"oaxaca" news and stories

Photo: Pink Sherbet Photography, Flickr

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Radishes are a nice, crunchy addition to salads, lending a peppery flavor and some color to whatever they're combined with. In Oaxaca, they take full advantage of the versatility of the vegetable by celebrating la Noche de Rabanos, or "the night of radishes," on December 23rd. The annual festival showcases the radish carvings, made from extremely large radishes (up to 10lbs). The carvings are often extremely elaborate, shaped as dancers, animals, village scenes and parts of folk stories, as well as religious images (like Nacimiento, the nativity scene).

The Radish festival began in the late 19th century when the mayor of Oaxaca "inaugurated the first exhibition of radish art." Now, tourists come in, "snapping pictures like radish paparazzi" and enjoying the carnival-like atmosphere. Cash and other prizes are given to the best pieces and lots of food and drinks (only some of which involve more radishes) are enjoyed.

Click here to see a flickr photo gallery of some of the really intricate radish entries from this year's festival.

[via neatorama]

Source

We're certainly all familiar with Mexican food, especially here in LA. However, Mexican food isn't just the giant burritos and enchiladas dripping with cheese that we're so accustomed to. And don't even say anything about Taco Bell.

Oaxaca (wah-HA-ka) is a state of Mexico toward the southern end of country, and borders the Pacific Ocean. The food and cooking of Oaxaca is unique from just plain "Mexican food," just as many of the other regional cuisines of Mexico that reflect the differences in locally available ingredients and cultural histories.

Oaxacan cuisine is labor-intensive. The hallmark of the cuisine is mole. "Mole" is a general term for a type of incredibly complex sauce made with as many as 20, sometimes 30 ingredients, including chocolate and spices like cloves and cinnamon. The sauce can vary in sweetness,and can go from mild to fiery hot. 

Though I grew up on Mexican food in San Antonio (Tex Mex), and now here in LA, I am fairly new to this specialty cuisine from Oaxaca. I found the moles to be very earthy, and the mole verde over chicken that I ordered was very mild. There's no monstrous plate of refried beans, no dry red Mexican rice, but a simple focus on vegetables and meats.