Since you won’t have that information at the time, feel free to impose upon your consultant to be the one to advise the subjects once you have particulars. This means letting him know as soon as you know, since he may have to travel to outlying villages to advise the others.
Your consultant may have a comprehensive mailing list of travelers from abroad with a special interest in Oaxaca. Oaxaca is one of those cities in the world which invoke such passion. After all, that’s why you’ve chosen it. He should be pleased to email details of the airing of the production to his contacts, which will assist in improving your ratings. In my particular case, the list has upwards of 1,000 email addresses.
You’ll also be asked for copies of the DVD, and will be given particulars of to where to send it. As long as you provide your consultant with a couple of originals, he should be amenable to making copies and distributing them.
Documentaries do not always get the facts straight, no matter how competent the research that has gone into the production and the care with which editing has been done. The greater the accuracy or perception of factual correctness, the better your production will be received. Consider having your consultant vet your finished product prior to airing, and provide you with a list of any inaccuracies and their corrections. You will then be in a position to decide whether or not they are sufficiently serious as to warrant yet a further and final edit.
Summary
A carefully selected Oaxacan guide can and should be as important and critical a crew member as any other in the production team. His job should begin long before shooting begins. He ought to significantly impact the finished product because of his particular knowledge of the city, its environs and the unique cultural mores of its people; his personnel contacts; and his ability to guide the production in his capacity as an advisor to the producer. His role can be flexible, and adapted to circumstances. It can broad, relative to the quality of your advance research, your trust in his expertise, and your willingness to give up just a small fraction of your directorial control and responsibility. On the other hand it can be extremely limited. But if so, ensure that you’ve otherwise appropriately covered off matters of language, understanding of the culture within which you’ll be working, and knowledge of the city and surrounding towns, villages and sights you’re planning to film. He can shave time off of your workday, and more importantly reduce the inherent stressors which inevitably plague the making of a documentary in a foreign land.
Alvin Starkman received his Masters in Social Anthropology in 1978. After teaching for a few years he attended Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, thereafter embarking upon a successful career as a litigator until taking early retirement in 2004. He now writes; leads small group Oaxacan tours to the craft villages, markets, ruins and other sights; and continues to work as special Oaxaca consultant to various documentary film production companies. He and wife Arlene own Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast ( http://www.oaxacadream.com ).
4/07/2008
The drive from Oaxaca into the Mixe: A worthwhile one or two day trek
The drive and some highlights …
Oaxaca, into the Mixe district of the Sierra Norte region
Alvin Starkman M.A., LL.B.
Ecotourism as we know it in the Ixtlán district of the Sierra Norte, may never reach the Mixe because of its distance from the city of Oaxaca amongst other factors. However the Mixe still has many of the trappings which attract travelers who want to get away from urban life and see different and more natural sights. In terms of material culture, the district may in fact be superior. Certainly the drive, best handled as a two-day excursion, has much to offer beginning just as you start your ascent out of Oaxaca’s central valleys.
What’s in store should you venture off with your own or a rental vehicle for this 280 kilometer trek (round trip), are cave paintings; cascading springs; meals so fresh that the roadside eateries have no need for refrigeration; markets; by-products of the agave plant such pulque and mezcal; pottery in a style and color not often encountered in the state capital; and on a daily basis women wearing unique, regional dress.
The drive itself, without stops or side trips, takes upwards of 3 hours, beginning in Oaxaca and ending at the recommended final destination of Santa María Tlahuitoltepec. But it’s the journey which holds much of the allure.
Driving from Oaxaca to San Lorenzo Albarradas, situated on the cusp of the Mixe, takes about an hour, and is accessible by continuing along Highway 190 beyond Mitla. The first sight of interest is Xaagá, a small village whose main industry is loom-made cotton scarves, shawls and rebosos, as well as shirts and blouses, all wholesaled to middlemen or to merchants with stalls in Mitla, Tlacolula, el Tule or Oaxaca. Xaagá is also known for its 3,000 – 10,000 year old cave paintings. For between 50 and 100 pesos you can hire a local to guide you right up to them. The last several yards of the excursion are a difficult climb, so wear hiking boots or running shoes. Even if you don’t do the final leg, the drawings will be quite close to you and easy to photograph. You can continue up the dirt road from Xaagá to the bubbling springs and “waterfalls” of mineral deposits at Hierve el Agua. Great for swimming, in one of two poolings reaching just over 6’. Unless you start out quite early, it’s recommended that you stop at only one of these two sights, perhaps saving the other for the drive back, depending on time available. If it’s Hierve el Agua, it’s best to take the alternate route by returning to Highway 190, especially during rainy season, and in light of the ongoing dispute (an inconvenience only) between two villages each claiming the right to exact an entrance fee from tourists.
Back on Highway 190, after about 10 minutes you’ll pass San José del Paso on the left, another marginal community whose residents eke out a modest existence producing cotton textiles. A few minutes later you’ll encounter two quaint mezcal “factories,” directly across the highway from one another, much more rustic and traditional than the larger more commercial facilities catering to tourists, which one encounters en route to Mitla. On balance, one of the two small facilities will be in full production, with the ability to witness a couple of the steps in the process, be they the agave baking in an in-ground oven, a mule crushing the cooked by-product, fermentation in pine vats, or the firewood-fueled still with the purest of mezcal dripping into a plastic or copper recipient.
If you miss the process, about 10 minutes further along the highway, just before the San Lorenzo Albarradas cut-off, on the left you’ll come across another fábrica de mezcal, this one with a combined restaurant entitled Comedor El Tigre. No electricity and no refrigeration. Not needed. A very friendly family owns the place. Don’t expect a menu, but rather the mother or her daughter-in-law rhyming off what’s available for breakfast or lunch: memelitas, quesadillas, huevos al comal, huevos con chorizo, chorizo asado, tasajo, cecina, or a daily stew. All safe. Served with beans, and of course salsa made fresh before your eyes and served in its molcajete. Perhaps best of all is being able to pick up a tortilla straight from the comal over open flame.
About a kilometer up the road you´ll find a sign directing you to the right to Hierve el Agua (by the alternate route). The last 15 minutes of travel to Hierve el Agua is on dirt road, but a new paved road is being cut through the mountain range.
Until this point in time in the trip the vegetation, since the approach to Mitla, has been mixed scrub, cactus, and some crops under cultivation, with agave predominating.
Back on the main highway, the next hour is spent gradually climbing to Ayutla, the first town of any significance in the Mixe. Vegetation quickly changes from agave to pine and other conifers, and building construction from brick to wood. Large bags of pine charcoal for sale pepper the roadsides. On the approach to Ayutla, on your left you’ll discover the first of two or three pottery outlets. Stop by, make some purchases, or simply keep a mental note of prices since you’ll stop by another further along and can always return to this one on the return trip.
You’ll also begin to see trout farms, with large man-made tanks fed with a continuous flow of fresh water from the springs higher up. These aren’t for fishing, but rather for buying fresh fish to take home, or eat in an adjoining restaurant. On this trip we spent the night at Hotel Restaurante “Tek,” located on the left, just beyond Restaurante el Epazote. “Tek” served the best trout my wife has ever eaten, baked in a large aromatic leaf and sealed with foil, with a stuffing of melted quesillo, tomato, chile and other spices, and topped with chipotle mayonnaise. The hotel, purportedly the best the town has to offer, was basic to the extreme, with shared bath. Take your own sheets and pillow cases. For 200 pesos a night for a couple, though, it was hard to complain. Dinner for two with a couple of shots of mezcal, a beer and bottled water came in at 126 pesos.
On this particular Saturday, there were bare-back horse races on the outskirts of town, in a valley flecked with pools of fresh water suitable for family swimming. Our hotel hosts were kind enough to take us to the races. Unfortunately, the main sight in town, the cascading springs which are apparently in quite a picturesque setting, were inaccessible as a result of a dispute over water rights between this population and that of the village up the road, Tamazulapan del Espíritu Santo. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Tamazulapan is about a 15 minute drive from Ayutla. On the approach to the village, on the left you’ll see another terra cotta pottery outlet. The owner and her children are very congenial, and in fact offered to take us to a nearby village where the pottery is formed and fired. She also escorted us to the marketplace, showed us around, and asked that we make sure to not miss the pulque festival scheduled for later that Sunday.
Here you’re finally in the heart of Mixe country and will see women dressed in typical garb consisting of a dark reboso over the head, white blouse in one of a variety of styles and embroidered with tell-tale stitching, and either a long dark or white with embroidery skirt with palm leaf wrap-around belt over which a red, colorfully embroidered second belt of cotton is tied.
Until recently there was no market day in Tamazulapan, the townspeople attending Ayutla for its Sunday market. But now, as a result of the dispute, Tamazulapan has its own Sunday market. While traditional blouses can be purchased in the village at a reasonable price if bought from the women’s cooperative, there’s a better selection up the road in Santa María Tlahuitoltepec.
Tlahuitoltepec is about a 35 – 40 minute drive from Tamazulapan, the last 15 or so minutes on a dirt road, winding and dipping into the valley. Its market day is Saturday. The native clothing referenced above is manufactured at ranches fairly close to town. If interested in seeing the production process, ask a resident and you’ll be pointed in the right direction. Here, as in the other market towns, you’ll encounter a fermented sugar cane drink and fresh pulque. Curiously, mezcal is not made nearby, at least not that we could ascertain, yet pulque which comes from a different variety of agave, the pulquero, is a common beverage sold along the street and in marketplaces. The reason is likely that the pulquero tolerates a colder climate than the espadín variety of agave from which most mezcal is produced.
In any of the foregoing three towns and villages you can hike in the countryside, meet the local residents, and be warmly welcomed. They’re not as accustomed to encountering foreigners as are those of the other districts of the Sierra Norte, and many struggle with Spanish. You’ll find that the further you venture into the Mixe, the more soft-spoken the people become, strikingly more so than those encountered in the central valleys of Oaxaca.
The order of sights outlined above is simply a function of starting in Oaxaca and arbitrarily listing stops in the order that each village or town is initially encountered. By all means design your own itinerary, consider market days, when you want to stop at which restaurant and for bedding down, and most importantly based upon your particular interests, be they for craft purchases, hiking, or simply meeting and perhaps photographing the local folk. Without a doubt we’ll be back in the Mixe, stopping in different locales, wandering off the highway to the tiniest of hamlets, and assuredly reaching deeper into the district, ultimately arriving at Santiago Zacatepec.
Alvin Starkman together with wife Arlene operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast ( http://www.oaxacadream.com ). Alvin received his masters in social anthropology in 1978, and his law degree in 1984. Thereafter he was a litigator in Toronto until taking early retirement. He and his family were frequent visitors to Oaxaca between 1991 and became permanent residents in 2004. Alvin reviews restaurants, writes about life and cultural traditions in Oaxaca, tours couples and families to the villages, and is a special consultant to documentary film production companies.
Oaxaca, into the Mixe district of the Sierra Norte region
Alvin Starkman M.A., LL.B.
Ecotourism as we know it in the Ixtlán district of the Sierra Norte, may never reach the Mixe because of its distance from the city of Oaxaca amongst other factors. However the Mixe still has many of the trappings which attract travelers who want to get away from urban life and see different and more natural sights. In terms of material culture, the district may in fact be superior. Certainly the drive, best handled as a two-day excursion, has much to offer beginning just as you start your ascent out of Oaxaca’s central valleys.
What’s in store should you venture off with your own or a rental vehicle for this 280 kilometer trek (round trip), are cave paintings; cascading springs; meals so fresh that the roadside eateries have no need for refrigeration; markets; by-products of the agave plant such pulque and mezcal; pottery in a style and color not often encountered in the state capital; and on a daily basis women wearing unique, regional dress.
The drive itself, without stops or side trips, takes upwards of 3 hours, beginning in Oaxaca and ending at the recommended final destination of Santa María Tlahuitoltepec. But it’s the journey which holds much of the allure.
Driving from Oaxaca to San Lorenzo Albarradas, situated on the cusp of the Mixe, takes about an hour, and is accessible by continuing along Highway 190 beyond Mitla. The first sight of interest is Xaagá, a small village whose main industry is loom-made cotton scarves, shawls and rebosos, as well as shirts and blouses, all wholesaled to middlemen or to merchants with stalls in Mitla, Tlacolula, el Tule or Oaxaca. Xaagá is also known for its 3,000 – 10,000 year old cave paintings. For between 50 and 100 pesos you can hire a local to guide you right up to them. The last several yards of the excursion are a difficult climb, so wear hiking boots or running shoes. Even if you don’t do the final leg, the drawings will be quite close to you and easy to photograph. You can continue up the dirt road from Xaagá to the bubbling springs and “waterfalls” of mineral deposits at Hierve el Agua. Great for swimming, in one of two poolings reaching just over 6’. Unless you start out quite early, it’s recommended that you stop at only one of these two sights, perhaps saving the other for the drive back, depending on time available. If it’s Hierve el Agua, it’s best to take the alternate route by returning to Highway 190, especially during rainy season, and in light of the ongoing dispute (an inconvenience only) between two villages each claiming the right to exact an entrance fee from tourists.
Back on Highway 190, after about 10 minutes you’ll pass San José del Paso on the left, another marginal community whose residents eke out a modest existence producing cotton textiles. A few minutes later you’ll encounter two quaint mezcal “factories,” directly across the highway from one another, much more rustic and traditional than the larger more commercial facilities catering to tourists, which one encounters en route to Mitla. On balance, one of the two small facilities will be in full production, with the ability to witness a couple of the steps in the process, be they the agave baking in an in-ground oven, a mule crushing the cooked by-product, fermentation in pine vats, or the firewood-fueled still with the purest of mezcal dripping into a plastic or copper recipient.
If you miss the process, about 10 minutes further along the highway, just before the San Lorenzo Albarradas cut-off, on the left you’ll come across another fábrica de mezcal, this one with a combined restaurant entitled Comedor El Tigre. No electricity and no refrigeration. Not needed. A very friendly family owns the place. Don’t expect a menu, but rather the mother or her daughter-in-law rhyming off what’s available for breakfast or lunch: memelitas, quesadillas, huevos al comal, huevos con chorizo, chorizo asado, tasajo, cecina, or a daily stew. All safe. Served with beans, and of course salsa made fresh before your eyes and served in its molcajete. Perhaps best of all is being able to pick up a tortilla straight from the comal over open flame.
About a kilometer up the road you´ll find a sign directing you to the right to Hierve el Agua (by the alternate route). The last 15 minutes of travel to Hierve el Agua is on dirt road, but a new paved road is being cut through the mountain range.
Until this point in time in the trip the vegetation, since the approach to Mitla, has been mixed scrub, cactus, and some crops under cultivation, with agave predominating.
Back on the main highway, the next hour is spent gradually climbing to Ayutla, the first town of any significance in the Mixe. Vegetation quickly changes from agave to pine and other conifers, and building construction from brick to wood. Large bags of pine charcoal for sale pepper the roadsides. On the approach to Ayutla, on your left you’ll discover the first of two or three pottery outlets. Stop by, make some purchases, or simply keep a mental note of prices since you’ll stop by another further along and can always return to this one on the return trip.
You’ll also begin to see trout farms, with large man-made tanks fed with a continuous flow of fresh water from the springs higher up. These aren’t for fishing, but rather for buying fresh fish to take home, or eat in an adjoining restaurant. On this trip we spent the night at Hotel Restaurante “Tek,” located on the left, just beyond Restaurante el Epazote. “Tek” served the best trout my wife has ever eaten, baked in a large aromatic leaf and sealed with foil, with a stuffing of melted quesillo, tomato, chile and other spices, and topped with chipotle mayonnaise. The hotel, purportedly the best the town has to offer, was basic to the extreme, with shared bath. Take your own sheets and pillow cases. For 200 pesos a night for a couple, though, it was hard to complain. Dinner for two with a couple of shots of mezcal, a beer and bottled water came in at 126 pesos.
On this particular Saturday, there were bare-back horse races on the outskirts of town, in a valley flecked with pools of fresh water suitable for family swimming. Our hotel hosts were kind enough to take us to the races. Unfortunately, the main sight in town, the cascading springs which are apparently in quite a picturesque setting, were inaccessible as a result of a dispute over water rights between this population and that of the village up the road, Tamazulapan del Espíritu Santo. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Tamazulapan is about a 15 minute drive from Ayutla. On the approach to the village, on the left you’ll see another terra cotta pottery outlet. The owner and her children are very congenial, and in fact offered to take us to a nearby village where the pottery is formed and fired. She also escorted us to the marketplace, showed us around, and asked that we make sure to not miss the pulque festival scheduled for later that Sunday.
Here you’re finally in the heart of Mixe country and will see women dressed in typical garb consisting of a dark reboso over the head, white blouse in one of a variety of styles and embroidered with tell-tale stitching, and either a long dark or white with embroidery skirt with palm leaf wrap-around belt over which a red, colorfully embroidered second belt of cotton is tied.
Until recently there was no market day in Tamazulapan, the townspeople attending Ayutla for its Sunday market. But now, as a result of the dispute, Tamazulapan has its own Sunday market. While traditional blouses can be purchased in the village at a reasonable price if bought from the women’s cooperative, there’s a better selection up the road in Santa María Tlahuitoltepec.
Tlahuitoltepec is about a 35 – 40 minute drive from Tamazulapan, the last 15 or so minutes on a dirt road, winding and dipping into the valley. Its market day is Saturday. The native clothing referenced above is manufactured at ranches fairly close to town. If interested in seeing the production process, ask a resident and you’ll be pointed in the right direction. Here, as in the other market towns, you’ll encounter a fermented sugar cane drink and fresh pulque. Curiously, mezcal is not made nearby, at least not that we could ascertain, yet pulque which comes from a different variety of agave, the pulquero, is a common beverage sold along the street and in marketplaces. The reason is likely that the pulquero tolerates a colder climate than the espadín variety of agave from which most mezcal is produced.
In any of the foregoing three towns and villages you can hike in the countryside, meet the local residents, and be warmly welcomed. They’re not as accustomed to encountering foreigners as are those of the other districts of the Sierra Norte, and many struggle with Spanish. You’ll find that the further you venture into the Mixe, the more soft-spoken the people become, strikingly more so than those encountered in the central valleys of Oaxaca.
The order of sights outlined above is simply a function of starting in Oaxaca and arbitrarily listing stops in the order that each village or town is initially encountered. By all means design your own itinerary, consider market days, when you want to stop at which restaurant and for bedding down, and most importantly based upon your particular interests, be they for craft purchases, hiking, or simply meeting and perhaps photographing the local folk. Without a doubt we’ll be back in the Mixe, stopping in different locales, wandering off the highway to the tiniest of hamlets, and assuredly reaching deeper into the district, ultimately arriving at Santiago Zacatepec.
Alvin Starkman together with wife Arlene operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast ( http://www.oaxacadream.com ). Alvin received his masters in social anthropology in 1978, and his law degree in 1984. Thereafter he was a litigator in Toronto until taking early retirement. He and his family were frequent visitors to Oaxaca between 1991 and became permanent residents in 2004. Alvin reviews restaurants, writes about life and cultural traditions in Oaxaca, tours couples and families to the villages, and is a special consultant to documentary film production companies.
4/04/2008
Cocina con Nora: Cooking lessons with Nora Valencia in Oaxaca, Mexico
Cocina con Nora …
Cooking lessons with Nora Valencia, in Oaxaca, Mexico
Alvin Starkman M.A., LL.B.
If you absorb only a minute fraction of what Nora’s grandmother taught her about Oaxacan cookery over the course of about four decades, you’ll leave with not only a fount of knowledge about ingredients and techniques, but also a profound understanding of the history and geographical variation of all that’s Oaxacan cuisine today … and of course completely satiated by the end of your gourmet meal.
Oaxacan Nora Valencia enraptures her students with informative stories and humorous anecdotes peppered throughout her class about her abuelita’s insights into food preparation and ingredient combinations. But she also confesses, while walking from the market, that hers was a long journey in arriving at a “classroom” environment upwards of ten years ago: “What my grandmother and mother taught me wasn’t nearly enough. My coming of age as an instructor required a lot of research and travel, in the nature of sociological and anthropological investigation, some chemistry and physics, and even botany. And I always tried to get my hands on as many old books as possible about Latin American foodstuffs, and wherever possible concerning Mexican and Oaxacan plants and herbs and pre-Hispanic recipes. There’s one book in particular I still need, called ‘Conquista y Comida’ … maybe you’ll come across it at a local book fare and let me know.”
The lesson day begins at 9:30, with students meeting and chatting briefly with one another and Nora, in a relaxed informal setting at her B & B, La Casa de Mis Recuerdos. At about 10, taxis arrive to take all to Mercado de La Merced, one of, if not the most popular of the daily markets in downtown Oaxaca … for Oaxacans. About an hour is spent in the market, walking from stall to stall, where you learn, variously, about indigenous origins and history, and current uses, of dried and fresh chiles, nuts, tomatoes, cheeses, breads, an abundance of herbs, and much more. You come away with an appreciation of how Oaxacan cuisine has arrived in the 21st century, as a result of a melding of the use of pre-Hispanic produce and meats, with imports first brought over from Spain during the conquest period.
Nora imparts an understanding of the difference between produce found in the permanent market stalls (most often purchased by the vendors from growers or wholesalers with large operations), and that sold by mainly women sitting on the ground who have grown the fruits, vegetables and herbs in their own towns and villages: “We now use the term organic, for what we have traditionally referred to as criollo, which is what these ladies sell. But some of the large stalls also have criollo produce, so watch for it.”
Nora reveals both here and several times later on in the kitchen setting, what ingredients, more easily accessed back home, can be substituted for what she buys in the market such as local varieties of green and red tomatoes, specific herbs, chiles, and even masa: “If you can only buy packaged Maseca brand corn flour in Oregon, and you’re making tamales, then add a bit of cornmeal to give it the proper texture. Feel the difference between the two types of masa we find here in the market, one for tortillas and the other for tamales. And you may already know, we use a lot a hoja santa in our recipes, and it’s only available in some states, such as Florida, so if you can’t find it, try using … .”
Rather than purchase everything at this market visit, Nora has already purchased most the day before, and what she does buy during this brief tour she leaves at each stall and picks up when we’re ready to depart. “Now I’m going back to some of the puestos to pick up what we bought, so let’s meet out front in 10 – 15 minutes. Meanwhile you can go and buy some of those rarer dried chiles to take home, that spicy paste that I told you I like to keep in my purse when visiting the U.S., and maybe even some gusano worms that we’ll be using to make a salsa later on. You can buy a string of 100 and wear it as a necklace for customs.” Nora passes on invaluable advice about which ingredients you should be able to take over the border, and what freezes well (i.e. quesillo and chapulines --- Oaxacan string cheese and grasshoppers).
We walk to her nearby home on a quaint cobblestone road, where the balance of the class will unfold. We’ll spend the rest of the morning and afternoon in her traditional, painted-tile (talavera) kitchen with center island, and her dining and sitting rooms opening onto a courtyard lushly landscaped with trees, vines and flowering shrubs. A feeling of comfort envelopes, like you’re at home, because in a sense you are, made to feel as welcomed as possible. With only one assistant, Minerva, I marvel at the intense work that has gone into the pre-preparation of some dishes, and more importantly how Nora must be “on” 100% of the time, and attentive to each of the ten apprentices, ranging in age from early twenties to late sixties, for upwards of six hours.
It’s effectively all Nora, teaching, directing, reassuring, reminding, and correcting. With mainly novices in this class this day, making dessert tamales, one of the two most complex recipes of the day, isn’t as easy as simply mixing up some dough with pineapple chunks and wrapping it in corn husk. Three mixtures are prepared, placed into the husks, and then folded in a most gingerly fashion: “Sorry, but this will have to be another patchwork, so we’ll combine two into one, or better yet, how about just using an extra husk to hold it all together.” There’s the masa mixture, the coconut / milk concoction, pineapple / sugar / cinnamon fusion, plus raisins to boot. “Now see that I’m not spilling out the water from boiling the pineapple, because I can use it another time instead of just water, to make a fresh fruit juice (agua fresca). It’s already sweet and flavorful.”
Where a component has been prepared prior to our arrival, Nora instructs how it’s been made, such as with the chicken and beef stocks. When there are optional ingredients, Nora not only tells us what we can substitute based on personal preferences, but also explains regional variations. And while we’re preparing mole amarillo, she educates a propos the fallacy of there being seven moles: “Some think of siete moles because we at times refer to seven regions in the state. But if you stop and consider, in Puerto Escondido for example, where shrimp are often used to create stock and as the protein in amarillo, shouldn’t we consider this mole a class or variety onto itself?”
As we’re preparing our mole amarillo, we’re tasting as the flavor subtly changes, adding hoja santa, the spice mixture, the masa which, it’s explained, absorbs and reduces some of the heat. A fiery salsa is almost magically converted into a complex mole, a creation one is hard-pressed to encounter when commercially prepared. “How spicy does everyone like to eat? You know I don’t promise anything because peppers are like lottery tickets: you never know. I used to say to my grandmother, let me measure, but she would say no, use your eyes, your nose, and your mouth to measure.” Nora continues that the same ingredient is often different in intensity, flavor, and how it absorbs, as for example with chicken … it’s not always the same.
While she emphasizes historical and regional contextualization in the use of ingredients, and the resultant variation in recipes, Nora also ensures that technique is appropriately stressed in class. She draws participants into hands-on learning, encouraging each to contribute to the creation of every plate.
Printed recipe sheets are distributed, but not until the meal has been served. Nora opines that it’s better for students to first watch, listen, participate, and ask questions, rather than read and make notes. As the meal concludes, she then reviews the recipes and fields questions regarding any doubts.
By about 2 p.m. we’re ready to sample some mezcal, and then sit down and indulge in our creations:
1) An appetizer of fresh squash blossoms stuffed with a mixture of requesón cheese,
ham, onion and nuts;
2) Consumé of hoja santa, with squash blossom, quesillo, garlic, etc.;
3) Rice á la mint;
4) Mole amarillo with chicken and steamed vegetables;
5) A garnish of sliced onion in a lime juice vinaigrette;
6) Salsa of green tomato with gusanos de maguey;
7) Fresh fruit juice of orange, lime and cucumber;
8) Dessert tamales with pineapple, coconut and raisin.
Even Nora’s grandmother would be hard-pressed to produce such a diverse, delectable and complete comida.
Cocina con Nora is located at Aldama 205, Barrio de Jalatlaco, in downtown Oaxaca. Maximum class size is 10. You can register for Nora’s classes by calling (951) 515-5645 or e-mailing her at: misrecue@hotmail.com.
(Website: http://www.almademitierra.net )
Alvin Starkman together with wife Arlene operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast ( http://www.oaxacadream.com ). Alvin received his masters in social anthropology in 1978, and his law degree in 1984. Thereafter he was a litigator in Toronto until taking early retirement. He and his family were frequent visitors to Oaxaca between 1991 and when they became permanent residents in 2004. Alvin reviews restaurants, writes about life and cultural traditions in Oaxaca, and tours couples and families to the craft villages, towns on their market days, ruins, and other sights in and around the central valleys of the state capital. He is also special Oaxaca consultant to documentary film companies.
Cooking lessons with Nora Valencia, in Oaxaca, Mexico
Alvin Starkman M.A., LL.B.
If you absorb only a minute fraction of what Nora’s grandmother taught her about Oaxacan cookery over the course of about four decades, you’ll leave with not only a fount of knowledge about ingredients and techniques, but also a profound understanding of the history and geographical variation of all that’s Oaxacan cuisine today … and of course completely satiated by the end of your gourmet meal.
Oaxacan Nora Valencia enraptures her students with informative stories and humorous anecdotes peppered throughout her class about her abuelita’s insights into food preparation and ingredient combinations. But she also confesses, while walking from the market, that hers was a long journey in arriving at a “classroom” environment upwards of ten years ago: “What my grandmother and mother taught me wasn’t nearly enough. My coming of age as an instructor required a lot of research and travel, in the nature of sociological and anthropological investigation, some chemistry and physics, and even botany. And I always tried to get my hands on as many old books as possible about Latin American foodstuffs, and wherever possible concerning Mexican and Oaxacan plants and herbs and pre-Hispanic recipes. There’s one book in particular I still need, called ‘Conquista y Comida’ … maybe you’ll come across it at a local book fare and let me know.”
The lesson day begins at 9:30, with students meeting and chatting briefly with one another and Nora, in a relaxed informal setting at her B & B, La Casa de Mis Recuerdos. At about 10, taxis arrive to take all to Mercado de La Merced, one of, if not the most popular of the daily markets in downtown Oaxaca … for Oaxacans. About an hour is spent in the market, walking from stall to stall, where you learn, variously, about indigenous origins and history, and current uses, of dried and fresh chiles, nuts, tomatoes, cheeses, breads, an abundance of herbs, and much more. You come away with an appreciation of how Oaxacan cuisine has arrived in the 21st century, as a result of a melding of the use of pre-Hispanic produce and meats, with imports first brought over from Spain during the conquest period.
Nora imparts an understanding of the difference between produce found in the permanent market stalls (most often purchased by the vendors from growers or wholesalers with large operations), and that sold by mainly women sitting on the ground who have grown the fruits, vegetables and herbs in their own towns and villages: “We now use the term organic, for what we have traditionally referred to as criollo, which is what these ladies sell. But some of the large stalls also have criollo produce, so watch for it.”
Nora reveals both here and several times later on in the kitchen setting, what ingredients, more easily accessed back home, can be substituted for what she buys in the market such as local varieties of green and red tomatoes, specific herbs, chiles, and even masa: “If you can only buy packaged Maseca brand corn flour in Oregon, and you’re making tamales, then add a bit of cornmeal to give it the proper texture. Feel the difference between the two types of masa we find here in the market, one for tortillas and the other for tamales. And you may already know, we use a lot a hoja santa in our recipes, and it’s only available in some states, such as Florida, so if you can’t find it, try using … .”
Rather than purchase everything at this market visit, Nora has already purchased most the day before, and what she does buy during this brief tour she leaves at each stall and picks up when we’re ready to depart. “Now I’m going back to some of the puestos to pick up what we bought, so let’s meet out front in 10 – 15 minutes. Meanwhile you can go and buy some of those rarer dried chiles to take home, that spicy paste that I told you I like to keep in my purse when visiting the U.S., and maybe even some gusano worms that we’ll be using to make a salsa later on. You can buy a string of 100 and wear it as a necklace for customs.” Nora passes on invaluable advice about which ingredients you should be able to take over the border, and what freezes well (i.e. quesillo and chapulines --- Oaxacan string cheese and grasshoppers).
We walk to her nearby home on a quaint cobblestone road, where the balance of the class will unfold. We’ll spend the rest of the morning and afternoon in her traditional, painted-tile (talavera) kitchen with center island, and her dining and sitting rooms opening onto a courtyard lushly landscaped with trees, vines and flowering shrubs. A feeling of comfort envelopes, like you’re at home, because in a sense you are, made to feel as welcomed as possible. With only one assistant, Minerva, I marvel at the intense work that has gone into the pre-preparation of some dishes, and more importantly how Nora must be “on” 100% of the time, and attentive to each of the ten apprentices, ranging in age from early twenties to late sixties, for upwards of six hours.
It’s effectively all Nora, teaching, directing, reassuring, reminding, and correcting. With mainly novices in this class this day, making dessert tamales, one of the two most complex recipes of the day, isn’t as easy as simply mixing up some dough with pineapple chunks and wrapping it in corn husk. Three mixtures are prepared, placed into the husks, and then folded in a most gingerly fashion: “Sorry, but this will have to be another patchwork, so we’ll combine two into one, or better yet, how about just using an extra husk to hold it all together.” There’s the masa mixture, the coconut / milk concoction, pineapple / sugar / cinnamon fusion, plus raisins to boot. “Now see that I’m not spilling out the water from boiling the pineapple, because I can use it another time instead of just water, to make a fresh fruit juice (agua fresca). It’s already sweet and flavorful.”
Where a component has been prepared prior to our arrival, Nora instructs how it’s been made, such as with the chicken and beef stocks. When there are optional ingredients, Nora not only tells us what we can substitute based on personal preferences, but also explains regional variations. And while we’re preparing mole amarillo, she educates a propos the fallacy of there being seven moles: “Some think of siete moles because we at times refer to seven regions in the state. But if you stop and consider, in Puerto Escondido for example, where shrimp are often used to create stock and as the protein in amarillo, shouldn’t we consider this mole a class or variety onto itself?”
As we’re preparing our mole amarillo, we’re tasting as the flavor subtly changes, adding hoja santa, the spice mixture, the masa which, it’s explained, absorbs and reduces some of the heat. A fiery salsa is almost magically converted into a complex mole, a creation one is hard-pressed to encounter when commercially prepared. “How spicy does everyone like to eat? You know I don’t promise anything because peppers are like lottery tickets: you never know. I used to say to my grandmother, let me measure, but she would say no, use your eyes, your nose, and your mouth to measure.” Nora continues that the same ingredient is often different in intensity, flavor, and how it absorbs, as for example with chicken … it’s not always the same.
While she emphasizes historical and regional contextualization in the use of ingredients, and the resultant variation in recipes, Nora also ensures that technique is appropriately stressed in class. She draws participants into hands-on learning, encouraging each to contribute to the creation of every plate.
Printed recipe sheets are distributed, but not until the meal has been served. Nora opines that it’s better for students to first watch, listen, participate, and ask questions, rather than read and make notes. As the meal concludes, she then reviews the recipes and fields questions regarding any doubts.
By about 2 p.m. we’re ready to sample some mezcal, and then sit down and indulge in our creations:
1) An appetizer of fresh squash blossoms stuffed with a mixture of requesón cheese,
ham, onion and nuts;
2) Consumé of hoja santa, with squash blossom, quesillo, garlic, etc.;
3) Rice á la mint;
4) Mole amarillo with chicken and steamed vegetables;
5) A garnish of sliced onion in a lime juice vinaigrette;
6) Salsa of green tomato with gusanos de maguey;
7) Fresh fruit juice of orange, lime and cucumber;
8) Dessert tamales with pineapple, coconut and raisin.
Even Nora’s grandmother would be hard-pressed to produce such a diverse, delectable and complete comida.
Cocina con Nora is located at Aldama 205, Barrio de Jalatlaco, in downtown Oaxaca. Maximum class size is 10. You can register for Nora’s classes by calling (951) 515-5645 or e-mailing her at: misrecue@hotmail.com.
(Website: http://www.almademitierra.net )
Alvin Starkman together with wife Arlene operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast ( http://www.oaxacadream.com ). Alvin received his masters in social anthropology in 1978, and his law degree in 1984. Thereafter he was a litigator in Toronto until taking early retirement. He and his family were frequent visitors to Oaxaca between 1991 and when they became permanent residents in 2004. Alvin reviews restaurants, writes about life and cultural traditions in Oaxaca, and tours couples and families to the craft villages, towns on their market days, ruins, and other sights in and around the central valleys of the state capital. He is also special Oaxaca consultant to documentary film companies.
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