Malena loves candy. And travel. And both together. And thus, this site was born.
Recently, I’ve spent a few days in Placencia. This small, laid-back beach town offers visitors lucky enough to visit in March and April a chance to see some of the biggest fish in the world. Up to 55 feet (!!) long, whale sharks are notoriously difficult to view in the wild and scientists have almost no information on how they live, breed, and die. While the trip out to see these protected animals is quite expensive in Belize, I felt I couldn’t be traveling there, in season, and not pay the $100 dollar fee. After all, there was a greater than 90% chance of seeing them and everyone raved about actually being up close and personal with a giant, totally safe fish. (more…)
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Sometimes, it’s easy to find regional candy. A city will have a museum about candy, brochures describing where to find it or how to see it being made, or famous streets lined with candy stores.
Sometimes, it’s much harder. Chetumal was one of those places. (more…)
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Apologies for the lack of blog posts lately. This is largely for two reasons: I’ve been extremely busy traveling to try and make up some time for the last few weeks, and there just isn’t that much interesting candy that I’ve been able to find in Southern Mexico. Ruins, waterfalls, tourist activities… there’s plenty of that! But try asking for dulces typicos and people look at me like I’m crazy. (more…)
In all of my previous candy entries, I’ve focused on the traditional sweets that have been around for centuries. Cajeta and camotes provide a historical context for modern-day Mexican candy, but that doesn’t mean it’s what kids eat on a day to day basis. With the Industrial Revolution came the ability to mass-produce a wide variety of candy, and with the invention of (alas!) corn syrup, candy producers are able to help offset the extremely high price of sugar in making sweet treats.
Well, the overwhelming majority of commenters in the last entry voted in favor of “Malena Eating a Cricket.” Thanks guys! I’ll remember it! Hopefully this whets your appetite… (more…)
So, in Oaxaca a fairly common “treat” available for snacking is… crickets! Ew! I’m not sure if this qualifies as a candy or not, but I’ve wussed out of eating any to date. For the sake of the blog, do I need to try one?? Comment to let me know!
I’ve been in Oaxaca longer than any other place so far (mostly due to Spanish lessons and an ill-timed double whammy of credit card problems and stomach problems) and the city really has an amazing amount to offer. The chocolate, the mole, the churches, the craftwork… Oaxaca is a popular city for gringo tourists to visit, and it’s easy to see why. While I prefer the less ornate styling of the rose-colored cathedral in Morelia to the popular gold-plated Church of Santo Domingo, there’s no denying the Oaxacan interior is stunning. Similarly, the cajeta of Celaya is more my style than the chocolate of Oaxaca, but there’s nothing like a malteada (frothy, delicious milkshake) on a hot day. (more…)
That’s right, just like rock and roll, chocolate in Mexico enjoys a lively history - one that I felt I should share as I’m currently in Oaxaca, renowned throughout the country for its presence in the chocolate industry. Here, there are many stores, stands, and stalls where chocolate is made from cacao beans and used in drinks, sweets, and sauces of all kinds. And, of course, the strong indigenous influence in the area keeps the age-old chocolate myths close to the surface. (more…)