In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age
of 38. Now, into their 3rd decade of this
financially independent lifestyle, they invite you
to take advantage of their wisdom and experience. |
|
Comitan
Market
Comitan De Dominguez,
Mexico
Billy and Akaisha Kaderli
We love
native markets.
Heck, we love grocery
stores!
Since we were in the
restaurant business for so long, it must be our natural inclination. Billy and I
are fascinated by food!
Take a look at the colorful
market in
Comitan, Mexico.

Eggs, chilis, chips of bark
Here you see a large basket of
dried chilis. There are dozens and dozens and dozens of types of
chili. Some are sweet, some are smoky and some are incredibly spicy.
These are dried cayenne peppers which are commonly used in Mexican
cooking. The seeds are hotter than the skin or pulp, so you have the
choice of scraping them out if you don't want your dish to be extra
spicy.
Fresh eggs are in their own
basket on the top of the chilis, and some chips of bark, probably
for tea or seasoning a stew is just behind them. The daisy-type
flower on the right hand side is chamomile and is used for tea or a
medicinal purpose.

The Baby Holder
This woman, who sold eggs,
herbs and dried garlic would also hold your baby while you went shopping
elsewhere in the market. For a small fee, your child would be watched and cared
for while you perused the goods in this building.
Many native cultures, like
the Maya,
wrap their babies in woven clothes and carry them on their backs everywhere. Not
so much in Mexico, which has moved into the "modern" world.

Local abundance
Chayotes, cucumbers, chilis, radishes,
cilantro, limes, green beans, cauliflower, carrots, chopped vegetables for
soups, tomatillos and more are found at this one stand.

Boiling innards
I'm not much of an organ meat eater, myself.
I have had my fair share of liver over the years and I love pate, but heart,
kidney, tripe, and other organs fail to appeal. Internal meats are popular,
sometimes even preferred, all over the world.

Beef cuts
Generally, Mexico does not age their beef, so
it is a bit tough to those of us who prefer tender meat. They do a very good
stew disembrar. The beef is cooked so long that it falls apart like pot
roast. But otherwise, beef is fresh and is cut right after the kill.

Yes! We have no bananas!
The fruit and vegetable
aisles of the market are so colorful and vibrant. It's a joy to shop with so
much choice and the prices are very attractive.
Melons, oranges, avocados,
apples, grapes, plums, tomatoes, onions, bananas, peppers, papayas, pineapples,
carrots and more.
The basket in the
foreground to the left in the photo is holding dried shrimp.

Slices of pineapple and watermelon
alongside aguas frescas
Often you can purchase a piece of large
fruits like pineapple or watermelon and in that way you don't need to buy the
whole fruit. This is especially handy if you are single, or don't have a
refrigerator in your home.
Right next to these fruit slices are "fruit
waters" or aguas frescas. They are exactly what the name says they are -
fruit, water and sugar mixed together to give you a refreshing drink. A whirred
blend of fruit(s), ice and sugar is called a licuado, and they are
normally served in restaurants, made to order.

Market restaurant
This is a restaurant inside the market where
we enjoy going for their Grande Quesadillas. It is a very popular place
for lunch and the meal is delicious and affordable.
Notice the Baby Holder in the center right of
the photo.

This is one quesadilla
The Grande Quesadillas fill the plate
and you have a choice of yellow or white corn tortillas which wrap around
the contents of the quesadilla. Unless you are a large eater, you will be
full with just one of these. You can order chicken, mushroom, cheese or
mixta which is beef with other ingredients. The price is 25Pesos each and
30Pesos for the mixta, about $1.40 - $1.70 USD each. Drinks run 5Pesos,
just over a quarter US.
Plates of lime, radishes and raw onion with
parsley are served on the side.

Pots of atole
Atole is served all
over Latin America and is typically a drink made from corn hominy flour, water,
unrefined cane sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and optional chocolate. We have also had
rice atole as a different style. It can be smooth or a bit chunky with
the corn or rice, and we have always had it served to us warm.
It is a "comfort drink" and
is very satisfying.

Grandmother with granddaughter enjoying
some atole
A very popular local drink, atole
dates back to ancient Mexico.
Notice this grandmother has her grandchild
wrapped in a woven cloth and is carrying the child on her back. This is surely
either a cultural difference, or a generational difference with "modern" mothers
of Mexico today.
Also notice the raw chickens lined up for
sale in the top right of the photo.

A contagious smile
This man was listening to Billy tease some of
the women in the small crowd gathered at the atole stand, and was
enjoying both the show and his atole. Actually, we were creating quite
the happy scene, and you can see the vendor behind this man smiling at Billy's
antics as well.
What are these crazy Gringos up to?
It's so fun to laugh and the locals are so
willing to engage.

The spice
rack
Here you see a typical
spice stand in the market. I was looking for ground cinnamon for our morning
oatmeal and of course, found it here.
You will also see bags of
cayenne, dried pumpkin seeds, chili flakes, sticks of cinnamon, dried garlic,
black peppercorns, dried herbs, various dried chilis and ground powders. My bag
of ground cinnamon was 5Pesos, or just over 25 cents US.
If you visit Comitan, the
market is just off
the Plaza.
It's a great place to browse, have lunch, buy a few supplies, get some fruit, a
fresh beverage or just people watch.
For more stories on
Comitan,
click here
For more stories of
Mexico, click here
Free Newsletter,
Subscribe here
About the Authors
Billy and Akaisha Kaderli are
recognized retirement experts and internationally published authors on
topics of finance, medical tourism and world travel. With the wealth of
information they share on their award winning website RetireEarlyLifestyle.com,
they have been helping people achieve their own retirement dreams since
1991. They wrote the popular books, The
Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement and Your
Retirement Dream IS Possible available on their website
bookstore or
on Amazon.com.



Retire
Early Lifestyle appeals to a different
kind of person – the person who prizes their
independence, values their time, and who doesn’t
want to mindlessly follow the crowd.
HOME
Book Store
Retire Early Lifestyle Blog
About Billy & Akaisha
Kaderli
Press
Contact
20 Questions
Preferred
Links
Retirement
Country Info
Retiree Interviews
Commentary
REL Videos
|