Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Seafood

We aren't close to either coast. In fact I guess you could say we are pretty much in the center of Mexico. So for a long time I was wary of buying fish or shrimp, even eating it in restaurants. I tried to like a fish market that is close to our neighborhood but sometimes I didn't like the smell of it and a few times when I bought shrimp they had been treated with or frozen in a salt solution that made them salty and they were simply not "ocean fresh."

For all these years I have resisted going to the Tuesday Tianguis because I heard tales of people's pockets being picked or of going through piles of clothes looking for shirts and jeans. I didn't want to have either of those experiences but finally for some reason that I can't remember now, we went to the Tianguis. We had a great time. Ned stopped at all the hardware stalls and I stopped at the fruit and veggie stands. We ate tacos there. I found chorizo verde. A bird cage. And there was a seafood stall and a chicken stall. I didn't buy seafood or chicken the first time but since then I've been buying from these two vendors. The shrimp we have gotten there have been as good a shrimp as I've every had for about $6.50-7.00 a pound (that is dollars). They are fairly large shrimp. We haven't bought any fish yet because I can't get past the shrimp but we will be buying some soon because they look very fresh also.

This week we bought shrimp again and this time we had shrimp creole. It was really, really good.

6 comments:

pitchertaker said...

That's a pretty damned good fish picture to go along with your fish story, my dear. You should print that big BIG! Totally cool.

P'taker

Nancy said...

Billie,

I think the salty taste has to do with the brine they are frozen in out on the water.

It isn't shrimp season now so everything will have been frozen.

The local board here says to soak and rinse and remove the shells before using them and they will be fine.

Deb Hall ~ Zocalo de Mexican Folk Art said...

Billie, I was admiring your fish photo again and I'm with Frank. What a print that would make!

Islagringo said...

Soak the shrimp in water then cook them in a water/beer mix. Great this way. Also, that shrimp is expensive! Must be the import cost. We pay 80MX per kilo, so about $3.65USD per pound. Of course, I have to travel quite a distance to get them...three doors down!

Billie Mercer said...

Thanks for the suggestion of soaking the shrimp in water. I've done that with the local seafood market shrimp and they still are overly salty. But not the ones from the Tianguis. They are just perfect. Just the taste of fresh seafood.

Isla gringo, You live on the water and I'm glad that you can get the shrimp for that price. But I feel pretty lucky to get such fresh shrimp here in the middle of the country at a price less than I would pay in Houston.

Billie Mercer said...

Pitcher taker....I plan to make a print of the fish....just as soon as I have time to unclog the Epson 4000.