This is Jenny and Kevin
Welcome to our special Episode of Eat, Baila, Travel.
In this vlog we reconnect with Kevin's roots in Veracruz.
Welcome to Acayucan, Veracruz. La llave del Sureste
A key pinpoint when traveling down to the south east states of Mexico.
States such as Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo.
If you are ever traveling down south east
There's a big chance you pass by here
For me, this is a special place because this is where most of my mom's family lives.
So as we take the opportunity to visit family and explore some of Acayucan and Oluta.
We're going to show y'all the deliciousness and charm these town have to offer.
Acayucan is a small city and Oluta is a small town in the southern part of the state of Veracruz
And the culture here is a blend of indigenous customs from all around the isthmus of Tehuantepec
The isthmus of Tehuantepec crosses parts of the states of Veracruz, Oaxaca, and Chiapas
The isthmus measures the shortest distance from the gulf of Mexico to the pacific ocean.
Technically, Acayucan and Oluta are not on the isthmus, but it’s so close that the food
music and culture are influenced by it.
We want share with you some this Isthmus culture
the best way we know how to, through FOOD!
La Casa de la Tlayudas
Las Tlayudas not to be confused with a quesadilla.
Originally from Oaxaca these crunchy Tlayudas have morphed to fill up a big appetite
The Tlayudas around here consists of a large thin tortilla
filled with Cecina, chorizo, queso de hebra, lettuce and black beans.
Once prepared its laid over the mexican rosewood charcoal to melt all the flavors together.
Doesn't this look amazing? Just imagine how good it tastes.
The Tlayuda which is typical food of Oaxaca.
and along the isthmus of Mexico.
This one is carne cecina and chorizo
The essential part
Let's try it!
OOOH crunchy
the cecina is good
We also recommend the garnachas,
these fried tortillas topped with meat, salsa and queso chiapeco
THEY'RE CUTE!
They are not only cute they are packed to with flavor
We are at Tacos Jaime we are not only for the tacos
But also because there's a special drink
that we wouldn't normally order, and that is the Chocomil
The chocolate milk here comes with two different kinds of liquor
Ronpope and Jerez and it also
includes cinnamon, vanilla and of course the milk with chocolate powder
WE ARE ABOUT TO CHOCOLATE WASTED!
It's amazing!
It has a sweet taste, it doesn't taste like liquor at all.
It's so delicious.
Come for the Chocomil and stay for the tacos.
This place had our favorite tacos al Pastor in Acayucan.
For some good coffee, we found 2 places we really enjoyed.
Hotel Kinaku serves some delicious espresso
but you can also ask for the traditional lechero.
This hotel was founded by a man of Totonaca heritage
and he named the hote “Kinaku” which means “heart”
for its location in the heart of Acayucan.
So if you’re looking for a place to stay,
this family-owned hotel offers clean and affordable rooms.
The other is a Lebanese cafe that serves middle eastern desserts and coffee drinks.
Acayucan is not a metropolitan city,
so finding this place was a real treat, not just because it was delicious,
but because the owners have a really cool story to share.
We love sharing local stories so make sure to keep
an eye out for this upcoming video.
So tell me tell y'all it's been really fun to learn about Acayucan as an adult
I haven't been here in 15 years ever since I was a teenager visiting with my parents.
Let me be honest with y'all
Jenny and I, probably would have never visited here
if I didn't have family here.
BUT then we wouldn't have learned as much as we did.
About the prehispanic cultures in Veracruz.
Next to Acayucan is the town of Oluta.
Known as the birthplace of La Malinche.
Welcome to Oluta Veracruz!
La Malinche is arguably one of Mexico’s most controversial historical figures.
She was an indigenous woman who served as a translator
for Hernan Cortez and has a reputation for being Mexico’s most famous traitor,
but some argue that she was misunderstood.
We reached out to a local ethnographer to help us learn more about her,
so be sure to check out that video for some hot tea.
In Oluta you might overhear locals speaking in Popoluca, Nahuatl,
Totonaca, or Oluteco, some of the languages indigenous to the area.
We are super grateful with our family in Acayucan and Oluta.
for showing us around and teaching us about the local culture.
One of the first local delicacies they had us try was the Popo.
Popo is a foamy traditional drink from indigenous communities
of southern Veracruz and northern Oaxaca.
It's a prehispanic drink that is made of Cacao, rice, cinammon and...
azquiote!
It's like drinking bubbles
It's like a cold, chocolate bubbly drink.
It's cool!
The name of the drink Popo comes from the Nahuatl word "popocti"
which mean thing that foams.
In Oluta you'll only find Popo on Sundays
because it's such a long and tough process to make.
Traditionally the indigenous communities like the Popoluca
would only make this for big celebrations like weddings.
Traditionally, the Popo is accompanied by a tamal de masa.
In northern Mexico tamales are wrapped in corn husks, but in the isthmus region,
they use a variety of leaves.
Personally our favorite was the black beans tamal.
The bowl you see is a jícara, a wooden shell that grows on the tree of the same name.
The jícara has been mexico’s prehispanic bowl for drinking cacao for centuries.
Oluta is famous for its Memelas and you'll see them everywhere.
But we specifically liked the memelas from Yadi.
Memelas are originally from Oaxaca, but like we mentioned earlier,
the proximity to the isthmus means there’s lots of overlap in food and culture.
So me, trying these for the first time, I thought it looked like a Mexican pizza.
You’ve got a round base of tortilla, with a layer of sauce (salsa roja or verde, you can pick),
a layer beans, and queso de hebra, topped with your choice of meat.
In this case, we chose a memela with carne chinameca.
This is better than pizza.
WHAT?!
Who needs pizza when you have memelas.
Que va ser?!
If you like a good burger you have to try one from El Molcajete.
They are a new business so they don't have a location just yet!
So we got to go to their house for a burger.
Ok actually it's our cousins house but they make a bomb ass burger!
So they take orders from Facebook so make sure to check out the description for their link.
There are sooo many options for comfort food on a budget here,
but one of our favorites was getting empanadas with Santos.
Santos is the owner, and the restaurant has its own name
But everyone around here knows this place as “Santos’s”
These empanadas are fried and filled with queso de hebra.
We wanted to treat the entire family to an empanada night
so we ordered over 100 empanadas and another 100 tostadas & garnachas.
They keep coming and coming.
And for desert some friend plantains with cream and cheese.
Ok! that was a lot of food but before we
conclude this video we want to share and interesting fact with you.
An interesting fact on Oluta
because of its geographical location you have migrants passing through
from Central American countries like Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Panamá.
So there are actually over 100 rest stops that are called
"La Casa del Migrante"
The Casa del Migrante in Oluta happens to offers a variety of
social services for the migrants as they're passing through.
It gives them an opportunity to freshen up wash up
These are social services in addition to medical assitance and legal advice
and many of the migrants who are housed in the building right behind me.
Are here just for a short amount of time before they go on their way.
Oluta provides these services free to them
as social services and in exchange the migrants typically offer community service
Like street cleaning or other constructions jobs.
Thank you guys for joining us in this part of our journey in Acayucan and Oluta
If you like the video please hit that like button.
and show us some love in the comments.
Let us know if you have any questions about anything that you saw today.
Make sure you come back in the next couple of weeks
because we have some really cool things to share
Local stories, culture and even some recipes.
Se cuidan, se bañan, y nos vemos en la proxima!
Ciao!