Market Tacos in Mexico City

The market plays an important role in Mexico City’s daily life, not just because of its vendors but also because of its food makers – these market districts are home to a dizzying mix of street food sellers and small specialty restaurants. We sample some of these treats, tacos included, on our Market Watch walk.

Pick Your Protein

On our “Market Watch” walk in Mexico City, we learn about the different ingredients that are the building blocks of Mexico’s culture and its inimitable cuisine. Like at this stall, which is offering various types of nuts, legumes and – our favorite – toasted crickets.

Layer by Layer

As one of the world’s most densely populated urban centers, Mexico City can feel intimidating at first; the hustle and bustle is as inspiring as it is exhausting. To better understand the complex cultural identity of this vibrant megacity, where pre-Hispanic, colonial, and contemporary influences collide, we organized a five-day trip – “Layer by Layer: A Mexico City Culinary Adventure” – in partnership with Atlas Obscura. Led by veteran Culinary Backstreets guide and Mexico City native Paco de Santiago, this unique trip gives a broader understanding of the city’s natural landscape and intimate culinary traditions. Through Paco’s personal anecdotes and encyclopedic knowledge of Mexican culture, the group was able to better understand the harmony as well as the dissonance that define this layered city.

Five-a-day in Mexico City

We visit Mexico City’s markets to stock up on fruits and vegetables, but sometimes we opt for frutitas de leche, fruit-shaped sweets, instead. (Surely they count towards our five portions of fruit and veg a day, right?) Learn more about how the market works and the important role it plays in daily Mexico City life on our “Market Watch” culinary walk.

Lunch Aboard a Boat in Xochimilco

On our special five-day culinary adventure in Mexico City, we eat one of our meals on board a traditional flat-bottomed boat along Xochimilco’s Aztec-era canals that have been in use for more than 2,000 years and are now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The meal is prepared by locals using products from the chinampas, the area’s famous “floating gardens.”

Beach Barbacoa

Earlier this year, we attended a music festival on the Barra de Colotepec near Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca. This is where the Colotepec River meets the Pacific Ocean, creating a rich natural environment away from the bustle of the city.