Mole and grasshoppers...

For those amigos who are wondering why I don't like Mexican cuisine, here's the answer: yesterday, I was invited to the estate of a refined couple ( the host, a lawyer, may run for President ), and fed local delicacies that included fried grasshoppers and crumbled pig's skin! Okay, the cactus I could handle.... it tasted like portobello mushrooms... but the rest??? The mole sauce was outstanding... poured over the chicken in abundance. I got the house recipe for it, from our beautiful hostess ( a former dancer). Five kinds of chillies, almonds and chocolate, of course.
Mexico had just started to grow on me, when it was time to pack our bags and say adios to our newly made Mexican buddies, who raised the perfect toast when they declared, " To old friends... and new family." Mexico City was worse than Mumbai.... but my God, the museums ( Frida Kahlo!) and the pyramids just an hour away, made up for the madness of the metropolis. Unlike Mumbai, where people do tend to be indifferent to strangers, the Mexicans were consistently friendly and most welcoming.... especially when they found out we were from India. But sorry... the food just isn't for me. And it is NOT the Tex-Mex rubbish the world associates with Mexican cuisine. It was also good to learn first- hand just how passionately patriotic Mexicans are. That explains their love-hate relationship with America. And their intense dislike for Spaniards. Viva Zapata, lives!
Well.... am off to Brussels. The place with the prettiest square in Europe, and the best chocolates on earth. More from Bruge and Antwerp in my next post... whenever that is.
Keep the comments coming. I read every single one of them. And respond to a few personally...