Ep.06: Remembering Susi Noh Un
This episode begins and ends with some thoughts from Susi Noh Un, recorded when we were writing her bio for the Frutas y Verduras website. Susi was an integral part of Frutas y Verduras, as co-teacher of a class we called Corn to Comal, with Erin Gomez Danielson in Mérida. She was a vibrant woman, who […]
Ep.04: A New Yorker’s Pura Vida
Alicia Wilson Rivero will say she is a teacher and food enthusiast more than a chef. And for more than 10 years, in San Miguel de Allende, she has been making her mark as a food business mover and shaker with Pura Vida Cooking School, and now Deli-Q which offers an international menu of prepared […]
Zapote Negro “chocolate pudding”
Zapote Negro, a variety of persimmon “Chocolate Persimmon”, is sometimes referred to as Chocolate Pudding Fruit in English, but that is a bit of a misnomer. While it has the consistency, creaminess and rich color of chocolate pudding, in a blind test, one wouldn’t likely confuse its flavor with chocolate. It is slightly sweet, a […]
Ep.01: A Natural Foods Chef Marries into Mérida
Chef Erin Gomez Danielson is a founding collaborator with Frutas y Verduras Mexico. In her six years and counting as a resident of Merida, Yucatan, she has learned about local foods from her in-laws, neighbors, market vendors and from Susi Noh-Un with whom she collaborates on classes that utilize ingredients from Susi’s Mayan traditions, while […]
Ep.02: From Ohio to Mexico: Eating the Milpa
Growing up in Ohio, then Idaho, Kyle Piispanen’s food culture was decidedly American. An interest in anthropology took him to Veracruz, Mexico, at the age of 18, and there, with a ranching family, he first experienced real Mexican food. Now in the final leg of a PhD, Kyle chats with Margret about milpa farming, corn […]
Ep.03: The Herbaceous Life in Oaxaca
When Suzanne Barbezat left Montreal for an overland trip south to Mexico, little would she have known that a visit to the famed site of Monte Alban in Oaxaca would be pivotal in her life journey. In the more than 20 years that she has been living in Oaxaca, Suzanne’s life has blended her studies […]
How I Overcame My Culture Shock by Embracing Eating Local
My move to Mexico was inextricably linked to my career in food. I met my husband in a restaurant kitchen after all, and soon after we made the decision to take our life together to his hometown of Merida. Being a chef is a big part of my identity, so leaving my career was a […]
Frutas y Verduras of the Dead
Whether living or dead, ‘man cannot live on bread alone’. For souls returning to visit their loved ones on Day of the Dead vegetables and fruits placed on the altars represent the deep connection to the source, to Mother Earth and provide nourishment for their long journey. Let’s take a look at some of the […]
An Encounter with Ramón
The Maya nut, also known as: Ojite, Ojoche, Capomo, Jushte, Ash, Ox In 2014, I travelled to Chiapas and was hosted there by a young couple doing work under an NGO in a rainforest community. They explained to me that part of their project was to develop ways to make use of the seed from […]