The Local Experience

I am all in favour of investigating the Local Experience when living in a place different from your own culture. That doesn't mean finding yourself in a Turkish prison just because you are in Turkey, but when I visit a culture that has cuisines notably different than "home" I want to try all kinds of new foods.

There is something to be said about a local place that is patronized by locals. In my family we used to say that if you go to an ethnic restaurant and it is filled with people of that ethnicity, it MUST be a good place. Well, here in Cozumel there is a place in the central Plaza called Raspados. The Plaza is very popular during the day for tourists and Raspados makes a killing selling ice cream (three words: Location, Location, Location.)

But on Sunday nights the cruise ships are gone and the locals all come out for a night of fresh air, music, and... apparently... whatever Raspados sells. For four years I've watched as a l-o-n-g line of people, 98% locals, would wait patiently at Raspados. I always thought it was for ice cream. But last week I discovered it was for something entirely different: styrofoam cups full of boiled corn! In the local tongue it is called "esquites" and it originates from central Mexico.

Tonight, I decided this was a "must do, must try" local experience. There were 40 people in front of me in line. As I slowly crept forward, the line never got shorter... more people always queued up. By the time I got to the front, 35 minutes had passed. These were some of the most patient people I'd ever stood in a queue with. (Pardon the bad grammar.) Anticipation built with every step -- as did the wonderful aroma of the fresh corn.

I can tell you the ingredients that went into this cup (in this order): corn, mayonnaise, sour cream, salt, picante seasoning, lime juice. I can tell you the cost: 14 pesos (roughly US $1.28) But I cannot describe for you the rainbow of flavours that danced on my tongue with the first bite! Somehow the sour cream and lime juice just WORKED together to make this incredible flavour that enhanced the corn in such an amazing way.

Esquites at Raspados: two thumbs up, and now on Alex's List of "Things You Must Do When You Visit Cozumel"