Malena loves candy. And travel. And both together. And thus, this site was born.
I’m in Belgium, home of waffles and chocolate… a far cry from these brightly colored Mexican obleas, made of the same material as communion wafers.
I have some great new stories and pictures about candy that I had planned on uploading today, at least until my computer hard drive bit the big one. Again. For the second time this trip. Again, there is lost material, plus the annoyance and cost of dealing with getting my computer fixed a second time. Basically, HP is the devil, and enough about that.
Also, I’m preparing goody bags for some of the people who’ve sponsored me. If you’re thinking about it, now would be a good time - Belgium, Switzerland, France, and Germany lie ahead!
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I take a lot of random pictures of candy that never get posted here. To help fix that, I’m going to start randomly posting pictures with a small description of the candy on an irregular basis. This is something I’d wanted to start earlier, but when my laptop hard drive broke I lost all of the pictures that I never uploaded to Flickr - quite a blow!
These are gomitas. My Abuelita’s favorite candy, we bought numerous different bags to try them all, and the ones pictured here were my favorite - sweet, soft, and flavorful gumdrops!
I spent more than a month in Mexico - what a great country to start the trip in! The sheer variety of life there could be overwhelming: colonial churches stood near pre-Columbian ruins; poor farmers and rich American-schooled politicians shared cities; a wide blend of settings from beaches to deserts, mountains to rain forests; the clean cobble-stoned streets of San Cristobal contrasting with the grittiness of Mexico City. Sure, my debit card stopped working, and I fell victim to one of the many maladies that have long plagued travelers, but I also was cared for by distant relatives and spent my first three weeks bonding with my Abuelita. These entry describes my impressions of the cities I visited in Mexico - I hope it is helpful to someone planning a similar trip. (more…)
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…)
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…)