The Greengrocer: A Mexican Tienda

A large bag of cinnamon, or canela, quills

The Greengrocer

by Victoria Challancin

I was captivated by the word "greengrocer" long, long before I ever encountered one, long before I visited Britain, long before I dwelled among so many Brits of all sorts in the Middle East,  long before I lived in London with my cousin.  The name had charmed and delighted me from books--I was an English major after all and thoroughly steeped in English Literature and enamoured of the UK village life.  But here in Mexico, we, too, have greengrocers, or small local tiendas,--and they are my favorite places to shop, although we have big supermarkets as well.

I thought my foreign readers might like to glimpse a local Mexican family-run neighborhood store, full of everything necessary for la vida quotidiana, or daily life of the typical Mexican family.  Here are a few photos from one such tiny shop, Fruteria Gil.  The owner, Gil, shops in a nearby market town and keeps his fruits and vegetables very fresh.  In addition, you can buy soap, a few canned goods, dairy products, cold cuts, fresh tortillas (homemade and factory-produced), bread, soft drinks, some obligatory junk food like chips (crisps), and some products purchased in the large box stores like Costco or Sam's Club, which are about an hour away.  The total size of this tiny store is maybe three times the size of my kitchen.

A glimpse into daily Mexican life...

A tiny hanging pumpkin, an assortment of bananas, rice flour, and saltine crackers

An orange, a pumpkin, a few good apples, a bad apple, paper-wrapped pears, and can you guess the scaly fruit?  It's chirimoya (sometimes cherimoya), a tropical fruit popular throughout Latin America

OMG.  How thrilled was I to find maracuyá, or passion fruit, last week--we don't always get it here.  Note that it costs $35 pesos a kilo, which is about US $1.40 per pound at a 12.25 to the dollar exchange rate--also note the grapes and variety of apples

A side view of the cinnamon sticks, just to give you an idea how very long they are--at least 3 feet tall--also in the bag to the right are cactus paddles without the thorns, ready to cook

A melange of fresh herbs, lettuces, peppers, asparagus, and packets of chopped vegetables ready for a soup

Any surprises here?  From left to right, granadas chinas (Chinese pomegranates, Passiflora liguralis, Juss.), persimmons, and dark plums

The bulk bins of daily necessities:  dried beans, lentils, hibiscus flowers, fava beans, tamarind pods, bags of salt, and a few spices in packets on the side--you can also buy pumpkin seeds bulk, among a few other items

Continuing with the granadas chinas, persimmons, plums, kiwi fruit, and some green, out-of season mangoes

 Dried fruit pastes and candied fruits atop the deli case

 Also, homemade pickled manzano chiles with carrots and onion--and homemade granola

A rather poor, backlit picture of various chiles and cactus fruit--with tomatillos and tangerines or mandarins in the foreground  (The chiles, from l to r:  jalapeño, cristales, serranos, manzanos, and tunas  or cactus fruit)

Local blackberries, figs, and tejocotes, a sour fruit from the Hawthorn family which is indispensable to Christmas punch, or ponche navideño (see my recipe for this delicious hot seasonal drink here)

And a Few Photos from an Organic Store

I certainly didn't do justice to the local Via Organica, an organic store with a greengrocer section as well as many other organic items.  I really must do a tour for you of our local organic shops, but at least you can see photos of the local weekly organic market here and here.  The following are just a couple of pics I snapped while buying watercress and dill, not common in most local tiendas.

 Zucchini and fennel

 Watercress

And from the Via Organica Café:  Daily offerings ($75 pesos is about US $6)

A Parting Green Shot:

It is very common to see even clothing stores with a container of basil potted near the door.  Owners will tell you it is to reduce fly activity, but of course those in the know realize it is protection from the Evil Eye!

©Victoria Challancin.  All Rights Reserved

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