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.

My search for the regional candy of Chetumal began with the taxi driver on the way to the hostel from the bus station. I asked him what the traditional candy of Chetumal was like, and he assured me that it was very good - mostly conserved fruits (bananas, papayas, pineapples, etc.) This was good news to me since I hadn’t yet tried the delicious looking sugared fruits I’d seen on numerous candy store shelves and I was about to leave Mexico… I didn’t want to leave any candy unexplored!

After a quick nap at my seedy hotel (arriving from the bus station at 4AM tends to leave me tired) I set off for the center of town and the promised frutas conservidas. Once there, I asked a store owner where I could find traditional candies de Chetumal. I was directed to the main market, a quick taxi ride away, to look for the store Rey de Dulces (King of Candies.) After fifteen minutes spent asking around for directions in the markets, I found a dulceria stall that had recently closed for the day. Oh no! Fortunately, it turned out that Rey de Dulces had both an early-closing market stall and a larger store a block away from the market that remained open later.

Unfortunately, when I arrived it quickly became clear that the Rey de Dulces didn’t actually have any traditional Chetumal candies. It was certainly large, with a huge variety of mass-produced Mexican candies, but nothing was actually made in the Chetumal region. A store owner suggested the Esplanado, where there were small stalls set up selling corn and fruits with sugar. This sounded promising! Another quick taxi ride to the Esplanado, a beautiful walkway along the coast, and yet another dead end. Not only were there no stores at all, but despite the nice atmosphere of the walk the streets were nearly empty. Definitely confused, I asked one of the locals where the candy was. She directed me to a nearby corner store until I clarified that I was looking for traditional candy - at which point she admitted she didn’t know where I could find it. Grrr! As it was starting to get late, I decided to go back to the hotel and try again the next day. Maybe it would be more lively in the morning.

Returning around 11AM the next day, I discovered that the Esplanado was not, in fact any more lively when the sun was shining brightly. I asked yet another store owner where I could find traditional candy - this guy suggested the Plaza, where apparently there were many artisan stores and dulcerias. Aha! I thought I’d hit gold, so I grabbed a taxi to take me there. The driver assured me that our destination was where many Chetumal residents went on the weekend, rather than the Esplanado. Hooray! It looked like I was finally finishing my search for the candies of Chetumal, and not a moment too soon as I hoped to leave the city for Belize that afternoon.

In the taxi, I eagerly awaited my arrival at “the Plaza” - an area I imaged to be similar to the town squares of many other Mexican towns. Of course, that wasn’t what the Plaza was at all. Instead, it was a large shopping mall… not exactly what I was hoping for! Few people shopping at the mall knew of any candy stores, but finally I found a small stall selling a few regional treats. At last! While it didn’t quite fit my expectations, I was able to purchase some handmade candies I hadn’t yet tried on my trip so far: meringue puffs and sweetened bars of pepitas (tasted like pumpkin seeds) and coconut chunks. The meringue puff was delicious - hard and a bit chewy on the outside but oozing with a sweet marshmallowy goodness in the center. At least… it was delicious until I realized that there were little pieces of crushed ants on one of the edges… looks like I got a little unanticipated protein to go with the cricket! The sweet, grainy bars of pumpkin seeds (flavored with a bit of honey I think?) and coconut (with molasses) were also very good, and without the unexpected insect parts.

While I didn’t quite get what I was hoping for, I did try three new kinds of sweets in Mexico, and just in time because I’m in Belize now! This English-speaking Caribbean influenced country is quite a change from Mexico, in terms of atmosphere, culture, and the price (shockingly high!) They don’t seem to have much of a candy culture here, with almost everything imported from England or the United States. I will be working on a farm for a few days so hopefully I’ll learn something about candy production there. Just a few more entries and I can wrap up my time in Mexico, I hope!