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Anonimo

Oct 10, 2005, 5:45 PM

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Nances, Raspados y Diablitos in Pátzcuaro

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There are mysterious foods offered by the vendors in Pátzcuaro. Today, I again saw the nances vendor, http://www.pbase.com/panos/image/50544850, but what caught my eye was a Diablitos y Raspados vendor, situated directly in front of the Mercado de Antojitos. A Raspado is a shaved ice cup with syrup. I avoid eating stuff like that. For that reason, I didn't ask to take a picture, as I didn't dare sample any. But a diablito seems to be sort of a "gaspacho de frutas", perhaps fewer fruits, and absolutely DOUSED with chile sauce and salt. To watch the vendor at the one closest to the mercado, not on the Plaza itself, is a wonder. He is incredibly swift in assembling these cups of what seem to be crushed fruit and maybe ice. The lime squeezing trick is alone worth the price of admission. (free).
Are there any daring souls who have tried these (and lived to tell about it?. There were lines of customers, waiting to get their diablito.

We ate birria instead.
http://www.pbase.com/panos/image/50357700

Saludos,
Anonimo

Bubba

Oct 10, 2005, 7:37 PM

Post #2 of 11 (3825 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Nances, Raspados y Diablitos in Pátzcuaro

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Anonimo:

While watching the the diabolitos y raspados street vendor is great theater, I would venture that those who are prone to actually eat the treats he prepares are too busy having their stomachs pumped to answer your inquiry.

At least the clayudas prepared Etla, Oaxaca style that I just observed being made on Canal Once's La Ruta del Sabor, probably won't hurt anything more than one's sense of aesthetics.

CLAYUDAS TIPO DE ETLA
extra large tortillas in the style of the area around Oaxaca city spread with:

Lard peppered with carnitas residue (known locally as asiento de manteca).
A salsa made with guajilla chiles, garlic, tomatillos and salted, pan roasted maguey worms all mashed together in a molcajete.
A fresh Oaxaca style cheese.

Heat this on a wood fire until the asiento de manteca loses some of its viscosity.

It is best to enjoy this repast with the locally produced mescal. If you are an extranjero, you will not know that the salsa has maguey worms as an important component since they are mashed up with the other ingredients. However, if you are squeamish about this, load up on the mescal before eating the tortilla.

La Ruta del Sabor is quite entertaining and features regional country cooking in various parts of Mexico. The program comes on on Monday nights at 8:30PM central time on Canal Once, a national educational channel. I recommend it to those of you interested in local rustic cuisine.

You can have my maguey worms.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Oct 10, 2005, 7:58 PM)

esperanza

Oct 10, 2005, 8:41 PM

Post #3 of 11 (3815 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Nances, Raspados y Diablitos in Pátzcuaro

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MMMMM...I love raspados. There used to be a man in the Parque Nacional in Uruapan who made them, and maybe he's still there. He advertised raspados at one price and bombas for slightly more. The first time I ordered one from him, I asked for a raspado de tamarindo and no, no I didn't want a bomba, thank you. Oh no, no bomba for me. He made the raspado and I tasted it. Hmmm, I hmm'ed...could you put a little lime in it? Con todo gusto. Another taste. A bit of salt? Con todo gusto. And maybe a pinch of chile? He laughed. Ay señora, y que cree usted que es una bomba? But he wouldn't charge me extra for my ignorance.

I have indeed survived a diablito. You have to like chile, but they are so good. The sweetness of the fruit, the salt, the limoncito, and the heat of the chile are a wonderful combination, the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. The mix of flavors is similar to the idea of tsien in Chinese cuisine.

And I think the nances are nanches. If they're a small round yellow fruit, served in a bag or plastic cup with (or without) salt and chile, then it's nanche, or sometimes changunga. They are definitely an acquired taste, and one I've never acquired. No me gustan.

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Kimpatsu Hekigan

Oct 10, 2005, 9:42 PM

Post #4 of 11 (3812 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Nances, Raspados y Diablitos in Pátzcuaro

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A blog post about nanches in Patzcuaro:

Nanches y Garbanzos

FWIW,

-- K.H.

Before enlightenment: Chop wood, haul water.
After enlightenment: Chop wood, haul water.

Anonimo

Oct 11, 2005, 4:40 AM

Post #5 of 11 (3807 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Nances, Raspados y Diablitos in Pátzcuaro

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And then, there are ciruelas which are not plums. They are a small roundish, yellow fruit, which sweet and tasty flesh but a mighty large stone. We ate a couple, and are wondering what to do with the rest.
Yesterday, curiosity overcame me in the Pátzcuaro mercado, and we bought one cherimoya, though exceedingly ripe. Unfortunately, by the time we got home, it had "exploded" into a wet goosh. So, we didn't get to try it.

On another forum, Palomares has also explained what a diablito is and how good they are.

Saludos,
Anonimo

esperanza

Oct 11, 2005, 6:12 AM

Post #6 of 11 (3804 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Nances, Raspados y Diablitos in Pátzcuaro

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The ciruelas you mention are indeed plums. They're just not the type plum you're used to in the States. Generally these are used to make agua fresca. They're so delicious, a burst of flavor in your mouth.

Too bad about the cherimoya. Buy another one (not so ripe as the one you first bought) about the size of a softball, and let it come to the perfect stage of maturity at home. Quite soft but not squishy is what you want. Cut it in half and eat it with a spoon. Its flavor is like a combination of peach, pineapple, and banana.

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Anonimo

Oct 11, 2005, 7:07 AM

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Re: [esperanza] Nances, Raspados y Diablitos in Pátzcuaro

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Mmmm, we will try that again, Thanks!

Saludos,
Anonimo

esperanza

Oct 11, 2005, 7:44 AM

Post #8 of 11 (3789 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Nances, Raspados y Diablitos in Pátzcuaro

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Speaking of things to try: it's the season for guasanas, steamed-in-the-shell green garbanzos. If you haven't tried them yet, don't hesitate. Buy a bagful. They're more addictive (and way fewer calories) than peanuts. You'll find them on any street corner, I'm sure, and they're also readily available from now till late winter at Lake Chapala.

Anónimo, that bowl of birria looks pretty good. But. Head over to Guadalajara for a visit and we'll get a group together to go out for the bar-none best birria made anywhere. Friends and I go at least once a month. We hope you and Mrs. Anónimo will join us soon.

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Bubba

Oct 12, 2005, 7:43 AM

Post #9 of 11 (3752 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Nances, Raspados y Diablitos in Pátzcuaro

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My good friend Esperanza keeps talking of guasanas or green garbanzos (chickpeas) now available on the streets steamed and sold as a treat to passing pedestrians. She is far more fond of these legumes than am I and I personally find them rather tasteless. To each his/her own.

However, something kept bothering me about this since I am a huge fan of the ubiquitous dried garbanza bean used often in Indian and Mediterranean dishes (and widely available canned in Mexican markets) and that is usually a component in salad bars stateside and probably Mexico as well. I simply knew that the green, steamed garbanzo beans offered on the street around here were not the same thing as my beloved knobby, roundish, beige beans with the mealy texture that I use to make hummus (for example).

Since the internet affords us all the opportunity ro be experts, I went to the web site for Diefenbaker Seed Processors, Ltd. out of Canada and discovered that there are different varieties of chickpeas. Diefenbaker sells the KABULI, which is the grabanzo I am familiar with and dates from around 500 BC when it was cultivated in Mesopotamia and the DESI which is a light to dark brown color with a thick seed coat about 80% of which are split in half and used to make Chana Dahl

The guasanas appear to be more like the DESI Chickpea but who knows. Maybe the Mexican variety sold fresh in the market is still another variety. The one thing I do know is that the beans sold on the street here are not of the KABULI variety with which I am familiar..

There, I feel much better now.

NOTE:
I am talking about the guasanas sold in the street steamed in their pods, not the garbanzos one sees in the tianguis which are canned Kabuli Garbanzos broken down for resale and packaged in plastic in small lots.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Oct 12, 2005, 10:23 AM)

Anonimo

Oct 13, 2005, 12:57 AM

Post #10 of 11 (3734 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Nances, Raspados y Diablitos in Pátzcuaro

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I added this picture, from February, 2004, to my photo gallery, to illustrate guasanas: http://www.pbase.com/image/50576392

The word looks and sounds uncomfortably close to gusanos.

Saludos,
Anonimo

MariaLund

Oct 30, 2005, 9:19 AM

Post #11 of 11 (3669 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Nances, Raspados y Diablitos in Pátzcuaro

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I remember those small yellow plums from Europe: we called them mirabelles. My grandmother used to make sort of a tart (but with sweet, buttery yeast dough) with them. Aah, the taste!
Vivere non est necesse, navigare necesse est!